Politics

The government is being “wilfully negligent” by refusing to enforce its Plan B strategy for tackling rising COVID infections, doctors have claimed. Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed yesterday that additional coronavirus restrictions – which could include face coverings becoming mandatory in some public places – are not going to be introduced in England. But the

Boris Johnson has committed to bringing the Online Harms Bill back to the Commons “before Christmas” in the first PMQs following the killing of Conservative MP Sir David Amess. Sir Keir Starmer called on Boris Johnson to bring forward the second reading of the Online Harms Bill by the end of the calendar year in

“Plan B” coronavirus restrictions must be enforced immediately to prevent the UK “stumbling to a winter crisis”, an NHS leader has warned. NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor has urged the government to bring back certain measures, including mandatory face coverings in public places. His remarks came as the UK recorded 223 COVID-related deaths on

Households will be able to apply for a £5,000 grant to swap their gas boiler for a low-carbon heat pump, as part of government plans to cut emissions. The government announced that the £450m Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which is part of the more than £3.9bn funding to cut carbon from heating and buildings, will be

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told MPs that Southend-on-Sea will be given city status – a long-running campaign of Sir David Amess – as he led tributes to the murdered MP. Mr Johnson described Sir David as a “steadfast servant” of the House of Commons, a “prodigious campaigner” for his chosen causes, and a “dear

The deputy prime minister has said online hate is “out of control” but a wedge should not be put in between MPs and their constituents after the murder of Sir David Amess. Dominic Raab called for the vilification of MPs to stop as he paid tribute to the “big-hearted” Sir David, who was stabbed to

The House of Commons is going to pay tribute to Sir David Amess today. A morning of prayers will be followed by a minute’s silence this afternoon – and politicians will be able to share their memories of the Conservative MP. Most of the planned timetable for the day is going to be rescheduled. Sir

MPs could be given police protection while they carry out constituency surgeries, the Home Secretary has told Sky News. Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sunday, Priti Patel said the measure was under consideration in the wake of the killing of Conservative MP Sir David Amess. Watch special Trevor Phillips on Sunday on killing of Sir

The name the police have of the terror suspect arrested on suspicion of murder following the stabbing of a senior Conservative MP is Ali Harbi Ali, Sky News understands. The 25-year-old, who is a British citizen, with Somali heritage, is not thought to have been previously known to the security services. However, the investigation into

Boris Johnson has laid flowers at the scene of the fatal stabbing of Conservative MP Sir David Amess in Essex – an attack which police believe could be linked to Islamist extremism. The prime minister along with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Home Secretary Priti Patel visited Belfairs Methodist

The fatal stabbing of Conservative MP Sir David Amess in Essex has been declared as a terrorist incident, police say. Sir David, who represented Southend West in Essex, was stabbed on Friday afternoon during a surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea. A 25-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder, and

Conservative MP Sir David Amess has died after being stabbed at a surgery in his constituency, police say. Sir David, who represented Southend West in Essex, was attacked on Friday afternoon at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea. Live updates: Man arrested on suspicion of murder after Conservative MP stabbed to death Please use Chrome browser

Fully vaccinated passengers and children arriving in England from non-red list countries can take a cheaper lateral flow test from 24 October instead of a PCR test. The government last week said it would switch from arrivals having to take a pricey PCR test on the second day after arriving from a non-red list country

Government plans to publish league tables for GP surgeries and allow patients to rate their performance via text message do not “make any sense to me whatsoever”, the head of the Royal College of GPs has told Sky News. Professor Martin Marshall said a new package of support for GP surgeries in England, which ministers

An MP accused of making threatening phone calls to her partner’s friend and threatening to send naked pictures of her to her family has been found guilty of harassment. Claudia Webbe, 56, claimed she called Michelle Merritt because “we were in a national crisis and lockdown had to be adhered to strictly”. The MP was

We could be back in 2018 again – Brexit and the will-there-won’t-there-be-a-deal questions are back on the agenda. Brexit minister Lord Frost gave a headline-grabbing speech in Lisbon yesterday in which he savaged the very same Northern Ireland Protocol he was responsible for negotiating with the EU two years ago. You may remember Boris Johnson

The EU is expected to outline its response to UK demands to alter post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland following this summer’s tense “sausage war” between the two sides. European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic is set to hold a news conference on Wednesday afternoon in which he will deliver Brussels’ verdict on UK proposals for the

A minister has refused to apologise for the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, after a highly-critical report by MPs said thousands of lives were lost due to delays and mistakes by both ministers and their scientific advisers. “We followed, throughout, the scientific advice. We got the vaccine deployed extremely quickly, we protected our NHS

Thousands of lives were lost due to delays and mistakes made at the start of the COVID pandemic by both ministers and their scientific advisers according to a highly critical report by MPs. A pandemic plan based too much on influenza and “groupthink” among public health officials meant early opportunities to delay the spread of

A minister has denied that the business secretary lied when he said there were talks ongoing in government about help for manufacturers and energy firms. Appearing on Sky News, Home Office minister Damian Hinds was asked if Kwasi Kwarteng had lied when he made the claim about his team being in discussions with the Treasury,