Politics

Sir John Major has become the second former Prime Minister in less than a week to criticise Universal Credit, warning the Conservative Party could run into the same problems they had with  poll tax in the late 1980s. Riots broke out across Britain under Margaret Thatcher’s tenure in protest against the Community Charge (colloquially known as the "poll tax") which were considered regressive taxes that shift the tax burden from the rich to the poor. And the same arguments are...

"A series of secret internal inquiries reveal that Conservative Ministers were repeatedly warned of the policy’s shortcomings"

An IMF report has concluded that the UK’s public finances are some of the worst on the planet. Since the banking crash of 2008 nearly £1tn has been slashed from the public sector, which is 50% of GDP. Bailing out the banking sector and public sector pension liabilities hugely contributed to the poor state of the UK’s public finances. Of 31 countries only Portugal was in a weaker position. The Gambia, Uganda and Kenya rank above the UK. Norway ranked...

Gordon Brown has warned that Universal Credit could lead to civil unrest, akin to the Poll tax riots. The Labour grandee will predict “a return to poll tax-style chaos in a summer of discontent.” The Thatcher administration introduced the poll tax in 1990 and it caused major rioting and it was one of the main reasons that her leadership came to an end. He will say at a speech in Edinburgh: “Surely the greatest burning injustice of all is children...

Happy PMQs (Austerity is over)…only it isn’t really Rejoice! Walk out into the streets and hug your fellow humans. Austerity is over, the PM literally said: “Better times are coming.” This was just the news we need on World Mental Health Day. But it took that party pooper Corbyn to spoil all the fun. At today’s PMQs the Labour leader asked the PM why there are 5,000 fewer mental health workers. His point seemed to be irrelevant to May as...

Britain is one of the top EU member states opening its doors to criminals via Golden Visa schemes that allow corrupt individuals to gain residency-by-investment. A report released today by Transparency International and Global Witness has revealed at least six thousand passports and nearly 100,000 residency permits have been sold in the EU in the last decade. Spain, Hungary, Latvia, Portugal and the United Kingdom have granted the highest numbers of these – with over 10,000 each. Golden Visa schemes...

I have set up a petition to call for an amendment to the Official Secrets Act. This would prevent its use in cases where child abuse is involved and would mean that child abuse could no longer be used as some kind of grubby political football, to keep MPs and ministers in line.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said that Brexit is likely to mean Scotland will leave the Union. She was speaking at the SNP party conference and she blamed the chaotic Brexit negotiations as proof that Scotland would be better off as a stand alone country within the EU. She said: “Brexit is about turning inwards, pulling up the drawbridge, retreating from the world. Independence is about being open, outward looking, aspiring to play our full part in the world around...

Hillary Clinton launched an attack on the Tories during a speech at the University of Oxford. She was highly critical of the MEPs from the Party who she claims have not challenged Viktor Orban, Hungary’s leader. Recently the Conservative group at the European parliament voted against measures to censure Hungary over its policies to reduce judicial independence and boost control over the media. Orban eventually lost the vote by 448-197. She said: “I hope the EU and the people of...