Rishi Sunak’s popularity soars in Tory league table with ‘big jump’ before local elections April 3, 2023 Prime minister Rishi Sunak has seen his popularity soar among the Tory grassroots, a poll has shown. The Conservative Home website’s survey of party membership shows Sunak’s approval ratings have risen from sixth from bottom to sixth from top, in the cabinet league table. In the end of February’s poll, the PM was at just [...]
UK housing model is ‘broken’, says Michael Gove April 3, 2023 The UK’s housing model is “broken”, housing secretary Michael Gove has said. The comments by the senior cabinet minister come in a foreword to a collection of essays by liberal conservative think tank Bright Blue. First reported by the Times newspaper, Mr Gove writes: “We desperately need more homes to bring ownership within reach of [...]
MPs should ‘put public service first’ after second jobs sting, Michael Gove says March 26, 2023 Levelling-up secretary Michael Gove said today that MPs must “put public service first” after undercover reporting revealed a handful of MPs were willing to provide advice to a foreign company in return for sizeable fees. Politicians Matt Hancock and Kwasi Kwarteng were left red-faced after anti-Brexit campaign group Led By Donkeys released footage of them [...]
Defiant Boris Johnson insists ‘I did not lie’ and claimed boozy leaving do was ‘essential’ March 22, 2023 A defiant Boris Johnson insisted he “did not lie to the House” and claimed a boozy leaving do was “essential for work” in a fiery evidence session set to determine his political future. Johnson underwent a fierce grilling by the cross-party privileges committee, as MPs aimed to decide if he misled – intentionally or recklessly [...]
Boris Johnson claims reason for partygate fines ‘remains unclear’ March 21, 2023 Boris Johnson has claimed it “remains unclear” to him – and possibly to Rishi Sunak – why they were fined for breaching lockdown laws after the Met Police investigation into partygate. The former prime minister has released his defence dossier ahead of a marathon evidence session before the cross-party parliamentary privileges committee tomorrow. In the [...]
Sadiq Khan: Climate deniers will be ’emboldened’ if ULEZ expansion fails March 20, 2023 London’s ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ) expansion is now a “key frontier” in the global fight against climate change, Sadiq Khan has said. The mayor of London has called on the environmental lobby to come out more strongly in favour of the controversial policy, saying climate change deniers will be “emboldened” if it fails. Speaking at [...]
Allies fear Boris Johnson walking into a partygate ‘witch hunt’ – with a comeback at risk March 19, 2023 Former prime minister Boris Johnson could face a “witch hunt” before MPs at a grilling over his involvement in the lockdown-busting partygate scandal, a key ally has warned. Lord Greenhalgh, who was a deputy mayor during Johnson’s tenure at City Hall, said he was “concerned it will be a witch hunt” and hoped he would [...]
Gary Lineker row: Now George Osborne weighs in on Tory immigration rhetoric March 12, 2023 Support has poured in for Gary Lineker following his suspension from the BBC amid an ongoing row over the government’s policy on stopping small boats crossing the Channel. Football pundit Lineker was pulled off air last week after tweeting about the UK’s asylum policy following the announcement of the new Illegal Migration Bill by Suella [...]
Labour warns UK has only half the childcare places it needs, as party demands urgent reform to support working parents March 8, 2023 The UK has only half the childcare places it needs, Labour has warned, with one in five providers haveing closed in the last five years. Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson is set to lay out her party’s plans to reform the sector today and has vowed improvements will be her “first priority in government”. “The [...]
Migrants arriving on small boats to be detained and removed ‘within weeks’, government says March 7, 2023 Migrants arriving in the UK on small boats from across the Channel will be detained and removed “within weeks”, under stringent new laws set out by the government. Home secretary Suella Braverman unveiled the Illegal Migration Bill in Parliament today, telling MPs there had been a 500 per cent increase in the dangerous journeys in [...]