Politics

Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth has tested positive for COVID-19 and is self-isolating. The leading Labour MP said he will be “out of action for a bit” after announcing he had tested positive on Friday morning. He did not say whether his family or members of his staff have also tested positive for COVID or

France has cancelled a meeting with the UK to discuss Channel crossings after Boris Johnson asked the French to take back migrants arriving in Britain. French interior minister Gerald Darmanin has told Home Secretary Priti Patel “she was no longer welcome” at Sunday’s European meeting on migrant issues, a French government spokesman said. Spokesman Gabriel

Boris Johnson has offered to work with France to “move further and faster” in order to tackle small boat crossings and avoid a repeat of the “appalling tragedy” in the Channel that left 27 people dead. The prime minister has written to President Emmanuel Macron and set out five steps he thinks both sides should

Young men are committing crime because positive male role models on TV have been replaced by female characters, an MP has suggested. Speaking in a debate on International Men’s Day in Westminster Hall, Conservative Nick Fletcher highlighted the difficulties faced by many young boys, telling MPs that a number of them were “lagging behind” at

Senior figures in the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs have been seen entering Downing Street for a meeting with Boris Johnson. Their talks in Number 10 come after a difficult few weeks for the PM that has seen unrest within his party on a scale not seen thus far in his premiership. Sir Graham

The home secretary has said it was a “dreadful shock which was not a surprise” after 27 people died as they tried to cross the Channel last night. Priti Patel said the deaths of the migrants is “a reminder of how vulnerable people are put at peril by criminal gangs” charging to send groups across

When the government was embroiled in a storm about sleaze earlier this month, Boris Johnson addressed a private meeting of the 1922 committee of Tory MPs.  The headline was his admission to them that “on a clear road, I crashed the car” over the Owen Paterson affair. But the vast majority of the questions at

A government minister has said she had her drink spiked on a night out in Sussex and had to be carried home. Mims Davies, MP for Mid Sussex, said she found “something black” at the bottom of her drink while out in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, in 2019. “I pulled it out and didn’t really

Boris Johnson has hit out at France after more than 30 people died in the English Channel when their boat capsized, as he slammed people trafficking gangs who are “literally getting away with murder”. The prime minister said he was “shocked, appalled and deeply saddened” by the “disaster”, which “underscores how dangerous it is to

A solution to the EU-UK dispute over sausage exports to Northern Ireland could also secure the presence of British bangers in Gibraltar’s supermarkets, the peninsula’s chief minister has told MPs. Fabian Picardo, speaking to the House of Commons’ European scrutiny committee, said that Brexit had created “administrative burdens” that were reducing the variety of goods

A boat carrying dozens of migrants has capsized off Calais, leaving at least 30 people dead. The tragedy is thought to be the single biggest loss of life in the Channel in recent times, as thousands attempt the journey this year. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 1:50 Shocked, appalled and

Labour’s deputy leader has accused Boris Johnson of being “corrupt, spineless and cowardly” after Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Cox was seen again working as a barrister while parliament was sitting. Angela Rayner said Sir Geoffrey is “openly taking the mick” as he took part in a Zoom hearing for an inquiry into corruption in the

British patrols along the French coast are needed to prevent migrant boats from attempting to cross the Channel, the prime minister has told France after 27 people died near Calais. Five women and a girl were among the victims after their boat capsized in the water. One of the dead women was later reported to

Labour frontbencher Liz Kendall has revealed she will be stepping back from her shadow cabinet duties temporarily next year when she has a baby through surrogacy. The Leicester West MP, who is shadow minister for social care, told the Leicester Mercury: “My partner and I are delighted to announce that we will be having a

Sir Keir Starmer questioned whether Boris Johnson was “okay” as he accused him of introducing a “working-class dementia tax” through this week’s reform to social care funding. The Labour leader said the prime minister was fronting a “Covent Garden pickpocketing operation” over the reform that means only what individuals personally pay for their social care

The UK does not need to introduce mandatory COVID vaccines because of the “extraordinary success” of the rollout, Dominic Raab told Sky News. The deputy prime minister said vaccine mandates might be needed “in some countries” but not in the UK after the World Health Organisation (WHO) said a conversation is needed on the subject.