Politics

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has said he cannot remember receiving a detailed briefing about the Horizon scandal while he was prime minister – but says he is sorry for an “appalling miscarriage of justice”. The apology by the former Tory leader and MP comes amid continuing fallout from the Post Office debacle that led to

Migrants crossing the English Channel to the UK have been reported for the first time in 2024. Arrivals have not been recorded since 16 December, according to Home Office figures, with poor weather conditions potentially contributing to the lack of activity at sea. On Saturday, a group of people believed to be migrants were brought

Ministers are “failing to act” on the lessons from the Post Office scandal by refusing to change laws around public contracts, union leaders have said. The TUC said the Procurement Act, passed last October, was a “huge missed opportunity” to tighten up rules governing the awarding of taxpayer-funded contracts to private companies. The legislation was

Sir Tony Blair was warned the Horizon IT system could be flawed before it was rolled out across the Post Office, a document shows. A letter sent to the then-Labour prime minister on 9 December 1998 by a Downing Street special adviser said pressing ahead with the project was a risk because of spiralling costs

Brexit has cost the UK £140bn so far, according to new analysis, and could see the nation £311bn worse off by the middle of the next decade, according to a new report. Economists and analysts at Cambridge Econometrics – commissioned by London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan – have modelled how the UK’s economy would have acted

Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd has said he has an “aggressive and untreatable” form of leukaemia. The veteran politician, 73, who has represented Greater Manchester for over 40 years, said he had been receiving treatment for blood cancer, but the illness had progressed. He said he would be leaving hospital on Thursday in order to

Post Office investigators were offered monetary bonuses for successful prosecutions and confiscation of money from sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses impacted by the faulty Horizon software, the inquiry was told. Evidence from Sir Wyn Williams’ inquiry into the scandal shows there was an incentive to those making cases against innocent employees. The faulty Horizon software, developed by

The longest strike in NHS history, during which junior doctors walked out for six days, led to more than 113,000 patient operations, appointments and procedures being postponed, new figures show. The industrial action started last Wednesday and continued until yesterday, with 25,446 staff absent from work at the peak, which was the day the strike

More than 30 Tory MPs are poised to back amendments aimed at “toughening” Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill when it returns to the Commons next week. The prime minister is braced for yet another showdown with the right-wing faction of his party, which believes the legislation in its current form will not stop further legal challenges

Israel “might have taken action” in breach of international law in Gaza, the foreign secretary has said during a tense exchange with MPs on the conflict in the Middle East. Lord Cameron also confirmed two British nationals are still being held hostage by Hamas, as he made his first appearance before the Foreign Affairs Committee

Hundreds of domestic abuse survivors will receive cash payments of £2,500 each to help them flee their tormentors, under a new initiative. The £2m scheme, which launches this month, is described as a “lifeline” for women who can’t flee – or are forced to return to – abusive relationships because they cannot afford essentials. A

Rishi Sunak began 2023 hounded by the contamination of the Johnson and Truss premierships, and kicks off 2024 weighed down by what happened on David Cameron’s watch, as the hundreds of Post Office managers wrongly criminalised and convicted comes back to haunt his new year.  Travelling to Accrington in the marginal seat of Hynburn on

Labour says it will introduce additional mental health counsellors to secondary schools as part of its plans to tackle rising pupil absences. The party says the UK is facing a “generational challenge”, as more than 88,000 secondary school students missed at least half of their education last year. Labour’s education pledge comes as a poll

Simon Case, the head of the civil service, has returned to work after more than two months on sick leave. The cabinet secretary, who has not publicly disclosed his illness, has been attending meetings in the last few days, the Politics At Jack And Sam’s Podcast revealed today. Mr Case was originally due to be

Sir Keir Starmer wants to have “a fight” with the Conservative Party on his target to spend £28bn a year on green projects by 2030. He told Wilfred Frost on Sky News: “It’s absolutely clear to me that the Tories are trying to weaponise this issue, the 28 billion, etc. “It’s a fight I want

Labour says Rishi Sunak should be “honest” with the public by publishing documents which appear to show he had doubts about the Rwanda scheme to stop small boats from crossing the Channel. Documents seen by Sky News suggest the prime minister was sceptical about government plans to send illegal migrants to the African country. Mr

Rishi Sunak had doubts the government’s Rwanda asylum scheme would stop small boat crossings while he was chancellor, according to documents seen by Sky News. The Number 10 papers, prepared in March 2022 shortly before the Rwanda plan was first announced, also suggest the prime minister wanted to scale back the plans. A government source

A former energy minister has said he will quit as a Conservative MP over new legislation “that promotes the production of new oil and gas”. Chris Skidmore has said he will resign when parliament returns next week over the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill. The senior Tory had already announced his intention to stand down at

The NHS “doesn’t just belong” to striking junior doctors and can’t be “switched on and off on whim”, the health secretary said. Victoria Atkins turned up the heat in the government’s row with the British Medical Association (BMA) as their record-breaking walk-out continues. Junior doctors in England are in the middle of a six-day strike

It’s a sign of the times that the big political event to kick off 2024 was not an election-year framing speech by the current prime minister, but rather the address given by the man who, for now, is expected to be the next. Sir Keir Starmer, speaking from the marginal seat of Filton and Bradley