Reeves is currently defending her budget’s tax increases in a “fireside chat” with Jonathan Reynolds and Bloomberg’s Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait. Who is rattling off a list of reasons the budget is far from growth-friendly…
This is Reeves’ first major public event at Davos on her visit today and one of the few. The only way to watch it is on LinkedIn, where it’s being livestreamed by both Bloomberg and the Treasury. 15 minutes into the event and only between 32 and 40 people have bothered to tune in. Reeves will do CNBC’s “Squawk Box” at around midday before some interviews with UK media later which will come out after 5 p.m. She’ll be hoping more than a few dozen people display an interest…
After 118 days David Lammy has graced his parched readers with a new Substack post on his vanity blog last week. Another Guido victory…
Guido has long been publicly tracking Lammy’s writer’s block. The pressure must have got too intense – the Foreign Secretary has taken time out of his busy schedule deploying last-minute diplomacy on the Chagos deal and managing about 20,000 FCDO civil servants to put up his “Locarno” speech. He’s copy and pasted a boiler plate speech…
A digital copy of the speech itself was put up on the Gov.uk website on the day it was given, a full six days before Lammy bothered to put it on his blog. Subscribers probably feeling a little short-changed…
Lord Hermer’s colourful choice of client over his years in the legal profession has earned him continuing press coverage in the wake of recent Gerry Adams news. Jenrick, who some have dubbed ‘the Herminator,’ smells blood…
Brexit is another relevant policy area Hermer has dived into in the past. Back in 2019 the Attorney General served as barrister for notorious human rights pressure group Liberty (the same one for which he represented Shamima Begum), during which he tried and failed to sue Boris out of breaching the Benn Act – current Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn’s piece of legislation that would have blocked a no-deal Brexit. That should surprise no-one by now…
Hermer said in his argument that Liberty’s challenge should be brought before the courts immediately that they had a “constitutional duty to be seized of the matter” because if Boris wasn’t bound by the Benn Act he would cause “irremediable damage”:
“Accordingly, in order to avoid irremediable consequences of fundamental constitutional importance, it is essential that the lawfulness of those steps is determined before such irreversible consequences are caused.”
The barrister failed in his bid. Hermer will still be Attorney General when Starmer resumes EU negotiations next month. Labour is so far endeavouring to prove that Brexit isn’t so irreversible after all…
Resigned anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq is still making headlines. Hacks are finally questioning Starmer’s judgement…
In an exclusive Guido interview prominent Bangladeshi opposition member Bobby Hajjaj claimed Tulip holds dual citizenship and “even though Bangladesh and the UK don’t have an official extradition treaty I believe but there are certain terms and understandings on those terms. So from our end we will certainly push for the ACC and law enforcement here to ask for Tulip to come and face law enforcement, or face the courts.“ Her team has not commented on her alleged possession of dual nationality. A Bangladeshi court order bears a Bangladeshi National ID Card number for her, suggesting she is a Bangladeshi dual national…
The UK agrees extraditions on a case by case basis with Bangladesh. The way things are going with the Anti-Corruption Commission’s multiple investigations, Tulip could be called before their courts. Guido asked Downing Street this afternoon if the UK government would oblige Tulip to comply with an order: the PM’s spokesman said Downing Street “wouldn’t get into hypotheticals.” No comment…
Fresh-faced Labour MP Chris Bloore is putting his best foot forward to cling on to his wafer-thin 789-vote majority in Redditch, playing the NIMBY card to keep locals sweet. The council is fuming over a developer’s proposal to build 214 homes, including 66 affordable homes—50 of which would be social housing aimed at helping those most in need – on a redundant part a golf club. Given the council’s record of delivering just 9% of required affordable housing in recent years, you’d think it’d would be a no-brainer…
But no. Bloore turned up to a planning inquiry today to loudly oppose the project, despite promising to tackle “housing challenges” in the area. His excuses for blocking the development:
After listing the reasons why the affordable houses should not be built, Bloore finishes strong:
“I can attest there is no one in this room who is more pro-affordable housing than me.”
Not exactly in line with Labour’s pledge to “back builders not blockers”…
The number of compulsory liquidations in the UK surged to a decade-high last year thanks to a late-year spike after Red Reeves’ record-breaking tax hikes in the Budget, according to HMRC. In 2024, the courts forced 3,230 companies to shut down, including 273 in December. A 53% increase from the same month in 2023…
Addleshaw Goddard partner Tim Cooper pointed the finger at the Chancellor, saying the budget was one of the “tipping points” for businesses. Meanwhile Reeves has said she’ll reveal multi-year spending plans for government departments in June. Spending cuts – including disability benefits cuts she fought so hard against in Opposition – are expected. Guido doubts Reeves will use this latest report at Davos to prove how well her measures are going down. She’ll be left clutching at straws…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”