Tag: Featured

    The forthcoming Autumn Budget will see buyers of new diesel cars hit by tax rises, according to the Financial Times. The paper reports that Government aids have said the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, sees increased levies on sales of new diesel cars as the best route to meeting budget requirements set out by the Clean Air Plan, a draft copy of which was published in May this year. Under the plan, the Government would ban the sale of exclusively petrol or diesel cars by 2040, so that every new car sold in the UK would be electric or hybrid. The fresh tariffs for diesel cars assuming they’re confirmed when the budget is announced on 22 November will signal a further blow to diesel fuel, following figures released this week that revealed sales of new diesel car...

    The date of Brexit will be written into law in an effort to placate MPs who are worried that the Government could attempt to delay the UK's break away from the European Union. Amendments to the repeal bill going through Parliament will spell out that the UK's membership of the EU will end at 11pm GMT, midnight in Brussels, on March 29 2019. Brexit Secretary David Davis said the change will make the UK's departure date crystal clear. The move comes as Mr Davis was set to meet the European Union's chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels, where officials have been engaged in the latest round of Brexit talks. The amendment enshrining Brexit day in law will be considered by MPs when the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill returns to the Commons next week. Theresa May's fragile...

    Brexit is legally reversible as Brits still have the right to change their minds, one of the key architects of Article 50 will say. Lord John Kerr, the former chief British diplomat, is set to claim Theresa May’s Article 50 letter can be unilaterally withdrawn at any time and therefore the die is not cast irretrievably. Speaking at an event organised by the pro-single market campaign Open Britain in London on Friday, the former UK ambassador will say: We are not required to withdraw just because Mrs May sent her letter. We can change our minds at any stage during the process. He will add: Mrs May’s letter was only a notification of the UK’s ‘intention’ to withdraw. Intentions can change. We still have all the rights of a member-state, including the right to change our mind...

    Theresa May has been warned to promote another Brexiteer into the Cabinet to keep the balance of her top team in the wake of Priti Patel’s dramatic departure. The International Development Secretary, a prominent Brexit supporter, was effectively sacked on Wednesday for holding a string of unofficial meetings with senior Israeli figures without informing Downing Street. The weakened Prime Minister is now facing pressure from pro-Brexit Tories to replace Ms Patel with another Eurosceptic MP and to retain the balance of her Cabinet, which would tip in favour of Remain after Ms Patel's departure. Is Patel's resignation enough to restore May's authority? It comes after Ms May provoked outrage in her party by appointing former chief whip Gavin Williamson to replace Defence Secre...

    Priti Patel has thanked supporters in her first tweet since she resigned from her Cabinet position amid growing fears in Europe that the government could collapse after a series of scandals. Ms Patel quit her post as International Development Secretary after she was ordered to return home from an official trip by the Prime Minister in farcical scenes yesterday following revelations about her undocumented meetings with Israeli politicians. In her first public message since her resignation, she thanked her friends, colleagues and constituents for the support they showed her. She wrote on Twitter: An enormous thank you to friends, colleagues, constituents & the public for the support & kindness you have shown me over the last few days. An enormous thank you to friends...