Politics

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

Ministers and the country’s top civil servant talked about the need to “get heavy with the police” to make sure the public obeyed lockdown rules during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The claim is the latest to be revealed from the thousands of WhatsApp messages sent to or from then health secretary Matt Hancock

Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond has told Sky News that SNP leadership hopeful Humza Yousaf skipped a key vote on gay marriage due to “religious pressure”. The Alba Party leader said Mr Yousaf seems to have a “different recollection” over the events surrounding the historic 2014 vote after the Scottish health secretary denied deliberately

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 allegedly rejected COVID-19 testing advice for residents going into England’s care homes while he was health secretary during the worst of the pandemic, according to a report based on thousands of leaked WhatsApp messages. The Daily Telegraph claims that chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty had told Mr Hancock in April 2020

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

Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet today for “final talks” about the Northern Ireland Protocol. The prime minister and president are expected to meet late lunchtime in Berkshire to discuss the Brexit treaty, Downing Street said as it released details of the meeting. Cabinet ministers will be updated on

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

Britain is “on the cusp of a deal” to resolve the long-running dispute over post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has said. Speaking to Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, the cabinet minister said he hoped for an agreement over the Northern Ireland Protocol in “a matter of days

Margaret Thatcher’s longest-serving press secretary Sir Bernard Ingham has died after a short illness, his family has said. The former Fleet Street journalist for the Guardian was 90 and died with his family around him on Friday lunchtime, a statement said. He served as Baroness Thatcher‘s press secretary for all but the first few months

Conservative MPs have been told they must be in Westminster on Monday – leading to speculation a new Brexit deal is to be announced. Tory MPs will be on a three-line whip on Monday, meaning all 355 of them must be in parliament for a possible important vote. If they defy the order, they could

Rishi Sunak is to urge fellow world leaders to “move faster” to arm Ukraine’s troops as he leads a minute’s silence on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion. The prime minister is expected to use a G7 meeting today to call on allies to supply longer-range weapons to Ukraine as there is an urgent need

Boris Johnson has said Rishi Sunak’s attempts to renegotiate Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland may create additional problems rather than solve them. Speaking exclusively to Sky’s Mark Austin on the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, the former prime minister refused to say he would back any deal negotiated by his

When Sir Keir Starmer became Labour leader in 2020, few ever believed he would become prime minister. The party was reeling from its worst performance at the ballot box since 1935, riven by internal divisions, under fire over its record of tackling antisemitism and facing a seemingly unassailable Boris Johnson atop an 80-seat majority. Sir