Conservative government

At lunchtime today, Philip Hammond will give the weakened Conservative government’s first budget in the new parliament.

Against a likely backdrop of downgrades for the economy from the OBR, the Chancellor will be under immense pressure to provide a sound plan going forward on many issues. As Statista's Martin Armstrong notes, the NHS has already had its call for an emergency boost of £4 billion rejected, but there will need to be at least some answers to the problems surrounding health and public services funding.

The Conservative government in the UK have begun the process of privatising the BBC, by abolishing its governing body the BBC Trust.  Britain’s state broadcaster is to suffer a Tory shakeup which will see the Trust being replaced with a ‘unitary board of governors’, half of which will be government officials. RT.com reports: The overhaul will make the BBC more “accountable to its listeners,” Culture Secretary John Whittingdale said in a statement. However, Shadow Culture Secretary Maria Eagle said the reforms could be seen as a way of exerting government control over the broadcaster.

A federal court ruling against the ban of growing medical marijuana introduced by the previous Conservative government, was confirmed by Canada’s new Liberal government on Thursday. It allows medical marijuana users to regain their right to grow their own cannabis herbs to fight common diseases that modern medicine cannot help with. Medical Daily reports: The federal government said Canada’s medical marijuana laws would be rewritten to reflect the court’s judgment, setting a deadline of Aug. 24 to finalize the changes.