Politics

Five Tory MPs breached the code of conduct by trying to influence the trial of former MP Charlie Elphicke, the Commons Standards Committee has ruled. The MPs include Elphicke’s former wife Natalie Elphicke, Sir Roger Gale, Theresa Villiers, Adam Holloway and Bob Stewart. Three of them – Ms Elphicke, Sir Roger and Ms Villiers –

It is “crucial” that people isolate when identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive for coronavirus, Downing Street has said. A Number 10 spokeswoman said quarantining at home “remains the most important action people can take to stop the spread of the virus”. Live COVID updates from the UK and around

Bill Clinton turned down an invitation to have tea with the Queen because he “wanted to be a tourist” in London, newly released official papers show. The US president was visiting the UK in 1997 – four weeks after Tony Blair came to power – and said he wanted to hit the shops and eat

A minister has not explicitly ruled out the prospect of the government requiring vaccine passports for people to go to pubs. Business minister Paul Scully told Kay Burley that ministers are “not saying crowded pubs at all” in addition to plans to require people to prove their COVID-19 vaccine status to enter nightclubs and other

A parliamentary committee looking into the Greensill saga has found that lobbying rules were “insufficient” and need to be strengthened The Commons Treasury committee, which looked into David Cameron’s involvement in trying to secure finance firm Greensill Capital access to a government coronavirus support scheme, said the rules should be tightened to prevent any more

The timing could hardly be worse. A little more than 24 hours before what he used to call Freedom Day, Boris Johnson is under pressure to self-isolate. The reason: a face-to-face meeting the prime minister held with Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who has now tested positive for COVID-19, in 10 Downing Street on Friday morning.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has tested positive for coronavirus and has mild symptoms, he has said. In a tweet, he wrote: “This morning I tested positive for Covid. “I’m waiting for my PCR result, but thankfully I have had my jabs and symptoms are mild. “Please make sure you come forward for your vaccine if

People arriving in England from France will still have to quarantine for 10 days on their return – even if they have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine, the government has announced. From Monday, those who have had two COVID vaccine doses will no longer have to isolate after travelling back from countries on

Boris Johnson has claimed it is “highly probable” the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is over – on the day the UK recorded its highest number of daily cases for six months. The prime minister urged people not to “throw caution to the winds” when most legal restrictions in England end on Monday, as he

MPs have enjoyed more than £60,000 worth of freebies to COVID-19 test events this summer – including tickets to England’s games at Euro 2020. According to parliament’s latest register of interests, MPs have been given free tickets to football matches at Wembley, Wimbledon tennis, Royal Ascot and the Brit Awards. All have been part of

Boris Johnson will argue his “levelling-up” project is a “win-win” and will not mean “robbing Peter to pay Paul” as he sets out his post-pandemic vision for the UK. In a speech in the West Midlands on Thursday, the prime minister will indicate his flagship programme will benefit the whole country, not just the Conservatives’

It couldn’t have gone less to plan. On Sunday the prime minister was hoping to enjoy some reflected glory of England’s success. Boris Johnson was looking forward to having drinks with the European champions in Downing Street. But rather than football coming home, it’s questions about him and his party over racism that have arrived

Boris Johnson will make a speech on Thursday on his plans to “level up and unite the country”, something the prime minister has previously described as “the central purpose of his premiership”. In the Conservatives’ 2019 general election-winning manifesto, the party said its focus would be “levelling up every part of the UK” and the

Football banning orders will be changed to cover online racism, Boris Johnson has told MPs. The prime minister said the government is “taking practical steps to ensure that the football banning order regime is changed”. “So that if you are guilty of racist abuse online of footballers then you will not be going to the

The government has announced it is effectively ending all prosecutions related to crimes committed during the Northern Ireland Troubles. Described as a de facto amnesty for former British soldiers and former paramilitaries, the new statute of limitations will apply to incidents prior to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. It was confirmed in parliament on Wednesday

More than 100 government-issued mobile phones had all their data wiped last year after their users entered the wrong PIN. The Treasury’s IT desk managed to reset 117 of its approximately 2,100 mobile phones in 2020 – including the device belonging to the department’s boss – a response to a Freedom of Information request from

An eight-week interval between vaccine doses provides “much better” protection from coronavirus, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has said, as he dismissed reports that the gap is due to be reduced from eight weeks to four. Mr Zahawi also told Sky News he is “confident” that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce on Monday that COVID

Face masks will remain mandatory in some public places in Wales until COVID-19 is no longer a public health threat, the Welsh government has said. The move in Wales is in contrast to that of England, where legal requirements to wear masks look set to end once the country reaches Step 4 of roadmap out

The number of people waiting for NHS hospital treatment could reach 13 million in the months to come due to the COVID backlog, the health secretary has said. Sajid Javid claims “shocking” government modelling indicates the current waiting list of 5.3 million people could more than double by the end of the year. This includes

Labour has called for Theresa May’s former communications director to be sacked from the BBC board over claims he tried to block someone from a senior job on political grounds. Sir Robbie Gibb, who became non-executive director at the Corporation in May, tried to stop Jess Brammar, former HuffPost UK editor and Newsnight journalist, from