News about Anthony Browne

The Government has revealed that the EV chargepoint grant will go to owners without a driveway. A further £185 million pledged to councils to finance a public chargepoint rollout would make charging for thousands of drivers much more accessible.

By 2028, flying taxis will be whizzing around British skies, according to the government. The cars are expected to travel more than three times faster than by car. The aircraft are cheaper, greener, and quieter than helicopters, with a maximum speed of up to 100 miles per hour. Ministers in Washington, D.C., today will present optimistic plans to bring this science fiction fantasy into reality by reforming existing laws and infrastructure. According to the Government, flying taxis will be in the air above us by 2028 and possibly without a pilot by 2030.

In a world first, a new'revolutionary' autonomous robot has been sent on British roads to reduce pothole formation. The Autonomous Road Repair System (ARRES) spent its first-ever outing with tar in Hertfordshire's cracked roads. ARRES PREVENT, a company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to find flaws in the road and fill them in before they develop potholes, saving time and money while also providing endless irritation to drivers. The droid, which uses state-of-the-art imaging technology, is the product of a software firm run by Robotiz3d and academics from the University of Liverpool, who work with highways engineers at Hertfordshire County Council, which is HCC).

Following a string of tragic fires, the government released critical new instructions on e-bike and escooter safety today.

More than 20 UK stores now have devices installed, according to a 'Smart Charge.' Several hundred UK supermarkets will have them before the year's end, with charging times ranging from ten to 80%. Does your local store have one?

New regulations came into force today (3 January 2024) that will force vehicle manufacturers to produce an increasing number of hybrid cars (EV) from this year until 2035's ban on new petrol and diesel sales. The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate has been officially introduced by minsters as the world's most comprehensive regulatory framework for the transition to electric vehicles. Manufacturers have pledged to continue raising their share of battery car sales each year from this year. The legislation requires that 22% of every mainstream brand's vehicle registrations in 2024 must be electric, up to 28 percent this year and 80 percent by the end of the decade, before rising to 100 percent from 2035. Failure to achieve the ZEV statutory sales goals could result in significant fines for automakers of over £15,000 per model below the maximum threshold.

Since finding that none of Britain's ten busiest airports had fully installed fast-track security scanners, ministers have been accused of failing Christmas holidaymakers. Anthony Browne, the aviation minister, confirmed that the "next-generation security checkpoints," which are supposed to reduce waiting times by allowing passengers to leave laptops and liquids in their carry-on luggage, are only in place at one UK airport. This is expected to be London City, the country's 15th busiest airport, but there are concerns that the country's biggest transportation hubs won't finish the job by the June deadline. Last night, Heathrow, the busiest, said that it would not be able to confirm if it would meet the deadline. The complete installation will take until 2025, according to Manchester, the third busiest city, and Stansted, the fourth.

The 'Next Generation Security Checkpoints', which are supposed to reduce waiting times by allowing passengers to leave laptops and liquids in their carry-on luggage, were only available at one UK airport, according to Aviation Minister Anthony Browne. This is expected to be London City Airport, the country's 15th busiest airport, but there are concerns about whether the country's busiest transport hubs will be completed by the June deadline this year. Heathrow, the UK's busiest airport, could not confirm if they'll make it on time. Both Manchester, the third busiest city in the United Kingdom, and Stansted, the fourth, said that the complete installation will only be completed by 2025.

In the most densely populated local authority area in the United Kingdom, nearly 9,000 cars per day went down on an average street. According to study, residents of Hounslow frequently appear at the top of the list. Hillingdon was averaging of 8,670 people. There are 7,966 vehicles on the other side of the M25 in Essex. Thurrock is a vital hub and home to Lakeside's shopping center, so it is surprising that it is high on the list.

Let's get to the point. Fraud is the bane of our days, it's out of control, and it must be dealt with urgency. Our indepth look at the inside world of scams and fraud, which was published today, makes for shocking reading. It's revelatory, with overwhelming evidence indicating that if we take immediate action to nip fraud in the bud, it will stifle our lives as well as every other crime.

Members of Tory MPs have voiced their dissatisfaction today as Michael Gove's unveiling of new government plans to 'intensively' concentrate new housebuilding efforts in Britain's cities. Rather than 'concreting over the countryside,' the Housing Secretary outlined his vision of a 'new inner city revival.' He stuck by a Conservative manifesto pledge to build 300,000 homes by the mid-2020s, while Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has praised how the government is on track to achieve its target of one million houses between 2019 and 2020. But backbenchers in Cambridge struck out at Mr Gove's "nonsense schemes," with Anthony Browne, MP for South Cambridgeshire, pledging to combat Government plans for a 'new urban quarter.' He outlined how all major developments in the university city had been 'blockage' because the local area had 'quite literally run out of water.' Ministers, according to senior MP Sir John Redwood, should focus on repairing the mortgage market and reducing legal migration in order to combat the housebuilding crisis.

Customers' accounts are being redirected by the Treasury because they do not agree with their recommendations on controversial topics. Andrew Griffith (right) has been asked to investigate evidence that over-zealous lenders are blocking customers without good reason. A Tory MP who served as the head of the banking industry's trade body warned that the activity would have a 'chilling effect' on free expression. It comes after leading Brexiteer Nigel Farage and an Anglican priest said that their accounts were blocked due to differences with their banks.

South Cambridgeshire District Council has been the first in the country to give employees an extra day off. However, ratepayers were less than impressed (see bottom), with some taking to social media to request that their bills be reduced. One wrote, 'Council tax cuts have reduced by 20% since.' Others expressed indignation with the local services, posting pictures of roads littered with potholes (right) and complaining about late bin collection.

After appearing to admit that the four-day working week experiment had been conducted for the benefit of the county's unethical PhD program on the subject, Councillor Bridget Smith was also grilled. Yet, councillors voted in favor of extending the program to include 80 percent of the authority's desk-based employees who work 80 percent of their contracted hours without losing money. Ms Smith, a Lib Dem, told a council meeting yesterday: "The day off a week is a gift.' It's the gift of being able to perform better, more effectively, and get the job done in a shorter time span.' She argued that the first three-month pilot of the four-day week had greatly benefited the department, the military, and locals.

Liz Watts, the south Cambridgeshire district council chief executive, is secretly working on a university thesis about the four-day working week, as can be revealed. Staff were given the opportunity to be tested in a limited number of hours on full pay by both she and the council. However, neither she nor the Lib Dem-run local authority has ever disclosed that she has been researching for a PhD about the four-day working week. Ms Watts is now being asked to resign over a potential conflict of interest after being accused of mistreating employees and visitors as guinea pigs for her study at the University of the West of England (right). It comes ahead of a critical meeting tomorrow where councillors - who were unaware of Ms Watts' academic work - will determine whether or not to extend the four-day pilot to another year and include it to include binmen and caregivers in addition to office employees.

The decision by the Cambridge chip designer to select Wall Street over the city for its £50 billion public offering sparked soul searching in the City and Westminster. One analyst called it a "kick in the teeth," while another analyst, Philip Hammond, who was selling Arms to Japan's SoftBank in 2016: "London has become a less desirable location to sell, largely because of listing rules and the lack of deep pools of capital in London.' Julia Hoggett, the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, urged ministers to step up the pace of reform.

Softbank, a Japanese multinational, bought the Cambridge-based company in 2016 in a £26 billion swoop, but now wants to sell it. The preferred alternative is a stock market IPO on the Nasdaq in New York - where shares in rivals such as Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Intel are among the available choices. Arm shares are also listed in the United Kingdom, according to both the government and the London Stock Exchange.

Anthony Browne (pictured), a member of the Treasury Select Committee, has voted in favour of a bill that would force the government to publish BNPL data within 28 days of it being law. Browne, a former payday loan officer, said that BNPL was a "new hole" in the legislation that needed to be addressed in Parliament.