Sir Keir Starmer must use the Labour conference to show the nation he “has what it takes” to be prime minister, the leader of the GMB Union has said. Gary Smith, who took over as general secretary earlier this year, told Sky News the Labour leader was “decent” and “committed”. But he warned the party
Politics
Boris Johnson has admitted to being “taken aback” by France’s angry reaction to a new security pact between the UK, US and Australia. The prime minister has told French President Emmanuel Macron to “prenez un grip” and give him a “break” in the diplomatic row over the new AUKUS initiative. But he has also spoken
Boris Johnson has said France should get over its anger at a partnership between the UK, US and Australia that saw the latter pull out of a major contract with Paris for submarines. “What I want to say about that is I just think it’s time for some of our dearest friends around the world
Ministers are considering efforts to join an existing free trade agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada – or to strike a series of mini-deals with America – after Boris Johnson appeared to admit a standalone UK-US free trade deal was not an imminent prospect. On his visit to New York and Washington DC this
Members of a coronavirus campaign group will be able to attend the Conservative Party conference after initially having their application rejected. COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, made up of 4,000 people who have lost a loved one to the virus, hit out after being told its members would not be allowed into next month’s event
US President Joe Biden will welcome Boris Johnson to the White House later. The prime minister will travel from the UN General Assembly in New York to Washington for the Oval Office meeting which would, in all likelihood, have happened well before now had it not been for the pandemic. It has been just three
Dan Jarvis has announced that he will not seek another term as South Yorkshire mayor. The next election for the role will be held in May 2022. Mr Jarvis, who was elected in 2018, said the region needed someone to “drive us forward over the next four years” and “that person will not be me”.
Rich countries must do more to help developing nations cut carbon emissions, Boris Johnson will tell other world leaders at a high-level gathering in New York. The prime minister will be hosting the meeting on climate change with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. It is understood the PM is likely to focus on coal, cash
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has challenged his party to “tear down” the Conservatives’ “blue wall” in order to help oust Boris Johnson from Downing Street. In his keynote address at the Liberal Democrat conference on Sunday, Sir Ed said the Tories would only lose power at the next election if his party took
New Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has defended the UK’s “hard-headed” security pact with the US and Australia, amid a deepening diplomatic row with France. The AUKUS deal saw the UK, Australia and the US form a security pact to develop and deploy a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, adding to the Western military presence in
The bonds of friendship between France and the UK, US and Australia have been “tarnished” by the AUKUS pact, and it is now “more difficult than before” for France to trust those countries, the president of the French National Assembly has told Sky News. Richard Ferrand is attending the G7 Speakers’ Conference in Chorley, Lancashire, hosted
“It’s Howard o’clock” has become a slogan used on swimsuits, t-shirts, bags, mugs, bottles of wine and, even, turned into a monopoly-style drinking game. But while Isle of Man chief minister Howard Quayle might have become an almost cult-like personality during the COVID crisis, he was also working 20 hour days, scrambling to purchase an
People in Wales will have to show a COVID-19 vaccine passport or a negative test to enter nightclubs and attend events from next month, the Welsh government has announced. From 11 October, anyone over 18 will have to show either an NHS COVID pass proving their vaccine status or a negative test result in order
Boris Johnson will gather his cabinet later for the first meeting of his top team since the prime minister’s reshuffle. It comes after the PM completed a shake-up of his cabinet that saw a number of high-profile casualties. Dominic Raab was replaced as foreign secretary by Liz Truss and moved to the roles of justice
Penny Mordaunt has been appointed as minister of state at the Department for International Trade after Boris Johnson reshuffled the main cabinet positions yesterday. Michael Ellis will take on Ms Mordaunt’s former role as paymaster general at the Cabinet Office. One of the top changes saw Liz Truss getting the foreign secretary brief, bumping out
The prime minister is expected to continue his reshuffle on Thursday, concentrating on the lower ministerial ranks, with vaccines minister and schools minister among the roles yet to be filled. Boris Johnson overhauled some of the cabinet’s top positions on Wednesday, sacking education secretary Gavin Williamson and replacing him with vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi. He