Politics

Boris Johnson will make a speech on Thursday on his plans to “level up and unite the country”, something the prime minister has previously described as “the central purpose of his premiership”. In the Conservatives’ 2019 general election-winning manifesto, the party said its focus would be “levelling up every part of the UK” and the

Football banning orders will be changed to cover online racism, Boris Johnson has told MPs. The prime minister said the government is “taking practical steps to ensure that the football banning order regime is changed”. “So that if you are guilty of racist abuse online of footballers then you will not be going to the

The government has announced it is effectively ending all prosecutions related to crimes committed during the Northern Ireland Troubles. Described as a de facto amnesty for former British soldiers and former paramilitaries, the new statute of limitations will apply to incidents prior to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. It was confirmed in parliament on Wednesday

More than 100 government-issued mobile phones had all their data wiped last year after their users entered the wrong PIN. The Treasury’s IT desk managed to reset 117 of its approximately 2,100 mobile phones in 2020 – including the device belonging to the department’s boss – a response to a Freedom of Information request from

An eight-week interval between vaccine doses provides “much better” protection from coronavirus, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has said, as he dismissed reports that the gap is due to be reduced from eight weeks to four. Mr Zahawi also told Sky News he is “confident” that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce on Monday that COVID

Face masks will remain mandatory in some public places in Wales until COVID-19 is no longer a public health threat, the Welsh government has said. The move in Wales is in contrast to that of England, where legal requirements to wear masks look set to end once the country reaches Step 4 of roadmap out

The number of people waiting for NHS hospital treatment could reach 13 million in the months to come due to the COVID backlog, the health secretary has said. Sajid Javid claims “shocking” government modelling indicates the current waiting list of 5.3 million people could more than double by the end of the year. This includes

Labour has called for Theresa May’s former communications director to be sacked from the BBC board over claims he tried to block someone from a senior job on political grounds. Sir Robbie Gibb, who became non-executive director at the Corporation in May, tried to stop Jess Brammar, former HuffPost UK editor and Newsnight journalist, from

Boris Johnson’s Brexit minister has blamed Theresa May for problems with the implementation of border arrangements for Northern Ireland. Lord Frost told members of the Northern Ireland Assembly on Friday that current issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol were “to a very large degree” the fault of negotiations under Mr Johnson‘s predecessor as prime minister.

Details of a plan to allow vaccinated expats into the UK without having to quarantine could be revealed in the “next couple of weeks”, the transport secretary has said. Grant Shapps told Sky News that ministers are “actively working” on proposals to allow those who received their jabs outside of the UK to be exempt

Reducing the sensitivity of the NHS COVID app to bring down the number of people being told to self-isolate is “like taking the batteries out of the smoke alarm”, Sir Keir Starmer has said. On Thursday, the head of the UK Health Security Agency, Dr Jenny Harries, confirmed that ministers plan to “tune” the app

Sir Keir Starmer’s top spin doctor has quit after Labour suffered another poor by-election result in which the party lost its deposit. Ben Nunn announced he was stepping down as the opposition leader’s director of communications, after the party trailed in fourth behind the Green Party in the Chesham and Amersham poll. The departure of

Boris Johnson has denied his Conservative Party are neglecting southern parts of England in favour of its new northern seats as he blamed “particular circumstances” for a surprise by-election loss. The Tories have been dealt a humiliating defeat after the Liberal Democrats won Thursday’s Chesham and Amersham by-election. The Buckinghamshire constituency had been a Conservative

Boris Johnson’s former chief aide has described the prime minister as a “gaffe machine” who is “clueless about policy and government”. Dominic Cummings continued his assault on the government and the prime minister as he also attacked “drone-babblers” among Westminster pundits. The ex-adviser, who has been engaged in a weeks-long feud with Downing Street, made

A leadership hopeful for one of Labour’s biggest union backers has pulled out of the race in a bid to find a unity left-wing candidate. Howard Beckett, who had once been viewed as the heir apparent to Len McCluskey as Unite’s general secretary, is no longer seeking to lead the trade union. Instead, Mr Beckett

A minister has said the government is trying to “accommodate” Euro 2020 “as much as we possibly can” – amid reports thousands of VIPs will be granted quarantine-free access to England for the final. Both semi-finals and the final of the tournament are set to take place at London’s Wembley stadium next month. And, according

It’s an unwritten rule of politics that every electoral action can have an opposite – if not quite equal – reaction. The question being asked by many Tories this morning will be whether the party’s recent relentless focus on winning new supporters in traditionally Labour-held areas in the north is starting to cost them in

Edwin Poots has resigned as leader of the DUP after less than a month in the post. Mr Poots is standing down following an internal revolt against him but will stay in post until a successor is elected. Speaking on Thursday evening Mr Poots said: “I have asked the Party Chairman to commence an electoral

NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens has failed to confirm he has confidence in Matt Hancock. Asked repeatedly if, having worked alongside the health secretary during the pandemic, he has confidence in his ability, Sir Simon refused to give Mr Hancock his support. Pressed on whether the health secretary is hopeless, the NHS boss smirks after

Ministers should be banned from political lobbying for up to five years after leaving office, the anti-corruption watchdog has recommended. The Committee on Standards in Public Life has published its interim review of lobbying guidelines in the wake of the Greensill affair involving David Cameron. A number of inquiries have been launched after it was