Politics

An aide to Rishi Sunak has quit and joined an effort to oust him, warning the Conservative Party could be destroyed by Christmas. Will Dry, a special adviser responsible for polling and opinion research at Number 10, resigned in November “after steadily becoming more dispirited”. After leaving Downing Street, he joined “others” who believe the

Senior Tories have lashed out at a “reckless and selfish” former minister after he called on Rishi Sunak to step down to avoid being “massacred” at the election. Former ministers urged colleagues to put their duty to the country ahead of “tribalism” following a challenge to the prime minister launched by Sir Simon Clarke. While

British citizens should be “trained and equipped” to fight in a potential war with Russia – as Moscow plans on “defeating our system and way of life”, the head of the British Army has said. General Sir Patrick Sanders, the outgoing Chief of the General Staff (CGS), said increasing army numbers in preparation for a

Rishi Sunak has said the UK is “not seeking a confrontation” with Yemen’s Houthi fighters – but it will strike again if their attacks in the Red Sea continue. Royal Air Force jets took part in a second wave of joint US-UK action against the group on Monday night after attacks on the vital shipping

Rishi Sunak will address MPs about the latest Houthi strikes later today – amid a dispute about whether Labour was briefed over the action. Huw Merriman, the transport minister, told Sky News that Sir Keir Starmer and Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle were told about the operation before it happened, despite briefings to the contrary. Politics

The House of Lords has defied Rishi Sunak to vote against the ratification of the UK’s new treaty with Rwanda – in what could prove a damaging development for the Safety of Rwanda Bill. The upper house was voting following a report last week that recommended the treaty not be ratified. It comes after Rishi

Ofcom’s oversight of the BBC will be extended under reforms aimed at bolstering confidence in the impartiality of the corporation. The communications watchdog, which regulates TV, radio and video-on-demand services, will be given new powers to monitor the BBC’s online public services, including the BBC news website and YouTube channel. The measure was put forward

Rishi Sunak will seek to refocus attention on the economy this week amid questions about how long his chancellor will remain in post. Downing Street issued a statement in October saying: “The chancellor will be delivering the autumn statement in a few weeks’ time and the budget next spring.” The latest Politics at Jack and

Jeremy Hunt has compared himself to tax-cutting former chancellor Nigel Lawson as he suggested using his spring budget to “relieve pressure on families”. Ahead of the budget on 6 March, the chancellor said the government’s plan of “prioritising tax cuts” is working, and they will “stick to it”. Mr Hunt went on to liken his

Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted a speech by shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, with cries of “will you condemn the genocide” and “how many more children need to die”. The Labour Tottenham MP was giving a speech to the Fabian Society on Saturday to outline the party’s foreign policy if it wins the next general election. But

MPs have demanded that the Treasury and other public sector organisations reveal the details of any contracts awarded to Fujitsu since 2019 as the firm continues to come under fire for its role in the Post Office scandal. The letter to the Treasury – which was also sent to the Bank of England, the Office

Rishi Sunak awkwardly laughed when he was challenged about the state of the health service by a former NHS worker in Winchester. The prime minister was walking through the city in Hampshire when he was stopped by a woman who indicated she had worked for the NHS in the past. In the footage, captured by

The Northern Ireland secretary has said he will introduce new legislation to address the political deadlock after the latest deadline to restore Stormont passed. Chris Heaton-Harris said his legislation will support Northern Ireland departments to manage “the immediate and evident challenges they face in stabilising public services and finances”. The power-sharing Stormont Assembly has been

Rishi Sunak has insisted he will “ignore” international law in order to ensure asylum seekers get deported to Rwanda. The prime minister managed to get his controversial policy through its latest parliamentary stage last night after days of rebellions from Conservative MPs, who want to see the bill toughened up. But despite two rebel sources

Gordon Brown has called on the government to carry out a “root and branch” review of Universal Credit amid growing poverty in the UK. The former Labour prime minister told Sky News he was seeing a level of poverty “I never thought I would see in my lifetime again”, and it was the government’s “duty”

Rishi Sunak appears to have seen off a Tory rebellion as his controversial Rwanda bill passed its final hurdle in the Commons. The bill, which aims to declare that Rwanda is a safe country to deport asylum seekers to, passed by 320 votes to 276 – a majority of 44 for the government. The bill’s