Politics

Airbus's announcement that it is weighing up its future in the UK has sent shockwaves across the political spectrum today. With no assurances over Britain's future trading arrangements the boss of one of the world’s biggest aircraft manufacturers warned that Brexit would have "severe negative consequences for the UK aerospace industry and Airbus in particular". He said that Airbus has repeatedly been demanding clarity from Theresa May’s government over what trading arrangements will be available with Europe in March 2019,...

Today, on Clear Air Day, the Chelsea and Fulham MP Greg Hands who has always told his constituents he would oppose athird runway at Heathrow announced that he was forced to resign as Theresa May is insisting on bringing out the whips to get the majority she needs in a vote on the airport's expansion on Monday. The minister's resignation over the Heathrow vote leaves Boris Johnson in a major pickle The Foreign Secretary has also always expressed his very...

A hospitality leader has warned that there is likely to be severe workforce shortages in the industry unless action is taken. Kris Gumbrell, CEO of Brewhouse & Kitchen, says the loss of free movement will undoubtedly cause big issues in the hospitality sector which has a heavy reliance on European workers. A KPMG report for the British Hospitality Association found that EU nationals made up more than 75 per cent of waitstaff, as well as 43 per cent of the...

The research also found that only 15 per cent of people globally live in places where women and lower income groups have at least somewhat equal access to power

International Trade expert Leonardo Gonzalez Dellan, has expressed deep worries about the growing global trade wars. “Everyone benefits from Free Trade and everyone suffers from protectionism”, he argues, “But this is especially the case for the Food Sector in Latin America.  We need export markets and we need to ensure that this tit for tat conflict does not become a prolonged confrontation.” Mexico has imposed retaliatory tariffs on US cheese, steel, bourbon, and pork, as well direct matching tariffs to...

The Trump administration has likely lost track of nearly 6,000 unaccompanied migrant children, according to federal data. Last month alone some 1,500 unaccompanied minors arrived on the southern border alone without their parents and were placed with sponsors who did not keep in touch with federal officials. And there is likely to be a lot more. According to McClatchy DC Bureau, some 5,945 unaccompanied children are unaccounted for, with just 50 per cent of kids ending up with their parents as their sponsors....

The House of Commons was marred by controversy today after Tory whips refused to nod through a Labour MP on morphine in a crucial day in parliament. MPs have gathered to debate the EU withdrawal bill as Theresa May searched for a "meaningful vote" to head off a rebellion on Brexit. But the day has already agitated many politicians and commentators after the government decided not to “nod through” sick MPs. Two Labour MPs coming from hospital were denied entry, including one...

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has told the House of Commons that the use of cannabis in medical treatment will be reviewed. While ruling out any changes on recreational cannabis use, with the drug remaining criminalised as a Class B scheduled drug, the Home Secretary mentioned recent high profile cases. Javid said that the plights of the families of Alfie Dingley and Billy Caldwell had led him to review whether drugs made from the plant could be used for medicine. In...

There have been further warnings of a weakening of the UK economy, as we approach Brexit. This time the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) predicts gross domestic product (GDP) will increase 1.3 per cent in 2018, a downgrade from its previous forecast of 1.4 per cent. It has also sliced its 2019 GDP outlook from 1.5 per cent down to 1.4 per cent. Adam Marshall, director general of the BCC said the UK faces another “extended period of weak growth”....