Politics

The UK’s top civil servant has denied a “chatty rat” inquiry into government leaking has been de-prioritised – despite the probe lasting more than five months – but admitted the culprit may never be found. Cabinet Secretary Simon Case left MPs frustrated about the progress of the investigation, which has been ongoing since the end

Labour is calling on Boris Johnson’s government to publish all communications between ministers and their contacts in business who won contracts during the coronavirus pandemic. The opposition wants messages made in connection to emergency procurement measures which led to deals being struck to be put into the public domain, following concerns over lobbying and unequal

A Cabinet minister has dismissed claims the prime minister tried to block a Downing Street leak inquiry to protect a friend of his fiancee as “tittle-tattle”. Labour have called for an independent inquiry following a series of astonishing allegations from Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings. Sir Keir Starmer’s party will also attempt to

Boris Johnson did not need to pick today’s fight with his mercurial former advisor. He is at least 10 points ahead of Labour in the polls, likely to score successes in the May elections and for once there is no pressing crisis at the top of his government’s agenda. That was before the prime minister

An investigation is being demanded into how Boris Johnson funded the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat following incendiary claims by his former chief adviser Dominic Cummings. In a bombshell blog post, Mr Cummings accused his former boss of plotting an “unethical, foolish, possibly illegal” plan to get Tory donors to secretly bankroll the work.

Boris Johnson’s former aide Dominic Cummings has denied being the source of the prime minister’s leaked text communications with businessman Sir James Dyson. Several newspapers quoted unnamed Downing Street sources as claiming Mr Cummings had leaked the text messages, first reported by the BBC. In a blog post, Mr Cummings said: “I do have some

The prime minister has said “you’re out of your mind” if you think there is “something dodgy” about his texts with billionaire Sir James Dyson. Boris Johnson renewed his defence of his communications with the entrepreneur over securing ventilators during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The BBC reported earlier this week that the

In a House of Commons debate last week on the Greensill lobbying scandal, several Labour MPs referred to former prime minister David Cameron as “Dodgy Dave”. It was an insult first hurled at Mr Cameron across the Commons chamber by Labour’s Dennis Skinner in 2016 and earned the “Beast of Bolsover” a red card from

David Cameron lobbied the Treasury’s top civil servant on behalf of a financial services firm that later collapsed. Sir Tom Scholar told a committee of MPs that the former prime minister called him on his work mobile and sent him text messages in March and April 2020 in a bid to get Greensill Capital involved

MPs have accused the government of a “missed opportunity” in failing to give more detailed plans on how Britons might be able to enjoy foreign holidays this summer. Under Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s roadmap for lifting lockdown restrictions, international travel won’t be allowed any earlier than 17 May. In a report earlier this month, the

Sir James Dyson has said it is “absurd to suggest” his company was doing anything other than trying to follow the rules, after it was reported that the prime minister personally promised him he would “fix” an issue over the tax status of his employees. The BBC reported that it had seen a series of

The government has abandoned plans to hold White House-style televised briefings – despite spending £2.6m on a new studio. Boris Johnson’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, who had been expected to front the new media briefings, will now become spokeswoman for the COP26 climate change summit. Ms Stratton said: “I am delighted to be starting this

A firm linked to the lawyer tasked by the prime minister with looking into the Greensill Capital lobbying scandal has been given £7m in government contracts over the last year. Boris Johnson has asked top lawyer Nigel Boardman to lead an investigation into the now-collapsed finance firm’s activities in government and the role its founder,

Travel from India to the UK is being banned for non-UK and Irish citizens from 4am on Friday after the country was added to the travel “red list”. Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the “vital but difficult” decision was made due to a new COVID variant first identified in India, of which 103 cases have

The prime minister’s trip to India next week has been cancelled, Downing Street has confirmed. India is experiencing a surge in cases of COVID-19, while there are fears about the emergence of a new variant of the virus in the country. Announcing the decision, the British and Indian governments said in a joint statement: “In

It will take five years for some hospitals to catch up with the backlog of patient care caused by the coronavirus pandemic, NHS Providers has warned. The trusts in England worst impacted by the crisis are between three and five years away from returning to pre-COVID levels, according to the association. It also claims that