Politics

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case described Boris Johnson as a “distrusted figure” during the COVID pandemic and warned the public were unlikely to follow isolation rules set out by him, leaked messages have revealed. Mr Case said to then health secretary Matt Hancock the public needed to be told to isolate by “trusted local figures, not

The Northern Ireland secretary has confirmed the “Stormont brake” revealed in the new Brexit deal would be a veto, not just a delay. Earlier this week, Rishi Sunak unveiled a fresh agreement with the EU to overcome trade barriers in Northern Ireland that he called a “decisive breakthrough”. As part of the Windsor Framework, a

The prime minister is set to announce new laws to clamp down on migrant crossings – telling those who arrive on small boats: “If you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay.” Rishi Sunak said he and senior aides at the Home Office have drawn up new laws to stop lawyers from

Controversy over Boris Johnson’s involvement in partygate and COVID-19 rule-breaking has been dismissed as “soggy sandwiches and a slice of birthday cake” by an ally of the former prime minister. Tory MP Paul Bristow told Sky News the fine handed to Mr Johnson by Scotland Yard over a lockdown-busting gathering in Downing Street was “ridiculous”.

Matt Hancock branded a ministerial colleague a “w*****” and mocked Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme as “eat out to help the virus get about”, leaked messages show. The revelations are the latest from the “Lockdown Files” being published by The Daily Telegraph. The paper obtained swathes of Mr Hancock’s WhatsApp messages from

The “trial of Boris Johnson” – the televised hearings to determine whether the former prime minister lied to parliament – is now barely three weeks away, and after Friday’s document dump we know roughly what that confrontation will look like. And we know it will be explosive. MPs on the Tory-dominated privileges committee on Friday

The journalist who leaked Matt Hancock’s lockdown WhatsApp messages has said the public are only interested in what happened – not in her or the former health secretary’s reputation. Isabel Oakeshott released the messages to The Daily Telegraph this week after Mr Hancock shared them with her while working on his Pandemic Diaries book. Mr

Sue Gray has been appointed by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to serve as his chief of staff. The senior civil servant became a household name during the partygate scandal, authoring the report which found “a failure of leadership and judgement” in Number 10 during Boris Johnson’s premiership. Conservative MPs and former cabinet ministers have

Sir Gavin Williamson accused teachers of looking for an “excuse” not to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to leaked messages from Matt Hancock published by The Daily Telegraph. In May 2020, as teachers prepared for classrooms to reopen, the then education secretary had messaged Mr Hancock asking for help in securing personal protective equipment

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is considering recruiting senior civil servant Sue Gray to be his new chief of staff. Best known for her report into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street, Ms Gray has built a fearsome reputation over decades at the heart of government. A veteran investigator of ministerial misbehaviour, she currently runs the

Matt Hancock’s handling of the COVID pandemic has come under fresh scrutiny following a leaked trove of more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages. An investigation by the Daily Telegraph alleges the former health secretary rejected testing advice on care homes and expressed concern this could get in the way of meeting his targets. The MP strongly

Rishi Sunak has said his new post-Brexit deal puts Northern Ireland in an “unbelievably special position” because it gives it access to both the UK and European Union markets. The prime minister said implementing the newly negotiated Windsor Framework would create “the world’s most exciting economic zone” with international companies “queuing up to invest” in the

Rishi Sunak will continue to push forward with his new post-Brexit deal today as he seeks to convince politicians from Northern Ireland it will solve ongoing issues with trade and sovereignty. The prime minister signed the Windsor Framework on Monday, alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, to make changes to the much debated

Rishi Sunak has negotiated a deal on Northern Ireland and Brexit which his predecessors Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Theresa May could not have secured. Having convinced the EU figures he was a serious prime minister they do business with, Mr Sunak has produced a deal that has already turned the heads and won the

After weeks of playing down expectations of an imminent Brexit agreement, Rishi Sunak is now setting the formal wheels in motion to lay out the deal he has struck with the EU. But there is still a big question about whether he has got the politics of this right on this side of the channel.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has told Sky News he would resign from the cabinet if bullying claims against him are upheld. The deputy prime minister is being investigated by senior lawyer Adam Tolley KC over a string of formal complaints by civil servants about his conduct. Speaking to the Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, Mr