Politics

Boris Johnson has said he cannot guarantee that targets to improve rape prosecution and conviction rates set out in the government’s Rape Review will be met. Plans set out in the report, which was commissioned in 2019 and published in June of this year, said the volume of rape cases going to court should return

Rape conviction rates are “disgracefully low”, Policing Minister Kit Malthouse has admitted, as he acknowledged that “there is a problem” with violence against women and girls. Speaking ahead of Home Secretary Priti Patel’s conference speech on Tuesday morning, Kit Malthouse told Sky News the government will “redouble our efforts” to make public spaces safer for

A Conservative donor has suggested the party convenes a “special investigation'” into conflicts of interest surrounding the Tory co-chairman Ben Elliot. Mohammed Amersi, a telecoms entrepreneur and philanthropist, has also argued the party should improve its governance structures and remove Mr Elliot if he does not comply. “[Ben Elliot] has done a great job in

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to announce a £500m expansion of government action to tackle unemployment and support job seekers following the end of the furlough scheme. In a speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Monday, Mr Sunak will outline fresh funding for schemes designed to increase the chances of employment for

Boris Johnson has not ruled out shortages continuing until Christmas, but said the festive period this year will be “considerably better” than last year. “I’m very confident this Christmas will be considerably better,” the prime minister said during a visit to a youth club in Manchester. Live updates from the Conservative Party conference When it

Boris Johnson has not ruled out a further relaxation of immigration rules to help ease the UK’s fuel and supply shortages – but the prime minister insisted he does not want to see a return to “a lot of low-wage immigration”. Amid the continuing queues at petrol stations across the country, the government has said

Boris Johnson has challenged Conservatives to take “big, bold decisions” as they gather for their party conference – but, ahead of the Manchester event, the prime minister is also being challenged over the fuel crisis, rising cost of living, supply issues and welfare cuts. More than 10,000 delegates are expected to attend the Tory conference

The golden rule of Boris Johnson’s Conservatives is that an otherwise disparate party is at its most happy when it’s talking about Brexit and its consequences. At times of stress, it’s the trump card the PM routinely reaches for. Given the stage of the country, expect it to feature heavily during the party conference. As

Army tanker drivers are to start delivering fuel to petrol stations from Monday in an emergency government move prompted by the continuing crisis at the pumps. Senior ministers have been alarmed at how slowly the fuel supply disruption is improving, with motorists still forced to queue for hours for fuel after more than a week

Sir Keir Starmer has said the Labour conference this week was a turning point for the party and it now has a “credible programme” to win the next general election. The Labour leader, speaking the morning after his 90-minute keynote speech, said if voters do not want to support the plans put forward at conference

The government’s coronavirus furlough scheme ends today after supporting millions of workers during the pandemic. Ministers say the wages of more than 11 million jobs were subsidised for at least some of the scheme’s duration, at a cost of about £70bn. There is now uncertainty over the almost one million people still thought to be

Sir Keir Starmer has been on quite a journey in the past 18 months Elected leader in April 2020 on a message of party unity and continuity, he has travelled a long way from that starting point. And it was on Wednesday that he finally crystallised what that really means as he faced down the

Sir Keir Starmer batted away hecklers during a mammoth speech in which he used his personal experiences to show off his human side as he announced a key climate change policy. Doreen Lawrence, mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, introduced Sir Keir before his conference speech by thanking the Labour leader for helping prosecute his

It’s Sir Keir Starmer’s first in-person speech to the Labour party conference, and he’ll promise to get Labour “back in business”. After becoming leader at the height of the pandemic – forced to give keynote speeches to a camera set up in his living room – this is an important moment. What’s clear from the

Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly refused to say if he is moving Labour away from the left to the centre of British politics, but insisted: “You can’t lose four elections and not change”. On the eve of his first in-person Labour conference speech as party leader, Sir Keir said he was focussed on turning Labour

Sir Keir Starmer is being warned that his party’s Brighton conference is “falling apart” following the dramatic resignation of a shadow minister. The Labour leader has been rocked by Andy McDonald’s decision to quit as shadow secretary of state for employment rights and protections midway through the party’s gathering on the South Coast. Mr McDonald’s