-Everything from buying a pint to registering with a new GP to be done through online verification in future
-Govt. plans to "remove regulatory barriers"
"One of the many advantages of Brexit is we will soon be able to bin such idiotic laws. We will be able to navigate between America’s poor protection of privacy and the EU’s hostility to technology and entrepreneurs."
Many thanks to @alexwickham for shout-out in today's Playbook. Can attest from personal experience that this right here is public service journalism.
Baroness Hallett wrote to Boris Johnson on February 3 with a list of 150 questions about the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Some of them are pretty savage – basically asking Johnson why he didn’t sack Hancock, why he didn’t attend Cobra in Feb 2020. Some of the best...
"In relation to the response to Covid 19, did you have any concerns regarding the performance of any Cabinet Minister between January 2022 - February 2022?
(...) did you receive advice from the then Cabinet Secretary that Matt Hancock MP, should be removed from his position?"
"To what extent did you believe that coronavirus was akin to influenza? Did you hold and express the initial view in early 2020 that Covid-19 was not a serious threat and was akin to swine flu?"
Exc - An escalating subsidies war between the US and China is set to cause serious damage to the UK economy, according to leaked internal government documents seen by the Times.
The documents, circulated among a small group of cabinet ministers, say the Inflation Reduction Act demonstrates US determination to defend its key industries against China, even if the protectionism comes “at the UK’s expense”.
The analysis says the UK cannot adopt “a wholesale activist industrial policy” like the US, EU or China because it is only a “mid-sized economy outside major trading blocs”.
But nevertheless it suggests UK will need to adopt a more interventionist approach to the economy.
Surprise, surprise, we now learn there were Whatsapps.
@cabinetofficeuk Downing Street was asked today if they would release the Whatsapps.
They refused.
PM's spx: “The Prime Minister is acting in accordance with the rules and you’ve got Lord Geidt’s report.”
UPDATE
@ICOnews has now launched an investigation into Cabinet Office.
Spx: “We’ve received a complaint regarding the Cabinet Office’s response to a freedom of information request around the renovation of the 10 Downing Street flat, and will be making enquiries.”