Politics

Another Conservative MP has said he will not be standing at the next general election. Chris Skidmore, the MP for Kingswood, said in a statement “there has been no greater honour in my life” than to represent the constituency, in southwest England. “Parliamentary boundary changes will result in the Kingswood constituency ceasing to exist. “With

A man who died after staying at the Manston migrant processing centre in Kent did have diphtheria, the Home Office has confirmed. A government spokesperson said initial local hospital tests were false negatives, and follow-ups showed that diphtheria may have been the cause of the man’s illness. Post-mortem examinations are ongoing, meaning the official cause

Vladimir Putin is trying to freeze and starve Ukraine’s people into giving up this winter by attacking power and water supplies but he will fail, the foreign secretary has told Sky News. James Cleverly, on his first visit to Ukraine, said he had never seen such devastation before and said it was vital for the

Two more Conservative MPs have announced that they will not be standing at the next general election. Dehenna Davison, 29, a levelling up minister, is viewed as one of the rising stars in the Tory party, so the news of her intention to step aside will come as a surprise. “For my whole adult life,

Sharing “downblouse” images and pornographic “deepfakes” without consent will be made crimes under new legislation. The government has confirmed that an amendment to the Online Safety Bill would see police and prosecutors awarded with more powers to bring perpetrators to justice. Under the new proposals, individuals who share “deepfakes” – explicit images or videos which

Dominic Raab has insisted he has “behaved professionally at all times” despite facing growing allegations of bullying and intimidating behaviour. Yesterday, a number of the deputy PM’s former private secretaries told the BBC they were preparing to submit formal complaints about his behaviour. Newsnight was also told that Mr Raab used his personal email account

The government is “simply not in a position to pay inflation pay rises”, the transport secretary has told Sky News before a meeting with the boss of the sector’s biggest union tomorrow. Mark Harper told The Take with Sophy Ridge that he understands why “people facing these cost-of-living pressures want more pay”, but said if

This is a major blow for Nicola Sturgeon’s ambition to hold a second independence vote next October. It almost certainly rules out that plan.  But it’s not entirely surprising as the first minister’s own top law officer wasn’t fully convinced of the legal basis for Holyrood legislating for a referendum against Westminster’s approval. That is

The intense discussion over Scotland’s future is reaching another, major milestone. Politicians on both sides of Scotland’s independence debate are waiting with bated breath for the judgment from the Supreme Court on whether the Scottish parliament has the power to legislate for a second referendum without the approval of Westminster. Follow updates in the Politics

There are now no people at the Manston migrant processing centre after it experienced severe overcrowding earlier this month. The Home Office site in Kent, where thousands of migrants who have arrived in small boats have been taken since it opened in February, currently has zero people in it. In recent weeks Manston, a former

MPs can put the cost of food and drink at their staff Christmas parties on expenses for the first time. It means taxpayers will pay for the festivities – but alcohol cannot be included in the “hospitality” claim, according to guidance from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA). The advice from the expenses watchdog came

Rishi Sunak has reiterated his commitment to Brexit amid reports the government could be seeking a closer “Swiss-style” deal with the EU. Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) annual conference, the prime minister said he was “unequivocal” that he would not return to any alignment with EU laws. “I voted for Brexit, I

The UK government will introduce new legislation today to extend the deadline for forming an executive in Northern Ireland. There has been no functioning government in Stormont since May’s vote, with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refusing to restore power-sharing unless the Northern Ireland protocol is scrapped. The post-Brexit trade agreement was designed to prevent

Labour wants to replace the House of Lords with an elected chamber if it gets into power as part of a plan to “restore trust in politics”. The party will hold a consultation on the make-up of the new look Lords, including on how to make sure “regional voices” are included. But it has said

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will accuse Iran of spreading “bloodshed and destruction” around the world as he reaffirms Britain’s determination to prevent it acquiring a nuclear weapon. Addressing an international security conference in Bahrain on Saturday, Mr Cleverly will warn that Iranian-supplied weapons are threatening security in the Middle East and beyond. He will point

Rishi Sunak is to axe the daily appearance of ministers on morning breakfast shows, it is understood. Instead of being grilled on the airwaves every day, the government will now only provide a minister to be interviewed around three mornings a week. The move was first reported by the Daily Mirror, which said the appearances

The UK’s science and technology sector survived a much feared spending cut in this week’s budget – but those in the field say the government will need to do more to realise the UK’s potential as a “science superpower.” The expectation was that this was going to be a budget of cuts, with the government’s

Let’s start with a tale of two charts. Or rather, one chart. Be warned: it’s not a pretty chart. It shows how average household disposable income changed each year since 1955 and for the most part it’s a story of progress. As the years have gone on, we have seen our disposable incomes rise in

The UK’s economic outlook will be “challenging” for the next two years, Jeremy Hunt says. The chancellor presented his autumn statement to parliament on Thursday, littered with stealth taxes and curbs on government spending amounting to £55bn in an attempt to plug the black hole in the public finances. But the independent Office for Budget

Millions more Britons will pay more tax as Jeremy Hunt cut the top-rate threshold and announced freezes on several other taxes in his autumn statement. The total amount of savings from the autumn statement has been costed at £55bn, through tax rises and cutting government spending. However, in real-term costs, UK households’ disposable incomes will