Politics

Downing Street has insisted that the UK’s economy is strong despite the International Monetary Fund’s warning that Britain’s economy will go into reverse this year and will fare worse than all other advanced nations. In its latest World Economic Outlook update, the IMF downgraded its UK gross domestic product (GDP) forecast once again, predicting a

Labour will push the government for an increase to the number of neighbourhood police officers on Tuesday, saying communities are facing 3,000 incidents of anti-social behaviour a day. In an opposition day debate in the Commons, the party will point to the latest crime statistics from the ONS, which showed 1.1 million incidents of anti-social

Rishi Sunak has insisted he acted “decisively” in sacking Nadhim Zahawi as chairman of the Conservative Party after a row over his tax affairs. Speaking in Country Durham at the launch of his government’s emergency care plan, the prime minister defended his handling of situation and stressed his commitment to “integrity” and the need to

Rishi Sunak has been urged by Labour to “come clean” over what he knew about Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs after the PM sacked the Tory party chairman on Sunday. An ethics inquiry into the handling of Mr Zahawi’s finances found a “serious breach” of the ministerial code and Mr Sunak swiftly removed the Tory chairman

Nadhim Zahawi has been sacked as Tory party chairman after an ethics inquiry into the handling of his tax affairs found a “serious breach” of the ministerial code. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had resisted earlier calls from opposition parties to fire Mr Zahawi following reports that he had paid a penalty as part of an

The government is partially to blame for the Grenfell Tower tragedy because of “faulty and ambiguous” government guidance, Michael Gove has said. The housing secretary added the guidance allowed “unscrupulous people to exploit a broken system in a way that led to tragedy”. He made the admission in an interview with The Sunday Times as

A proportion of Conservative members feel “disconnected” from the party as they were “denied a vote” when Rishi Sunak became prime minister, a former Tory chairman said. Sir Jake Berry, who was chair under Liz Truss, said Mr Sunak should have held an “endorsement vote” to show he had the support of the membership. Instead,

Those worried about the health of British politics have diagnosed a new disease at Westminster. Chris Patten, a grandee from the Conservative establishment, spotted what he called “Long Boris” last summer. Weeks after Boris Johnson announced his resignation as prime minister, Lord Patten, a former party chairman and former BBC chairman, lamented the persistent “corrupting

HS2 will end at Euston after reports the high-speed line could stop before reaching central London, the chancellor has confirmed. Jeremy Hunt said he did not see “any conceivable circumstance” the original plan would not be followed and that he was “incredibly proud” of the work going ahead. The endpoint of the line came into

The NHS is in the worst crisis in its 75 years, say health experts. And you only had to listen to the heart-wrenching stories of the audience during a live Sky News programme on the NHS at Coventry Hospital for the reality of that to be laid bare. There was James, whose wife died after

The government could spend more than £222,000 of public money on legal advice for Boris Johnson as he faces an investigation into whether he deliberately misled parliament over what he knew about partygate, a senior civil servant has confirmed. The Privileges Committee is looking into the former prime minister after his repeated denials to the

Parliament’s reputation is being put at risk by groups of MPs that can be funded by lobbyists, according to a rare joint letter from the speakers of both the House of Commons and Lords. Parliament’s two most powerful figures called for a major overhaul in the way All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) operate in a letter

Sir Keir Starmer has suggested the job of prime minister is “too big” for a “hopelessly weak” Rishi Sunak as he attacked him for failing to sack Nadhim Zahawi. At PMQs, the Labour leader asked if “any politician who seeks to avoid taxes they owe in the country is not fit to be in charge”

The North of England receives one of the lowest levels of investment among advanced economies, a think tank has said. Greece would be the only OECD nation to see less public and private investment, if the region was a country, according to a new IPPR North report. Researchers found the UK as a whole ranks

A Conservative former minister has become the first Tory MP to publicly call for Nadhim Zahawi to stand down as party chairman. Caroline Nokes said there are “too many unanswered questions” over the former chancellor’s multi-million pound tax dispute and that he is “leading too many front pages”. “When you become the story it’s a