Days after being involved in a minor road accident which left his car dented and scratched and a Deliveroo cyclist with an injured arm, Sir Keir Starmer is on collision course with the Labour left. But while his car can be repaired and the cyclist’s arm will hopefully heal speedily, the Labour leader is now
Politics
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been suspended from the party and has had the whip removed. A party spokesman said: “In light of his comments made today and his failure to retract them subsequently, the Labour Party has suspended Jeremy Corbyn pending investigation. He has also had the whip removed from the Parliamentary Labour
Big family reunions may be banned at Christmas in England as the coronavirus second wave could last until March, a senior minister has warned. Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said people should prepare now for the “realistic” prospect that high numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths continue, so a normal festive period “won’t be achievable”. His
The government is in danger of leaving it “too late” for a short national lockdown to be effective in driving down the rate of coronavirus infections, a member of its scientific advisory group has warned. Professor Andrew Hayward, from UCL’s institute of epidemiology and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), told Sky News
The Tory MP husband of embattled coronavirus Test and Trace boss Dido Harding has been condemned by Labour after criticising “chaotic parents” in the row over Marcus Rashford’s free school meals campaign. Former minister John Penrose, a millionaire publisher, made the comment in a letter to a constituent who asked him why he voted in
The government will “learn from” a summer holiday clubs programme as it seeks to steer a way through the free school meals row, a minister has told Sky News. A fresh campaign spearheaded by England footballer Marcus Rashford has heaped pressure on the government over the provision of school holiday meals for the children of
More than 50 Tory MPs from “red wall” seats are demanding a “roadmap out of lockdown” from Boris Johnson and a post-COVID economic recovery plan for the north of England. As Warrington and parts of Nottinghamshire became the latest areas to be placed under Tier 3 restrictions, the MPs have voiced their anger over the
When Dido Harding returned to her Somerset home by car on Sunday afternoon, she was towing her horsebox. An equine enthusiast for decades and board member of the Jockey Club, horses are how the boss of the government’s Test and Trace programme relaxes. And it’s likely she needs it, after senior Conservative MP Sir Bernard
A top Tory MP and leading Boris Johnson ally is calling for Dido Harding, the beleaguered boss of NHS Test and Trace, to be axed. Sir Bernard Jenkin, who chairs the powerful Liaison Committee of senior MPs, says Conservative peer Baroness Harding “should be given a well-earned break”, adding that “the immediate priority is to
Boris Johnson should have a word with the Conservative-controlled local council in his west London constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip about Marcus Rashford’s school meals campaign. “Hillingdon Council will be offering free school meals to eligible children during the half term holiday,” the council announced this weekend. “Full details of the scheme and how
Boris Johnson failed to reply to a “personal” letter sent by Marcus Rashford in which the footballer asked the prime minister to join a taskforce he created to help tackle child food poverty. Sky News understands that the letter was sent privately in September alongside a public letter that thanked the government for the voucher
Labour is claiming emergency stocks of some vital COVID-related drugs are running out ahead of a second wave of the pandemic. Emily Thornberry, Labour‘s shadow international trade secretary, says the government’s own figures show many drug stockpiles are at zero. The shortages include bacterial antibiotics and high-strength painkillers, according to figures published in parliament by
Nicola Sturgeon has revealed the Scottish alternative to Boris Johnson’s tiered system of coronavirus restrictions. While England has three levels of measures, Scotland’s first minister has gone for five. She said individual regions could be placed under different ones, so “we don’t have to take a one-size-fits-all approach if that is not warranted”. They will
Just when you think you understand British politics, you relearn the lesson that you can’t write ground rules for how it operates in practice. There is not, I’m afraid, any algorithm that politics works to that doesn’t eventually fail. On Thursday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak did nothing short of a complete – shameless – U-turn on
Boris Johnson has confessed to “frustrations” at the test and trace system and admitted there is need to “improve” the programme. Latest figures show that less than 60% of close contacts of people who tested positive for coronavirus in England are being reached. Meanwhile, just 15% of people tested for COVID-19 in England at an
Trade talks between Britain and the European Union will resume later this week, Downing Street has said. “The prime minister and Michael Gove have both made clear in recent days that a fundamental change in approach was needed from the EU from that shown in recent weeks,” a Number 10 spokesperson said. “They made clear