Politics

Union protests at £29 million public contract award to blacklisting firm Sir Robert McApline GMB, the union for construction workers, has voiced opposition to the awarding of a contract to refurbish Big Ben, to Sir Robert McAlpine Limited, the company at the heart of blacklisting scandal in the construction industry. Victims of blacklisting by the construction industry, who were awarded a £75m out-of-court settlement in 2016, have demanded a police investigation into their claims that key executives tried to pervert...

A FOI request has uncovered a huge waste of public money by central government. The Huffington Post reported that Tory Minsters have spent £400k on chauffeurs just to bring their red boxes to and from work These vehicles carry no passengers just the red box that contains the ministers’ workload. Ex-PM vowed to clamp down on this exact waste of resources, but it clear not much, if anything, has been done about it. It is another example of Government waste,...

If the run-up to the 2017 General Election was notable for anything it was for the self-promotion of people who claimed to be loyal to their party. On the one side there was Theresa May, who although proclaiming to be captaining a strong and stable ship was actually seeing her leadership constantly challenged by the likes of Boris Johnson and co who have long had their eyes on the premiership. And then there was Jeremy Corbyn, who has suffered a...

As McDonald’s employees gather on the picket line for the first time ever in the UK, the Labour leader has come out in support of the disgruntled workers. The burger chain employees want secure shift patterns and pay of at least £10 an hour. A rally is expected to go ahead in central London with 40 striking workers will attend a rally in Westminster, with Jeremy Corbyn lending his support. The industrial action comes from two outlets, one in Crayford...

Theresa May could be about to make a U-turn on public sector pay caps, according to leaked documents. The PM stoically rejected calls to lift the 1 per cent pay cap after the controversial policy saw the average public sector worker lose £13,000 over the last seven years. But according to reports a letter has been issued by ministers to pay review bodies signalling the lifting of the pay cap on those professions with the biggest recruitment and retention problems -...

A Tory MEP has got himself an Irish passport as he wanted to ensure he was a EU citizen after the UK finally leaves the economic union after the Brexit deal is finally agreed. Charles Tannock is a passionate remainer who was deeply saddened by the EU referendum result. He has an Irish grandmother so was able to apply for a passport for the Republic. Tannock told the Irish Times about his newly found passion for his Irish family background...

A Tory Peer, who is in the top 1,000 richest people according to the Sunday Times, has argued that Brexit is a good idea, as young people can work even longer hours. Retail tycoon, Lord Harris, is worth around £100m and said during a radio interview that “I just feel we would be better off out of the EU.” Harris was the chairman of Carpetright plc and was appointed to the board of Arsenal Football Club as a non-executive director...

MPs are reporting their own constituents to immigration enforcement using a new Home Office hotline and webpage. A Freedom of Information request submitted by Politics.co.uk has revealed that the Home Office has received 482 tip-offs from MPs between 2014 and 2016, raising the possibility that MPs are reporting their own constituents to the authorities when they have come to them for help. The news comes after London mayor Sadiq Khan said police officers were "duty bound" to report both victims and witnesses of crime...

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, thinks that the UK is aiming for an “impossible” Brexit deal where it retains the benefits of EU membership despite leaving the economic union. At a press conference after latest round of talks, top EU negotiator Mr Barnier said: “The UK wants to take back control, it wants to set its own standards and regulations, but it also wants to have these standards recognised automatically in the EU, that is what the UK position...