Politics

A Scottish minister has accused the UK government of “sabotage” after it ruled Scotland’s deposit return scheme (DRS) could only go ahead if glass bottles were removed from the environmental initiative.  Lorna Slater, who is co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said ministers at Holyrood would have to “look very seriously at where this leaves the

The “doorstep”. It’s an often necessary but rarely tidy journalistic exercise – locating and asking pertinent questions of an unwilling participant who has gone to some effort to avoid them. Boris Johnson had been on a lengthy US trip, through Texas to Las Vegas in the west and Washington DC in the east. Boris Johnson

As a sullen Conservative party resumed its favourite displacement activities this week – arguing over the entrails of Boris Johnson’s political career while taking chunks out of the civil service – few were paying attention to the only graph that matters in British politics The cost of government borrowing – a measure of whether global

Back in 2016, in the run-up to the EU referendum and as Leave campaigners promised to “take back control” of our borders, chief Brexit cheerleader Nigel Farage promised the British people that leaving the European Union would allow the UK to cut net migration to below 50,000. He wasn’t the only one to promise to

Downing Street is one of the most heavily protected places in the UK. Barriers were first used to prevent access to the road in 1920 and were periodically removed and reintroduced for the next 69 years depending on the perceived threat level. However, since 1989 a security checkpoint marked by large black gates at either

The government is trying to distance itself from tomorrow’s net migration figures. There won’t be a minister on Thursday’s morning media round, the home secretary and immigration minister will be firmly out of sight. The reason – net migration for 2022 is expected to be more than 700,000, the highest level on record, and could

Suella Braverman is to remain in her post as home secretary after the prime minister said “further investigation is not necessary” into her handling of a speeding offence. In his letter to the home secretary, the prime minister said he had consulted with his independent ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, who advised that “on this

In Las Vegas, they have paid more than $4,000 (£3,220) a head. It’s safe to assume attendees at the Scale Global Summit didn’t part with their cash to listen to tales of COVID lockdown.   There are a couple of UK police forces for that. In the Bellagio Hotel & Casino, this is a gathering

Boris Johnson has been referred to the police by the Cabinet Office over new claims he broke COVID lockdown rules. The former prime minister’s ministerial diary has revealed visits by friends to Chequers during the pandemic. The visits to the grace-and-favour residence were highlighted during preparations for a public inquiry into COVID, according to The

Former justice secretary and deputy prime minister Dominic Raab will stand down at the next election, Sky News understands. It comes a month after he quit Rishi Sunak’s cabinet over claims he bullied civil servants. Mr Raab has been the Conservative MP for Esher and Walton in Surrey since 2010. He has “become increasingly concerned”

Suella Braverman has insisted “nothing untoward happened” as she faces questions over whether she asked civil servants to help her dodge a group speeding awareness course. The comments are the first made by the home secretary since The Sunday Times reported that she asked civil servants to arrange a private one-to-one speed awareness course for

What is it about politicians and driving fines? In 2012 Lib Dem minister Chris Huhne resigned from the coalition government after his then-wife took speeding points for him. They both ended up in prison for perverting the course of justice. In 2019, Labour MP Fiona Onasanya was jailed and ejected from parliament for the same

A Tory mayor has said there should be “no compromise” when it comes to standards in public life following accusations the home secretary may have breached the ministerial code over a speeding fine. Andy Street, the mayor of the West Midlands, said there “have to be standards in public life” as Rishi Sunak comes under

It has not been a great week for Suella Braverman. It began on Monday with her making an inflammatory speech to activists, which Tory MPs saw as a shameless leadership bid, and then being told by colleagues to stick to the day job. And it ended with embarrassing reports on Saturday evening that she asked

Rishi Sunak has said attacks on his wealth do not bother him despite the Labour Party’s attempts to make him appear out of touch. The prime minister was asked about Labour’s attack ads against him while visiting Japan for the G7 summit. He said that while he notices the attacks at Prime Minister’s Questions from

More than 23,000 died in A&E in England last year, figures obtained by Labour show. The opposition party has released data it obtained through freedom of information requests, which shows an increase in deaths compared to previous years. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine previously said 23,000 “excess patient deaths” may have occurred partly due

Rishi Sunak has vowed to bring the level of net migration down to below the 500,000 figure he “inherited” as prime minister. Mr Sunak said he was “focused” on cutting the level of net migration, which stood at 504,000 for the year to June 2022. He became prime minister in October of that year. He

Rishi Sunak will announce a ban on Russian diamonds coming to Britain as the prime minister and other G7 leaders step up sanctions against Putin. The diamond ban is part of a wider package of sanctions as the prime minister and allies use the annual G7 summit in Tokyo to redouble support for Ukraine. Sanctions

A £10bn investment from water companies to stop sewage spills will be paid for by customers through “modest increases to their bills”. Ruth Kelly, chair of Water UK, told Sky News that water firms will provide a “huge multi-billion down-payment” to start “the biggest transformation project since Victorian times”. She added: “The way the system

Rishi Sunak has laid out his goals ahead of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan. The PM is set to touchdown in the early hours of the morning on Thursday UK time. It comes hot on the heels of his visit to Iceland for the Council of Europe summit. Politics latest:PM responds to Nigel Farage’s