Politics

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

Boris Johnson has faced calls to explain how regions can have their coronavirus alert level and restrictions lowered. He was urged by Sir Keir Starmer to set out exactly what areas need to do to be downgraded from Tier 3 to Tier 2, or Tier 2 to Tier 1. And a Conservative MP, whose constituency

It was 13 December, the morning after Boris Johnson won a landslide victory and destroyed Labour’s Red Wall. The new prime minister stood on the steps of Number 10 and declared his “One Nation” government had won over parts of the country that had “never returned a Conservative MP for 100 years”. He promised to

Local leaders in Greater Manchester have been told that the “door is open” for further talks, despite the prime minister imposing Tier 3 coronavirus restrictions on the region. Boris Johnson announced that tougher COVID-19 restrictions will be introduced in Greater Manchester from Friday. Moving into Tier 3 means pubs and bars in Greater Manchester will

A coronavirus vaccine is “unlikely” to completely stop infections and the disease might never fully disappear, the government’s chief scientific adviser has said. Sir Patrick Vallance pointed to how smallpox was the only disease to have ever been completely eradicated and that, in future, treating COVID-19 might become more like dealing with seasonal flu. Image:

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been pictured in his ministerial car with no face mask on. Passengers of chauffeur-driven cars are exempt from the £200 fine that can be imposed on the public if they fail to wear a face covering in taxis or private hire cars. However, Downing Street said it has advised all