Politics

Boris Johnson has said the new coronavirus tiers “have a sunset of 3 February” as he tries to fight off a backlash from Tory MPs. The prime minister has angered some of his party with a plan to impose stringent restrictions across much of England when the national lockdown ends on Wednesday. In a letter

Boris Johnson has appointed a minister to take charge of the coronavirus vaccine rollout, as his government seeks to quell a backbench rebellion over the new tier system. Downing Street said that Nadhim Zahawi – who is among Tory MPs critical of the new restrictions – had been made a health minister responsible for the

COVID-19 restrictions are likely to be in force until Easter, Sky News has learned, as Boris Johnson heads for a Commons showdown with rebel Tory MPs over the new tiers. Senior sources have revealed that even if large numbers of COVID-19 vaccinations begin at the end of January it will be Easter – on 4

Boris Johnson has sought to fight off a growing backlash among Conservative MPs about the new coronavirus tiers, declaring that the “vast majority” of the British public support the measures. “I totally understand why people feel frustrated, I get that,” the prime minister said about the COVID-19 restrictions. Search your area on this map to

Boris Johnson has raised the prospect of a New Year lockdown if Britons ease off in the fight against coronavirus – as his chief medic warned people not to hug elderly relatives at Christmas. England is due to exit its second national lockdown next Wednesday and the prime minister, speaking at a Downing Street news

Boris Johnson has warned against “taking our foot off the throat of the beast” of coronavirus as he raised the prospect of a New Year lockdown. England is due to exit its second national lockdown next Wednesday and, speaking at a Downing Street news conference on Thursday, the prime minister said the action had “prevented

Millions of people are facing tough new COVID restrictions as the government brings in a tier system in England that for large parts of the country could be as strict as the national lockdown. Boris Johnson is facing a potentially damaging rebellion by dozens of Conservative MPs who are bitterly opposed to their constituencies being

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has told MPs that the UK economy is forecast to have suffered the largest fall in output for more than 300 years as a result of the coronavirus crisis. As he set out his one-year spending review to the House of Commons, Mr Sunak declared the “economic emergency” from the pandemic “has

Rishi Sunak has for months been handing out billions and billions of public money. Be it via the furlough scheme, track and trace, VAT cuts or business support, No 11 has borrowed more during this Covid-19 crisis than anytime since the Second World War to just to keep the economy on ice. On Wednesday, for

The UK spent an extra £10bn on PPE at inflated prices at the start of the pandemic because it had an “inadequate” stockpile, a report has found.  Reserves of personal protective equipment for frontline workers were intended for a flu-style pandemic and did not include some items necessary to protect against COVID-19, meaning ministers had

Boris Johnson has suggested the “vast majority” of people most vulnerable to coronavirus could be vaccinated against the disease by Easter. The prime minister, speaking at a Downing Street news conference, said this “would make a very substantial change” to how the UK is able to manage COVID-19. With Oxford University’s vaccine shown to be

Boris Johnson does not think MPs should get a pay rise, Downing Street has said. “MPs’ salaries are obviously decided by an independent body but given the circumstances, the PM doesn’t believe MPs should be receiving a pay rise,” the prime minister’s spokesman told reporters. The intervention comes as Britons continue to feel the effects

Boris Johnson was probably right to kick off a much needed conversation about devolution of power last week, even if the manner of doing so – saying it had been a disaster in Scotland – was for many Tories the kind of quip the head-exploding emoji 🤯 was invented for. In fairness to the PM,

Rishi Sunak has insisted there will be no return to austerity in his spending review next week. Faced with the job of balancing the UK’s books in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic the chancellor told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “You will not see austerity next week. “What you will see is an increase

Boris Johnson is poised to announce up to a week of freedom from COVID-19 restrictions at Christmas – but tough rules will remain in force in England after the national lockdown ends on 2 December. The aim – subject to agreement from the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – is for a UK-wide

Boris Johnson attempted to water down the official inquiry that found Home Secretary Priti Patel bullied staff, Whitehall sources have confirmed to Sky News. It follows claims the prime minister tried and failed to convince his standards ministerial adviser Sir Alex Allan to tone down his finding that her behaviour amounted to bullying as he