National

Simon Bridges may fancy himself as National’s leader again but those on the streets of his Tauranga electorate feel it’s time for a change in direction. Lester Arnold, 69, said National needed “a major overhaul”. “It needs a leader who is knowledgeable, someone who has integrity and would not be swayed by all of these pressure groups. “I’m more of a National voter than Labour but at the moment there doesn’t seem much to vote for, National’s done a good job of wiping itself off the map.” READ MORE: National leadership: The top contenders to replace Judith Collins The 15 hours that ended Collins' leadership: It started with an email, and ended with a drink at the pub National left desperately looking for a new leader and new approach after a chaotic 24 hours Arnold and other voters quizzed along The Strand in Tauranga and in the city’s CBD on Sunday were eagerly awaiting the party’s leadership decision on Tuesday, triggered by the departure of Judith Collins. …

[Read more...] about Voters in Tauranga say it’s time for a ‘major overhaul’ of National’s leadership

The US satellite company behind the £5.5bn takeover of Britain’s Inmarsat is offering to set up an international headquarters in London to get the deal past regulators. Viasat is in initial discussions with ministers over making legally binding undertakings alongside the deal announced last week, which combines two of the world’s biggest satellite internet operators. While New York-listed Viasat will keep the US as its headquarters, the company is understood to have raised the possibility of establishing the UK as a base for its global mobility division, which focused on providing satellite internet for flights and ships outside the US. In addition, it has said it is prepared to extend pledges to continue working with the Ministry of Defence, made when the company was bought by private equity firms in 2019. The promises could ease national security concerns about the takeover, with ministers considering whether to refer the deal to competition regulators. On Monday, Viasat …

[Read more...] about US buyer of British broadband satellites battles national security fears

The Netherlands confirmed 13 cases of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus on Sunday (local time), as a number of nations imposed new restrictions. Israel decided to bar entry to foreigners and Morocco said it would suspend all incoming air travel from around the world for two weeks starting Monday – the most drastic of a growing raft of travel curbs being imposed by nations around the world as they scramble to slow the variant's spread. Confirmed or suspected cases of the new variant have already emerged in several European countries, in Israel and in Hong Kong , just days after it was identified by researchers in South Africa. The “act first, ask questions later” approach reflected growing alarm about the emergence of a potentially more contagious variant nearly two years into a pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people, upended lives and disrupted economies across the globe. While much remains to be learned about the new variant, researchers are concerned …

[Read more...] about Covid-19: Netherlands confirms 13 cases of omicron variant as nations impose restrictions

Hanukkah parties can be measured in a few ways: the number of latkes present; the horribleness of the soundtrack, which inevitably includes small children singing about dreidels; the degree to which menorah-themed decorations have taken over. The get-together I attended last week at the Gottlieb household in Fairfax Station, Virginia, hit all these holiday standards, and more—they even had whitefish salad laid out on their festive blue-and-silver tablecloth. The biggest difference between this party and all the other Hanukkah parties I've ever attended was the involvement of Jesus. "I wanted to be a rockstar," said Val, one of the first women I spoke with, by way of introduction. "Then Jesus came into my life and said, 'Eh, that's not what I have planned for you.'" Val was one of 30 to 40 people at the party, which is hosted every year by the Washington, D.C., branch of Jews for Jesus. Attendees identified themselves in lots of ways: Jewish believers in Jesus, Messianic Jews, …

[Read more...] about Hanukkah With the Jews for Jesus

Families should keep planning for Christmas as normal, Sajid Javid has said as he sought to calm concerns over the new omicron variant of Covid after new restrictions were announced. During a round of broadcast interviews on Sunday morning the Health Secretary said the country was “nowhere near” adopting tougher lockdown restrictions despite the new variant. Mr Javid made clear the Government was not about to bring back work-from-home guidance, expand the new mask mandate to restaurants or adopt vaccine passports in England. He also indicated that a decision on whether the Covid booster jabs could be offered to all adults, rather than just those aged over 40, could come within days. His comments came after Boris Johnson announced a string of new restrictions on Saturday evening as it was found two cases of omicron had been discovered in the UK. Mask-wearing will become compulsory on public transport and in shops , people who come into contact with someone who has caught the …

[Read more...] about Plan for Christmas as normal despite omicron Covid variant, says Sajid Javid

Scots must back independence if they want to "escape" Tory sleaze and "a United Kingdom in constant crisis", Nicola Sturgeon's senior lieutenants have warned. John Swinney, the Deputy First Minister, told the SNP's national conference on Saturday that the Tories have "rewritten the definitions of cronyism and corruption" and proved that Westminster was "rotten to the core." He said Boris Johnson did not need to visit Peppa Pig World to see "snouts in the trough" and argued that the Tories have "lost all moral authority to hold the highest offices in the land." In his speech to the virtual conference on Sunday, Ian Blackford, the SNP's Westminster leader, is expected to argue that the sleaze scandal was the "cost of having a man like Boris Johnson as Prime Minister." Arguing it was one of a series of crises that are "the costs we pay for being part of this Union", he will conclude: "Independence is now the pathway to safety and stability – it offers an escape from the …

[Read more...] about SNP uses ‘shameful’ Tory sleaze scandal to make latest case for Scottish independence

The US buyer of British satellite business Inmarsat will be ordered to protect jobs and research as ministers step up scrutiny of the $7.3bn (£5.5bn) deal. Viasat will be asked by the Business Department to make legally binding pledges to support Inmarsat's British operations and continue its national security work, sources said. The American operator confirmed plans to buy Inmarsat earlier this month, in a tie-up that will give it control of a fleet of 19 high and medium-orbit satellites providing connectivity services to airlines, ships and military customers. Inmarsat provides communications services to the Ministry of Defence and has a close relationship with the armed forces. The Government also has the option to call in the deal under the National Security and Investment act, which comes into force in January and gives officials greater powers to block takeovers. An industry source said: “They want to be able to look back in two years and see the UK has not lost a …

[Read more...] about Buyer of satellite business Inmarsat to be ordered to protect British jobs

For the last 19 years, I’ve watched I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! avidly; I’ve been on set in Australia, spoken to dozens of friends who have done it, and two years ago even watched my son-in-law, James Haskell, compete in the jungle. So when I signed up to appear this year, I thought I knew roughly what to expect. Rats, snakes, spiders? I have no great fear of them (heights are a slightly different story). Live television? No problem – I’ve been doing that for 40-odd years. Getting on with an eclectic group of notables? That didn’t seem an issue, either. But what I didn’t anticipate was that a funny turn, combined with pesky Covid rules, might see me out of the competition so soon after it had begun. As it is, I sit here writing this with a cup of tea in my home in North London, when truthfully I’d rather still be in Gwrych Castle with Arlene Phillips, David Ginola and the rest of this year’s contestants. My week began with a trip to the “Castle Clink” after my team …

[Read more...] about Richard Madeley: The truth about my ‘funny turn’ on I’m A Celebrity

Labour’s problem is twofold. Firstly, the people may favour a different direction for the country, but they don’t believe Labour is the right vehicle to travel the journey. They doubt the competence of the party to put the car on the road and plan the route, giving the electorate every encouragement to travel with the Conservatives. Secondly, the time has passed for an odd tweak to the engine or a change of tyres for the Labour Party. Instead a comprehensive re-design is needed because everything has changed. The electoral faultlines Labour needs to traverse have completely realigned. The terrain has evolved from the traditional class based geography once home to Labour. When I was growing up in a mining community in Sedgefield in the North East of England, the coal industry was still monolithic. Most of the men in the village worked down one of the local collieries and everyone lived a similar way of life. You voted Labour, because the community voted Labour. …

[Read more...] about The bond between the Labour Party and its core support is broken

As a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), I am one of the MPs responsible for ensuring that the government is spending taxpayers’ money in the most efficient and effective way possible. But a report published in July by the National Audit Office found that the new national schools funding formula – implemented in 2018 by the Department for Education – has, distressingly, led to funds being taken away from the most deprived schools and put into the hands of the least deprived ones. Under the new formula, funding is largely determined by how many pupils each school has, with the most deprived local areas – in theory – therefore receiving more per-pupil funding than less deprived areas. While the formula was designed to be more transparent, consistent and fair, in reality it has meant that some local areas and schools have fared worse than others. Between 2017-18 and 2020-21, average per-pupil funding in the most deprived fifth of schools fell, in real …

[Read more...] about It’s absurd to take school funding from deprived areas when they need it most