Politics

Sir Tony Blair was warned the Horizon IT system could be flawed before it was rolled out across the Post Office, a document shows. A letter sent to the then-Labour prime minister on 9 December 1998 by a Downing Street special adviser said pressing ahead with the project was a risk because of spiralling costs

The TV drama series Mr Bates vs The Post Office has had such impact because it suddenly humanised a widespread miscarriage of justice which had been reported on with seemingly little public outcry for at least a decade. Instead of dry court reports, documentaries and articles, millions of viewers could see, acted out, how the

Brexit has cost the UK £140bn so far, according to new analysis, and could see the nation £311bn worse off by the middle of the next decade, according to a new report. Economists and analysts at Cambridge Econometrics – commissioned by London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan – have modelled how the UK’s economy would have acted

Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd has said he has an “aggressive and untreatable” form of leukaemia. The veteran politician, 73, who has represented Greater Manchester for over 40 years, said he had been receiving treatment for blood cancer, but the illness had progressed. He said he would be leaving hospital on Thursday in order to

The longest strike in NHS history, during which junior doctors walked out for six days, led to more than 113,000 patient operations, appointments and procedures being postponed, new figures show. The industrial action started last Wednesday and continued until yesterday, with 25,446 staff absent from work at the peak, which was the day the strike

Police chiefs have accused senior politicians of regularly trying to “interfere or influence” their operations.  In a letter to Home Secretary James Cleverly, Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke said most senior officers in 12 forces have experienced “improper pressure or interference from significant political figures, whether through direct contact or through the media”. The

More than 30 Tory MPs are poised to back amendments aimed at “toughening” Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill when it returns to the Commons next week. The prime minister is braced for yet another showdown with the right-wing faction of his party, which believes the legislation in its current form will not stop further legal challenges

Civil servants have hit back at “cowardly” former ministers who have criticised them for their alleged failure to act on the Post Office Horizon scandal. A blame-game is under way following the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which depicted how hundreds of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were wrongly held responsible for accounting errors

Israel “might have taken action” in breach of international law in Gaza, the foreign secretary has said during a tense exchange with MPs on the conflict in the Middle East. Lord Cameron also confirmed two British nationals are still being held hostage by Hamas, as he made his first appearance before the Foreign Affairs Committee

Hundreds of domestic abuse survivors will receive cash payments of £2,500 each to help them flee their tormentors, under a new initiative. The £2m scheme, which launches this month, is described as a “lifeline” for women who can’t flee – or are forced to return to – abusive relationships because they cannot afford essentials. A

Rishi Sunak began 2023 hounded by the contamination of the Johnson and Truss premierships, and kicks off 2024 weighed down by what happened on David Cameron’s watch, as the hundreds of Post Office managers wrongly criminalised and convicted comes back to haunt his new year.  Travelling to Accrington in the marginal seat of Hynburn on

Labour says it will introduce additional mental health counsellors to secondary schools as part of its plans to tackle rising pupil absences. The party says the UK is facing a “generational challenge”, as more than 88,000 secondary school students missed at least half of their education last year. Labour’s education pledge comes as a poll

Simon Case, the head of the civil service, has returned to work after more than two months on sick leave. The cabinet secretary, who has not publicly disclosed his illness, has been attending meetings in the last few days, the Politics At Jack And Sam’s Podcast revealed today. Mr Case was originally due to be

Rishi Sunak had doubts the government’s Rwanda asylum scheme would stop small boat crossings while he was chancellor, according to documents seen by Sky News. The Number 10 papers, prepared in March 2022 shortly before the Rwanda plan was first announced, also suggest the prime minister wanted to scale back the plans. A government source

In its long and venerable history dating back 192 years, the British Medical Association used to shy away from being called a “trades union”. Collective bargaining was for “trades people”; the doctors were independent professionals. Their association was there to campaign for best practice and to offer advice to the politicians regulating health treatment. That

A former energy minister has said he will quit as a Conservative MP over new legislation “that promotes the production of new oil and gas”. Chris Skidmore has said he will resign when parliament returns next week over the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill. The senior Tory had already announced his intention to stand down at

It’s a question that’s plagued the healthcare sector and politics for many years, a source of contention at election after election – how do we fix the NHS? In 1948, when the service was launched, the UK’s health demands were very different to today’s, with the population growing, shifting, and changing. Waiting lists, staff burnout,

The NHS “doesn’t just belong” to striking junior doctors and can’t be “switched on and off on whim”, the health secretary said. Victoria Atkins turned up the heat in the government’s row with the British Medical Association (BMA) as their record-breaking walk-out continues. Junior doctors in England are in the middle of a six-day strike

It’s a sign of the times that the big political event to kick off 2024 was not an election-year framing speech by the current prime minister, but rather the address given by the man who, for now, is expected to be the next. Sir Keir Starmer, speaking from the marginal seat of Filton and Bradley

Sir Keir Starmer is launching his election campaign on Thursday – and will promise the “character of politics will change” if Labour enters power. The government has until December this year to call an election – although if it decides to go to the polls so late, the vote itself will not happen until January