Rishi Sunak’s March budget will be a fresh Covid rescue package that will defer plans for significant tax increases as the chancellor throws his weight behind a cautious approach to reopening the economy, government sources have confirmed. Boris Johnson signalled on Wednesday that the government would take a slow path …
Read More »UK newspaper editors call on government to protect FOI Act
Newspapers and publishers have today united to urge MPs to investigate the Government’s ‘disgraceful’ obstruction of legitimate Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. Boris Johnson has said he supports press freedom in Britain but an investigation has revealed that his Government operates a secretive taxpayer-funded ‘Clearing House’ allegedly stifling disclosure of …
Read More »Coronavirus UK: Tory civil war as anti-lockdown MPs accuse PM of being ‘bounced’ into shutdown
Furious anti-lockdown Tory MPs last night accused Boris Johnson of allowing himself to be bounced into an England-wide shutdown after No10 binned its three-tier Covid-19 alert system. Conservatives were outraged that plans to plunge the country into a second shutdown were leaked to the Saturday papers, including the Mail, before …
Read More »Coronavirus England: Non-essential shops shut in second lockdown
Key points in COVID lockdown Mark 2 Restrictions will start at midnight on Thursday morning and last until December 2. People can only leave their homes for specific reasons, such as to do essential shopping, for outdoor exercise, and for work if they are unable to work from home. Non-essential shops …
Read More »Priti Patel dismisses claims Meghan Markle faced racism in UK
Priti Patel has rubbished claims that Meghan Markle has faced racist press coverage and insisted people of any background can ‘get on in life’ in Britain. The Home Secretary today rejected suggestions that racism has driven negative media reports about the Duchess of Sussex saying she had not seen ‘things …
Read More »British voters’ stark choice over the kind of country they want
The coming British Election is showing up two radically different angles about how democracies should work. Lee Duffield writes on the stand-off between the “reactionaries” and the “socialists”. THE FIRST BRITISH POLLS for the 2019 Election suggested we prepare for a Tory victory, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson forcing through …
Read More »Promises, promises: the Labour and Tory spending pledges | Politics
The 2019 election will be the first in decades where both Labour and the Conservatives promise to turn on the public spending tap. The manifestos have yet to be released, but both have already made multibillion-pound pledges as the era of austerity comes to an end. Labour’s major spending pledges …
Read More »General election: Corbyn challenges Johnson to TV debates – as it happened | Politics
6.04pm GMT18:04 Afternoon summary Andrew Sparrow Jeremy Corbyn has challenged Johnson to TV debates on what has effectively been the first full day of campaigning since MPs agreed that there should be an election on Thursday 12 December. (See 4.06pm.) The bill approving the election is still being debated by …
Read More »Party time: A round-up of this year’s political party conferences
Autumn 2019 has seen a party conference season like no other, with the Brexit crisis overshadowing events and the parties gearing up for a General Election likely to happen sooner rather than later. But although the conferences were operating in campaign mode, with some new policies being announced, the subject …
Read More »HARRY COLE: A taste of Royal displeasure for Jeremy Hunt
HARRY COLE: A taste of Royal displeasure for Jeremy Hunt when Prince Philip was introduced to his Chinese-born wife By Harry Cole For The Mail On Sunday Published: 01:26, 6 October 2019 | Updated: 01:26, 6 October 2019 Contrary to reports suggesting Boris Johnson had grovelled to the Queen following …
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