Politics

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

Corporate executives call it “kitchen sinking”. The minute you get into a new job you collect all the bad news, announce the miserable stuff at the same time and take the grisliest, most painful decisions all at once. You throw the kitchen sink at it. You’ll have spotted this strategy before, and not just in

Dominic Raab has denied bullying claims and he requested an investigation into himself following two formal complaints made against him after days of allegations. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, where he was standing in for Rishi Sunak who is at the G20 in Bali, Mr Raab said he is “confident that I have behaved professionally

His Majesty’s Treasury has opened a Discord account on the instant messaging platform and been subjected to a tidal wave of abuse. The government department’s official Twitter account posted a link to its server on the chat app on Tuesday, though it has apparently been active since 14 October. Discord allows users to communicate with

Rishi Sunak has refused to apologise for the economic turmoil Liz Truss’s short-lived government caused the British people. The prime minister, who is in Bali for the G20 summit, refused six times today to say sorry for the decisions his predecessor made, which caused severe and continuing financial turbulence. He acknowledged that “mistakes were made”

Rishi Sunak landed in Bali on Monday evening with a clear message to viewers back home: the problems besetting the UK economy are shared with other industrialised nations around the world. And there are two very good reasons why he has chosen to frame the G20 summit in Indonesia in this way. Firstly, it’s an

Rishi Sunak has avoided sticking to his predecessor’s pledge to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP ahead of the autumn budget, set to be unveiled on Thursday. During her campaign for Number 10, Liz Truss said the figure would be reached by the end of the decade. But asked if he would standby her

Rishi Sunak will set out a five-point economic action plan to address global instability and the rising cost of living at this week’s G20 summit – where he will face Russia’s foreign minister and call out Vladimir Putin’s regime. The prime minister is travelling to Bali for talks with leaders of the world’s biggest economies

The last time a chancellor of the exchequer appeared on the Sunday morning political shows he helped kick the economy off a cliff-edge. Seven long weeks ago, Kwasi Kwarteng was still revelling in the aftermath of his not-so-mini budget and its promise of unfunded tax cuts, so much so he promised more to come. It

Rishi Sunak has pledged to “call out Putin’s regime” at this year’s G20 summit over the devastating turmoil inflicted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The prime minister will jet to Indonesia on Sunday ahead of talks with world leaders including US President Joe Biden, French premier Emmanuel Macron and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. But Russian

Matt Hancock has been told by an I’m a Celebrity campmate that “sorry… doesn’t really cut it” over his rule-breaking during COVID. The former health secretary resigned from his post in June 2021 after pictures were leaked of him having an affair with his former aide in his office, breaking guidance about mixing with other

Dominic Raab “values” civil servants in his department, the Ministry of Justice has insisted, after bullying claims have emerged against him. Mr Raab was reappointed as justice secretary and deputy prime minister by Rishi Sunak last month, having held the roles between September 2021 and September 2022 under Boris Johnson, but having been sacked by

Nigel Lawson, chancellor to Margaret Thatcher, has died at the age of 91. He leaves behind five of his six children, including TV chef Nigella Lawson and journalist Dominic Lawson. One of his daughters, Thomasina, died aged 32. Born in Hampstead, northwest London, on 11 March 1932, the son of the owner of a tea-trading

There is now a “window of opportunity” to fix the issues around the Northern Ireland protocol, says the Irish prime minister. Speaking after the British-Irish Council summit in Blackpool, Michael Martin said relations between the UK and EU had “improved very significantly”, and both he and British PM Rishi Sunak wanted to resolve the problems

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has said he “could not speak or sleep” when he found out his wife had breast cancer. Susie Cleverly, 49, was diagnosed with triple positive breast cancer in December 2021 after spotting dimpled skin underneath her right breast the month before – nearly a year ago to the day. At the

A union representing more than 100,000 civil servants has voted to strike in a dispute over pay, pensions and jobs. The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), one of the largest unions in the UK, said the legal threshold for industrial action had been reached in 126 separate areas, covering workers including driving test examiners,

Is Rishi Sunak’s baptism of fire as prime minister evidence that politicians who’ve been Leader of the Opposition make the best PMs? Some MPs claim Mr Sunak’s early blunders – the disastrous appointment of Sir Gavin Williamson to the cabinet table and his COP27 U-turn, for example – reveal not only a lack of experience

Rishi Sunak has said it is “absolutely right” that Sir Gavin Williamson resigned and admitted he has “regret” over appointing him as a cabinet minister in light of the allegations he is facing. The prime minister insisted he “did not know about any of the specific concerns” relating to Sir Gavin’s alleged “unacceptable” behaviour in

He had to go. It was inevitable. The charge sheet against Sir Gavin Williamson was getting longer, not just by the day, but by the hour. It was impossible for him to survive, given the damage the bullying row was doing to Rishi Sunak. Did he jump or was he pushed? Despite Sir Gavin claiming

Rishi Sunak believes Sir Gavin Williamson’s account of events on the allegations he is facing and still has confidence in the cabinet minister, Downing Street has said. The Guardian newspaper reported that Sir Gavin allegedly told a senior civil servant to “slit your throat” while he was defence secretary. An ex-official from the Ministry of