Robert Halfon and James Heappey join exodus of Tory MPs from Commons as party languishes in polls
Two Tory ministers have quit the government in a double blow to Rishi Sunak, who has been forced to carry out a mini-reshuffle of the junior ranks.
The veteran MP Robert Halfon unexpectedly announced he would step down as education minister and would be leaving the Commons at the next general election.
Continue reading...Chinese recruitment ‘to understand the capabilities of our air force’ of concern, says James Heappey
Ministers want to change the law to prevent former RAF pilots from training the Chinese military, amid reports at least 30 British personnel are believed to have taken advantage of “very generous” recruitment packages offered by the superpower.
It emerged overnight that British defence intelligence is to issue a rare “threat alert”, warning that China’s military is trying to recruit serving and former RAF jet pilots to help train its own air force.
Continue reading...UK defence minister says government still plans to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030
The UK’s armed forces minister, James Heappey, has suggested he would resign if the prime minister did not fulfil her leadership promise to raise defence spending, after the new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said no department would be immune to cuts.
Hunt said the full reversal of Liz Truss’s economic plans meant “decisions of eye-watering difficulty”, and suggested nothing was off the table, including defence and health spending and the pensions triple-lock.
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