Politics

All of Rishi Sunak’s campaign pledges from the summer leadership contest are under review. The prime minister’s official spokeswoman said that the pledges were made a few months ago, when the context was “somewhat different”. Secretaries of state are to be consulted on the specifics of their departments. Sunak ‘absolutely hammered’ on immigration at PMQs

The government is testing plans to cope with energy blackouts that could last up to seven days, according to a report. The Guardian says that a series of exercises has been held with government departments and councils across the country in recent days. Programme Yarrow was drawn up in 2021 to improve planning and resilience

The autumn statement this month will likely encompass “rough” tax rises as the Treasury seeks to fill a multi-billion “black hole” in the nation’s finances, Sky News has been told. The warning from a source in the Treasury comes after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met yesterday morning. They discussed what is

The Home Office has been told to “get a grip” over the issues at the Manston migrant processing centre – as a new report reveals detainees were not allowed to close toilet doors fully and had to sleep on the floor. Some migrants have not been allowed access to mobile phones to inform their families

The situation at the Manston migration centre in Kent is a “breach of humane conditions”, according to the Tory MP for the area. Conservative backbencher Sir Roger Gale told Sky News overcrowding at the facility – where outbreaks of MRSA and diphtheria have been reported – is “wholly unacceptable”. The site is only designed to

Amid the relative political calm that’s washed across Westminster in the last five days, one issue has stuck out like a sore thumb. The reappointment of Suella Braverman as home secretary, a week after she resigned over security breaches, has baffled and bemused Conservative MPs and officials. Given Rishi Sunak set great store by his

Michael Gove has defended cabinet colleague Suella Braverman’s controversial reappointment, describing her as a “first-rate, front-rank politician”. Ms Braverman was forced to resign from Liz Truss’s government after she sent an official document from her personal email to a fellow MP and copied in another MP by mistake. New Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under

The government is facing calls to carry out an urgent investigation after reports emerged that a phone belonging to Liz Truss was hacked by Russia. The Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party have described the allegations as “extremely serious” and “concerning”. Agents suspected of working for Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly hacked the former prime

The UK is now spending more of its aid budget at home than in poorer countries, development experts have said. That is because a large proportion of the pot – some £3bn – is being spent on housing refugees, mainly from Ukraine, according to the Centre for Global Development (CGD). The UK aid budget is

The UK’s Northern Ireland secretary has said he “will be calling an election” in the nation after a deadline to restore devolved government at Stormont passed at midnight. Yesterday, last-ditch efforts to restore the multi-party executive failed and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris had been expected to subsequently call an election today and announce the

It’s Albert Einstein’s classic definition of insanity – “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” A second Northern Ireland Assembly election might produce a slightly different picture but the end result will be the same. Unless there’s a solution to the Brexit trading arrangement, there still won’t be a power-sharing government

Security services could be reluctant to share sensitive information with Suella Braverman after her controversial reappointment as home secretary, Lord Blunkett has warned. The Labour peer, himself a former home secretary, suggested “there could be two really unfortunate outcomes to the reappointment of the current home secretary” just six days after she was forced to

Rishi Sunak is under growing pressure over his reappointment of Suella Braverman as home secretary after a former party chair claimed she had committed “multiple breaches” of the ministerial code. Ms Braverman resigned her post just over a week ago after using her personal email address to forward sensitive government documents, breaking the rules ministers

On the face of it, Rishi Sunak’s first Prime Minister’s Questions was an assured performance. The former chancellor was combative, confident and fluid. But it was also a session in which the new prime minister showed us how conscious he is that his political legitimacy hangs by a thread. Because being appointed as the UK’s

Rishi Sunak has stood by his decision to re-appoint Suella Braverman as home secretary, despite calls for an investigation into security breaches she committed. Ms Braverman resigned from the role seven days ago, having breached the ministerial code by sending secure information from her private email, and left with scathing remarks about Liz Truss’s government.

Rishi Sunak has warned there are “difficult decisions” to be made in his first speech as prime minister. He also promised to restore trust and fix the mistakes made by his predecessor Liz Truss. This is his speech in full: I’ve just been to Buckingham Palace and accepted His Majesty the King’s invitation to form

Rishi Sunak has appointed his cabinet after being asked by the King to form a new government. The new prime minister promised to form a government of “all the talents” amid calls from senior Tories to appoint the best ministers available – rather than focusing on those who are loyal to him, as his two

Rishi Sunak will become the UK’s prime minister after meeting King Charles at Buckingham Palace this morning. At the start of the day, outgoing PM Liz Truss will hold her last cabinet meeting before she is expected to make a departing statement outside Number 10 at 10.15am. Ms Truss, who became the shortest-serving leader in

For a man who was, until recently, thousands of miles away on a Caribbean island (and has yet to put his hat in the ring) it is extraordinary that Boris Johnson’s name has dominated this leadership race. Such is the strength of feeling around the former PM: love him or loathe him, we can’t stop

Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has said he is backing Boris Johnson to return as prime minister despite having previously called for him to resign in the summer. “I’m backing Boris. He got the big calls right, whether it was ordering more vaccines ahead of more waves of Covid, arming Ukraine early against the advice of