Downing Street has denied claims that Boris Johnson broke coronavirus rules with parties at No 10 last Christmas. The Mirror claims the PM made a speech at a leaving do on 13 November – when the country was in the second lockdown – and allowed a festive party to proceed on 18 December when London
Politics
France’s interior minister has suggested talks with the UK over Channel crossings could resume as Paris proposed ideas to tackle the crisis. Gerald Darmanin said Prime Minister Jean Castex will write to Boris Johnson on Tuesday with proposals for a “balanced agreement” between the UK and the EU. He said discussions could take place “very
Yvette Cooper, back in the political frontline as shadow home secretary – again – in the headline appointment in the Starmer shuffle, is viewed by many MPs as Labour’s lost leader. Not any more, though. After giving up the £15,000-a-year chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee after five years, she’s almost certainly back as
Yvette Cooper is elevated to shadow home secretary while Lisa Nandy will move from shadow foreign secretary to the levelling up brief as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer reshuffles his cabinet. Ms Cooper, who held the home affairs brief previously from 2011 to 2015 under former Labour leader Ed Miliband, will depart her current role
Have the last few weeks seen a turning point in Boris Johnson’s premiership? Dozens of Tories have refused to follow the prime minister’s orders in the voting lobbies on issues as diverse as sleaze and social care. Meanwhile a handful of Tory MPs have gone public with demands for change, with many more complaining in
The government is hoping the French will work with the UK on halting migrant crossings despite being disinvited from talks. Health Secretary Sajid Javid defended Boris Johnson after the prime minister tweeted out a letter he sent to French President Emmanuel Macron, which angered Paris and got Home Secretary Priti Patel disinvited from a meeting
The home secretary has said there will be “even worse scenes” in the Channel than the capsizing of the small dinghy that killed 27 people on Wednesday if co-operation with Europe can not be improved. Priti Patel promised to “continue to push” for improvements despite being disinvited from a meeting taking place today with France,
A government minister has defended Stanley Johnson, calling him “a gentleman” after a fellow Conservative Party MP accused the prime minister’s father of inappropriately touching her. Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, said she “didn’t believe” what Caroline Nokes had accused the former MEP of. In response to the remarks, Ms Nokes said she was “sorry”
There is limited evidence that Rishi Sunak’s £2bn jobs programme for young people is working, according to a new report. The National Audit Office (NAO) watchdog warned that the government has “limited assurance” over whether the Kickstart scheme, aimed at 16 to 24-year-olds, is having any positive effect or creating high quality jobs. The government
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth has tested positive for COVID-19 and is self-isolating. The leading Labour MP said he will be “out of action for a bit” after announcing he had tested positive on Friday morning. He did not say whether his family or members of his staff have also tested positive for COVID or
France has cancelled a meeting with the UK to discuss Channel crossings after Boris Johnson asked the French to take back migrants arriving in Britain. French interior minister Gerald Darmanin has told Home Secretary Priti Patel “she was no longer welcome” at Sunday’s European meeting on migrant issues, a French government spokesman said. Spokesman Gabriel
The French interior minister said migrants are “often attracted” to the UK’s job market after 27 people died while attempting to cross the Channel. Gerard Darmanin said that Britain, Belgium and Germany could do more to help France tackle illegal migrants and human trafficking issues. In an interview with French radio station RTL he also
The 27 people who died yesterday while attempting to cross the Channel to the UK from France included 17 men, seven women and two teenage boys and a girl, French prosecutors have said. It comes as a picture of the flimsy boat used by the group has been seen by Sky News. Following the deadliest
Sir Keir Starmer questioned whether Boris Johnson was “okay” as he accused him of introducing a “working-class dementia tax” through this week’s reform to social care funding. The Labour leader said the prime minister was fronting a “Covent Garden pickpocketing operation” over the reform that means only what individuals personally pay for their social care
Universal Credit claimants will begin to be told how changes to the benefits system will bolster their incomes ahead of Christmas – but there are warnings that millions of families will still be worse off overall. At his autumn budget last month, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a reduction in the Universal Credit taper rate
Boris Johnson has appeared to step back from a manifesto commitment on social care, after a controversial change to his government’s reforms to the system in England were narrowly backed by MPs. The prime minister committed in the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto that “nobody needing care should be forced to sell their home to pay