Politics

Rishi Sunak’s spend now, tax later budget has received a broad welcome from voters, according to two snap opinion polls carried out after the chancellor’s statement. Households and businesses are facing the biggest tax burden since the 1960s after the chancellor unveiled his plans to repair the nation’s finances after the COVID pandemic. Mr Sunak

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has set out an extra £65bn in COVID support for employees and businesses – but announced a freeze on income tax thresholds and a rise in corporation tax to help pay back the UK’s rising debts. In his budget speech, Mr Sunak set out a three-part plan to “protect jobs and livelihoods

The biggest question of the budget could be when changes announced by Rishi Sunak are introduced, rather than what they are. Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has signalled he may reprimand the chancellor after so much of today’s budget appeared to have leaked or dripped out in advance. But does that mean all the budget’s true secrets

The hunt for an unidentified person who tested positive for the Brazil variant of coronavirus has narrowed to 379 households in southeast England, the health secretary has said. In total, six cases of the P1 coronavirus variant first found in Brazil have been discovered in the UK. One has still yet to be identified after

A single shot of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines is more than 80% effective at preventing hospitalisation among the over 80s, the health secretary has said. Speaking at a Downing Street news conference, Matt Hancock hailed “exciting new data” showing the effectiveness of the two COVID-19 jabs. According to a pre-print study from Public

A hunt continues for a person in the UK infected with a coronavirus “variant of concern” from Brazil, with the government accused of “unforgivable incompetence” in managing Britain’s borders. The COVID-19 variant, first seen in the city of Manaus, is feared to spread more rapidly than the original virus and could be more capable of

There are two ways of telling the Rishi Sunak story of the past 12 months. The widespread narrative is of a chancellor who was brought in to do the prime minister’s bidding but ended up out-performing his boss. In this tale, Mr Sunak’s competent response to the coronavirus pandemic, alongside eye-catching policies like “eat out

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has ruled out any chance of a speedier end to lockdown, telling Sky News the last thing the business needed was a “stop, start” return to normal life. Mr Sunak told Sophy Ridge on Sunday that the roadmap the prime minister has set out was the right “cautious but irreversible approach”. But

Alex Salmond, Scotland’s former first minister, is appearing today at a government committee looking into the mishandling of harassment complaints against him. It is likely to hear about his earlier written evidence naming people he claims were involved in a “malicious and concerted” attempt to oust him from public life. Here’s who’s who – and

Glasgow MSP Anas Sarwar has been elected as Scottish Labour’s new leader – just 10 weeks before the Holyrood elections. The party was forced to vote for a new leader after Richard Leonard’s shock resignation in January, claiming his decision was in the “best interests” of the party. Mr Sarwar was quick to throw his

As former first minister Alex Salmond waved to photographers on his exit from Holyrood, something else left the building. An email sent by the Scottish Parliament’s harassment committee that might yet breach the evidence impasse. For as long, detailed and explosive as six hours of testimony was from Mr Salmond, it’s not underpinned by available

Scotland’s leadership has “failed”, Alex Salmond has told a Holyrood inquiry into the SNP government’s unlawful investigation of sexual harassment claims made against him. The former first minister said Nicola Sturgeon’s administration had “acted illegally” in its handling of the allegations “but somehow no one’s to blame”. Mr Salmond said “this inquiry is not about

Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond is set to elaborate today on claims that his successor Nicola Sturgeon misled parliament.  Mr Salmond will give evidence to Holyrood’s harassment committee following his written submission which levelled accusations against Ms Sturgeon as well as senior figures in her government and party. He has accused the current first

Allowing teachers to award grades to pupils this summer is “as good as compromise as we can come to” following the cancellation of formal exams, Boris Johnson has said. The prime minister described this year’s system for awarding A-level and GCSE grades in England – as well as some vocational and technical qualifications – as

A-level and GCSE students in England will get their teacher-assessed grades earlier in August to give them more time to appeal. Gavin Williamson announced in January that exams would be scrapped this summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pupils will return to the classroom from 8 March as lockdown is eased, with the government on

The prime minister has announced an extra £400m to help children in England catch up on lost learning caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which will include asking secondary schools to run classes in the summer holidays. Boris Johnson said the “extensive programme”, backed by a total of £700m in funding, will give teachers the “tools