Labour Budget Strains Wokingham Charities Tuesday, 5 November, 2024 by Cllr George Evans The recent Labour budget has introduced significant financial pressures for Wokingham’s charity sector, which plays a crucial role in supporting our community’s most vulnerable residents. Local charities, which already operate on lean budgets, are now grappling with the increased costs from national insurance contributions and the minimum wage hike. These changes place an... Local News
Climate realism 5th August 2021 Allegra Stratton, the official Climate change spokeswoman, has been struggling to find things we could all do to advance their chosen cause of heading to net... Westminster News
Reviewing quangos 4th August 2021 Today I refresh my suggestion that the government during its spending review improves its financial and policy controls over quangos. The long trend to hive off... Westminster News
Buying more at home 3rd August 2021 If a bus company buys a bus made abroad the impact of the transaction on the UK economy and state finances is very different to a bus company buying a UK made... Westminster News
Government and private sector investment 2nd August 2021 I’m all for better schools and health facilities. These services paid for out of taxation need a suitable level of capital spend each year to update older... Westminster News
Funny figures 31st July 2021 I rely a lot on official statistics to read trends and make policy suggestions to government. The problem is the figures themselves are very unreliable and need... Westminster News
More police officers than ever before 30th July 2021 Thames Valley PCC, Matthew Barber, has welcomed the announcement that 269 police officers have been recruited in Thames Valley since September 2019, bringing... Local News
Public spending review 30th July 2021 This autumn will see a major public spending review. There will be the usual pressure for higher sums for the NHS, for education and other crucial services... Westminster News
The Benefits of the Local Plan 29th July 2021 The Benefits of the Local Plan - Part 5 in a series on the Local Plan by Cllr John Halsall Leader of WBC Last week, John Halsall explained what the Council is... Local News
Secondary schools to benefit from Conservative Government’s £200 million summer school programme 29th July 2021 6 schools in Wokingham are among the 2,820 secondary schools across England that will receive funding through the £200 million Summer School programme. 542,710... Local News
Amanda Milling: ‘The PM still has support of Red Wall despite locking down the North’ 19th September 2020 Amanda Milling, chairwoman of the Conservative party, is wincing at the memory of being a government whip at the height of last year’s parliamentary paralysis... National News
Independent Investigation into Discrimination reaches second phase 18th September 2020 The Independent Investigation into Discrimination within the Conservative party reaches its second phase: the public call for evidence. National News
Prime Minister’s statement on protecting the Union: Speech in Full 14th September 2020 The Prime Minister sets out the case for the Internal Market Bill, which would secure free trade inside of the United Kingdom once we exit the transition period... National News
UK and Japan agree historic free trade agreement 14th September 2020 This deal will boost trade between our two countries by £15.2 billion, creating jobs and delivering new opportunities across every part of the United Kingdom. National News