Politics

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the government to scrap severance payments for senior figures who break the ministerial code. Research carried out by the party showed a total of £530,000 had been given to ministers after they quit over a breach, despite some of them returning to government within weeks. High profile resignations include

Sir Ed Davey has insisted the Liberal Democrats will continue to support the pensions triple lock under any circumstances. The policy means the state pension has to rise in line with wages, inflation or 2.5% – whichever is higher – each year, with the government taking the decision in the autumn ahead of it being

A government taskforce intended to help people save energy and lower their bills has been disbanded after just six months. The Energy Efficiency Taskforce was set up by the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, in March to boost uptake of insulation and boiler upgrades in homes and commercial buildings. It included Sir John Armitt, chair of the

Households under financial pressure must be supported ahead of an “inevitable” energy crisis this winter, MPs have told the government. Many in the UK will be paying the same or even more over the winter months than they were a year earlier, despite wholesale market prices dropping. It’s a scenario MPs on the Energy Security

Rishi Sunak’s popularity has plunged to its lowest point since taking office following his watering down of key climate pledges. The prime minister’s net favourability rating has slumped to -45, according to a YouGov survey carried out days after his speech rowing back on net zero pledges. The poll of more than 2,000 adults between

Labour has pledged to bolster the power of the UK’s economic watchdog to prevent a repeat of the “disastrous mistakes” of Liz Truss’s mini-budget. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to introduce legislation that would allow the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to independently publish their own impact assessment of any major and permanent

This week, Rishi Sunak made a surprise speech announcing delays to a number of key Conservative pledges aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions. But alongside a five-year delay to the ban on selling new petrol and diesel cars, and various changes to promises on oil and gas boilers, the prime minister also claimed he was

Rishi Sunak’s watering down of climate pledges is not a “cynical ploy” – but is rather the prime minister doing “what is right”, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has said. Last night, Mr Sunak announced a raft of changes to the UK’s climate pledges, including delaying the ban on the sale of new internal combustion engine

Today the cross-party climate consensus in place for many years was shattered. Minutes after Rishi Sunak’s press conference concluded, Labour announced they would reverse the most incendiary of all the PM’s promises – to move back the date to ban new petrol cars, from 2030 to 2035. This puts Labour and the Tories differences on

The home secretary has said that “we’re not going to save the planet by bankrupting the British people” in response to reports the government is looking at watering down its green pledges. Among the changes being considering are the pushing back of a ban on the sales of new vehicles with internal combustion engines from

Rishi Sunak looks set to weaken key climate pledges in a move that has drawn heavy criticism from Tory MPs and environmental groups. The prime minister said he remains committed to the net zero target by 2050 but will achieve it “in a better, more proportionate way”. It comes after a report in the BBC

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has criticised the “increasing militancy” and “politically” motivated strikes, and said that is why new legislation to curtail walkouts is being introduced. Mr Barclay was speaking as consultants took industrial action today, with junior doctors set to join them tomorrow in the first joint strike in NHS history. The government is

An unrepentant Liz Truss has sought to blame a left-wing infiltration of thinktanks, the Bank of England and other “institutions” for the market turmoil during her brief premiership. Ms Truss was speaking at an Institute for Government event about what she believes are the issues with the UK economy. Her 49 days as prime minister

Labour will look to build a closer trading relationship with the EU if it wins the next election, Sir Keir Starmer has said. The Labour leader spent the weekend meeting fellow centre-left leaders in Montreal, Canada, including the country’s prime minister Justin Trudeau. The party has long been critical of the deal negotiated by the

Liz Truss is set to urge the government to cut taxes – and insist her plan to grow the economy would eventually have worked. A year on from her disastrous mini-budget, the former Tory prime minister will also say it was unfair to suggest her programme of tax cuts, amounting to £45bn, was unfunded. She

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to guarantee the tax burden – currently the largest since the Second World War –  would not increase under Labour. While the opposition leader told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme he wanted it to come down “for working people”, his “laser focus” was on growing the economy.

Sir Keir Starmer has described Conservative Party claims that Labour’s plans on immigration would increase asylum seeker numbers as “nonsense”. Speaking exclusively to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, from a summit in Montreal, the Labour leader maintained the government has “no control” of UK borders. He said: “What concerns people is that basic idea that

Rishi Sunak was persuaded not to quit as chancellor over his COVID lockdown fine after discussions with executives working for media mogul Rupert Murdoch, it has been claimed. Mr Sunak is reported to have shared a draft resignation statement with allies after both he and Boris Johnson were fined for attending the then-prime minister’s birthday

American XL bully dogs are a danger to communities and will banned, Rishi Sunak has said, after a man was mauled to death. Announcing the move, the prime minister stressed the need to end such violent attacks “and keep people safe”. Mr Sunak was responding to the latest incident in which a man died after

The levelling up agenda is “steaming ahead”, a government minister has insisted – despite being unable to say whether the HS2 rail link will go to Manchester as planned. Policing minister Chris Philp said there were “spades in the ground” and “track being laid” for the rail line that will link London to the North