6 d. ago French theme park firm won UK government support despite far

Tory trade minister promised to ‘assist’ plans to open £600m Puy du Fou site in Oxfordshire, emails showsA French business that is planning to build a vast £600m historical theme park in rural Oxfordshire won help for its plans from the previous government despite its founding family’s ties to the far right and past praise of Vladimir Putin.Correspondence obtained under freedom of information (FoI) laws showed the Conservative peer Dominic Johnson, a business and trade minister in Rishi Sunak’s government, promised to “assist” Puy du Fou – one of France’s most popular theme parks – in finding a UK site. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Brexiteer Gove ‘knows all about crazy mathematics’, says Treasury minister

The Conservative peer and Spectator editor had challenged the Labour front bench over the decline in the number of teachers in state education.

Politics

3 w. ago Michelle Mone hits out at Tory hypocrisy as she says she won’t return as Conservative peer

High Court ruled PPE Medpro provided government with 25 million faulty surgical gowns during pandemic

Events

3 w. ago Baroness Michelle Mone resigns as Conservative peer after PPE scandal

Michelle Mone, who has links to PPE Medpro wrote a letter to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch after accusing Chancellor Rachel Reeves of using 'dangerous and inflammatory' language about her

Politics

3 w. ago Scrapping landmark legislation risks future jobs, says Tory ex

Conservative peer Alok Sharma urged his party not to ‘squander’ its legacy of climate progress.

Events

3 w. ago UK government wins £122m pandemic case against Michelle Mone

Trial heard 25m surgical gowns supplied by PPE Medpro to protect NHS staff were unusable and could ‘seriously harm or kill patients’VIP lanes and 25m faulty gowns: what PPE Medro trial reveals about Tory response to CovidThe government has won its legal claim against a company linked to the Conservative peer Michelle Mone for the return of millions of pounds paid for personal protective equipment during the Covid pandemic.The Department of Health and Social Care sued the company, PPE Medpro, in December 2022, arguing that it had not complied with PPE laws to ensure that 25m surgical gowns it provided under a June 2020 government contract were sterile. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago The abortion pill is safe. But why should Trump let facts get in the way of his agenda? | Moira Donegan

RFK Jr is conducting a review of mifepristone, citing a deeply flawed study. The move could be devastating for womenRobert F Kennedy Jr’s health department is conducting a new review of mifepristone, the drug used in the majority of American abortions, claiming that a new study from a conservative thinktank has raised concerns about its safety.Mifepristone, which was approved by the FDA 25 years ago this month, has repeatedly been proven safe and effective for use terminating pregnancies in both multiple medical trials and in widespread patient use over the past quarter of a century. The report cited by Kennedy, meanwhile, comes from the Ethics and Public Policy Center – a group that applies “the Jewish and Christian traditions” to modern law and pushes back “against the extreme progressive agenda while building a consensus for conservatives” – and was not peer reviewed. The study has been heavily criticized by medical experts for its methodology and lack of transparency regarding h...

Politics