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
Politics
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,
As energy companies fold and businesses cry out for government help over rising gas prices, there is an altogether different row going on inside Whitehall. In an unprecedented public slap down today, Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, was accused of lying on TV, before the same Treasury source revealed the meetings he said he was
Boris Johnson’s decision to take a holiday following the Conservative Party conference has been defended by a senior cabinet minister. The Prime Minister is reported to have flown to Marbella in southern Spain with his wife, Carrie Johnson, and their son, Wilfred. According to the Mail on Sunday, Mr Johnson and his family jetted abroad
Spiralling gas bills could soar further under government plans to impose new charges to pay for eco-friendly heating, it has been reported. The move to introduce a levy on the fossil fuel is contained in a new strategy due to be published ahead of next month’s COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, according to The Times.
Funding for more than 9.5 million pothole repairs this year has been cut from council budgets, new analysis has found. The Local Government Association (LGA) said overall capital funding from the Department for Transport to councils in England for local road maintenance in 2021/22 is £1.39bn, down from £1.78bn the previous year. That £399m reduction
Conservative MP and former cabinet minister James Brokenshire has died at the age of 53, his family has said. The MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup announced in August that his lung cancer had “progressed” and that he would be beginning a new line of treatment. Mr Brokenshire stepped down as security minister in July
Grant Shapps has said he wants returning international travellers to be able to use lateral flow tests instead of costly PCR tests by the half-term holiday. Speaking to Sky News, the transport secretary said ministers “anticipate” the change coming into force before the October break which will make family trips abroad “much easier, much less
A leading fuel industry body has said recovery from the supply crisis is not happening fast enough – with London, South East and East England still suffering from low fuel levels, Sky News understands. The South East is struggling the most, with fuel stock levels remaining below 20% as the area continues to be hit
Business leaders and think tanks have described Boris Johnson’s party conference speech as “economically illiterate”. The prime minister’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference on Wednesday came as many businesses are struggling with supply chain issues and a lack of workers. A shortage of HGV drivers has resulted in a shortage of fuel in some
Boris Johnson has branded levelling up “the greatest project that any government can embark on” in his closing speech at the Conservative Party’s annual conference. In his keynote address marking the end of the four-day event, the prime minister pledged that his top team will “get on with our job of uniting and levelling up
The removal of the £20 Universal Credit uplift should be paused through winter until there is a better understanding of what is happening to the economy after the pandemic, a former Conservative Party leader has said. Speaking to Sky News, Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the policy has been “the silent ship in the fleet”
Boris Johnson will close his party’s conference in a rousing finale in which he will accuse his Tory predecessors of “drift and dither” and lacking the guts to tackle big problems. Bringing the conference to a barnstorming climax with his speech to the adoring Tory faithful on Wednesday, he will a promise a “long overdue”
Boris Johnson has said he cannot guarantee that targets to improve rape prosecution and conviction rates set out in the government’s Rape Review will be met. Plans set out in the report, which was commissioned in 2019 and published in June of this year, said the volume of rape cases going to court should return
A Conservative donor has suggested the party convenes a “special investigation'” into conflicts of interest surrounding the Tory co-chairman Ben Elliot. Mohammed Amersi, a telecoms entrepreneur and philanthropist, has also argued the party should improve its governance structures and remove Mr Elliot if he does not comply. “[Ben Elliot] has done a great job in
For a chancellor who came into office on the cusp of a global pandemic which forced his hand on policy-making, this speech was the reset moment for Rishi Sunak. Setting up the differences between Labour and the Conservatives on economic policy, a well-rehearsed path walked by most chancellors over the years, Mr Sunak’s speech was
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to announce a £500m expansion of government action to tackle unemployment and support job seekers following the end of the furlough scheme. In a speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Monday, Mr Sunak will outline fresh funding for schemes designed to increase the chances of employment for
Boris Johnson has not ruled out shortages continuing until Christmas, but said the festive period this year will be “considerably better” than last year. “I’m very confident this Christmas will be considerably better,” the prime minister said during a visit to a youth club in Manchester. Live updates from the Conservative Party conference When it