Kevan James February 17, 2024 The by-elections held on Thursday February 15, 2024 both produced what has been described as ‘shock’ wins for Labour. Both were also described as Reform UK’s big chance to make a difference.   Reform first. The party’s leader Richard Tice has been quoted as saying he is ‘delighted’ with the results. But they didn’t win, did they? Not even close. A distant third is nothing to shout about if you have pretensions of forming a UK government.   If Reform are really serious, they will have to up their performance by a distance, otherwise they will be nothing ..read more

Pete North February 7, 2024. I am not a populist for thinking failed asylum seekers should be thrown out of the country instead of being free to chuck acid in women's faces. I'm not a populist for wanting a realistic and pragmatic energy policy. I am not a populist for thinking we've had too much immigration. I am not a populist for thinking we have a bloated and oversubscribed university system. I am not a populist for doubting the effectiveness of foreign aid. I am not a populist for thinking we shouldn't be rushing towards every passing war. I'm not a populist for thinking judicial activis ..read more

The Rt Hon Suella Braverman MP November 15, 2023. Dear Prime Minister, Thank you for your phone call yesterday morning in which you asked me to leave Government. While disappointing, this is for the best. It has been my privilege to serve as Home Secretary and deliver on what the British people have sent us to Westminster to do. I want to thank all of those civil servants, police, Border Force officers and security professionals with whom I have worked and whose dedication to public safety is exemplary. I am proud of what we achieved together: delivering on our manifesto pledge to recruit 20 ..read more

I condemn the violent, wholly unacceptable scenes we have seen today from the EDL and associated groups and Hamas sympathisers attending the National March for Palestine. The despicable actions of a minority of people undermine those who have chosen to express their views peacefully. Remembrance weekend is a time for us to come together as a nation and remember those who fought and died for our freedoms. What we have seen today does not defend the honour of our Armed Forces, but utterly disrespects them. That is true for EDL thugs attacking police officers and trespassing on the Cenotaph, and ..read more

Adam Payne Politics Home November 11, 2011 Rishi Sunak may have finally reached the end of his tether with Suella Braverman, but getting rid of the Home Secretary is no easy move for a Prime Minister already under intense pressure. Her Tory backbench supporters warn that they would not take her sacking quietly. There was a stunned silence among reporters at Downing Street's daily media briefing on Thursday morning when Sunak's official spokesperson confirmed that No10 had not approved Braverman's explosive op-ed that was published in The Times newspaper. The hushed astonishment was followed b ..read more

Tom Scotson Politics Home September 22, 2023. A Conservative MP has written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to raise concerns about what a centralised digital currency could mean for privacy after the Bank of England and Treasury have discussed how one could be implemented in the future. In a letter to Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, shared with PoliticsHome, Conservative Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) Marcus Fysh asked when they would publish its response to a consultation on a Bank of England issued digital currency, which ended on 30th ..read more

The Northern Variant September 16, 2023. Here’s what you need to know about Net Zero: Decarbonising the grid is very expensive. Doing so will not impact the climate. Nobody will follow Britain’s lead. It will make your energy bills more expensive on a permanent basis. For every job it creates in the energy sector, it will kill three in the real economy. More importantly, it’s not going to work. Britain is a “world leader” in offshore wind. It does, occasionally, make an impressive contribution to Britain’s energy supply. But that’s no use if it’s not predictable and if it’s not available when ..read more

The Northern Variant September 16, 2023. Just out of morbid curiosity I'd like to see Labour win the next election. It will be fun to see Starmer attempt to assert his limited personal authority on circumstances which are unlikely to cooperate. His asylum plan is already dead in the water, I don't see that there's much he can do to bring us closer into the EU's orbit. Sunak has beaten him to it. The most Starmer can do is liberalise work/study visas with the EU, which will go a long way to pacify Labour's remainer middle class academia vote, but it that's as far as it goes. The real comedy co ..read more

The Heathrow Observer February 2023. Heathrow grew more than any other airport in the world last year – Passenger numbers in 2022 trebled to 62 million, as borders reopened in March after two years of closures which were tougher in the UK than in other major markets. This increase alone was equivalent to fitting virtually all of Frankfurt’s 2022 passengers into Heathrow. The rapid growth was challenging operationally for all companies on the airport, but the airport was successful in getting as many people on their way as possible by keeping supply and demand in balance. Feedback from the vas ..read more

The Heathrow Observer February 2023 How cooking oil is helping power Heathrow’s green revolution. Increasing number of flights at Heathrow to be powered by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) helping cut carbon emissions Team Heathrow on track to be one of world's largest SAF users in push to get to at least 10% usage by 2030 £38m fund incentivising airlines to make the switch and power their aircraft in part by SAF High cost and low production volumes remain key challenges for SAF – policymakers can provide more certainty and unlock private investment and drive down the cost curve Greener, cle ..read more