British Politics

David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, has admitted he agreed with some of the viewpoints from those that fought the government over Brexit legislation. He said Gina Miller became an “unlikely ally” with her court case against the government which ruled that Theresa May must secure parliamentary approval before triggering Article 50. It was a case that […]

The government’s links with collapsed finance firm Greensill Capital are to come under further scrutiny as ministers continue to face questions over David Cameron’s lobbying activities. The head of the watchdog which exposed the way the former head of government procurement was able to take a position as a part-time adviser to the firm while […]

Conservative MPs have voted down a proposal for a parliamentary inquiry into the Greensill lobbying scandal. MPs rejected Labour’s bid to establish a committee to investigate the lobbying of government by 357 votes to 262, with a majority of 95. Under the proposal, ministers would be forced before parliament to give evidence and the government would […]

Scottish independence offers the only way back for the country to rejoin the European Union, the Scottish Greens have claimed. The party’s co-leader Lorna Slater said leaving the UK “is now our route back to EU membership” and that it would give Scotland “the powers and potential to be a leader in the transition to […]

The many chapters in the career of Shirley Williams tell the story of post-war Britain For all her recent reputation as a well-loved grandmother of British politics, Shirley Williams was not unfamiliar with its sharper edges. At a 1959 rally in support of independence for Nyasaland (later Malawi) at the Royal Albert Hall, racist hecklers […]

Labour has called for a parliamentary investigation into the David Cameron lobbying scandal over Greensill, telling MPs the former prime minister is “only sorry he got caught”. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves told the Commons: “Having refused to respond to any questions at all for 40 days, David Cameron chose a period of national grief, […]

Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has again had to intervene in Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) after Boris Johnson failed to answer a question. In the first PMQs since Easter, Johnson and opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer went head-to-head over the recent lobbying scandal involving former prime minister David Cameron. Sir Keir called on Johnson to back an […]

Scottish Labour has announced plans to pay television licence fees or help cover broadband bills for the over-75s. Party leader Anas Sarwar said the “staying connected” policy would provide every household with people aged over 75 with the £159 cost of a TV licence. Free TV licences for all seniors ended in 2020 after the […]

The government’s LGBT panel has been scrapped after three members quit last month. A government spokesperson said a replacement panel “will be set out in due course”, the BBC has revealed. Some members told the national broadcaster they were willing to stay on when their terms ended on March 31. Panellists have also said they […]

Alex Salmond has claimed his Alba party is being censored by the broadcasters ahead of the Scottish elections. The former first minister said the broadcasters “are simply failing in their democratic duty” because Alba has been excluded from the televised debates featuring leaders of parties who currently have MSPs at Holyrood. Salmond took umbrage with […]

MPs are to vote on whether to establish a parliamentary inquiry into David Cameron’s lobbying activities for collapsed financial firm Greensill Capital. A plan put forward by Labour would create a new Commons select committee to investigate lobbying, including the former prime minister’s activities, which would be able to summon witnesses to answer questions in […]

A former civil servant has hit out at Boris Johnson’s government and the way it does not think it has to “abide by the rules”. Jill Rutter, a senior research fellow at UK in a Changing Europe, said the revelation that the former head of Whitehall procurement became an adviser to Greensill Capital while still […]

The former head of Whitehall procurement became an adviser to Greensill Capital while still working as a civil servant in a move approved by the Cabinet Office, it has emerged. Downing Street has announced an independent review into how the failed firm secured government contracts, following a series of reports on former prime minister David […]

UKIP’s Wales leader has defended an election candidate who sent offensive tweets about Muslims. Stan Robinson, who is running on the South Wales West list, sent several derogatory messages in the past fortnight about Islam and Muslims. He has also retweeted a message labelling migrants “parasites” who should be “arrested” or “shot” to “stop the […]

The Department for Education has still not fulfilled its pledge to provide 1.3 million laptops and tablets to disadvantaged pupils, figures have suggested. A school leaders’ union has criticised the government’s “painfully slow” progress one month after all pupils in England returned to the classroom. Data from the Department for Education (DfE) shows 1,295,752 laptops […]

MPs have asked what Rishi Sunak is “afraid of” by avoiding the House of Commons during an urgent question on David Cameron and his involvement in the Greensill lobbying row. Text messages revealed Sunak revealed “pushed” officials to consider plans that could have helped the firm Cameron was lobbying for. Labour MP Andrew Gwynne told […]

A former government chief scientist has accused Boris Johnson of privatising the NHS “by stealth” and operating a “chumocracy” which he claims led to the mishandling of the Covid pandemic. Sir David King said he was “extremely worried about the handling of the coronavirus pandemic” and the way in which public money was distributed to private […]

A senior Conservative MP has claimed that parliament’s email system is less secure than Google’s Gmail as he warned China was attacking the UK’s democracy. Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said parliament and the UK government needed to do more to defend democracy and freedom of speech. Tugendhat, who was targeted with sanctions by Beijing […]

UKIP has promised to hold a referendum on scrapping the Welsh parliament if it is elected in May. Its manifesto, launched Tuesday morning, also includes pledges to scrap measures to help asylum seekers and refugees in Wales, end the smacking ban and stop sex education in primary schools. UKIP Wales leader Neil Hamilton said it was […]

Ministers are expected to face questions in the House of Commons over David Cameron’s lobbying activities on behalf of the collapsed financial firm Greensill Capital. Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has been granted an urgent Commons question calling on chancellor Rishi Sunak to explain how Greensill was granted access to a Covid loan scheme for businesses, […]

A scathing new report has accused Boris Johnson of “speaking for England alone” and having “considerable indifference” to the devolved nations. Research from the University of Cambridge’s Bennett Institute for Public Policy accuses Westminster of treating devolved administrations with contempt and handling the maintaining of the Union as “someone else’s problem”. The “Union at the Crossroads” document comes […]

Shirley Williams, the former Labour cabinet minister who broke away from the party to form the SDP, has died aged 90. In a statement Lib Dem leader Ed Davey paid tribute to Baroness Williams of Crosby as a “true trailblazer” who had inspired millions. As a Labour minister, Lady Williams, served in the governments of […]

Alex Salmond has said the SNP are showing a “lack of urgency” over Scottish independence. The Alba Party leader said they were going to tackle the “constitutional debate” following the suspension of the election campaign in the wake of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh. Salmond has made one of his first overt broadsides […]

Significant differences remain between the government and the European Union over the operation of the Brexit deal in Northern Ireland, No 10 has said. Talks have continued between the two sides, with European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic and Brexit minister Lord Frost picking up the phone last week. But Downing Street said there are still […]

Boris Johnson has commissioned a wide-ranging independent review into Greensill Capital, the collapsed financial firm for which David Cameron lobbied ministers. Downing Street announced that lawyer Nigel Boardman is due to lead the probe, which will examine how government contracts were secured by the company and the actions of the former prime minister. Cameron accepted […]

Concerns about inequality in Britain is much higher than in any other European country, a new study has revealed. The end of lockdowns is in sight but the road out of these restrictions is only the start of a much longer journey to a full recovery from the pandemic. The crisis has ruthlessly exposed how […]

It is essential that lessons are not just identified, but robustly implemented to ensure the UK is more resilient to such events in the future. Where there is much to be positive about regarding the UK’s strong vaccine rollout, a public inquiry into how this pandemic has been handled in the country since the first […]

The government has been accused of rewriting chunks of its reports on racial disparities, an expert has claimed. Significant sections of the report published on March 31 – which has been widely criticised – were not written by the 12 commission appointed by Boris Johnson last July, the Observer reported. It also said none of the […]