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What the Green Party manifesto proposes on pensions

20 Nov 2019

The Green Party released its manifesto on Tuesday which included a number of proposals for the UK pensions systems. Most of these relate to the state side of the pension and care system – for example, including pensioners in the proposed universal basic income system at the higher rate of £178 per week, and the provision of taxpayer funded personal social care for those who require it, mirroring the current Scottish system.

Is help for the high street on its way?

19 Nov 2019

Ahead of publishing their formal manifesto the Conservatives have pledged to increase the business rates discount afforded to small retailers to 50%, up from the current 33% reduction. They estimate that this will lead to an average saving of £1,400 per business. The British Retail Consortium have been critical of these plans stating that they do not go far enough in aiding the high street to ward off the competition faced by online retailers.

Conservatives identify rail connectivity packages for communities

15 Nov 2019

Writing in The Telegraph 15 November 2019, the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps stated that the Conservatives had identified areas that are likely to benefit from a £500 million 'Beeching Reversal Fund' and would "be exploring others".

Infringement proceedings against the UK launched

14 Nov 2019

A press release issued by Brussels confirms that the European Commission launches infringement proceedings against the UK following its failure to name a candidate for EU Commissioner. The press release states that the EU Commission has sent a letter of formal notice to the UK for breaching its EU Treaty obligations by not suggesting a candidate for the post of EU Commissioner. It states that the UK authorities are invited to submit its observations on the letter of formal notice at the latest by Friday 22 November.

A key priority for MEPs remains citizens' rights

13 Nov 2019

The EU press release confirms that the Brexit Steering Group met with several committees to consider the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) on citizen's rights. The focus was on the implementation in the UK and in the EU-27 of the citizens' rights provisions contained within part II of the WA.

HS2 becomes an election issue

13 Nov 2019

In his September HS2 progress update to the House of Commons on 3 September 2019, Grant Shapps has stated that the cross-party review would: "report this autumn.", that he [Grant Shapps] would discuss the report with the PM and that it would inform decisions on next steps.

Some pre-election good news for the region with infrastructure funding awards from HIF confirmed

12 Nov 2019

Immediately before the pre-election period began an updated list of Forward Fund projects successful in their bids for funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) was published. The funding aims to deliver infrastructure to ease the construction of new homes and is a key government pillar to support the accelerated delivery of housing.

Political messaging on social media

31 Oct 2019

On 30 October Twitter announced a ban on political advertising, with a statement that "a political message reach should be earned, not bought". Twitter's position contrasts with Facebook's exemption of politicians' adverts from fact-checking and from a policy that bans false statements from paid advertisements. Neither position fully addresses legitimate concerns about the potential uses of social media to influence or even manipulate voting behaviour and election results.

China supercharges online brand protection

08 Oct 2019

The impact is being felt of China's new e-commerce law, which places tighter restrictions on would-be counterfeiters. These reforms couple with initiatives such as the current "Net Sword Campaign", an online market crack-down by eight ministries in China, and President Xi's July endorsement of a comprehensive and coordinated approach to protecting intellectual property rights (IPR). Combined, this is good news for brand owners.

"No Deal" Brexit scenario and the rights of EU nationals

01 Oct 2019

Last month the Home Office published Media factsheet: EU citizens and freedom of movement to clarify the rights of EU citizens post Brexit. The Government has also confirmed that in a "no deal" scenario the rights of EU nationals will be as follows.

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