Politics

Controversial Labour attack adverts targeting Rishi Sunak were not a mistake and there are more to come, a senior shadow cabinet member has told Sky News. Wes Streeting argued it was “absolutely right to take the gloves off” and hold the government to account for its record. The social media campaign in which the opposition

The building of new smart motorways is being cancelled following concerns over safety and costs. Fourteen planned smart motorways – including 11 that are already paused and three earmarked for construction – will be removed from government road-building plans, Downing Street has confirmed. Existing stretches will remain but be subjected to a safety refit so

“All options are on the table” regarding possible coordinated strikes by junior doctors and nurses, a union representative has warned. Dr Arjan Singh, chair of the British Medical Association’s (BMA) junior doctors committee, refused to rule out the possibility of coordinating industrial action with Royal College of Nursing (RCN), saying: “We have a very close

Boris Johnson quoted Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day in his final address to the Commons as prime minister.  “‘Hasta la vista, Baby’ – thank you”, he signed off to MPs last July. The quotation, literally “until the view” in Spanish, is usually taken to mean “until we meet again” – a

Members of the Royal College of Nursing are to go on strike again after they voted against the latest government pay offer. The result comes despite a recommendation from union leaders that they accept it and means there will be a round-the-clock 48-hour strike – without exemptions – from 8pm on 30 April to 8pm

Members of the Royal College of Nursing are to go on strike again after they voted against the latest government pay offer. This is despite a recommendation from union leaders that they accept it and means there will be a round-the-clock 48-hour strike – without exemptions – from 8pm on 30 April to 8pm on

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of being a “total fraud” and the “wettest Labour leader” on crime by government minister Chris Philp. Mr Philp, who is responsible for policing, attacked the Labour leader’s record on crime, claiming it was “worse” than that of his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn. In response, Labour said Mr Philp “owes

So many different versions of what might have been in Belfast were considered in the planning for today’s visit by the US president.  If Stormont had been up and running, President Joe Biden would have gone there with Rishi Sunak. With power sharing still deadlocked, at one point they considered making a pointed trip to

Rishi Sunak says the relationship between the UK and US is “in great shape” after he held talks with Joe Biden, despite strong criticism of the president from one of Northern Ireland’s main parties. Mr Biden arrived in the region late last night for his trip to the island of Ireland to mark 25 years

SNP leader Humza Yousaf has revealed the firm dealing with his party’s accounts resigned about six months ago – and implied he was not previously aware. He said Johnston Carmichael stopped doing the SNP’s accounting “round about October” of last year but he could not “comment on what was done prior to me becoming a

US President Joe Biden has landed in Belfast to meet Rishi Sunak to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The policing operation around Mr Biden’s visit on Tuesday will be the biggest in nearly a decade, at an estimated cost around £7m. Around 300 officers from other parts of the UK will

Labour will continue with its controversial attacks on Rishi Sunak by turning attention to government “failures” over the cost of living crisis. The Labour leader has described the prime minister as the “chief architect of choices prioritising the wealthiest” as both parties gear up for the local elections next month. In a letter to his

Rishi Sunak has called for a swift return of the Stormont Assembly ahead of President Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland. “We must get on with the business of governance,” the prime minister said. He will meet Joe Biden when the US president steps off of Air Force One on Tuesday evening – not long after

After receiving a slap down from Tory HQ, Douglas Ross has stood by his controversial statements about tactical voting by essentially saying his comments were taken out of context. Earlier, he urged people to do “what’s best for the country” and support the candidate most likely to beat the SNP in their constituency. That could,

The mother of murdered nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel is backing voices pushing for a change in the law that would force criminals to attend their sentencing. It comes after Thomas Cashman, 34, refused to appear in the dock when he was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Monday after a jury found him guilty of murdering

Rishi Sunak will welcome President Joe Biden when he arrives in Belfast this week, pledging to fulfil the promise of the Good Friday Agreement as they mark its 25th anniversary and talking of a “better future” for Northern Ireland. The US president’s visit comes amid a heightened terror threat in Northern Ireland, and with power-sharing

Nicola Sturgeon has said she will “fully cooperate” with police after the arrest this week of her husband Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party (SNP). The former Scottish first minister broke her silence after Mr Murrell’s arrest on Wednesday as part of an investigation into the SNP’s finances. She said

More brothers and sisters could now be spared the upheaval of being separated when placed into care thanks to increased tax relief for foster parents. The change, announced in the Budget, increases the amount foster carers can earn from £10,000 to £18,140 without needing to pay any tax or National Insurance contributions. After fostering 120

The Labour Party have released a second advert attacking Rishi Sunak just hours after being accused of “gutter politics” for targeting the prime minister personally. Yesterday, the party’s Twitter account released an advert claiming Mr Sunak does not think child sex abusers should go to prison. The tweet on Friday afternoon suggests the prime minister

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to apologise over a Labour social media post which claimed Rishi Sunak doesn’t think child sex abusers should go to prison. The party has been accused of “gutter politics” and criticised by its own MPs after posting a message on its official Twitter account vowing to “lock up dangerous

Rishi Sunak has said no further action will be taken against minister Mark Spencer after an investigation cleared him of breaching the rules over the sacking of Tory colleague Nusrat Ghani. In his investigation into alleged Islamophobia, Sir Laurie Magnus said it was not possible to determine what the then chief whip said to Ms

A Conservative MP has been caught indicating he would be willing to break parliamentary lobbying rules for money in an undercover sting operation by The Times. Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, met undercover reporters posing as employees of TAHR Partners, a fake company lobbying to influence government policy, at a central London hotel

Ex-SNP chief executive Peter Murrell – the husband of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon – has been arrested following an investigation into the party’s finances. Police Scotland announced on Wednesday that a 58-year-old man was in custody and being questioned by detectives as part of an ongoing probe. Officers are also carrying out searches at

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has been disqualified from driving for six months after travelling at almost 30mph over a temporary speed limit on the M1. The MP for Newark, Nottinghamshire, was also fined a total of £1,639 at a court hearing on Tuesday. Mr Jenrick admitted to travelling at 68mph in a temporary 40mph zone

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has said convicted criminals should be forced to attend their sentencing in court, after Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s murderer Thomas Cashman refused to face his punishment. New videos of Olivia were released by her family the day after Cashman was sentenced to a minimum of 42 years in prison before parole is considered.

Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has been criticised for missing the conference of a major teaching union as its members prepare for a fresh round of strike action. Members of the National Education Union (NEU), the largest teaching union in the UK, have been on strike since February and are set to strike again

A new grooming gangs taskforce will be launched to stop the exploitation of children and young women, the government has announced. Specialist officers will help police forces with child sexual exploitation and abuse investigations “to bring more of these despicable criminals to justice”, Downing Street said. The new taskforce will be made up of officers

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has refused to confirm if deportation flights to Rwanda will begin this summer. The policy to deport migrants arriving in the UK on small boats to Rwanda is one of the home secretary’s key pledges. But since the scheme was introduced in April 2022, no flights have taken off due to

The Home Secretary has announced people working with children in England will have a new legal duty to report “signs or suspicions” of child sex abuse. Suella Braverman will announce new measures to beef up child protection on Sunday. Writing for the Mail on Sunday in an article published this evening, Ms Braverman set out

Conservative MPs defending slim majorities have accused colleagues of “gaming the system” to try and move to safer seats and maximise their chances of keeping their jobs. There is “fury” at the “ultra-confidential” process which will allow some Tories to switch constituencies ahead of the next election. Around 15 parliamentarians have applied to be declared

The UK has been accepted into an Indo-Pacific trade bloc in what the government says is its biggest trade deal since Brexit. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a free trade agreement between 11 countries across the Indo-Pacific, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and

Sir Keir Starmer says he is “prepared to be ruthless” to ensure Labour wins the next election, including when it comes to his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn. Earlier this week, Sir Keir put forward a motion to Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), to block Mr Corbyn from running for the party at the

An MP who travelled by train with COVID in the early stages of the pandemic is facing a 30-day suspension from the House of Commons – raising the possibility of a by-election. Margaret Ferrier admitted she broke COVID rules in September 2020 by travelling on a train between Scotland and London despite having tested positive