Energy bosses could face jail if they fix prices – the Goverment reveals its plans “Energy bosses will face jail under plans to make the fixing of household fuel bills a crime. … Ed Davey, the Energy Secretary, yesterday said specific criminal penalties would apply to ‘manipulation of the energy markets’. … He also pledged […]
Coulson and Brooks “must have known” of phone hacking claim prosecution “Former News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson must have known about phone hacking at their newspaper, the Old Bailey has heard. Andrew Edis QC said the prosecution would be able to show there had been phone hacking at the now-closed […]
Repeat offenders responsible for millions of crimes “Almost 150,000 criminals convicted or cautioned last year had committed 15 or more previous offences, figures revealed last night. The ‘frightening’ re-offending rates mean this group alone have been responsible for more than two million crimes between them…Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said the figures exposed the abject failure of […]
Better education, welfare reform and immigration controls: Cameron’s plan to cut youth unemployment “He said: ‘Let’s get our education system right so we are producing young people out of our schools and colleges who are fully capable of doing the jobs. Second, let’s reform the welfare system so that it doesn’t pay to be out […]
Regulator finds that energy companies doubled their profits… “Data from energy regulator Ofgem show wholesale prices have been almost flat over the past year, rising by a mere 1.7 per cent…This element of the average annual bill has gone up from £600 to £610, according to Ofgem, while the regulator estimates that the companies’ average […]
Barker’s ultimatum for the Big Six: Refund customers or face fines “Ministers will [tell] the power giants to stop stockpiling more than £2 billion from households. … The companies will be told that if they don’t return the money – or pay back the estimated £36 million a year that the cash pile earns in interest – […]
Cameron threatens to ditch HS2 without Labour’s support “The HS2 rail project will be abandoned if Labour withdraws its support, David Cameron has warned. In an intervention that raises serious questions over the project’s future and piles pressure on the Opposition, the Prime Minister said it would be impossible to secure the necessary private investment […]
EU Summit: Spying row wrecks Cameron plan “The claims led to calls for talks on a new trade deal between the EU and US – a key plank of Mr Cameron’s plans for the UK to build a new relationship with Brussels – to be suspended. He was forced to resist calls from fellow EU […]
Plebgate trio defiant on “lies” that cost Mitchell his job… “Three senior police officers accused of lying to blacken Andrew Mitchell’s name yesterday refused to apologise – telling MPs they had ‘done nothing wrong’. In angry exchanges with MPs, Inspector Ken MacKaill, Detective Sergeant Stuart Hinton and Sergeant Chris Jones said they stood by their […]
Windfall taxes, the EU and a shot at IDS – Sir John Major rocks the boat “The former Conservative prime minister piled pressure on David Cameron to act against the “big six” energy companies, suggesting they should be hit with a windfall tax. Sir John said it was “unacceptable” that energy companies were raising prices up […]
Government has to admit: the new nuclear plant may not mean lower bills in future… “A minister who claimed Britain’s first nuclear power station for 20 years would save consumers money had to perform a U-turn yesterday. … Ed Davey had suggested the new generators – paid for by levies on household bills for 35 […]
Disquiet on the Coalition front: Tory ministers speak out against Clegg and his views on free schools “Tory planning minister Nick Boles, suggested Mr Clegg was a hypocrite because he did not want state schools to have the same freedoms enjoyed by his private alma mater, Westminster School. … Education minister Liz Truss yesterday said […]
Yellow B**tards 1) Clegg to attack Gove over free school and academy use of unqualified teachers “Free schools and academies must employ qualified teachers, Nick Clegg will demand this week, in the first break with the Conservatives on education policy under the coalition government. The Deputy Prime Minister will deliver a hard-hitting speech that will […]
Osborne says Britain must do better “Britain has lost its sense of ambition and optimism and has allowed “the bits that were great” to wither, George Osborne has said as he called on the country to “up our game”. The Chancellor said Britain had become “defeatist” and had to improve in the face of the […]
Hunt: Respect your elders and end the rise in loneliness… “Britain should be ashamed of the way it treats grandparents, Jeremy Hunt will say today. The Health Secretary will warn a million elderly are left forgotten and isolated because friends and relatives fail to visit them. Citing the example of Asian nations, he will say […]