Politics

Downing Street has refused to comment on reports a picture of Boris Johnson holding a beer at a birthday party in Number 10 during lockdown has been handed to the Metropolitan Police’s investigation. According to the Daily Mirror, the photo shows the prime minister standing next to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who is holding a soft

WhatsApp messages between disgraced former Tory MP Owen Paterson and then-health secretary Matt Hancock have revealed the extent to which he was lobbying on behalf of a firm paying him more than £8,000 a month. Mr Paterson resigned from the Commons in November last year after he was found to have breached lobbying rules through

Four key resignations in Downing Street on Thursday are the result of the prime minister “taking charge”, a government minister has told Sky News. Energy minister Greg Hands said Boris Johnson was making the promised changes to his team in the wake of the highly-critical Sue Gray report into the partygate allegations. Sunak takes swipe

Conservative candidate Anna Firth has won the Southend West by-election triggered by the killing of Sir David Amess. Essex-born barrister Ms Firth won 12,792 votes. Conservative MP Sir David was fatally stabbed at a constituency surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on 15 October. The 69-year-old, who secured an increased majority of 14,459

The “vast majority” of households will receive £350 of help to take the “sting” out of rising energy bills, the chancellor has announced. Rishi Sunak said 80% of all homes in England will get a £150 discount on their council tax bill in April, while all domestic electricity customers will get £200 in October off

Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood has told Sky News he will be submitting a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson today. The senior Tory, who is chair of the Defence Select Committee, revealed in an interview with Kay Burley that he would be making the move. He said it is “time to resolve this” as

Boris Johnson has told Vladimir Putin of his “deep concern about Russia’s current hostile activity” on the Ukrainian border amid fears Moscow is planning to invade its neighbour. More than 100,000 Russian troops have amassed near the border in a major military build-up. The prime minister spoke to the Russian president in a phone call

Twelve alleged lockdown-busting gatherings are being investigated by the Metropolitan Police as part of the Downing Street partygate row, it has been revealed. The Scotland Yard investigation is the second inquiry to take place into claims Number 10 officials – including Prime Minister Boris Johnson himself – were partying in 2020 and 2021 in breach

The public would “hypothetically” be told if the prime minister was fined for breaking COVID rules, Downing Street has said – reversing an earlier assertion that refused to guarantee that would happen. When asked earlier whether any fixed penalty notices would be made public, the prime minister‘s spokesman said it was for the Metropolitan Police

Labour is calling on Rishi Sunak to allow the National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate fraud associated with the government’s COVID support schemes. In an opposition day debate in the Commons today, the party will urge the government to allow the “astronomical levels of fraud” committed during the coronavirus pandemic to be investigated. But the

Boris Johnson is heading to Ukraine where over the border more than 100,000 Russian troops are gathering – as he fights for his premiership after the publication of the Sue Gray report. The prime minister will hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv in a show of support for Ukraine as tensions on the

Boris Johnson will continue his fightback from the partygate scandal by unveiling plans for a “Brexit Freedoms Bill” to allow retained EU laws to be more easily removed. On the second anniversary of the UK’s official departure from the EU, the prime minister is pledging to “further unleash the benefits of Brexit” with a promise

Vladimir Putin’s oligarchs will have “nowhere to hide” under toughened UK sanctions, and British weapons and cash could be sent to Ukraine if Russia invades, the foreign secretary has said. Speaking to Sky News’ Trevor Phillips On Sunday – amid growing tensions between the West and Moscow over Russia’s build-up of troops on Ukraine’s border

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have doubled down on a controversial hike to National Insurance, following reports the prime minister was having second thoughts about the policy. Mr Johnson is under pressure from some Conservative MPs to scrap or at least delay the increase to win back support as he awaits the findings of Whitehall

Tom Tugendhat has become the first MP to say he would run to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a Tory leadership contest. The ex-soldier and Foreign Affairs Select Committee chairman told Times Radio it would be a “huge privilege”. He said he had not been “canvassing support”, but “of course, you should have a

Theresa May has said she is “angry” at the partygate revelations engulfing Boris Johnson, her successor in Number 10. Mrs May, who was in Downing Street from 2016 to 2019, made her intervention regarding the scandal in a letter seen by her local newspaper. She told constituents that “nobody is above the law”, the Maidenhead

The Metropolitan Police has asked for “minimal reference” to be made in Sue Gray’s partygate report to the events it is investigating. The senior civil servant is investigating a series of events in Downing Street and across Whitehall which are alleged to have broken lockdown rules. Her report, which is likely to have a significant

A senior Conservative MP has called for the government to delay the proposed National Insurance hike amid rising cost of living pressures Mel Stride, who chairs the influential Commons Treasury Select Committee, told Sky News that “for a period of one year, the increase should be jettisoned” as the economy is managing better than the

The wait for Sue Gray’s report into lockdown parties in Downing Street and Whitehall to be published has rolled into another day – with Boris Johnson still yet to receive the findings. Sky News understands the report – which is being compiled by the senior civil servant – is still yet to have been sent

Downing Street has yet to receive a report into lockdown parties in Downing Street and across Whitehall, the foreign secretary has confirmed to Sky News. Speaking to Kay Burley, Liz Truss said the government would release the “findings” from the Cabinet Office inquiry, which is being led by senior civil servant Sue Gray. PM braces