Industry News
1st February 2008
Home Office Consults on UK Visa System
Immigration Minister Liam Byrne has launched a national, and international, consultation on updating Britain's visa system. Questions raised include the creation of a separate category for people wanting to visit family in the UK and visa sponsors facing penalties if family members do not comply with visa conditions. Byrne said: "I'm clear our visit visa system is out of date".
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31st January 2008
Tory MP's 10 Day Commons Suspension
MPs have agreed to suspend Conservative MP Derek Conway from the Commons for 10 days over the misuse of public funds to pay his son. He has also been ordered to return up to £13,161 of the money paid out. After having the Tory whip removed on Tuesday, Conway has since confirmed he will not seek to be selected to contest his seat in the next General Election.
31st January 2008
First Darling Budget Date Announced
The Treasury has announced that Chancellor Alistair Darling's first Budget will be delivered on 12 March at 12.30pm.
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31st January 2008
Queen Appoints First Female Serjeant at Arms
The Queen has approved the appointment Jill Pay as the first female Serjeant at Arms in the House of Commons. Pay has been working in the Palace of Westminster since 1994, most recently as Assistant Sergeant since 2004, and takes over from Major General Peter Grant Peterkin who retired from the office in December. The Serjeant at Arms is responsible for security and keeping order within the Commons. The equivalent post in the House of Lords is Black Rod.
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30th January 2008
Baroness Vadera Takes BERR Competitiveness Role
Baroness Shriti Vadera has replaced Stephen Timms as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Competitiveness. Her responsibilities at BERR include: enterprise, growth and business investment; better regulation within BERR and business sectors including: e-commerce, communications and information industries, pharmaceuticals, construction and retail. Timms recently moved to the Department for Work and Pensions to become Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform.
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30th January 2008
Cameron Plans Increased Police Stop & Search Powers
Conservative leader, David Cameron, has spoken about plans to upgrade the Police's stop and search powers. Under the banner of mending Broken Britain, Cameron intends to allow Police officers more freedom to carry out "far more stopping and far more searching". In an interview with The Sun newspaper, he said "Stop and search rules were put in place to protect young black and Asian British kids. Now, it's the young black and British Asian kids that are being stabbed and shot and the rules are getting in the way of protecting them."
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29th January 2008
Conservative MP Conway's Controversy
Following Conservative MP Derek Conway's apology in response to the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee report which criticised the employment of his son, a former Liberal Democrat candidate in Mr Conway's Old Bexley & Sidcup seat, Duncan Borrowman, has indicated on his Blog that he has raised a second complaint with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards seeking further investigation of the matter.
Speaking about the payments controversy as a whole, the Liberal Democrats Shadow Justice Secretary David Heath said that the authorities need to reinforce confidence in MPs expenses "There are two things that the authorities could do to allay public concern over this issue. Firstly, they should immediately introduce the recommendation of the Senior Salaries Review Body that auditors should be able to carry out spot checks on MPs’ expenses to ensure they are being spent appropriately. Secondly, it should be a matter of public record who is employed on the public payroll by MPs".
27th January 2008
Cabinet Mini-Reshuffle
Following the resignation of Peter Hain, James Purnell has been appointed Work and Pensions Secretary. In turn, Purnell is succeeded by Andy Burnham as Culture Secretary; Yvette Cooper becomes Chief Secretary to the Treasury; Caroline Flint replaces her as Housing Minister. Paul Murphy has been appointed Ssecretary of State for Wales. Tom Watson becomes Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office; Gillian Merron becomes Parliamentary under Secretary of State at the Department for International Development whilst Phil Hope takes on responsibility as Minister for the East Midlands. Baroness Vadera has been appointed as Under Secretary of State at the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. Click here to read about more appointments
26th January 2008
Hain's Resignation Letter
Read a copy of Peter Hain's regisnation letter and Gordon Brown's response posted online at the Times newspaper website
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24th January 2008
Heywood Announced as No.10 Permanent Secretary
Downing Street has announced the appointment of Jeremy Heywood as Permanent Secretary of No.10. Heywood is currently Permanent Secretary, Domestic Policy at the Cabinet Office. The new post reports directly to the Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary and is the most senior civil service post in Downing Street.
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