Politics

Owen Paterson will resign as the MP for North Shropshire in order to escape “the cruel world of politics” following a furious row over his proposed ban from the House of Commons. The Conservative former cabinet minister has been at the centre of a scandal after it was recommended he be suspended for 30 days.

Boris Johnson’s government has been accused of “corruption” and “synonymous with sleaze, dodgy deals and hypocrisy” following a vote to protect Conservative MP Owen Paterson from being suspended. The MP for North Shropshire was facing a 30-day suspension from the House of Commons for “repeatedly” breaching lobbying rules over his paid consultancy work on behalf

A Conservative former minister has avoided a suspension after Tory MPs backed a government-sanctioned amendment to stop it in a Commons vote, despite anger at a decision Labour claim will inflict “enduring damage” upon parliament’s reputation. Owen Paterson was facing a 30-day suspension from the House for breaching lobbying rules over his paid consultancy work

One of Britain’s top scientists has quit the government’s pandemic advisory body, warning the COVID crisis is “a long way from over” and that the situation in the UK is “concerning”. Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, quit the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) at the end of October. Sky News can

A British scallop trawler detained by French authorities as part of a fishing feud with the UK is still being held, despite a cabinet minister earlier telling Sky News it had been released. The impounded Cornelis Gert Jan, a Scottish-registered scallop dredger that was seized by officials near Le Havre last week, will continue to

France has backed down on immediate threats to ban British vessels from French ports as the two nations continue to feud over post-Brexit licences to fish in UK waters. French President Emmanuel Macron had warned that Paris could block UK boats from landing their catches and impose physical checks on lorries travelling to and from

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has set a 48-hour deadline for a fishing dispute with France to be resolved before the UK moves ahead with legal action. Speaking to Sky News at the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, Ms Truss hit out at the French for behaving “unfairly” and accused them of operating outside the

“It’s one minute to midnight and we need to act now,” the UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson will declare on Monday as he seeks to stir world leaders into dramatic action at urgent UN climate talks. At the COP26 opening ceremony, the prime minister will say humanity has “long since run down the clock on

COP26 President Alok Sharma has said he wants “more out of every country” and now is the time to deliver on limiting temperature rises to below 1.5C. Ahead of around 120 world leaders gathering at the event in Glasgow on Monday for a two-day summit, Mr Sharma urged them to do more to help the

This year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow is “the world’s moment of truth” in the fight to tackle global warming, Boris Johnson has said on the eve of its opening. Speaking ahead of the COP26 climate summit which begins on Sunday, the prime minister described the event as a moment for “decisive action” from

Boris Johnson has not ruled out triggering the dispute mechanism against France as a row between the two countries over post-Brexit fishing rights escalates. On Friday, France seized a British scallop trawler and threatened to block ports and increase checks on boats and lorries over the UK denying some boats a licence to fish in

Boris Johnson on Friday warned that “team world” was “5-1” down at half-time in the fight to tackle global warming, as he implored world leaders to act now on the eve of two global gatherings of world leaders. Speaking to journalists en route to the G20 in Rome, the prime minister acknowledged the scale of

The UK’s Brexit minister has threatened to retaliate in the escalating fishing row with France with “practical responses”. Lord Frost said he made clear to EU Brexit negotiator Maros Sefcovic if France carried through with threats to disrupt fisheries and hauliers next week the UK would react “accordingly”, in both physical and legal ways. The

Britain has begun preparations for a major clash with the EU by activating a key government committee to look at the fallout from suspending cooperation over Northern Ireland, Sky News has learnt. Ministers are holding discussions inside the key cabinet committee, which oversaw Brexit fallout preparations, about the repercussions of triggering Article 16, which allows

A man has been charged with malicious communications after Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner received threats and abuse. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said 36-year-old Benjamin Iliffe, from Cambridgeshire, will appear at Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court later on Thursday to face the charge. Iliffe, of Slade Way, Chatteris, has also been charged with possessing cannabis. It comes

Rishi Sunak will hit the airwaves to sell his budget later, after it was warned that the chancellor’s economic set piece will leave the poorest families “far worse off”. Having vowed to build “a stronger economy for the British people” after the coronavirus crisis in his address on Wednesday, Mr Sunak will face questions about

A Treasury minister has not joined the traditional pre-budget photo in Downing Street due to his agoraphobia, he has revealed. Simon Clarke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is a senior member of Chancellor Rishi Sunak‘s team and has helped prepare Wednesday’s budget and spending review. He would have been expected to line up outside

Rishi Sunak will deliver his Autumn Budget and Spending Review to MPs in the Commons today, setting out the government’s spending and financial strategy. It should take place at around 12:30pm, just after the conclusion of Prime Minister’s Questions. The chancellor’s address usually lasts around an hour – although in 1853 William Gladstone spoke for

Millions of nurses, teachers and members of the armed forces will receive a pay rise next April as Rishi Sunak unfreezes public sector pay in the budget. In his second pay giveaway in 24 hours, after announcing a rise in the national living wage, the chancellor confirmed he is ending a one-year COVID freeze imposed

The EU’s current proposals to reform the Northern Ireland Protocol “don’t go far enough”, the UK’s Brexit minister has said. Appearing before MPs, Lord Frost said proposals from Brussels to change the protocol “do, for the first time, acknowledge they might be willing to change their own laws in order to deal with the special