Politics

Boris Johnson’s Tories have suffered a humiliating by-election defeat as the Liberal Democrats secured a historic win in Chesham and Amersham. Lib Dem Sarah Green is the country’s newest MP after winning the seat, which has been a Conservative stronghold since its creation in 1974. The contest was triggered by the death of former Cabinet

DUP leader Edwin Poots has formally nominated Lagan Valley MLA Paul Givan as Northern Ireland’s new First Minister at a special sitting of the Stormont Assembly. The nomination comes after the DUP and Sinn Fein agreed that the British government will legislate on the contentious issues around Irish language use. Arguments over the promised legislation

Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser has published a 7,000-word blogpost including a series of claims about the prime minister and Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Here’s a round-up of Dominic Cummings’s most explosive allegations: PM branded Hancock ‘totally f****** hopeless’ The most eye-catching part of Mr Cummings’s blogpost was his inclusion of screenshots of WhatsApp messages

Boris Johnson’s former chief aide has shared a WhatsApp message in which the prime minister appears to call Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s efforts “totally f****** hopeless”. Dominic Cummings, who has been engaged in a weeks-long feud with Downing Street, published a lengthy blogpost that he claimed showed details of how “Number10/Hancock have repeatedly lied about

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that care in the UK is “not properly funded, lacks transparency and urgently needs reform”, according to a government select committee. The public accounts committee, which encourages transparency and accountability within government, is calling for an end to rhetoric and the implementation of long talked about reforms. One of its

19 July is the “terminus date” for England’s remaining coronavirus restrictions and it would take an “unprecedented and remarkable” change in circumstances to derail that, Michael Gove has told Sky News. The Cabinet Office minister was speaking after Boris Johnson announced a delay to step four in England’s roadmap out of COVID-19 measures, pushing back

The public must “see true freedom again”, a former Conservative minister has said, as the government delayed lockdown easing in England for four weeks until 19 July. Steve Baker, MP for Wycombe, called on Health Secretary Matt Hancock to explain under what conditions the country will move to step four of the government’s roadmap, noting

It is “possible” that putting India on the red list earlier might have prevented the widely anticipated delay to easing England’s coronavirus lockdown that is set to be announced later, a minister has said. Boris Johnson is preparing to announce a delay of four weeks to step four of the country’s roadmap out of COVID-19

Boris Johnson will plead with the nation to make “one last heave” to freedom as he announces a delay of up to four weeks in lifting lockdown restrictions in England. A government source has told Sky News the prime minister will dash hopes that Freedom Day will come in two weeks’ time, on 21 June,

Boris Johnson has rejected claims of “moral failure” by the G7 in providing more COVID vaccines for poorer nations – as he dismissed suggestions a Brexit row had overshadowed the world leaders’ Cornwall summit. At the end of three days of talks at the seaside resort of Carbis Bay, the heads of the world’s leading

Ireland’s Prime Minister, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, has told Sky News there is “a route” to resolving tensions over the Brexit Protocol following US President Joe Biden’s intervention. He urged Boris Johnson to “very seriously consider” a veterinary-type agreement with the EU to eliminate “up to 80% of checks” on goods crossing from Great Britain to

Boris Johnson has admitted he is less optimistic about the easing of lockdown restrictions than he was last month and offered a strong hint he will delay the 21 June reopening. The prime minister, speaking to Sky News at the G7 summit in Cornwall, said he was prepared to be “cautious” over the fourth and

Ministers fear Boris Johnson may delay the final stage of lockdown lifting in England potentially by as much as a month. There is widespread pessimism across government over whether the prime minister will be able to give the green light to the fourth stage of unlocking on 21 June when he makes an announcement on

World leaders are set to enjoy toasted marshmallows over fire pits as they gather for their first in-person summit in almost two years to discuss the global response to COVID-19. At the G7 summit in Cornwall, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US, as well as the EU, will meet to discuss

The UK will donate at least 100 million surplus COVID vaccines to other countries within the next year, Boris Johnson has pledged. As he prepares to welcome world leaders to Cornwall for the G7 summit, the prime minister has vowed to “take a massive step towards beating this pandemic for good”. Mr Johnson’s action builds

Matt Hancock has denied claims he lied to the prime minister over the COVID care homes crisis and said “you can’t respond to a pandemic by pointing fingers”. The health secretary is being questioned by MPs two weeks after Dominic Cummings, the PM’s former chief aide, claimed he “should have been fired for at least