Politics

The health secretary is set to face questions from MPs about his role in the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Matt Hancock will field questions from MPs on the Science and Technology and Health and Social Care committees from 9.30am. He is likely to face tough questions on things like coronavirus testing, test and

Boris Johnson must listen to his former schools catch-up tsar and stump up more cash for education, Sir Keir Starmer has urged, as he warned a lack of funds will “hold children back for a generation”. The Labour leader accused the PM of having “rolled over” and accepted the Treasury’s refusal to stump up extra

Boris Johnson is battling to avoid a sausage trade war with Brussels which could see chilled meats barred from shops in Northern Ireland from the end of this month. The PM’s Brexit minister Lord Frost is holding a showdown with a top EU official who is threatening to prevent sausages and mince produced in Britain

Greater Manchester and Lancashire are to receive a “strengthened package of support” to tackle a rise in the Delta coronavirus variant, Matt Hancock has announced – with residents told to minimise travel. Addressing the Commons, the health secretary said: “I can tell the House that today, working with local authorities, we are providing a strengthened

Boris Johnson has narrowly avoided a rebellion by some of his own Conservative Party MPs over cuts to the foreign aid budget. Thirty Tories, including former prime minister Theresa May and four other cabinet ministers, had backed a rebellion against the £4bn reduction and had hoped to force a vote on the matter. But Commons

Boris Johnson could narrowly avoid a rebellion by some of his own Conservative MPs as a vote over cuts to the foreign aid budget hangs in the balance. Thirty Tories, including former prime minister Theresa May and four other cabinet ministers, were backing a rebellion against the £4bn reduction and had hoped to force a

Social media companies must do better in removing posts that are “glamourising” dangerous migrant crossings, the home secretary says. Priti Patel wrote to the companies on Saturday to say they must deal with the “totally unacceptable” posts promoting the “lethal crossings”. Among them is a video on TikTok which has been watched more than 800,000

The Indian (Delta) variant of COVID-19 is 40% more transmissible than previous variants, Matt Hancock has told Sky News. The health secretary said the new variant had made decisions behind the 21 June unlocking of restrictions “more difficult”. Speaking on the Trevor Phillips On Sunday show, Mr Hancock said: “That figure, around 40% more transmissible,

Tony Blair has said it is “time to distinguish” between people who have and haven’t had a coronavirus vaccine. The former prime minister has warned it “makes no sense at all to treat those who have had vaccination the same as those who haven’t” – and said relaxing measures for those who have had both

Boris Johnson has had his second dose of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine. The prime minister received his jab at the Francis Crick Institute in London on Thursday evening, having had his first dose back in March. His first jab was administered at St Thomas’ Hospital, where he was treated in intensive care last year after

The UK’s medicines regulator has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the decision followed a “rigorous review” of safety and effectiveness in that age group – and that the benefits of having the COVID jab outweighed the risks. The Joint Committee on Vaccination

Welsh leader Mark Drakeford has expressed concern about the Indian coronavirus variant spreading across the border from England hotspots as his country moves to further ease lockdown restrictions. While ruling out a ban on travel, the first minister has urged visitors from the North West to take “all the precautions” in order to keep themselves

Michael Gove has received an alert from the COVID app less than a week after attending the Champions League final in Portugal with his son. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster had to abandon a meeting with Boris Johnson and the devolved leaders on Thursday afternoon after receiving the notification that he had come

Boris Johnson is set to face a major Commons rebellion next week over his policy to slash foreign aid. Rebel Tory MPs believe they have enough support for new legislation that will see aid spending increase by 2022. Conservative former chief Whip Andrew Mitchell is leading the parliamentary push, backed by a further 14 Tory

Boris Johnson’s COVID catch-up tsar has resigned after the government failed to provide enough money to fund a schools recovery plan. In a letter to Boris Johnson, Sir Kevan Collins said: “I do not believe it will be possible to deliver a successful recovery without significantly greater support than the government has, to date, indicated

The Department for Education received a 10th of the cash that was wanted to fund a schools COVID recovery plan – as critics branded the package “woefully inadequate”. Sky News understands the proposal put to the Treasury to help schools recover from lost learning during the coronavirus pandemic was worth around £13bn. However, only a