Former MP describes ‘enormous guilt’ over Westminster honeypot scandal November 16, 2024 Former MP William Wragg has described the feeling of “enormous guilt” that washed over him as he realised he had fallen victim to a sophisticated scam designed to target politicians in Westminster. A police probe began in April earlier this year after it was suggested at least 12 men with links to Westminster had received [...]
‘Not the 1970s’: Minister slaps down four-day week calls from civil servants November 14, 2024 Civil servants won’t get a four-day working week as we’re “not living in the 1970s”, the pensions minister has said. Emma Reynolds slapped down the demand from Whitehall bureaucrats on Times Radio, after it emerged staff at one department claimed the policy could save the government millions. Workers at the Department for Environment, Food and [...]
Column: The challenges facing Kemi Badenoch… November 6, 2024 Politicians, the public often decry, lack real-world experience. Whether it be running a business, working in healthcare, serving in the armed forces, anything that demonstrates their ‘feet on the ground’ credentials is a plus. It covers parents too. Just look at Keir Starmer’s oft-touted “toolmaker father”; Rishi Sunak, the “son of a pharmacist; and even [...]
Sketch: PMQs falls flat – do Sunak and Starmer not get the rules? October 9, 2024 With the Tories immersed in a leadership contest and Labour emerging from weeks of freebie headlines and internal drama, Westminster watchers will have turned to this week’s PMQs for a much needed injection of drama. Grab your popcorn, it’s box office time. Surely the acting leader of the Conservative Party could at least muster up [...]
Oxford Street: Former MP for the City and Westminster brands pedestrianisation ‘bullying’ September 17, 2024 A row has erupted over Sadiq Khan’s plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street as the area’s former MPs branded the move “bullying”. The mayor of London today unveiled proposals to ban traffic from the iconic central London retail destination, in what he hopes will reinvigorate the nation’s “most famous high street”. But Nickie Aiken, the former [...]
Starmer’s in power, but is he in control? September 2, 2024 Labour MPs barely had time to gather for a group photo in Westminster before the summer recess started and they were packed off back to the constituencies. The lucky ones may even have made it abroad for a holiday. Today, when they file back into the Parliament and cram themselves onto the government benches in [...]
The biggest challenge for the Conservatives? Getting their story straight July 30, 2024 Whoever becomes the next Conservative leader must get their story on what the Tories did wrong – and right – straight, writes Henry Newman Does it matter who the next leader of the Conservative Party is? A large slice of Britain won’t be paying much attention to the Tories, or to politics more broadly, until [...]
Square Mile and Me – Lib Dem City candidate Edward Lucas: “Nobody can boss me around” June 13, 2024 We're asking the candidates for the Cities of London and Westminster to share their stories. Today, it's Lib Dem candidate Edward Lucas.
Election 2024: Labour pledge to ‘stop the chaos’ and rebuild Britain May 23, 2024 Labour would “stop the chaos”, bring “change” and deliver a “long-term plan to rebuild” Britain if the party wins the general election, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has pledged.
The Notebook: There’s only one thing bridging the Westminster divide: Taylor Swift May 20, 2024 Michael Martins takes the Notebook pen to talk Labour hiring, Westminster politics, and the diplomatic powerhouse that is Miss Taylor Swift.