Network project report

Britain’s competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has not had a good 2020. The Government ignored its recommendations made last year for a new regulator for the audit industry , and has not acted on the agency’s calls for stronger consumer protection powers. Its warnings to businesses against raising prices during Covid were criticised by economists for potentially leading to shortages of things like food and PPE . And the CMA’s chairman, ex-MP Andrew Tyrie, was ousted last month in a coup by board members unhappy with Tyrie’s political, attention-seeking style. This week it released the final report in its study of the digital advertising market . In it, the CMA concluded that the digital advertising market was uncompetitively dominated by Google and Facebook – Facebook via its social media apps, and Google via the popularity of Youtube, Google Search, and the company’s network of advertising on third party websites. The report is … [Read more...] about The UK has badly missed the mark on how to regulate Big Tech

Remainer plot EXPOSED as 'Whitehall shenanigans' used to punish team Leave (Image: GETTY) Sign up for FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Kate Hoey, Labour MP for Vauxhall between 1989 and 2019, has suggested the partygate fallout is being weaponised by Remainers. Speaking in the House of Lords, she said: "I think outside this place, and perhaps some elements of the media that many elements of the public -probably the majority of the public - want to draw a line under all this so we can move on so we can get on with the issues that are really effecting the country. But can I ask the noble lady, does she agree with me that there will be some people who will never ever give up criticising the … [Read more...] about Brexit: Remainer plot EXPOSED as ‘Whitehall shenanigans’ used to punish team Leave

The Chinese owner of the controversial viral video app TikTok has launched a Westminster charm offensive even as plans to make London its international headquarters are thrown into doubt by an escalating diplomatic crisis and the threat it could be blacklisted in the United States. The Sunday Telegraph has learned that ByteDance, which has amassed an estimated audience of 13m British TikTok users, is hunting for new 30,000 sq ft offices in the capital as it prepares to more than treble its staff to 1,000. However, discussions with the Government about the potential investment have reportedly broken down amid questions over TikTok’s future in Western countries. The company, which was labelled a “potential counterintelligence threat” by senior members of Congress and which the US is considering banning , is also recruiting a team of well-connected lobbyists. In March, it hired Alexandra Evans as its head of child safety public policy in Europe, having previously worked at … [Read more...] about TikTok fights to save UK HQ plan in China crisis

Announcement of the results from BT Group strike ballots Sign up for FREE for the biggest new releases, reviews and tech hacks SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info According to reports, around 25,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) at BT and Openreach and 9,000 BT call centre workers were balloted and overwhelmingly backed industrial action, the (CWU) recently said. BT employees have voted overwhelmingly in favour of holding a national strike for the first time in 35 years, sparking the latest industrial action dispute over wages. Related articles Where is the safest place in the UK during nuclear war? Top 20 areas Trade unions and Labour could split as 'summer of discontent' looms … [Read more...] about BT national strike threatens to severely hamper broadband as employees set to walk out

Russian-led airstrikes reportedly saw at least 18 people killed on Tuesday in northwest Syria, where tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee violence. Among the victims: a family of eight, including six children, who were killed in the rural village of Kfar Taal, west of Aleppo, and another four civilians who were killed in Maardabseh in the southeast of Idlib province, according to Reuters. With the latest ceasefire attempt in northwestern Syria failing to bring violence in the opposition-held Idlib province to a halt, many of those displaced by the conflict have told humanitarian workers they only have one real ally in this fight: the weather. After the ceasefire negotiated between Turkey, which has long backed Syrian rebels, and Russia, failed to take hold, Médecins Sans Frontières Project Coordinator for Syria Cristian Reynders told Newsweek that most Syrians fleeing the fighting would have been more "surprised if the ceasefire would have helped." "We have … [Read more...] about Syrians “trapped” in overcrowded tent camps forced to trade their last possessions for food, MSF worker says

During its astonishing Tuesday hearing about Donald Trump’s actions on the day of January 6 , the House select committee investigating the insurrection made clear that the integrity of its work is under threat. “The same people who drove the former president’s pressure campaign to overturn the election are now trying to cover up the truth about January 6,” warned committee chair Bennie Thompson. “But thanks to the courage of certain individuals, the truth won’t be buried.” The main individual he seemed to have in mind was Cassidy Hutchinson, once an aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who testified to the former president’s violent and bizarre behavior—demanding that rally-goers with guns and knives be allowed onto the Ellipse to hear his speech and exploding in rage when his security detail refused to drive him to the Capitol, as rioters there began to overwhelm law enforcement. At the hearing’s end, the committee displayed messages received by some of those … [Read more...] about The January 6 Committee Is Going to Have the Final Word

Russia's alliance with China a 'turning point in security' Get pensions news and advice plus latest money alerts for FREE now SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info The National People's Congress — the annual meeting of China ’s parliamentary body — kicked off on Saturday, March 5, in the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square. Premier Li Keqiang delivered the 2022 work report, which unleashes fiscal spending and tax cuts to spur investment and consumption, aimed to ease an ongoing slowdown, stimulate growth and project confidence. Related articles West’s greatest challenge in curbing China and Russia China 'to cancel Premier League broadcasts' in support of Russia All eyes are on the … [Read more...] about China economy in freefall as policymakers ‘fake’ stability at crunch meeting

Jaguar Land Rover fell to another hefty loss during lockdown and announced plans for further cost savings, raising fears of more job cuts ahead. Shutting plants because of coronavirus cost JLR £1.1bn, the car maker said, as it reported a £413m pre-tax loss in the first quarter. The lockdown contributed to a 42.4pc fall in retail sales to just 74,067 cars in the three months to the end of June. Revenues declined in line with sales, falling from £5.07bn last year to £2.9bn during the quarter. Jaguar Land Rover said the plunge into the red, which compares with a £383m loss a year ago, highlighted the results of the “Charge+” cost-cutting programme introduced by chief executive Sir Ralf Speth in 2019. The plan delivered £1.2bn of savings and cash improvements during the quarter, JLR said. As a result, the targets of the efficiency drive are now being increased for the full year from £1.5bn to £2.5bn. So far Charge+ has saved £4.7bn and JLR now hopes it will deliver £6bn … [Read more...] about Fears for jobs as Jaguar Land Rover crashes to another loss

Has Kwasi Kwarteng gone too far already? The new Business Secretary has spent the first few days in the job busily playing down the widely-held perception that he is a Right-winger. He has distanced himself from the more extreme free-marketeer views he espoused in the 2012 pamphlet entitled Britannia Unchained, which outlined his vision for the country. As a newly elected MP, Kwarteng – along with Liz Truss, Dominic Raab, Priti Patel and Chris Skidmore – denounced the UK’s “bloated state, high taxes and excessive regulation”, and described British workers as “among the worst idlers in the world”. And, despite being appointed less than a month ago, he has already executed his first U-turn, abandoning a post-Brexit review of workers’ rights after he was attacked for wanting to water down protections. When we meet (virtually, of course), he is adamant that much of the criticism was baseless: “People say we want to abolish workers’ rights; nothing could be further from the … [Read more...] about Kwasi Kwarteng: Brexit is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity we must take advantage of

For dozens of members of Congress, this is déjà vu. House Democrats are moving swiftly in their impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. As they do so, longtime Washington lawmakers have receded into their partisan corners, determined to convince the American people why now—and not decades ago—they're right about whether a sitting president might need to be removed from office. This time around, Democrats say the president has crossed the line and has committed impeachable offenses by pressuring a foreign leader to investigate a political opponent. Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July phone call to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son for potential corruption, while invoking the names of his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr, in addition to withholding hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign military aid at the same time. Last time around, in the late 1990s, Republicans impeached President … [Read more...] about The hypocrisy of impeachment: How lawmakers’ stances on ousting a president changed from Clinton to Trump