Politics

Boris Johnson has quit as an MP with immediate effect – and criticised Rishi Sunak in a blistering resignation letter. The former prime minister also attacked the panel of MPs who are investigating whether he lied to the Commons over partygate. The privileges committee has now confirmed it will meet on Monday to conclude its

Boris Johnson has announced he is standing down as an MP with immediate effect. In a statement, the former prime minister said he has received the findings from the privileges committee report into whether he misled MPs over partygate. “Much to my amazement they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me

The prime minister leaves Washington with some progress on two of his goals on this trip: to get his foot in the door on the global response to the risks of artificial intelligence, and deepen economic ties with our biggest trading partner. The announcement of the first global AI summit to discuss how the world

Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden have agreed a new partnership to bolster economic security in response to the growing threat of China. Brushing off his failure to deliver on the Tory manifesto promise to land a full-fat free trade deal with the US, the prime minister and US president announced the Atlantic Declaration during a

Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas is stepping down at the next general election. In a letter sent to her Brighton Pavilion constituents, Ms Lucas said it had been the “privilege of my life to serve this extraordinary constituency and community”. She said the “threats to our precious planet” had become “ever more urgent”, but

Rishi Sunak will take personal responsibility if inflation in the UK has not halved by the end of the year. The prime minister was speaking to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby during a visit to Washington DC where he will meet President Biden. Mr Sunak has made a significant amount of noise about his

The prime minister said Russia would have hit “new lows” if it turns out that Moscow is responsible for what he described as the largest attack on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine since the start of the war, following the destruction of a critical dam. Speaking en route to Washington, Rishi Sunak told reporters that the

Ian Blackford, the former leader of the SNP in Westminster, has told Sky News he will be standing down at the next election. Mr Blackford was replaced as leader of the independence-backing party’s Commons delegation at the end of last year by Stephen Flynn. The outgoing MP said he had been thinking “long and hard”

The government is still being “too slow” to recover taxpayer money lost to fraud and error over the pandemic, MPs have said. The cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also said Whitehall needs a “step change” in its approach to risk in order to prevent a similar “panic response” in the future. In a wide-ranging report,

Conservative MP Bob Stewart has been charged with public order offences relating to a “racially aggravated” incident in December last year. Police say the 73-year-old has been charged with using threatening or abusive words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour and that the offence was racially aggravated. He was also charged with using threatening or abusive

The majority of the British public thinks Rishi Sunak is doing a bad job in delivering on his five priorities, a new poll has found. Almost half a year after the prime minister set out his five key aims – including halving inflation, growing the economy, cutting NHS waiting lists, reducing the national debt and

Hundreds of migrants have so far been returned to Albania under the government’s “gold-standard” deal with the country, says immigration minister Robert Jenrick. That’s despite more than 12,000 Albanian people crossing the Channel on small boats last year, according to official figures. Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge, Mr Jenrick initially said “thousands” of illegal migrants

Boris Johnson has been warned he could lose public funding for legal advice if he tries to “frustrate or undermine” the government’s position on the COVID inquiry. Cabinet Office lawyers have told the former prime minister that public money would “cease to be available” if he breaks conditions such as releasing evidence without permission, the

Boris Johnson is giving all the WhatsApp messages and diaries available to him directly to the COVID inquiry, Sky News understands. The former prime minister had originally given the information to the Cabinet Office, but it had refused to comply with the inquiry’s order to hand over all the material in unredacted form. Friday’s move

Labour has blocked a sitting mayor from standing for a new role in the North East in a move that has reawakened divisions in the party. Jamie Driscoll, the serving North of Tyne mayor, revealed on social media that he had been “barred” from running as the Labour candidate to contest the North East mayoralty

A sitting Labour MP has filed a complaint against Geraint Davies after he was suspended over allegations of inappropriate behaviour, Sky News understands. It means Labour has now received two formal complaints after a woman also contacted the party yesterday. The 63-year-old has been “administratively suspended” from the party pending an investigation into reports of

The government has been accused of an attempted “cover-up” as it bids to block the COVID inquiry’s request for Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and notebooks. Bereaved families and opposition parties criticised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after the Cabinet Office revealed it was taking the unusual step of bringing a judicial review of Baroness Hallett’s

The Cabinet Office is seeking a judicial review of Baroness Hallett’s order to release Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages, diaries and notebooks, it has said in a letter to the COVID inquiry. The Cabinet Office, in a letter to the inquiry, said it was bringing a judicial review challenge “with regret” – but added that there

The government will ask people to put fewer items into recycling bins as it plans to cut back on contamination from improperly prepared or non-recyclable objects, according to reports. It is part of a plan to tackle “wishcycling” – where people put items they hope are recyclable into the relevant container, but their good intention

All of Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and notebooks that have been requested by the COVID inquiry have been handed to the Cabinet Office in “full and in unredacted form”, his spokesman has said. The spokesman said the former prime minister wanted the Cabinet Office to “urgently” disclose the material to the inquiry. A statement from