Politics

In an unprecedented intervention, the National Audit Office (NAO) has accused a government minister of making false statements to MPs to downplay failings of a flagship Tory policy. There were calls for Esther McVey to resign after the Auditor General wrote in an open letter to complain that the Work and Pensions Minister had misrepresented their report on the suffering and cost of the government’s Universal Credit scheme. In April, McVey's Conservative colleague Amber Rudd was forced to resign after...

The Trump administration is forcing children as young as 3 years old to represent themselves in immigration courts, it has been revealed. According to the Texas Tribune immigrant children are being ordered into court for their own deportation proceedings. The revelation comes as the White House faces a major backlash over separating families at the border. It is believed that some 2,000-plus separated children are being asked to deal with court proceedings as they grapple with the ongoing trauma of being taken...

Donald Trump's move to break away from the World Trade Organisation by forming its own Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act is likely to have "silent but deadly" repercussions, commentators have said. A leaked draft of the act - dubbed the FART bill - shows that the President is set to abandon global trade rules in favour of bespoke agreements with different countries. The draft bill would see the President given unilateral power to ignore global trade rules and set his own tariffs...

The Queen's taxpayer-funded costs rose by 13 per cent in the past year, new accounts show. Public funds used by the Queen for official expenditure and duties went up from £41.9 million to £47.4 million. More than £4 million was spent on the initial phase of improvements at the palace, including the removal of old wiring, while £21.4 million went on payroll costs. The Sovereign Grant accounts also show an increase in travel costs, from £4.5 million to £4.7 million. The...

An influential committee has said that they were sure that the UK were fully aware of the way US detainees were treated after the Twin Tower terror attacks in New York City. The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) said it was "beyond doubt" the UK knew of the treatment and still continued to pass over classified information in over 200 more cases. "It is difficult to comprehend how those at the top of the office did not recognise the pattern...

Staunch Brexiter Lord Ashcroft has advised UK firms to move to Malta after Brexit. In a blog on Conservative Home the outspoken peer said "as a hard-nosed, self-made businessman, I believe that Malta represents the best destination for ambitious UK firms that must have a post-Brexit presence in the European Union". He said the "diverse, open-market economy" makes it an attractive place to move for UK firms that "have understandably decided, particularly in a period of uncertainty, that they will need...

A UBS survey of 600 companies that spells out the reality of a Brexit "dividend" for British business could signal disaster if the government doesn't get a grip on the process soon, Professor Brian Cox has said today. The physicist posted results from a recent business survey that showed 35 per cent of companies plan to reduce UK investment post-Brexit. A further 41 per cent plan to move a large amount of capacity out of the UK and 42 per...

The UK motor industry has seen investment half in the first half of this year, according to the latest research from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). During the first six months of this year, the SMMT found that investment has “stalled”, with just £347.3m earmarked for new models, equipment and facilities in the UK, around half the sum in the same period in 2017. The group’s demand for action followed the comments last week from CBI president, Paul Dreschler,...

Safeguarded jobs in the UK have fallen 54 per cent in the past year as the number of UK projects funded by Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) dropped nine per cent, the Department for International Tradrevealed today. Wales is the worst affected region, with projects down 33 per cent, Scotland has seen a 23 per cent fall, Northern Ireland an 18 per cent drop and London a 17 per cent decline. England has seen the number of projects rise slightly by...