Politics

The UK’s medicines regulator has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the decision followed a “rigorous review” of safety and effectiveness in that age group – and that the benefits of having the COVID jab outweighed the risks. The Joint Committee on Vaccination

Welsh leader Mark Drakeford has expressed concern about the Indian coronavirus variant spreading across the border from England hotspots as his country moves to further ease lockdown restrictions. While ruling out a ban on travel, the first minister has urged visitors from the North West to take “all the precautions” in order to keep themselves

Boris Johnson has had his second dose of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine. The prime minister received his jab at the Francis Crick Institute in London on Thursday evening, having had his first dose back in March. His first jab was administered at St Thomas’ Hospital, where he was treated in intensive care last year after

Boris Johnson is set to face a major Commons rebellion next week over his policy to slash foreign aid. Rebel Tory MPs believe they have enough support for new legislation that will see aid spending increase by 2022. Conservative former chief Whip Andrew Mitchell is leading the parliamentary push, backed by a further 14 Tory

Boris Johnson’s COVID catch-up tsar has resigned after the government failed to provide enough money to fund a schools recovery plan. In a letter to Boris Johnson, Sir Kevan Collins said: “I do not believe it will be possible to deliver a successful recovery without significantly greater support than the government has, to date, indicated

A COVID rescue plan to help children in England catch up on lost lessons, costing £1.4 billion, is being unveiled by the government. But plans to add half an hour to the school day, extending it from 8am to 5pm or 6pm, are reported to have been postponed after a Whitehall row over the cost.

The vast majority of Scotland’s central belt will remain in Level 2 restrictions as Nicola Sturgeon delayed the easing of COVID measures for many parts of the country. The first minister said there would be a “slight slowing down” in the lifting of lockdown rules for much of Scotland due to spread of the Indian

The UK’s coronavirus failures have revealed the need for a “revolution in the way we run this country”, a former head of the civil service has said. Whitehall needs to be “more agile” and “we crucially need to be more prepared”, Lord Kerslake told Sky News. While stressing that he was not attacking Whitehall, which

Carrie Symonds is now married to the prime minister – but her influence inside Number 10 has already been under scrutiny. The former Tory Party communications chief – who is taking her husband’s surname – was first romantically linked to Boris Johnson in media reports in early 2019, before he became Tory leader. The couple

Boris Johnson’s approval rating has slumped in the wake of Dominic Cummings’ explosive evidence about the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, an opinion poll suggests. According to the Opinium study, the prime minister’s approval rating now stands at -6% -compared with +6% two weeks ago. But it seems that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer

A £200m national flagship will be used to promote British trade and industry around the world, Boris Johnson has said. The boat will sail across the world and be used to host trade fairs, ministerial summits and diplomatic talks as the UK seeks to build links and boost exports following Brexit, the prime minister added.

Matt Hancock committed a “minor breach” of the ministerial code when a coronavirus contract was awarded to his sister’s company in which he had share holdings, an independent report has found. Lord Geidt, the independent adviser on ministers’ interests, found that the health secretary made a “technical” breach of the ministerial code of conduct by

The government’s refusal to implement an insurance scheme for mass events this year means the festival industry is looking at a “lost summer”, according to a Commons report. Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage has previously ruled out the introduction of such a scheme, claiming it could “pull the rug out from underneath” organisers. Boomtown Festival, which

Downing Street has defended a meeting between Viktor Orban and Boris Johnson amid renewed criticism over the Hungarian leader’s derogatory comments about migrants. Mr Orban has previously spoken of “Muslim invaders” and said migration is “a poison”, forcing Number 10 to condemn the comments as “divisive and wrong” ahead of their meeting on Friday afternoon.

More than 1.5 million people flew into the UK between January and April while the UK’s borders were supposed to be heavily restricted, new figures reveal. Home Office data shows that about two-thirds of arrivals in 2021 were non-UK nationals. Labour says the figures demonstrate that the government’s border policy is “weak and dangerous”. Shadow

Matt Hancock has insisted the government “worked as hard as we could to protect care homes” following scathing criticism from Dominic Cummings. The health secretary has defended himself for the second time in a day in the wake of the attacks from Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser. One of the key claims made by Mr