Politics

People convicted of anti-social behaviour will be ordered to repair the damage they have caused within two days of being told their punishment, under new plans. Making justice “immediate” and ensuring that communities can visibly see efforts to clean up vandalism and graffiti will be a key plank of the measures. The scheme will be

Sir Patrick Vallance has said COVID restrictions were “for everybody” after Boris Johnson said lockdown leaving dos were “absolutely essential” and that he relied on incorrect advice from Number 10 advisers. The UK’s chief scientific adviser became a household name during the pandemic as he stood beside the then-prime minister during daily COVID briefings. This

Downing Street has shown “important signs of regret and embarrassment” over the rhetoric used by ministers to describe Albanians, according to the country’s prime minister. Edi Rama has previously accused Home Secretary Suella Braverman of fuelling xenophobic attacks after she spoke in parliament about an “invasion” of asylum seekers and “Albanian criminals” when describing the

UK and EU officials will sign off on a new Brexit deal in London today, despite ongoing opposition from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The Windsor Framework – designed to address problems with the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol – was agreed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last

Whisper it, but could the Brexit and Boris bandwagons be gradually trundling off into the distance? Let’s start with Brexit. The most politically important development of a packed Westminster Wednesday was arguably what didn’t happen. Boris Johnson, the European Research Group of Brexiteers and the DUP all objected to the government’s EU deal and yet

The singling out of Albanian migrants in the UK has been a “very, very disgraceful moment in British politics”, the country’s prime minister has said. Edi Rama, who is in Britain for talks with Rishi Sunak, said it is essential that relations between the two countries are not defined by a few “rotten apples”. “Unfortunately

Did Boris Johnson intentionally mislead Parliament about what he knew and when about rule-breaking events in Number 10? The privileges committee maintains it is “very likely” he did. Wednesday’s appearance in front of the privileges committee was billed as the day of reckoning for the former prime minister, with all the jeopardy that it brought.

A senior civil servant questioned Boris Johnson’s plan to say COVID guidance had been followed at all times in Downing Street, according to new evidence published by MPs investigating whether he lied over partygate. In written evidence from Martin Reynolds, the former principal private secretary to the then prime minister, he said he questioned whether

Nicola Sturgeon has urged the SNP candidates vying to succeed her as first minister to “protect the ingredients of success” – telling Sky News the leadership contest so far has been “a less than edifying process”.  In a Beth Rigby interview due to air at 9pm on Sky News, Ms Sturgeon acknowledged the turmoil in

Boris Johnson has said he accepts he misled parliament over partygate but insists his statements were “in good faith”. In his evidence to the privileges committee, published on Tuesday, the former prime minister accused it of having gone “significantly beyond its terms of reference”. He added that it was “unprecedented and absurd” to claim that

The DUP says its MPs will vote against a key aspect of Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal when it is put to a crunch vote in parliament this week. In a statement, party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said while the Windsor Framework represented “significant progress” in addressing concerns with the Northern Ireland Protocol, it does not

The government’s food tsar has quit in order to freely criticise the Tories’ “insane” inaction against obesity. Henry Dimbleby, the co-founder of the food chain Leon, said ministers were refusing to impose restrictions on the junk food industry due to an obsession with “ultra-free-market ideology”. He said this was partly to blame for the fact

SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes has insisted she has “progressive views” after scrutiny of her religious beliefs.  The Scottish finance secretary lost several supporters in the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon when she admitted she would have voted against gay marriage in Scotland at the time it was made legal almost a decade ago. She

Boris Johnson is to submit a dossier of evidence ahead of an interrogation by MPs over whether he lied to Parliament about the partygate scandal. The former prime minister will provide information in his defence as he prepares for a lengthy televised grilling by the Commons privileges committee on Wednesday, where he faces a fight

The chief executive of the Scottish National Party has resigned with immediate effect in the face of a no confidence vote. Peter Murrell, who is married to Nicola Sturgeon, said his future had become “a distraction” from the current contest to replace his wife as SNP leader and first minister following a damaging secrecy row.

The home secretary has arrived in Rwanda as the government’s deal to send asylum seekers to the country remains mired in legal challenges. It is 11 months since the UK agreed the deal, which would see people who claimed asylum in Britain deported to the central African nation to have their application processed, and if

Teacher strikes will be paused for two weeks while education unions and the government hold “intensive” talks over pay, workload and conditions. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan will meet with representatives today – with discussions to continue over the weekend until Sunday. The National Education Union (NEU), National Association of Headteachers (NAHT), NASUWT The Teachers’ Union,

Criminals who fail to turn up in court to hear their judgment should face tougher sentences as a matter of “respect” for victims, Dominic Raab has said. The justice secretary said it should be considered an aggravating factor in sentencing if someone who commits a crime decides to “snub” the court. Last year, Jordan McSweeney,

The SNP have lost around 30,000 party members since 2021. The SNP reported a membership of 125,534 in December 2018. According to data published by the Electoral Commission, that dropped to around 104,000 by the end of December 2021. On Thursday, the SNP admitted just 72,186 members were eligible to vote in the party leadership

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has defended the speed of the rollout for his budget offer of free childcare for working parents, describing it as the “biggest transformation in childcare in my lifetime”. The new childcare package will see working families in England having access to 30 hours of free childcare per week for children aged between