Politics

Downing Street is believed to be considering a one-off payment for nurses after rejecting the idea before Christmas. About six weeks ago Steve Barclay, the health secretary, floated the idea of giving nurses a single payment to cover the increased cost of living this financial year, ending in April, but Downing Street and the Treasury

On a freezing, foggy evening in December, the House of Commons finally formally responded to the last major financial sleaze scandal to hit parliament, and in doing so, sent an important signal about the way politicians look after themselves. After more than a year of deliberation, the debate and vote late in the evening of

Without greater transparency, money risks influencing our politics in the dark, it’s time to check who is paying our politicians and to ask why. More than £183m has flowed into the British political system during this Parliament, straight from wealthy individuals or companies, and into the bank accounts of political parties, all-party parliamentary groups, and

The chair of the Public Accounts Committee has told Sky News she “could weep for the five years” lost by the decision to abolish the organisation set up to deliver the long-term renovation of parliament. Dame Meg Hillier MP says there is an “unacceptable cloak of secrecy” around the decision to send the restoration programme

Boris Johnson had a “problem” in responding to a controversial report on race due to his “bad track record on the issue”, one of its lead authors has claimed. The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities released its conclusions back in 2021 after reviewing racial disparities in Britain following the rise of the Black Lives

Nurses have said they will call off strike action later this month if the government discusses pay for this year – but ministers are standing by their refusal not to. Rishi Sunak dodged answering whether talks the government has invited all unions to next week will include discussions about pay for the 2022-23 financial year

The criminal justice system is “about to crack” with a record number of trials being aborted at the last minute because no one is available to prosecute them, the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has warned. A fresh row is bubbling after the government agreed to boost legal aid fees by 15% in October in a

The government is bringing forward new strike laws to “maintain a basic function and deliver minimum safety levels” in the public sector during industrial action, the business department has confirmed. In a statement, it said the government would “always protect the ability to strike”, but added: “It must be balanced with the public’s right to

Sir Keir Starmer will promise to end “sticking plaster politics” when he delivers his first speech of the new year later today. The Labour leader will claim that “a short-term mindset” dominates Westminster under the Conservatives, pointing in particular to its handling of the crisis in the NHS. He will promise “a completely new way

Rishi Sunak must recall parliament “immediately” so MPs can discuss the “NHS crisis”, a leading medical organisation has said. Writing a letter to the PM on Wednesday, Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) – an organisation led by frontline medical staff – and its supporters said MPs must return from their festive break before Monday 9 January.

Rishi Sunak must “step up to the plate” and allow ministers to get around the table to negotiate with union leaders, the boss of the TUC has said – as he accused the PM of using the independent pay review bodies as a “human shield”. TUC general secretary Paul Nowak told Sky News the PM

Rishi Sunak’s flagship policy to stop Albanian migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats is unlikely to reduce overall illegal immigration because of “infinite” demand, Home Office sources have warned. The prime minister’s five-point-plan, launched last month, specifically targets people arriving from Albania after the Eastern European country accounted for more than a third

New Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar – seen as a bogeyman by many unionists in Northern Ireland – has said he “understands” and “gets” the concerns that community has about the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol he helped to design.  Mr Varadkar, who began his second term as Taoiseach in mid-December, told reporters at a briefing

UK Border Force officers have joined patrols on French beaches for the first time in a bid to stem the flow of migrants crossing the Channel. The first joint patrols are believed to have taken place just before Christmas after months of negotiations between UK and French officials. The collaboration aims to give UK officers

The Archbishop of Canterbury has kicked off 2023 by putting the Church of England on a collision course with Rishi Sunak’s government. Justin Welby is a canny political operator who is almost certainly the most political archbishop of Canterbury in recent years. And there have been a few of those. During 2022 he led an

The major events which come define a year, or even a decade, are seldom predicted. Nobody foresaw the 9/11 attacks on the US in 2001 which then swamped the leaderships of Tony Blair and George W Bush. This time a year ago most experts doubted that Russia would go ahead with the vicious attack on

Ian Blackford watched the election of his successor Stephen Flynn via zoom, surrounded by his closest allies. And by boxes. His imminent forced departure from the two-floor, wood-panelled suite of offices afforded to the leader of parliament’s third party, was a source of sadness and frustration. Nicola Sturgeon had made her own unhappiness clear to

Rishi Sunak has warned the UK’s problems will not “go away” in 2023 after a “tough” 12 months in his New Year message. The prime minister promised the “very best of Britain” will be on display in the coming months as he pledged continuing support for Ukraine. And he also predicted King Charles’s coronation on

Tory and Labour MPs who caused trouble for Boris Johnson have been recognised in the first New Year Honours list to be published since he left No 10. Conservative Julian Lewis, chairman of the parliamentary intelligence and security committee (ISC), and Labour MP Chris Bryant, who chairs the commons standards committee, have both received knighthoods.

Tony Blair wanted Vladimir Putin to have a seat at the international “top table” during his time as prime minister, according to newly released official files. The Labour PM from 1997 to 2007 believed the Russian president was at heart a “Russian patriot” and it was important to encourage him to adopt Western values, the