Politics

The government has been allowed to keep parts of internal documents about Rwanda secret as part of a High Court challenge against plans to deport asylum seekers there. A handful of charities and several asylum seekers are challenging the Home Office over proposals to provide one-way tickets to the east African country for those who

Liz Truss rejected a plea to restore the abortion ban in Northern Ireland while Rishi Sunak vowed to be “much tougher” on the benefits system in the latest Conservative Party hustings in Belfast. Responding to an audience member who claimed Westminster had “undemocratically” imposed abortion laws on Northern Ireland, Ms Truss said: “I’m afraid I

A leaked audio recording has revealed Liz Truss said British workers needed “more graft” and lacked the “skill and application” of foreign rivals. The Tory leadership frontrunner was chief secretary to the Treasury when the conversation with officials was recorded five years ago. In the clip, leaked to The Guardian, Ms Truss said those outside

A total of 11 government whips have announced they are backing Liz Truss’s campaign to become the next Conservative leader in the latest blow for rival Rishi Sunak. Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey, herself a supporter of the foreign secretary, revealed the move in a graphic posted on social media on Tuesday morning. The

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have both promised to increase scrutiny of the Scottish government if they become the next prime minister – ahead of a visit north of the border. Ms Truss, who remains the favourite to win the race, said she would get “Scotland’s economy moving” and would give Members of the Scottish

Labour MPs should not be on picket lines if they want to be in government to help those struggling with the cost of living crisis, Sir Keir Starmer has said. The Labour leader told Sky News “you can’t sit around the cabinet table and then go to a picket line” in some of his most

Ministers are urging all broadband providers to offer “social tariffs” allowing low-income households to receive discounted mobile and internet deals to ease the pressure of rising living costs. A new service, which will go live this week and be run by the Department for Work and Pensions, will allow internet providers to verify, with customers’

Sir Keir Starmer is tomorrow expected to call for the energy price cap to be frozen this autumn as households across the UK feel the pinch amid the cost of living crisis. The Labour leader will say the price cap, which is the maximum that firms in England, Wales and Scotland can charge an average

The two prime ministerial hopefuls have each pledged new commitments if elected – with Liz Truss saying she would take on the role of ‘minister for the Union’ and Rishi Sunak promising to make Britain more “energy secure”. Ms Truss made a promise to uphold the United Kingdom as she hit out at politicians in

An MP who assaulted his wife should quit and leave Plaid Cymru, the party leader has said. Jonathan Edwards, the MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, was suspended from the party in July 2020 after assaulting his wife but was readmitted on Thursday. He has said he will not rejoin the Plaid Cymru group of

Sir Robert Buckland has become the first cabinet minister to swap his support in the Conservative Party leadership race. The secretary of state for Wales is now supporting Liz Truss, having previously backed Rishi Sunak. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Sir Robert says that changing his mind was “not an easy thing to do”. He

Boris Johnson has admitted that the cost of living support the government is providing is not enough – but he refused to announce any immediate measures to combat spiralling household bills. Mr Johnson doubled down on his remarks that it will be up to his successor – either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak – to

Rishi Sunak has unveiled a plan to slash rising energy bills for up to 16 million vulnerable people which he hopes will propel him to 10 Downing Street. In a dramatic move as his Tory leadership clash with Liz Truss becomes increasingly bitter, he is said to be prepared to find up to £10bn to

Boris Johnson has doubled down on his insistence that it is for his successor to “make significant fiscal decisions” after crisis talks with energy bosses ended with no new measures to ease the cost of living crisis. Speaking after the meeting, the prime minister said he would continue to urge the energy sector to ease

Nearly 50,000 people have signed a petition backing former prime minister Gordon Brown’s call for an emergency budget to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. On Monday Mr Brown warned people will have to go without food and will be unable to heat their homes by October if the government does not take urgent action. He told

Allies of Rishi Sunak have played down the defection of a Tory MP to supporting Liz Truss as the two campaign teams continued to trade blows over economic policy. Former Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers, who is backing Mr Sunak, said that “inevitably MPs change their mind during these contests”, when asked on Sky News about

Rishi Sunak has promised to give “hundreds of pounds” more to people for energy bills while Liz Truss refused to commit to extra support for struggling families. Mr Sunak said he is “confident” he could find the money needed to support people with the rising cost of living from government efficiency savings if was to

The Liberal Democrats are demanding parliament be recalled from its summer recess to pass a law to scrap impending hikes in energy prices. The party has drafted legislation to cancel the price cap rise, which is due to be announced at the end of the month and coming into force in October. The Energy Price

Downing Street has rejected calls for Boris Johnson to summon an emergency COBRA meeting to deal with the cost of living crisis. Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, has called for Mr Johnson to meet with his two potential successors and thrash out a financial package of measures before energy bills soar in October.

Liz Truss was not ruling out future cost of living support when she said she would reject “handouts”, her supporters have said, with prominent backer Penny Mordaunt claiming the comments were “misinterpreted”. Leadership rival Rishi Sunak attacked the comments saying the foreign secretary needs to “get real”, while claiming her plan to cut taxes immediately