Politics

The first 100 days of Rishi Sunak’s premiership are done – a yardstick that his predecessor Liz Truss never even reached, while Boris Johnson found himself utterly consumed with firefighting a pandemic. Mr Sunak can take some comfort in the fact he’s made it this far without a full-blown leadership crisis or an external global

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told Sky News he believes China’s President Xi is a bigger threat to the world than Vladimir Putin. Speaking on Beth Rigby Interviews, Mr Pompeo said President Xi is intent on world dominance. “He wants to own you,” the US politician warned. “He wants hegemonic intent across

Labour is demanding the government publishes its promised progress report on “levelling up”, saying there is “no excuse for dodging scrutiny by both parliament and the public”. Shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy has written to her government counterpart, Michael Gove, pointing to the pledge he made when launching the levelling up white paper one

A union leader has warned if the dispute over workers’ pay is not resolved, further industrial action “will be even bigger” and strikes will continue “right through the summer”. Mark Serwotka, general secretary of The Public and Commercial Services Union – one of the largest unions in the UK – told Sky News ministers should

Thousands of ambulance workers in England will strike on 10 February, Unison has announced. The union said workers across five services will walk out as the long-running dispute over pay and staffing continues. Ambulance workers in London, Yorkshire, the South West, North East and North West will be involved in the industrial action. Strikes will

Downing Street has insisted that the UK’s economy is strong despite the International Monetary Fund’s warning that Britain’s economy will go into reverse this year and will fare worse than all other advanced nations. In its latest World Economic Outlook update, the IMF downgraded its UK gross domestic product (GDP) forecast once again, predicting a

Labour will push the government for an increase to the number of neighbourhood police officers on Tuesday, saying communities are facing 3,000 incidents of anti-social behaviour a day. In an opposition day debate in the Commons, the party will point to the latest crime statistics from the ONS, which showed 1.1 million incidents of anti-social

Rishi Sunak has insisited he acted “decisively” in sacking Nadhim Zahawi as chairman of the Conservative Party after a row over his tax affairs. Speaking in Country Durham at the launch of his government’s emergency care plan, the prime minister defended his handling of situation and stressed his commitment to “integrity” and the need to

Rishi Sunak has been urged by Labour to “come clean” over what he knew about Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs after the PM sacked the Tory party chairman on Sunday. An ethics inquiry into the handling of Mr Zahawi’s finances found a “serious breach” of the ministerial code and Mr Sunak swiftly removed the Tory chairman

The verdict is in and the decision delivered. Nadhim Zahawi did commit “a very serious breach of the ministerial code” and the prime minister has sacked his party chairman.  Cue a collective sigh of relief from a parliamentary party irritated and angered that the tax affairs of a multi-millionaire cabinet minister had dominated the headlines

Sir Keir Starmer has been on a journey since becoming Labour leader in April 2020. In the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn, Sir Keir promised to maintain Labour’s “radical values” and committed to many Corbyn-era policies. Fast forward three years, and in tone and content, the offer is markedly different. Take this from Sir Keir

A proportion of Conservative members feel “disconnected” from the party as they were “denied a vote” when Rishi Sunak became prime minister, a former Tory chairman said. Sir Jake Berry, who was chair under Liz Truss, said Mr Sunak should have held an “endorsement vote” to show he had the support of the membership. Instead,

HS2 will end at Euston after reports the high-speed line could stop before reaching central London, the chancellor has confirmed. Jeremy Hunt said he did not see “any conceivable circumstance” the original plan would not be followed and that he was “incredibly proud” of the work going ahead. The endpoint of the line came into

Those worried about the health of British politics have diagnosed a new disease at Westminster. Chris Patten, a grandee from the Conservative establishment, spotted what he called “Long Boris” last summer. Weeks after Boris Johnson announced his resignation as prime minister, Lord Patten, a former party chairman and former BBC chairman, lamented the persistent “corrupting

The NHS is in the worst crisis in its 75 years, say health experts. And you only had to listen to the heart-wrenching stories of the audience during a live Sky News programme on the NHS at Coventry Hospital for the reality of that to be laid bare. There was James, whose wife died after

There is plenty of bemusement, irritation and anger in some quarters of the Conservative Party as to why Nadhim Zahawi is still in post.  Revelations that the party chairman reportedly paid nearly £5m to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to settle a tax dispute, and pay a penalty over around £27m of wealth on which

Parliament’s reputation is being put at risk by groups of MPs that can be funded by lobbyists, according to a rare joint letter from the speakers of both the House of Commons and Lords. Parliament’s two most powerful figures called for a major overhaul in the way All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) operate in a letter

A Conservative peer has become the latest senior Tory to call on Nadhim Zahawi to consider his position. Lord Hayward said the Tory Party chairman should think about “standing aside” while parliament’s ethics watchdog investigates his tax affairs. “We don’t know what the timescales are for the inquiry, and I think that’s key,” he told

An MP has described a police chase which took place after two children were “collected” from a hotel housing asylum-seeking children. Hove MP Peter Kyle said officers in his constituency pursued a car that had picked up two children from outside the Home Office approved accommodation after concerns about what was happening. It comes after

A Conservative former minister has become the first Tory MP to publicly call for Nadhim Zahawi to stand down as party chairman. Caroline Nokes said there are “too many unanswered questions” over the former chancellor’s multi-million pound tax dispute and that he is “leading too many front pages”. “When you become the story it’s a