Politics

We may want to live with COVID, but does COVID want to live with us? The decision in Westminster not to impose more restrictions in England over Christmas now looks like something of an inflection point for the country’s pandemic path. The last two weeks have seen a hardening within government in the desire to

Almost half of all Tory members now believe that Rishi Sunak would make a better leader and could win more seats at the next election than Boris Johnson, an exclusive poll for Sky News has found. A third of the Tory membership now think Mr Johnson should stand down as Tory leader. Almost four in

The prime minister has been warned it would be “utterly wrongheaded” to scale back free lateral flow tests following reports they could be limited to high risk settings. Both the Labour Party and Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon have warned Boris Johnson against the move amid concerns tests could be limited to care homes, hospitals

Leaseholders in lower-rise blocks of flats are set to be spared having to take out loans to remove dangerous cladding from their buildings as the government prepares to “reset” its approach to the scandal. Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, is due to make a statement in which he

More than one million people have signed a petition calling for Sir Tony Blair to have his knighthood removed. The former Labour prime minister, who was in office between 1997 and 2007, was appointed a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in the New Year Honours list. However, there has been

The NHS is facing a “rocky few weeks ahead” as it contends with a wave of Omicron cases, the health secretary has said – as two major incidents were declared in England due to pressures caused by the COVID variant’s spread. Speaking during a visit to King’s College Hospital in south London, Sajid Javid said

Boris Johnson has hit out at anti-vaxxers, declaring they are “completely wrong” and spreading “mumbo jumbo” as the environment secretary said the country would soon get past the peak of Omicron infections. Speaking during a visit to a vaccination centre in Northampton, the prime minister said he wanted to keep a “voluntary approach” to COVID-19

Boris Johnson has offered a “humble and sincere apology” for failing to disclose WhatsApp messages with a Tory peer in which he discussed the funding of his Downing Street flat refurbishment – and blamed getting a new phone for not declaring the conversation. In a series of letters between the prime minister and his independent

Plans to tackle the record waiting list for NHS treatment could be derailed by emergency care demands and a lack of staff, MPs have warned. The backlog of patients waiting for planned care in England has soared to nearly six million as the number of 999 calls and A&E waiting times have both hit record

Changes to testing rules, which the government plans to announce today, are part of the delicate balance of “living with COVID” As infection numbers have soared during the past month of the Omicron wave, testing capacity has been increasingly stretched. Key workers including teachers and social care staff have reported waiting days for PCR tests

MPs are returning to Westminster after their Christmas break and plunging straight into a potentially fiery Prime Minister’s Questions and a Commons showdown over COVID-19. Besides the latest crisis over Omicron, Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer are poised to clash over soaring energy bills, investigations into Downing Street parties, and the PM’s flat makeover.

Boris Johnson has not “earned the right” to be awarded a knighthood once he leaves Downing Street, Sir Keir Starmer has said. Asked if the prime minister should be given an honour in the future, like Tony Blair, the Labour leader said: “No, I am sorry, I don’t think that this prime minister has earned

Sir Keir Starmer is beginning the New Year with an ambitious speech putting patriotism at the heart of the Labour Party’s strategy to win support from voters. Welcoming the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the Commonwealth Games later this year, he claims it is not unpatriotic to criticise things that are going wrong in the country.

The first thing that was apparent as Boris Johnson made his first public appearance of 2022 was that he has a New Year haircut and was wearing a new tie that we haven’t seen before. Christmas present from Carrie? More importantly, could the prime minister’s neat new haircut – the untidy, dishevelled blond mop of

Schools have been advised by ministers to start preparing for COVID staff shortages by merging classes into larger groups and considering “flexible” teaching options. The latest advice sent to schools in an email from the Department of Education and published in an open letter by Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi comes as many pupils prepare to

Further COVID restrictions in England are not expected this week thanks to people testing and getting their boosters, a cabinet minister has suggested. His confidence comes despite warnings from NHS leaders about an intensifying ‘health emergency’ as COVID admissions rise. Cabinet Office minister Stephen Barclay said there has been a “significant behaviour change” by the

Secondary school students in England are again being asked to wear masks in classrooms to help tackle the rise in Omicron coronavirus cases. The recommendation comes as the government pledges to keep face-to-face education going despite surging COVID-19 infections in England, with a record 162,572 new cases reported on Saturday. Masks will “maximise the number

Further restrictions triggered by COVID must be an “absolute last resort” and the UK will now have to “live alongside” the virus in 2022, Sajid Javid has said. The health secretary has said the wave of Omicron infections will “test the limit of finite NHS capacity even more than a typical winter”, with reports suggesting

The medical chiefs leading the UK’s battle against coronavirus have been recognised with top awards in the New Year Honours list. England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and his deputy Professor Jonathan Van-Tam have been given knighthoods, along with the chief medical officers for Wales, Dr Frank Atherton, and Scotland, Dr Gregor Smith. There

Newly-released files from the National Archives have revealed George W Bush’s worries over his experience, negotiations over Diana’s funeral, and mooted plans to redesign the House of Commons. Here are some of the key revelations from the release of Cabinet Office and Number 10 files from the first years of Tony Blair’s premiership between 1997