Politics

A review into tackling late payments for small companies from larger, more powerful firms has been launched by the government. Business Secretary Grant Shapps said delayed payments are a “real barrier” to improved productivity and job creation amid the current challenging economic situation. Large firms such as GlaxoSmithKline have been criticised by the government’s Small

Sajid Javid has announced he will not stand in the next general election, saying being an MP had been “the privilege of [his] life”. The former chancellor, who has held a number of senior roles in government alongside his Bromsgrove seat, is the most high-profile Tory MP to decide to step down at the next

This wasn’t just a bad result for the Conservatives and Rishi Sunak, it was a disaster. The Tory share of the vote in the City of Chester by-election slumped to only 22.4%. Tory MPs in red wall seats in the north of England will be even more despondent about their prospects at the next general

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said whenever we see racism “we must confront it” following the race row engulfing Buckingham Palace. A black domestic abuse campaigner from London said she was repeatedly asked where she “really came from” by Prince William‘s godmother during a reception at the palace this week. Although he refused to comment

The government is running out of prison places and has had to ask police for 400 cells to make sure there is enough accommodation for the prison population. Prisons minister Damian Hinds told MPs there had been an “acute and sudden increase in the prison population” in recent months and, as a result, the Operation

China’s military advances could “eventually lead to a clash” and the UK has been “asleep” to the threat it poses for the last 30 years, an influential Tory MP has warned. Tobias Ellwood, the chairman of the defence select committee, said Beijing is “taking advantage of a timid West” and Rishi Sunak’s speech declaring the

The ancient Romans considered Chester as strategically important as London. This week, it is arguably just as central to Labour and the Conservatives.  People in this affluent northern city will vote in the first Westminster by-election since Boris Johnson departed, the pound crashed, and Rishi Sunak replaced Liz Truss as prime minister. The contest was triggered

Aboard the Lady Diana, a tourist river cruise through Chester, there is little talk of the upcoming by-election: “We don’t do politics here”, captain Paul Blessing tells me, chuckling.  But dig a little deeper, and you will find strong views on everything from shops closing to sewage in the River Dee, queues at A&E and

Rishi Sunak has called last orders on the UK government’s cosy relationship with China. The UK needs to “evolve our approach” to China, he declared at the sumptuous Lord Mayor’s Banquet at the Guildhall in the City of London. The so-called “golden era” is over, he said, “along with the naive idea that trade would

Rishi Sunak could back down on his position to ban new onshore wind farms amid a growing Tory rebellion, a cabinet minister has suggested. Ex-prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss are among some 30 Conservatives backing former cabinet secretary Simon Clarke’s pro-wind amendment to the Levelling Up Bill. Business Secretary Grant Shapps denied the

The government will spend an extra £1bn to insulate the least energy-efficient homes in the UK, the business secretary has announced. Grant Shapps said the new Eco+ scheme was aimed at middle earners who do not benefit from any other government support to upgrade homes. Labour criticised it as a “reheated announcement with no new

Inflation-busting pay rises are “unaffordable”, cabinet minister Mark Harper has told Sky News in the face of strikes in the public sector. The transport secretary said there “simply isn’t the money” to fund such wage hikes, even in line with rising prices, given the current economic situation and state of the public finances in the

Another Conservative MP has said he will not be standing at the next general election. Chris Skidmore, the MP for Kingswood, said in a statement “there has been no greater honour in my life” than to represent the constituency, in southwest England. “Parliamentary boundary changes will result in the Kingswood constituency ceasing to exist. “With

A man who died after staying at the Manston migrant processing centre in Kent did have diphtheria, the Home Office has confirmed. A government spokesperson said initial local hospital tests were false negatives, and follow-ups showed that diphtheria may have been the cause of the man’s illness. Post-mortem examinations are ongoing, meaning the official cause

Vladimir Putin is trying to freeze and starve Ukraine’s people into giving up this winter by attacking power and water supplies but he will fail, the foreign secretary has told Sky News. James Cleverly, on his first visit to Ukraine, said he had never seen such devastation before and said it was vital for the

Two more Conservative MPs have announced that they will not be standing at the next general election. Dehenna Davison, 29, a levelling up minister, is viewed as one of the rising stars in the Tory party, so the news of her intention to step aside will come as a surprise. “For my whole adult life,

Dominic Raab has insisted he has “behaved professionally at all times” despite facing growing allegations of bullying and intimidating behaviour. Yesterday, a number of the deputy PM’s former private secretaries told the BBC they were preparing to submit formal complaints about his behaviour. Newsnight was also told that Mr Raab used his personal email account

Jeremy Hunt has said he regrets the turbulence caused by Liz Truss’s mini-budget but he does not believe it inflicted long-term economic damage. The independent Resolution Foundation estimated the mistakes made by the former prime minister cost the UK £30bn while Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, called it one of

The government is “simply not in a position to pay inflation pay rises”, the transport secretary has told Sky News before a meeting with the boss of the sector’s biggest union tomorrow. Mark Harper told The Take with Sophy Ridge that he understands why “people facing these cost-of-living pressures want more pay”, but said if

This is a major blow for Nicola Sturgeon’s ambition to hold a second independence vote next October. It almost certainly rules out that plan.  But it’s not entirely surprising as the first minister’s own top law officer wasn’t fully convinced of the legal basis for Holyrood legislating for a referendum against Westminster’s approval. That is

The intense discussion over Scotland’s future is reaching another, major milestone. Politicians on both sides of Scotland’s independence debate are waiting with bated breath for the judgment from the Supreme Court on whether the Scottish parliament has the power to legislate for a second referendum without the approval of Westminster. Follow updates in the Politics

There are now no people at the Manston migrant processing centre after it experienced severe overcrowding earlier this month. The Home Office site in Kent, where thousands of migrants who have arrived in small boats have been taken since it opened in February, currently has zero people in it. In recent weeks Manston, a former

MPs can put the cost of food and drink at their staff Christmas parties on expenses for the first time. It means taxpayers will pay for the festivities – but alcohol cannot be included in the “hospitality” claim, according to guidance from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. The advice from the expenses watchdog came in

Rishi Sunak has reiterated his commitment to Brexit amid reports the government could be seeking a closer “Swiss-style” deal with the EU. Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) annual conference, the prime minister said he was “unequivocal” that he would not return to any alignment with EU laws. “I voted for Brexit, I

The UK government will introduce new legislation today to extend the deadline for forming an executive in Northern Ireland. There has been no functioning government in Stormont since May’s vote, with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refusing to restore power-sharing unless the Northern Ireland protocol is scrapped. The post-Brexit trade agreement was designed to prevent

Labour wants to replace the House of Lords with an elected chamber if it gets into power as part of a plan to “restore trust in politics”. The party will hold a consultation on the make-up of the new look Lords, including on how to make sure “regional voices” are included. But it has said

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will accuse Iran of spreading “bloodshed and destruction” around the world as he reaffirms Britain’s determination to prevent it acquiring a nuclear weapon. Addressing an international security conference in Bahrain on Saturday, Mr Cleverly will warn that Iranian-supplied weapons are threatening security in the Middle East and beyond. He will point

Rishi Sunak is to axe the daily appearance of ministers on morning breakfast shows, it is understood. Instead of being grilled on the airwaves every day, the government will now only provide a minister to be interviewed around three mornings a week. The move was first reported by the Daily Mirror, which said the appearances

The UK’s science and technology sector survived a much feared spending cut in this week’s budget – but those in the field say the government will need to do more to realise the UK’s potential as a “science superpower.” The expectation was that this was going to be a budget of cuts, with the government’s

Let’s start with a tale of two charts. Or rather, one chart. Be warned: it’s not a pretty chart. It shows how average household disposable income changed each year since 1955 and for the most part it’s a story of progress. As the years have gone on, we have seen our disposable incomes rise in

The UK’s economic outlook will be “challenging” for the next two years, Jeremy Hunt says. The chancellor presented his autumn statement to parliament on Thursday, littered with stealth taxes and curbs on government spending amounting to £55bn in an attempt to plug the black hole in the public finances. But the independent Office for Budget

Millions more Britons will pay more tax as Jeremy Hunt cut the top-rate threshold and announced freezes on several other taxes in his autumn statement. The total amount of savings from the autumn statement has been costed at £55bn, through tax rises and cutting government spending. However, in real-term costs, UK households’ disposable incomes will

Corporate executives call it “kitchen sinking”. The minute you get into a new job you collect all the bad news, announce the miserable stuff at the same time and take the grisliest, most painful decisions all at once. You throw the kitchen sink at it. You’ll have spotted this strategy before, and not just in