#westminster

#westminster

The SNP could make life very difficult for Labour after the next general election if Sir Keir Starmer does not co-operate with it, Humza Yousaf has said.The Scottish First Minister said a demand for a second independence referendum would be top of the list of his party's requests if Labour needs help forming a government at Westminster.

Nigel Farage said he believes it's the end of Boris Johnson in the Conservative Party as he suggested more than 10 Tory MPs could be willing to join a new party.The prominent Leave campaigner, appearing on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, added that the gap for another insurgency is actually bigger than it was 10 years ago.

Close Boris Johnson has suggested that his event planner friend stayed overnight at Chequers during Covid restrictions for childcare reasons as he denied the visit broke any rules.Dixie Maloney, who helped Mr Johnson and wife Carrie plan their wedding, stayed at the prime minister's grace and favour home on 7 May, when indoor gatherings were banned except for reasonably necessary for reasons such as work or childcare.

A BBC Panorama documentary commissioned to look into the internal handling of claims of widespread sexual harassment inside the Palace of Westminster has been dropped for the foreseeable future, the Observer understands, despite months of research.The prestigious investigative programme, which had been due to go out this summer, has now been removed from future broadcast schedules without any public explanation from the BBC.

The SNP's deputy leader has backed Humza Yousaf's decision not to suspend the whip from Nicola Sturgeon, saying it is in the interests of natural justice that she stays in the party.Keith Brown said other cases where the party's MSPs had been suspended while allegations around them were being investigated involved different circumstances.

Labour shadow minister Bambos Charalambous has been suspended by the party after a complaint about his conduct.A formal complaint against the Enfield Southgate MP was made to Labour's independent complaints process, the PA news agency understands, immediately triggering an investigation.His party membership was administratively suspended within 24 hours, a move that means he will have the Labour whip removed in Westminster while the probe is carried out.

A MP suspended by the party Labour over sexual harassment allegations is facing fresh claims he boasted about bringing sex workers into parliamentary bars.Geraint Davies has been suspended pending an investigation into reports of incredibly serious allegations of completely unacceptable behaviour.One woman has submitted a formal complaint, after Politico initially reported that five other women made sexual harassment claims against the politician.

The SNP has urged Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross to grow a backbone and whip MPs to vote in favour of sanctions against Boris Johnson.The former prime minister was found by the Privileges Committee to have knowingly misled Parliament in his denials of partygate, with the panel recommending a 90-day suspension, had he not already stepped down as an MP.

Boris Johnson made a desperate last-ditch bid to derail the privileges committee just hours before the release of its damning report expected to find that he deliberately lied to parliament about Partygate.The former PM demanded that Sir Bernard Jenkin explain his actions and resign from the committee following a report claiming the senior Tory MP attended a drinks reception in December 2020.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's longest serving first minister, resigned earlier this year in a move that confounded many political observers at the time.On Sunday, she was arrested by police investigating allegations of financial misconduct.Sturgeon, who led the Scottish National party to electoral domination at Holyrood the home of the Scottish parliament was questioned by detectives as a suspect but was later released without charge, pending further inquiries, after voluntarily going to a police station.

1686544243 Nicola Sturgeon issued a defiant statement after she was released from custody on Sunday.The former first minister was questioned as a suspect by detectives looking into claims that 600,000 in donations for an independence campaign was misspent by the party.She was later released without charge pending further investigation.

Some London boroughs have warned they will not be able to help schools make up any shortfall in funding for the scheme, which will see all primary school children given free meals from September.But in other areas councils said they will cover any excess costs, raising fears the scheme will have an uneven impact across London.

Boris Johnson has been unveiled as a new columnist for the Daily Mail, which the former Conservative leader is expected to use as a platform to be a thorn in the side of Rishi Sunak.The news comes after the chair of a watchdog from which former ministers are obliged to request approval before accepting jobs said he would be seeking clarification from Johnson on whether he was taking a job as a Daily Mail columnist.

Boris Johnson has vowed to launch an unprecedented attack on a parliamentary probe into Partygate widely expected to be so damning it is predicted to finally end his hopes of a political comeback.Hours after it emerged an 11th-hour appeal from the former prime minister had delayed the publication of its findings, Mr Johnson said they should be released so the world could judge the nonsense.

Jump to content Sign up to our newslettersSubscribe News Sports Voices Culture Lifestyle Travel Premium Close A Tory MP has accused Boris Johnson of orchestrating a mutiny and said he should not be allowed to stand as an MP again until he shows commitment to the party.Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the defence select committee, told The Independent that adulation for Mr Johnson had been replaced by total indignation after his actions triggered three by-elections.

Politics has moved on from the drama of the Boris Johnson era, according to a Cabinet minister who played down speculation about the former prime minister making a swift return to Westminster.Energy Secretary Grant Shapps, who served in Mr Johnson's cabinet, said he does not think the former Tory leader is in the mindset to fight the next general election.

When Boris Johnson sat down to draft his resignation statement after learning the privileges committee had concluded that he lied to MPs over Partygate, he was determined to leave his enemies on both sides of the Commons a clear message.It is very sad to be leaving parliament, he wrote.At least for now That he still harbours hopes of a comeback despite the damage that he has done to his own reputation, the Conservative party brand and to the country more widely should surprise nobody.

Judging by the polls and by May's local elections, things aren't looking too clever for the Conservatives.No surprise, then, that talk is already turning to what will happen to them should they go down to nationwide defeat in 2024, with speculation centred on who might take over from Rishi Sunak.But the direction the party will take if it loses next year, and who it will pick to lead it in opposition, is ultimately going to depend on just how many Tory MPs hang on to their seats in the wake of such a defeat and who they are.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity Q.Shopoff Realty Investments bought 26 acres at Westminster Mall and and has submitted plans to the city for 1,065 rental units and 102 ownership townhomes.The plan also includes roughly 10% affordable units.(Rendering courtesy of AO) One suggested salve for California's housing affordability ailments is turning dead or dying retail space into new residences.

Brexit has resulted in a sharp drop in the number of UK workers in EU holiday jobs, new figures show.Only 3,700 people from the UK are being employed in the bloc to do roles such as chalet hosts, holiday reps and tour guides, travel trade organisations said.That is a 69% drop from 11,970 in 2017.Employing UK workers in popular EU destinations such as Spain, France, Greece, Italy and Austria has traditionally been a vital part of UK holiday companies' overseas operations.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle scolded Rishi Sunak for bringing up Labour's Tom Watson during a fiery PMQs exchange about Boris Johnson's resignation honours list.The row between the prime minister and the Commons Speaker began after Sir Keir Starmer accused Mr Sunak of being too weak to block Mr Johnson's list.

Decarbonising air travel is an existential issue for the holiday sector, a minister has warned.Aviation minister Baroness Vere told an industry summit that some travel companies could become unviable if customers are not offered low-carbon ways of reaching far-flung destinations.Speaking at Abta's Travel Matters event in Westminster, she described decarbonisation as the elephant in the room.

The Home Office has backed down on plans for asylum seekers to sleep four to a small room in a central London hotel after protests by 40 refugees last week.The rooms in the hotel in Pimlico, Westminster are small and asylum seekers had previously been sharing two to a room.The Home Office said it wanted to increase the number of asylum seekers sharing one room to save money.

D isabled peers have spoken about being harangued on their way to Parliament as a report said not enough was being done to safeguard access to Westminster for the less abled.A report by the Policy Exchange said protests had often blocked the passageway of disabled people as it called on the Metropolitan Police to do more to protect pedestrian walkways for those in wheelchairs and with other disabilities.

Disabled peers have spoken about being harangued on their way to Parliament as a report said not enough was being done to safeguard access to Westminster for the less abled.A report by the Policy Exchange said protests had often blocked the passageway of disabled people as it called on the Metropolitan Police to do more to protect pedestrian walkways for those in wheelchairs and with other disabilities.

In a letter to Mr Sunak, some 36 air pollution scientists warned there had been mainstream political endorsement of suppression campaigns aimed at denying the medical impacts of poor air quality.Though Mayor Sadiq Khan's plans to expand the Ultra low emission zone (Ulez) to cover the whole of Greater London is not referred to by name, it is understood to be the letter's implicit focus.

From 48m ago Good morning.Rishi Sunak faces PMQs today.Among the many problems in his in-tray are another strike by junior doctors starting this morning, rising mortgage rates and Nick Macpherson, a former Treasury permanent secretary, warning that the election due next year could coincide with the economy going into recession.

This year's graduations, universities claim, will be indistinguishable from those of previous years.Except there's one glaring problem: as a student there isn't much to celebrate.Currently, a marking and assessment boycott is affecting 145 British universities and, like many of the thousands of students graduating this summer, I am set to leave without a formal classification.

Low-traffic neighbourhoods seemingly can prompt residents to drive less, with a study showing people in one London borough cut their driving by nearly a mile a day on average after LTNs were introduced.While the research covers only four LTNs created in 2020, it is potentially significant because it contradicts the objection from opponents of the schemes that they make people drive further on less direct routes.

Michael Gove has said that life moves on after Boris Johnson's resignation as an MP, as ministers tried once again to shift attention from an embittered former leader showing little sign of wanting to leave parliament quietly.Gove, the UK communities and housing secretary, used a morning broadcast round to stress what he said were the significant contributions that Boris made, while firmly presenting him as a figure now in the Conservatives' past.

On both the right and left of the Labour party, one article of faith has always seemed to be set in stone: the idea that you can pursue progressive dreams using no end of skulduggery and nastiness, and never worry about the contradictions.Whether they have been Blairites, Brownites, disciples of Jeremy Corbyn or servants of Keir Starmer, a certain kind of Labour high-up has always thrived on a loathing and mistrust of their internal enemies, and a drive to seize control of the party machine.

Alan Cumming has voiced hope his involvement in A Strange Loop will broaden the demographic who attend the play's premiere in London.The Scottish actor, known for GoldenEye and X-Men 2, is a producer of the musical which is opening at the Barbican Theatre on Saturday after a successful Broadway run.

The DUP will not allow Westminster psychodrama to distract from work to secure further Government assurances on post-Brexit trade, its deputy leader has said.Gavin Robinson insisted the fall-out from the resignation of Boris Johnson and other Tory MPs was a matter for the Conservative Party as he warned the turmoil should not be a reason to delay delivery of legislation addressing DUP concerns over sovereignty and trade friction.

Jump to content Sign up to our newslettersSubscribe News Sports Voices Culture Lifestyle Travel Premium Rishi Sunak is facing an unwelcome third by-election test after another MP ally of Boris Johnson dramatically quit his seat on Saturday.Nigel Adams, the MP for Selby and Ainsty, said he had told his party he would be standing down with immediate effect triggering a contest to replace him.

Boris Johnson's decision to resign as an MP marks the end of the parliamentary career of a man whose success at the ballot box was undermined by his handling of the biggest peacetime crisis in modern memory.Two terms as mayor in previously Labour-run London propelled the former journalist to national prominence and his was perhaps the most public face of the Leave campaign during the Brexit referendum he and his allies won against the odds.

Jump to content Sign up to our newslettersSubscribe News Sports Voices Culture Lifestyle Travel Premium Boris Johnson has doled out knighthoods and other gongs to fellow Brexiteers as part of his resignation honours.Former Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg is among those to be made a "sir" in the list a perk for prime ministers who are leaving office.

Jump to content Sign up to our newslettersSubscribe News Sports Voices Culture Lifestyle Travel Premium Conservatives need to stop blaming "the blob" an imagined cabal of enemies embedded in British society for failures of government, George Osborne has said.In a speech on Friday the former chancellor said the Tories had been in government for 11 years and that they were "in charge of our country's destiny".

One styles himself as the God of Thunder.The other is fond of thundering.But when Gene Simmons met Ian Paisley in the House of Commons the result was hushed civility.The Kiss frontman received a tour of Westminster from the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) MP on Wednesday and ended up marvelling at British parliamentary democracy.

I first met the man who has been all over this week's political headlines four years ago, 300 miles up the A1 from Westminster.It was a bitterly cold Saturday morning in the Northumberland coastal town of Newbiggin and Jamie Driscoll was asking for votes.He'd just caused a minor political earthquake by winning Labour members' support to run for the new position of mayor of North of Tyne.

The Government pressing ahead with parliamentary scrutiny of controversial plans to tackle the small boats crisis into the early hours of the morning has been branded disgraceful at Westminster.There was frustration and anger as detailed debate on the Illegal Migration Bill continued through the night in the House of Lords.

Parts of Westminster were temporarily shut down by police responding to a security incident.Buildings in Whitehall, which houses several government departments, were evacuated as officers investigated a suspicious package on Wednesday afternoon..A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said it had been called at around 12.15pm and closed roads in the area while officers assessed the package.

Labour is on course for a landslide victory at the next general election but its margins are falling across the country, according to the first megapoll under new constituency boundaries to be introduced later this year.Sir Keir Starmer's party could win 470 seats compared with 129 for the Conservatives, the internationalist Best for Britain campaign group said.

Humza Yousaf's row with Westminster over the deposit return scheme (DRS) has been used as an excuse for his ministers to hide their own failings in delivering the recycling plan, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has claimed.The UK Government has said an exemption to the UK Internal Market Act which is needed to push ahead with the scheme in March can only be granted if glass bottles are not included.

G one are the days when you couldn't get a signal on the Tube.Now, you can easily get online at every station and even in some tunnels across the London Underground.And the north of London has been included with Camden Town Tube station the latest addition to the Underground network's 4G and 5G mobile coverage.

The upgrade means that around ten per cent of Tube stations with platforms that are below ground, and therefore usually unable to get a mobile signal, are now connected.Transport for London (TfL) is aiming to bring high-speed mobile coverage to the entire Tube network, as well as the Elizabeth line, by the end of 2024.

Environmental campaigners are calling on Scotland's First Minister to hold his nerve and press ahead with the UK's first deposit return scheme (DRS) despite the row it has provoked with Westminster.Humza Yousaf has insisted the plans for the scheme in Scotland are in grave danger after the UK Government ruled the environmental initiative could only go ahead without glass bottles included in it.

BBC Wales political reporter

The former Cabinet minister and Welsh Labour MP Lord Morris of Aberavon has died at the age of 91.John Morris served in the cabinets of three Labour prime ministers - Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan and Tony Blair.A former Welsh secretary and attorney general, he became Wales' longest-serving MP after representing Aberavon for more than four decades, from 1959 to 2001.

Scotland's deposit return scheme (DRS) can absolutely go ahead without glass bottles included, the boss of the company set up to run it has said.David Harris, chief executive of Circularity Scotland, said, however, that if the scheme north of the border was dumped as a result of a row between Holyrood and Westminster there could be knock-on impacts on similar initiatives in the rest of the UK As many as 1.8 billion cans and plastic bottles could be returned in Scotland each year under DRS with Mr Harris insisting this is well above what is currently being achieved in terms of recycling rates.

A record-breaking cyclist will embark on a 3,000-mile challenge on a handmade bamboo bike around the circumference of the UK to raise awareness of the climate crisis.Kate Strong, 44, holds three cycling world records and a triathlon championship, but hopes her 90-day challenge has a focus on connection.

At least one in five households with an unpaid carer in some of the most built-up parts of the country have no private transport and have someone who is disabled or in bad health, new analysis shows.The areas include large cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle, as well as some London boroughs where the figure is closer to one in three.

Rishi Sunak is facing a barrage of criticism in the run-up to the official Covid-19 inquiry as a leading scientist attacks his spectacularly stupid eat out to help out scheme, which is believed to have caused a sudden rise in cases of the virus.The prime minister's role as chancellor during the pandemic is under increasing scrutiny as is that of his predecessor at No 10, Boris Johnson in an escalating Covid blame game at Westminster as Lady Hallett prepares to open her investigation into the government's pandemic response later this month.

Scotland's deposit return scheme (DRS) could be scrapped as early as next week if the UK Government does not back down, First Minister Humza Yousaf has said.Mr Yousaf wrote to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday, saying the decision to effectively remove glass containers from the scheme which is due to go live in March of next year put it in grave danger.

Former MP Alice Mahon died of a cancer linked to asbestos exposure.Now her son is calling for asbestos to be removed from all buildings to protect lives.Asbestos is a material which if inhaled can cause cancer and is the biggest cause of work-related deaths in the UK.Mrs Mahon, who died last year of malignant mesothelioma at the age of 85, was best known as a fiery Labour left-winger and a close ally of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Andy Burnham has called for MPs to be elected by proportional representation as part of Labour's plans for a radical rewiring of Britain.The mayor of Greater Manchester's proposals were supported by Mark Drakeford, the first minister of Wales, at the Making Britain Work For Scotland rally in Scotland.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown has said the Conservative government will not be remembered for its convictions, but the convictions of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.Speaking at a rally in Edinburgh as he and four prominent Labour politicians launched a group aimed at reforming the UK, the former premier took aim at the Tories as he talked up his party's chances at the general election expected next year.

Created by artist James Paterson and musician Stephen Ramsay, KRILLER is an eternally looping, seven day, globally synced audio-visual broadcast of synth soaked ambient software (online) experience.The weeklong broadcast is divided into 6300 software art 'cassettes', each bound to a specific moment of time during the week, minted by its fabricator, and seamlessly fusing with its predecessor and successor to form audiovisual duets and mashups.