5 Things You Need To Know (17/3/17)

Welcome to our “Things You Need To Know” daily update. Every day we’ll be here for you, summarising the key talking points in as quick of a time as possible.

1. George Osborne Appointed Editor Of London Evening Standard

In a surprise development, former Chancellor George Osborne has been appointed the new editor of the London Evening Standard.

He will continue as an MP, with the newspaper allowing him time to manage both roles.

Mr Osborne said: “I am proud to be a Conservative MP, but as editor and leader of a team of dedicated and independent journalists, our only interest will be to give a voice to all Londoners.”

2. David Cameron On £70,000 Fine

Former Prime Minister David Cameron has reacted to news that the Conservative Party will be fined £70,000 for election spending breaches. Part of the rule breaking occurred during Cameron’s successful 2015 re-election campaign.

“In terms of a party being fined, this is not the first time this has happened. Other parties have been fined. In terms of the percentage of spending that wasn’t declared that should have been declared, it was something like 0.6% of total spending,” he said.

3. UK Responds To Trump Tower Allegations

The UK has backed the White House down on allegations that GCHQ spied on Donald Trump.

“We’ve made clear to the administration that these claims are ridiculous and they should be ignored and we’ve received assurances that these allegations will not be repeated,” a spokesman for Theresa May told reporters.

The spokesman went on to push the “close special relationship” between the UK and USA.

President Trump had previously tweeted “How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!”

Prompting the UK’s rebuttal, was Trump’s Press Secretary Sean Spicer repeating a claim by a Fox News analyst that GCHQ had been used to spy on Trump Tower before November’s Presidential election.

4. YouTube Ad Problems

The UK government has removed all of its adverts from YouTube, due to concerns over them appearing next to inappropriate material on the video site.

Extremist content can be found on the video sharing site, which has also resulted in media companies like the BBC, Channel 4, The Guardian, and others pulling their YouTube advertisements.

Google have said they are looking into content controls.

5. President Trump Takes Aim At North Korea… And China

Donald Trump has tweeted “North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been “playing” the United States for years. China has done little to help!”

While his criticism of North Korea is understandable, the shot against China could be seen as a poor diplomatic move. Trump has previously faced criticism for his views on China.