Lloyds Bank: UK government no longer top shareholder

Image copyright Getty Images The UK government is no longer the biggest stakeholder in Lloyds Banking Group, after it cut its stake to less than 6%.
The government spent £20.3bn to acquire a 43% stake in Lloyds at the height of the financial crisis.
It has already said it wants to return the bank to full private ownership during the course of 2017.
The biggest shareholder in Lloyds is now Blackrock, the world"s largest asset manager.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is still about 71%-owned by the government. In the aftermath of the 2008-2009 banking crisis the UK government had to spend a total of £115bn to rescue Lloyds Banking Group and RBS from imminent collapse.
UK Financial Investments, which manages the government"s stake, stopped selling Lloyds" shares last January because of financial market volatility.
In October, it resumed sales to institutional investors, but because of continued volatility, the shares were not made available to member of the public.
Anal..

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Apple preparing to enter talks with Indian government on opening local manufacturing plant

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Indian PM Narendra Modi
After relaxing its regulations that required foreign tech companies to locally source at least 30 percent of products sold in retail stores, the Indian Government said last week that it won’t give in to any more demands by Apple, or any other tech comp..

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Theresa May: Government not muddled over Brexit

Prime Minister Theresa May has said the government"s thinking on Brexit “isn"t muddled at all”.
Her comments on Sky News come after the UK"s former ambassador to the EU, Sir Ivan Rogers, criticised ministers" approach to negotiations.
Brexit talks with the EU are expected to begin as early as April.
Mrs May said the government"s priority was to get the “best possible deal in terms of our trading relationship with the European Union”.

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Driverless cars "to increase congestion" says government

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The study used software to map out the effects of driverless cars on the road network Driverless cars could initially lead to longer delays on the UK"s major roads, according to a government report.
The Department for Transport predicted a “decline in network performance” once one in four cars become driverless.
However, should driverless vehicles make up between 50% and 75% of cars, DfT researchers say they will reduce congestion.
The average time spent delayed on city roads at rush hour will fall by 12.4% when 25% of vehicles are driverless.
The DfT said early models of the vehicles acted more cautiously and the result could be a “potential decrease in effective capacity” on motorways and A roads.
But as more people adopted the technology and it became common place on the country"s road network, the study found that congestion could be cut by 40%.
Driverless car tested in public in UK Insurers: "Give us driverless car da..

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Ian Duncan Smith: "Maybe Rogers didn"t have government"s trust"

Iain Duncan Smith suggests the UK"s outgoing ambassador to the EU, Sir Ivan Rogers, didn"t have the government"s trust.

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National Parks in England "have lost millions in government funding"

Image caption Exmoor is one of England"s best-known National Parks National Parks in England have lost millions of pounds of government funding in the past five years, says the Press Association news agency.
Their funding was cut by a quarter from 2011 to 2016, according to an investigation by the agency.
The government is committed to raising parks" budgets between now and 2020.
However, funding in 2020 will be as much as a fifth below 2010 levels, said the study, even before inflation is taken into account.
Among the parks affected were the Peak District, with annual funding cut from £8.3m to £6.3m, and the Lake District from £6.9m to £5.2m.
The investigation found that once inflation was taken into account cuts over the five years were even more severe, at 40% in real terms.
In 2015, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) pledged to increase the direct grant for National Parks by 1.72% a year for most parks up to 2020.
National Park funding in En..

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Government advisers" pay costs £7.9m

The wage bill for ministers" special advisers is set to be £7.9m in 2017.
The best-paid are Prime Minister Theresa May"s two joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who are each on £140,000 a year.
Six advisers to Mrs May – who is paid £150,402 as prime minister – earn more than £100,000.
According to the newly-published breakdown, there are 83 special advisers working in government, down from 95 in December 2015.
Special advisers, known as “spads”, are funded by government departments and employed to give advice over and above the work carried out by Whitehall"s 420,000 civil servants, often from a more political standpoint.
Mrs May has the same number of special advisers – 32 – in her team as predecessor David Cameron, but has reduced the overall number across government.
Chancellor Philip Hammond has five special advisers and Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson each have three.
The total wage bill is forecast to be £500,000 lower..

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Government borrowing falls less than expected in November

Image copyright Getty Images Government borrowing fell in November to £12.6bn, down £0.6bn from November 2015, according to the Office for National Statistics.
However, the fall was less than analysts had been expecting.
The monthly borrowing figure had been expected to shrink to £11.6bn, according to an economists" poll.
Borrowing for the financial year so far is down on last year. From April to November, borrowing, excluding state-owned banks, fell by £7.7bn to £59.5bn.
Despite the bigger-than-expected increase in November"s borrowing figure, economists said the government was on track to meet its less ambitious deficit forecast set out in November"s Autumn Statement.
Chancellor Philip Hammond said at the time the government was aiming for a higher budget deficit of £68.2bn for the full financial year, well above predecessor George Osborne"s £55.5bn target.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Chancellor Philip Hammond may have to borrow more, just to keep up the..

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EU data retention ruling goes against UK government

Image copyright PA The UK government says it is “disappointed” after the European Court of Justice said the “indiscriminate” collection of data was against EU law.
EU judges said communications data could only be retained if it was used to fight serious crime.
Its verdict came after a legal challenge to the UK government"s surveillance legislation.
The challenge was initially championed by Brexit Secretary David Davis, who was then a backbench Conservative MP.
The Lib Dems said the ruling proved the government had “overstepped the mark” with its Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act, branded the “snoopers" charter” by critics, which requires communications companies to retain data for 12 months.
"Proper scrutiny"The ECJ has ruled that a “general and indiscriminate retention” of data is against EU law and can only be done under certain conditions and “solely for the purpose of fighting serious crime”.
Its ruling confirms a preliminary verdict in July. The case..

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Government backs SNP MP"s violence against women bill

Image caption Eilidh Whiteford said the vote had “sent out a strong signal to women across the UK” The UK government has supported an SNP MP"s bill to ratify an international convention on combating violence against women and girls.
The government signed up to the Istanbul Convention in June 2012 but is yet to formally ratify it.
Banff and Buchan MP Eilidh Whiteford put forward a member"s bill on the subject, calling for a “united voice”.
Ministers said they are “committed” to the convention, and the bill moved to the next stage by 135 votes to 2.
However Home Office minister Brandon Lewis also said he would want to amend the bill at a later stage to remove a four-week timetable included, leading to calls for “hard, specific dates” on when action would be taken.
"Bottom drawer"The Scottish government had also urged the UK to ratify the Council of Europe accord. It states that “it is the obligation of the state to fully address” violence against women “in all its fo..

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Children "left at risk by government reform delay"

Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption Some 800,000 children need protection every year Children are being left “at risk of harm” because of the government"s failure to develop “credible” plans to improve child protection, MPs warn.
“Urgent” action is needed to end the variations in the quality of help for vulnerable children in England, the Public Accounts Committee says.
The MPs called for the publication of detailed plans to transform child protection services.
The government says it has a relentless focus on keeping children safe.
The MPs said progress had been “too slow” in the five-and-a-half years since a government-commissioned review, the Munro Report, called for a major overhaul of the system.
Professor Eileen Munro was commissioned by then Education Secretary Michael Gove to conduct a review of child protection services.
"Completely unacceptable"Her 2011 report called for social workers to be freed from excessive bureaucracy, centrally imposed targets and ..

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MPs back government"s Brexit timetable

MPs have voted to back the government"s plan to start formal talks on Brexit by the end of March next year.
They also supported a Labour motion calling for Parliament to “properly scrutinise” the government in its proposals for leaving the EU.
The votes followed a compromise between Labour and the Conservatives, who had argued over the questions to be put.
The House of Commons" decisions are not binding on ministers.
MPs backed Labour"s motion, saying the government should publish a plan and it was “Parliament"s responsibility to properly scrutinise the government” over Brexit, by 448 votes to 75 – a margin of 373.
This followed another vote over the government"s amendment to the motion, which added the proviso that its timetable for triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, getting formal talks with the EU under way, should be respected.
MPs backed this by 461 votes to 89 – a margin of 372.
RebelsAfter Labour proposed its motion, Prime Minister Theresa May..

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Does government want UK in customs union?

Emily Thornberry reminds David Lidington of his past comments on the EU customs union.

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Supreme Court to hear government appeal over Brexit powers

Image copyright Supreme Court Image caption The 11 Supreme Court justices, pictured with Lord Toulson (top row, far left who is now retired) will all preside over the government"s appeal The Supreme Court will begin a landmark legal hearing on Monday into whether Parliament"s consent is required before official Brexit negotiations can begin.
Its 11 justices will hear a government appeal against last month"s High Court ruling that only Parliament has the authority to trigger Article 50.
The hearing, to be streamed live by the BBC, is expected to last four days, but the verdict is not due until next year.
The outcome will have implications for Theresa May"s strategy for EU exit.
What is the Article 50 case all about? Who are the 11 Supreme Court justices? What if ministers lose? Who is the woman behind the Brexit case? The UK voted to leave the EU, by a margin of 51.9% to 48.1%, in a referendum in June.
The prime minister has said she intends to officially notify..

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Refugees fleeing Aleppo "held by government"

Image Caption: Civilians have been fleeing from east Aleppo where fighting is intensifying Hundreds of civilians fleeing war-torn Aleppo are being detained and questioned by the Syrian government, say observers.
A spokesperson for the Syrian military immediately denied the claims made by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), insisting peo..

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Government starts review of "gig" economy

Image copyright Reuters A team of four experts is preparing to tour the UK to explore how the “gig” economy is affecting workers" rights.
Mathew Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society for the Arts, was appointed last month to lead the review into the impact of “disruptive” businesses such as Uber and Deliveroo.
New technology combined with new business models has led to a rise in workers doing short-term, casual work.
Many are not eligible for the minimum wage, sickness or maternity pay.
The review will address questions of job-security, pension, holiday and parental leave rights. It will also look at “employer freedoms and obligations”.
Mr Taylor will be joined by the entrepreneur, Greg Marsh, who founded onefinestay, a company which helps upmarket home-owners let their properties to visitors, Paul Broadbent chief executive of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority and employment lawyer, Diane Nicol.
The team will be talking to businesses and workers across the UK, includi..

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Government tells companies to justify executive pay rates

Media captionThe Business Secretary Greg Clark speaks to Radio 4"s Today programme about executive pay The government is to outline moves later to make companies justify high levels of executive pay.
Among the measures under consideration are pay ratios, which would show the gap in earnings between the chief executive and an average employee.
Shareholders would also be handed more powers to vote against bosses" pay, while workers would have a “voice” on boards, under the consultation plans.
Theresa May has made tackling corporate excess one of her priorities in office.
The average chief executive of a FTSE 100 firm is now paid close to £5m, more than 170 times the average worker, according to the High Pay Centre.
“There may be some circumstances where that is defensible, but it should be for the boards of companies and executives to justify that,” Business Secretary Greg Clark told the BBC.
He said the UK was not alone in targeting pay ratios, with the US set to report them..

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"Have cake and eat it" Brexit notes played down by government

Image copyright Barcroft Images Image caption The document referred to Brexit talks and the EU single market The government has distanced itself from a page of Brexit notes caught on camera in Westminster.
The handwritten notes, carried by an aide to Conservative MP Mark Field, included “what"s the model? Have your cake and eat it” and “unlikely” in reference to the EU single market.
They were photographed after Mr Field and his aide left a meeting with the Brexit department at 9 Downing Street.
The government said the notes did not reflect its Brexit position.
“These individual notes do not belong to a government official or a special adviser. They do not reflect the government"s position in relation to Brexit negotiations,” a spokesman said.
Captured on long-lens camera by photographer Steve Back, they refer to difficulties the government faces after it begins the formal two-year process of EU withdrawal next year.
“Difficult on article 50 implementation – Barnier wants to..

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Autumn Statement: Government defends post-Brexit vote economy forecasts

Media captionPhilip Hammond opened his Autumn Statement by looking at the UK economic figures. The government has defended economic forecasts in the chancellor"s Autumn Statement after criticism by some pro-Brexit MPs that they are too gloomy.
Philip Hammond quoted Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts of more government borrowing and reductions in economic growth after the Brexit vote.
Ex-minister Iain Duncan Smith claimed the OBR “hasn"t got anything right.”
But treasury minister David Gauke said it was right to work on the basis that the OBR forecasts were correct.
Mr Hammond told MPs the UK"s deficit would no longer be cleared by 2020, while the OBR estimated the government would have to borrow an extra £122bn compared with what was forecast in March, with the referendum result accounting for £58.7bn of this.
The Brexit vote meant potential growth in the current Parliament would be 2.4% lower than forecast in March, according to the OBR.
The OBR said pr..

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Autumn Statement: Government defends post-Brexit economy forecasts

Media captionPhilip Hammond opened his Autumn Statement by looking at the UK economic figures. The government has defended economic forecasts in the Chancellor"s Autumn Statement after criticism by some pro-Brexit MPs that they are too gloomy.
Philip Hammond quoted Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predictions of increases in borrowing and reductions in economic growth following Brexit.
Ex-minister Iain Duncan Smith claimed the OBR “hasn"t got anything right.”
But treasury minister David Gauke said it was right to work on the basis that the OBR forecasts were correct.
Mr Hammond told MPs the UK"s deficit would no longer be cleared by 2020, while the OBR estimated the UK would have to borrow an extra £122bn compared with what was forecast in March, with the referendum result accounting for £58.7bn of this.
The Brexit vote meant potential growth in the current Parliament would be 2.4% lower than forecast in March, according to the OBR.
The organisation said its for..

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