Category Archives: Politics

Dominic Cummings ‘held secret election talks with Rishi Sunak’

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Tories express alarm over claim, with some saying it showed prime minister’s lack of judgment

Conservative MPs have expressed anger and alarm at the claim that Rishi Sunak offered Dominic Cummings a secret deal to help him win the election, with one saying Boris Johnson’s former chief aide should have “no place in political life”.

Other Tory MPs have commented in WhatsApp groups to express opposition to the idea, first revealed in the Sunday Times, with some saying it showed a lack of judgment by Sunak.

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Civil servant at MoD alleges sexual assaults by three male colleagues

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Woman came forward to Prospect trade union after feeling allegations were not sufficiently dealt with

A Ministry of Defence civil servant has told of being subjected to three separate incidents of sexual assault by male colleagues, after allegations emerged of a “hostile” and “toxic” culture at the department.

The woman came forward to Prospect, the trade union, after feeling that her allegations were not sufficiently investigated and dealt with by the Ministry of Defence.

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UK has failed to act to free Alaa Abd el-Fattah from jail in Egypt, family says

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Rishi Sunak told activist’s sister in 2022 that government was ‘totally committed’ to resolving the case

The family of the imprisoned British-Egyptian writer and activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah have said the British government has failed to act to free him, a year after the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, told his sister the government was “totally committed to resolving your brother’s case”.

A figurehead in Egypt’s 2011 uprising, which overthrew Hosni Mubarak as president, Abd el-Fattah spent most of the past decade behind bars for his activism. He was rearrested in 2019 following a brief period out of prison but under police surveillance, and was sentenced in December 2021 to a further five years in detention for spreading “false news undermining national security”, after resharing a social media post about torture.

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Labour pledges to ‘clean up politics’ after outrage over Liz Truss honours list

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Shadow front bencher says Keir Starmer would not have resignation honours after ‘appalling spectacle’ of ex-prime minister ‘rewarding cronies’

Labour last night promised there would be no resignation honour’s list issued by Keir Starmer if he were to become prime minister, as outrage grew over the list of peerages, knighthoods and other rewards showered by Liz Truss on those associated with her disastrous 49 days in office.

Shadow leader of the House, Lucy Powell, told the Observer: “The appalling spectacle of Truss rewarding her cronies for helping her crash the economy and cause mortgage misery for millions demeans politics.

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Keir Starmer ‘lacks clear sense of purpose’ claims Labour ex-policy chief

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Party historian MP Jon Cruddas questions readiness for power of leader with few ties to movement’s roots or ideology

A key centre-left Labour MP says Keir Starmer appears to lack a clear sense of purpose due to his detachment from his party’s traditions, and casts doubt on whether he can become one of its more successful prime ministers.

In A Century of Labour, a book published to mark 100 years since the formation of the first Labour government on 22 January 1924 under Ramsay MacDonald, Jon Cruddas says that Starmer – while clearly a “decent” and “principled” man – “remains an elusive leader, difficult to find”.

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Brexit has completely failed for UK, say clear majority of Britons – poll

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Only one in 10 feel leaving the EU has helped their finances, while just 9% say it has benefited the NHS, despite £350m a week pledge according to new poll

A clear majority of the British public now believes Brexit has been bad for the UK economy, has driven up prices in shops, and has hampered government attempts to control immigration, according to a poll by Opinium to mark the third anniversary of the UK leaving the EU single market and customs union.

The survey of more than 2,000 UK voters also finds strikingly low numbers of people who believe that Brexit has benefited them or the country.

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Tory MP says most struggling children in his area are ‘products of crap parents’

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Bury North MP James Daly makes remark while outlining what New Conservatives group stands for

A Conservative MP has claimed most children who struggle in his constituency are the “products of crap parents”.

James Daly, the MP for Bury North, was outlining what the New Conservatives group of MPs stood for when he presented his perspective on how important a family unit is in giving children “stability”.

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‘I didn’t know who to talk to’: MPs on the hidden toll on their mental health

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While a handful of politicians have openly discussed the stresses of their job, the scale of the problem appears far greater

It was a year after they were made a minister when the MP had the second breakdown of their political career, and realised they simply had no idea what to do next: “I was so terrified. I didn’t know who to talk to. There didn’t seem to be anybody I could trust.

“A family member told me to take time off. But as a minister if you were to say you needed time off sick, the whips would go, ‘Yeah, fine. We’ll get someone else to do your job.’ It’s often easier to keep your head down and pretend.”

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Thatcher ‘utterly shattered’ by MI5 revelations in Spycatcher, files reveal

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National Archives papers show prime minister tried in vain to avoid inquiry over Peter Wright’s memoirs

Margaret Thatcher was “utterly shattered” by the revelations in Spycatcher, the memoirs of the retired MI5 officer Peter Wright, files released publicly for the first time reveal.

The files also reveal the dilemmas faced by Thatcher’s government in its futile battle to suppress the book, including whether to agree to the Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer mediating an out of court “solution”.

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Blair considered loan of Parthenon marbles to help London Olympics bid

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Then PM was advised to ‘encourage’ British Museum to agree long-term loan in return for Greek support

Tony Blair considered a “long-term loan” of the Parthenon marbles to Greece in the hope of support for a London 2012 Olympic Games bid, newly released documents reveal.

Twenty years before Rishi Sunak cancelled a meeting with the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, over the ownership question of the sculptures, Greece was lobbying Blair, the then prime minister, for a long-term loan, bypassing the issue of ownership.

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National archives: Tony Blair was advised to work with militants in Kosovo

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Former prime minister had concerns about being seen to be too close to the Kosovo Liberation Army

Tony Blair was advised to work with militants in Kosovo, some of whom have subsequently been put on trial for war crimes, despite reportedly believing they were “not much better than the Serbs” whose own crimes against humanity he was seeking to end, it has been revealed.

Blair, then the UK prime minister, had grave concerns about being seen to be too close to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which was fighting against the Serbian nationalist forces led by Slobodan Milošević.

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Kerry Packer was proposed as mediator in Thatcher’s fight to stop Spycatcher memoir

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Counsel for ex-MI5 officer Peter Wright suggested role for Australian media tycoon but idea was swiftly rejected

The Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer was suggested as a mediator in the fight by Margaret Thatcher’s government to prevent the publication of Spycatcher, the memoirs of former MI5 officer Peter Wright, according to newly released official papers.

The offer was made by Wright’s Australian counsel – and future Australian prime minister – Malcolm Turnbull as part of a proposed out-of-court settlement, files released by the National Archives show.

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Heavy election defeat could lead to Tory lurch to right, analysis shows

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With another two-point slip from current polling, about 40% of Tory MPs would come from populist right

A catastrophic election defeat could lead to the parliamentary Conservative party tilting towards the populist right, Guardian analysis has indicated.

A projection of the seats the Conservatives would retain if there was a further two percentage point swing to Labour before election day, using data from Electoral Calculus, shows that about 40% of the remaining MPs would come from this wing of the party.

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May election is ‘worst kept secret in Westminster’, says senior Labour MP

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Emily Thornberry says country is desperate, and Labour is ready, for general election

Labour is talking up the prospect of a May 2024 general election, with the shadow cabinet minister Emily Thornberry saying it was “the worst kept secret in Westminster” that a contest would be called then.

Thornberry told Sky News on Thursday that the government’s decision to announce a budget in early March – the earliest date in 13 years apart from during the pandemic – “seems to confirm” that May is the most likely date.

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Blair was keen to relocate Wimbledon FC to Belfast in late 1990s, papers show

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Then PM thought move ‘would be excellent’ but Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam was sceptical

Newly released state papers show that the former prime minister Tony Blair backed proposals for Wimbledon FC to move to Belfast but his Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam was more sceptical.

Previously confidential state papers include a note from 1997 described as “following up earlier informal discussions about the possibility of an English Premier League football club relocating to Belfast”.

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Labour plans thousands of nursery places in English primary schools

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Party has asked former Ofsted head Sir David Bell to find new ways to increase levels of childcare

Labour is considering creating thousands of nursery places inside existing primary schools in England and has tasked the former Ofsted head Sir David Bell with finding new ways to increase levels of childcare.

In the latest evolution of Labour’s policy in an area that still has a widespread shortage of spaces, plus a lack of affordability and staffing, Bell will advise on potential ways to tackle this, with detailed policies set out nearer the election.

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Jeremy Hunt fuels election speculation as 6 March spring budget announced

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Chancellor has asked the OBR to prepare forecasts for the economy and public finances to be presented to parliament

Jeremy Hunt has announced that a spring budget expected to feature a host of tax cuts will be held on 6 March, fuelling speculation over an early general election.

While government sources insisted nothing should be read into the date, it is the earliest the set-piece fiscal event has been held in 13 years of Conservative government – apart from 2021 when the Treasury was trying to kickstart the economy after Covid.

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How a spring UK budget could fire the starting gun for an early election

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UK economic prospects are bleak but an agenda-setting fiscal event such as sweeping tax cuts in March offers another roll of the dice

To grasp the nettle, or wait in the hope that things somehow miraculously improve. This is the choice Rishi Sunak will be weighing for the next general election, as the Conservatives limp towards the finishing line of another challenging year.

After Jeremy Hunt announced the government would hold an earlier than anticipated budget, with a date set for 6 March, the possibility of a poll in May, in the afterglow of some electioneering tax cuts, is clearly being given considerable thought.

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Pint of wine anyone? UK looks to bring back ‘silly measure’

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Winemakers question plan as government champions Brexit ‘freedom’ to allow old-fashioned size

The poet Robert Burns imagined a man toasting his lover with a “pint o’ wine”, and Winston Churchill was perhaps the most famous proponent of the pint bottle for champagne. Now, Rishi Sunak’s government has spied a “Brexit opportunity” to legalise the sale of wine by the pint once more – if it can persuade anyone to make the bottles.

Still and sparkling wine will be sold in 200ml, 500ml and 568ml (pint) sizes in 2024, alongside existing measures, under new rules, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) announced on Wednesday. It said the change was made possible by Brexit.

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David Trimble was ‘extraordinarily rude’ to Tony Blair at Good Friday talks

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Newly released 1999 briefing by Irish civil servant reveals lack of trust during tense peace negotiations

David Trimble was “extraordinarily rude” to Tony Blair during tense negotiations about the implementation of the Good Friday agreement, accusing the then prime minister of laying a “crude trap” for unionists, one Irish official wrote of the encounter in 1999.

The meeting between Blair and Trimble, the leader of the Ulster Unionist party, took place in Belfast as the British prime minister and Ireland’s taoiseach Bertie Ahern met all the Northern Ireland parties to discuss the steps that needed to be taken to implement the peace accord.

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