Politics

Britain will payout £480m over the next three years in a deal struck between Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron to tackle small boat Channel crossings, with measures including funding for a new detention centre in France. The fresh package agreed between the prime minister and the French president to deal with the migrant crisis will

Rishi Sunak will use talks with President Emmanuel Macron to push for a returns agreement allowing migrants to be sent back to France after crossing the English Channel. The prime minister is set to meet the French president in Paris on Friday where he will prioritise discussing his “stop the boats” plan. Downing Street wants

The government has announced the construction of sections of HS2 will be delayed by two years to save money. The high-speed railway was initially set to link London and the West Midlands with a further phase extending to cities in the North. However, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said on Thursday: “We have seen significant inflationary

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has suggested “thousands” of refugees could be sent to Rwanda under the government’s new plan to stop Channel crossings – despite no-one having been deported there since the beginning of the scheme last April The Conservative MP told Sky News’ The Take with Sophy Ridge that the partnership with the east

Rishi Sunak has accused Sir Keir Starmer of being “another leftie lawyer” trying to stop action against small boat crossings in their latest Prime Minister’s Questions clash. Less than 24 hours after the government revealed its new Illegal Migration Bill, the prime minister insisted Labour fails to acknowledge there is a global migration problem and

Rishi Sunak’s plan to crackdown on Channel migrant crossings will face the scrutiny of MPs and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer today, as he faces his first Prime Minister’s Questions since the announcement of the new Illegal Migration Bill. The Conservative leader backed the “tough but fair” policy on Tuesday, after the proposed legislation was

The home secretary has unveiled the new Illegal Migration Bill that will mean migrants arriving on small boats in the UK will be “removed swiftly”. Suella Braverman told the Commons: “They will not stop coming here until the world knows that if you enter Britain illegally you will be detained and swiftly removed back to

Refugees who arrive in the UK by small boat from today will be banned from claiming ­asylum or using human rights law to stop their removal. Home Secretary Suella Braverman is set to publish long-promised legislation on Channel crossings on Tuesday that she has admitted “pushes the boundaries of international law”. This will include preventing

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case described Boris Johnson as a “distrusted figure” during the COVID pandemic and warned the public were unlikely to follow isolation rules set out by him, leaked messages have revealed. Mr Case said to then health secretary Matt Hancock the public needed to be told to isolate by “trusted local figures, not

The UK government is “avoiding the asylum responsibilities it expects others to take” with new plans to clamp down on small boat crossings, a human rights group has said. Refugee charities have also described the plans as “costly and unworkable” and said they “promise nothing but more demonisation and punishment” of asylum seekers. It comes

The Northern Ireland secretary has confirmed the “Stormont brake” revealed in the new Brexit deal would be a veto, not just a delay. Earlier this week, Rishi Sunak unveiled a fresh agreement with the EU to overcome trade barriers in Northern Ireland that he called a “decisive breakthrough”. As part of the Windsor Framework, a

Controversy over Boris Johnson’s involvement in partygate and COVID-19 rule-breaking has been dismissed as “soggy sandwiches and a slice of birthday cake” by an ally of the former prime minister. Tory MP Paul Bristow told Sky News the fine handed to Mr Johnson by Scotland Yard over a lockdown-busting gathering in Downing Street was “ridiculous”.

The “trial of Boris Johnson” – the televised hearings to determine whether the former prime minister lied to parliament – is now barely three weeks away, and after Friday’s document dump we know roughly what that confrontation will look like. And we know it will be explosive. MPs on the Tory-dominated privileges committee on Friday

Boris Johnson is facing a fight for his political career after MPs said evidence strongly suggests breaches of COVID rules would have been “obvious” to the then-PM. The cross-party privileges committee said the Commons may have been misled at least four times over Partygate allegations, and MPs are set to cross-examine Mr Johnson in the

Evidence strongly suggests it would have been “obvious” to Boris Johnson COVID rules were being breached at Downing Street gatherings he attended, an inquiry into whether he misled parliament has said. MPs on the cross-party Commons Privileges Committee were tasked with investigating whether Mr Johnson misled parliament over partygate allegations after Sir Keir Starmer tabled

Sue Gray has been appointed by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to serve as his chief of staff. The senior civil servant became a household name during the partygate scandal, authoring the report which found “a failure of leadership and judgement” in Number 10 during Boris Johnson’s premiership. Conservative MPs and former cabinet ministers have

Sue Gray has been appointed by Sir Keir Starmer to serve as his chief of staff. The senior civil servant became a household name during the partygate scandal, authoring the report which found “a failure of leadership and judgement” in Number 10 during Boris Johnson’s premiership. She has left her role in the civil service

Sir Gavin Williamson accused teachers of looking for an “excuse” not to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to leaked messages from Matt Hancock published by The Daily Telegraph. In May 2020, as teachers prepared for classrooms to reopen, the then education secretary had messaged Mr Hancock asking for help in securing personal protective equipment

Matt Hancock allegedly rejected COVID-19 testing advice for residents going into England’s care homes while he was health secretary during the worst of the pandemic, according to a report based on thousands of leaked WhatsApp messages. The Daily Telegraph claims that chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty had told Mr Hancock in April 2020

Forget the politics. The plaudits. The tiny number of entries on the rebellion spreadsheets. The cries that Brexit is over. Forget the reports saying it’s been Rishi Sunak’s best day since becoming prime minister. Arguably what matters much more is the massive further constitutional and political change set to be enacted within our borders –