Politics

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been an ever-present feature of the political landscape in Northern Ireland for several decades. But his leadership of the Democratic Unionist Party came to an end on 29 March, when it revealed Donaldson had resigned as chief after he was charged with sexual offences of a “historical nature”. Born in County

Families on benefits will be able to claim hundreds of pounds more in childcare payments from the end of June, the government has announced. People on Universal Credit will see their maximum childcare payments rise by nearly 50% from 28 June as the government tries to get more people back into work. Parents eligible for

The Cabinet Office has reiterated its refusal to hand over some of Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages to the COVID inquiry, arguing part of the material is of a “private” and “personal” nature. In a fresh statement issued on Tuesday evening, the Cabinet Office said it was “fully committed to our obligations to the COVID-19 inquiry”

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak are preparing to launch a legal battle over COVID secrets, just hours before a deadline for handing over sensitive material to the official pandemic inquiry. Mr Johnson, prime minister during the pandemic, is battling to prevent the Cabinet Office releasing all his unedited WhatsApp messages and diaries to the inquiry’s

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is visiting Mediterranean countries this week as part of a government focus on tackling illegal migration.  He will be visiting Algeria, Tunisia and Italy, before heading to France. The Times reports the Italian government is expecting 400,000 people to enter the country from North Africa this year – in forecasts prepared

New oil and gas developments in the North Sea would be blocked under a Labour government, it has been reported. Granting new licenses for oil and gas in the North Sea “will do nothing to cut bills”, according to a Labour source. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is expected to announce the block in Scotland

A Tory minister and three other MPs claimed hundreds of pounds of driving fines on expenses – despite it being against the rules.  They are now being contacted and asked to repay the money. Amanda Solloway, a minister in the energy department who used to serve under Suella Braverman at the Home Office, was one

The Home Office is launching an ad campaign in Albania aimed at deterring people from crossing the English Channel illegally. Posters bear the message that people “face being detained and removed” if they make the journey. The department would not say how much the publicity drive is expected to cost but announced it will also

A Scottish minister has accused the UK government of “sabotage” after it ruled Scotland’s deposit return scheme (DRS) could only go ahead if glass bottles were removed from the environmental initiative.  Lorna Slater, who is co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said ministers at Holyrood would have to “look very seriously at where this leaves the

The “doorstep”. It’s an often necessary but rarely tidy journalistic exercise – locating and asking pertinent questions of an unwilling participant who has gone to some effort to avoid them. Boris Johnson had been on a lengthy US trip, through Texas to Las Vegas in the west and Washington DC in the east. Boris Johnson

As a sullen Conservative party resumed its favourite displacement activities this week – arguing over the entrails of Boris Johnson’s political career while taking chunks out of the civil service – few were paying attention to the only graph that matters in British politics The cost of government borrowing – a measure of whether global

Downing Street is one of the most heavily protected places in the UK. Barriers were first used to prevent access to the road in 1920 and were periodically removed and reintroduced for the next 69 years depending on the perceived threat level. However, since 1989 a security checkpoint marked by large black gates at either

Back in 2016, in the run-up to the EU referendum and as Leave campaigners promised to “take back control” of our borders, chief Brexit cheerleader Nigel Farage promised the British people that leaving the European Union would allow the UK to cut net migration to below 50,000. He wasn’t the only one to promise to

The government is trying to distance itself from tomorrow’s net migration figures. There won’t be a minister on Thursday’s morning media round, the home secretary and immigration minister will be firmly out of sight. The reason – net migration for 2022 is expected to be more than 700,000, the highest level on record, and could

Suella Braverman is to remain in her post as home secretary after the prime minister said “further investigation is not necessary” into her handling of a speeding offence. In his letter to the home secretary, the prime minister said he had consulted with his independent ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, who advised that “on this

In Las Vegas, they have paid more than $4,000 (£3,220) a head. It’s safe to assume attendees at the Scale Global Summit didn’t part with their cash to listen to tales of COVID lockdown.   There are a couple of UK police forces for that. In the Bellagio Hotel & Casino, this is a gathering