Government to introduce legislation which means trade deals with bloc can be rubber-stamped without full vote in Parliament Daily Telegraph 13/04/26 European Union single market rules will be imposed on Britain without a full vote in Parliament under plans being drawn up by Labour. The Government will introduce legislation which means that once a trade deal has been struck with the bloc, any further rule changes can be rubber-stamped by MPs without debate. Ministers have already started negotiations on trade deals covering food and drink, net zero rules and access to the EU’s electricity market. But Sir Keir Starmer wants to go further and said earlier this month he wanted to start talks on an “ambitious” set of new deals, which could include cars, robotics, life sciences and climate technology robotics, life sciences and climate technology. It is the latest step in the Prime Minister’s “reset” with the EU under which Britain aims to align its trading rules more closely with tho...
Tenants could be given first refusal at ‘fair market price’ on home sales Daily Telegraph 10/04/26 Landlords could be banned from selling their properties to the highest bidder under plans unveiled by the Scottish National Party (SNP) ahead of the election. John Swinney, the First Minister, pledged to introduce new laws that would give private renters “a period of first refusal” if their homes come up for sale, which would prevent landlords from freely selling their properties on the open market. Landlords would be forced to first offer their properties to their tenants “at a fair market price” if they put them up for sale, the SNP leader said. However, Mr Swinney did not explain how that price would be decided or by whom. Properties in areas such as Edinburgh are commonly sold for tens of thousands of pounds above their home report valuation. If that valuation were used as the basis for the new laws, landlords could lose a significant amount compared with selling on the open m...