Tories pledge to scrap mandatory time off for union reps April 27, 2026 The Conservative Party has pledged to scrap the legal requirement for employers to offer paid time off for union representatives. Tory shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith will announce the policy on Monday, which he says will free up taxpayer cash to be spent on cutting NHS waiting lists and filling potholes. Union reps are currently [...]
Lib Dems vow to push back controversial Pension Schemes Bill April 24, 2026 The government has been warned that the Pension Schemes Bill will continue to be pushed back unless ministers remove controversial mandation powers, as a groundswell of opposition puts pressure on the government to water down the bill. The warning comes as the House of Commons gears up for the bill to bounce back from the [...]
Shadow energy secretary: Reeves’ subsidies mean nothing without tax cuts April 17, 2026 It is the cost of systems, not electricity, that is driving up businesses' energy bills, writes shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho.
‘Pet projects’: Tories slam pension mandation powers as Labour refuse to back down April 16, 2026 The Conservatives have slammed the controversial mandation powers in the Pension Schemes Bill, after parliament swept aside the amendments put forward by the House of Lords. Labour has come a step closer to finalising the bill, after it used its government majority to stamp out more than 80 amendments put forward by the upper house, [...]
Tories urge Waitrose to re-hire worker who tackled shoplifter – and give him a bonus April 6, 2026 Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has urged the boss of Waitrose to re-hire Walker Smith, who tackled a shoplifter in south London attempting to steal luxury Easter eggs. Waitrose shop assistant Walker Smith was sacked by the supermarket after tackling a shoplifter, whom Smith recognised as a repeat offender. Philp wrote to Denyard, the managing [...]
The UK is in a ‘toxic relationship’ with the government says Badenoch April 5, 2026 Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has claimed the UK is in a “toxic relationship” with big government, which is stagnating economic growth and holding people and businesses back. In an op-ed in The Times, Badenoch said the relationship is making people “miserable” while proving to some that “Britain is broken”. She wrote: “This isn’t a broken [...]
Tories would welcome Claire Williams to party after former F1 owner’s comments March 25, 2026 The Tories would welcome former Formula 1 team owner Claire Williams into their ranks after she expressed an interest in a political career. Williams, who once ran the eponymous Formula 1 team, which she sold for $150m in 2020, told CityAM that she would be interested in going into politics once her child had [...]
Mel Stride vows ‘Big Bang’ as he targets careful City March 6, 2026 Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride is set to promise a new “Big Bang” on City regulation in a speech at a Conservative conference this weekend harking back to Margaret Thatcher’s financial reforms. Stride is set to decry the lack of risk-taking across the UK economy and suggest regulation has been a “vast yoke” on businesses. [...]
Nadhim Zahawi joins equity group piling £1bn into Mayfair hotels February 23, 2026 Former Tory chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has joined the board of an investment firm piling £1.1bn into two luxury Mayfair hotels. Evolution Investment Fund, based in the British Virgin Islands, has acquired a long leasehold interest in the London Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square and a luxury hotel development site in New Bond Street. The fund, [...]
The Debate: Can you date across the divide? February 11, 2026 Ahead of Valentine’s Day, we ask the big question: can a Tory really love a leftie? Read the case for and against in this week's Debate.