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PM’s plan to prevent those under 16 ever being able to buy tobacco should pass due to Labour support, but many of his own MPs could abstain or vote againstIn another interview this morning, Laura Farris, minister for victims, told GB News that she thought Liz Truss, the former PM, was wrong to call for the supreme court to be abolished. Asked about the...

Former PM launches apparent attack on civil servants over plans she said had been put ‘in the bin’UK politics – latest updatesLiz Truss has blamed “unelected individuals” in the Department of Health and Social Care for the government’s planned smoking ban as she launched an apparent attack on civil servants such as the chief medical officer for England, Sir Chris Whitty.The former prime minister...

Foreign secretary talks up party’s prospects – and his ‘very good boss’ Rishi Sunak – on morning broadcast round Conservative party members are more dissatisfied than ever with Rishi Sunak, a survey for ConservativeHome suggests. In its latest monthly survey, ConHome found that Sunak had a net satisfaction rating of -27.7 (total satisfied with how he’s doing minus total dissatisfied). Only Michael Tomlinson, the...

Exclusive: Tactics include proposals to raise smoking age to avoid outright ban, and exemptions for cigars, says Cancer Research UK chiefTobacco firms are lobbying MPs and peers in an effort to derail Rishi Sunak’s flagship policy to phase out smoking, the head of Britain’s biggest cancer charity has said.The prime minister’s landmark legislation – which would bar anyone born after 2009 from buying cigarettes...

Concerns that vicious circle of party ill-discipline is undermining the PM’s ability to restore orderSenior Tories fear Rishi Sunak is facing a vicious circle of party ill-discipline, amid concerns that attacks from Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Suella Braverman will signal his inability to restore authority in the months before the general election.A rebellion this week over his plans to ban smoking is set...

Short-lived PM also says she anticipated mini-budget ‘turbulence’ and compares herself to Brian CloughLiz Truss ran for Conservative leader and prime minister despite her husband’s prediction that “it would all end in tears”, according to her book, Ten Years to Save the West, which will be published in the UK and US next week.She agreed with an ally that the mini-budget she planned to...

Alan Cook, former managing director, says he ‘regrets’ that he ‘didn’t pick up earlier’ that Post Office could initiate prosecutionsAll our UK politics newsAlan Cook, who was the managing director of Post Office, has just told the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry that he was not aware until late in his tenure that the Post Office was the prosecuting authority in many of these...

Speaking on LBC this morning the prime minister also defended his handling of William Wragg sexting scandalAll our UK politics newsPushed on LBC this morning about the timing of the next general election, prime minister Rishi Sunak refused to be drawn, and suggested the country should have its focus on the “substance” of issues instead.He told listeners:When I got this job we’d been through...

Former subpostmaster and subject of ITV drama arrives to speak to inquiry in LondonAll our UK politics newsShadow chancellor Rachel Reeves also repeatedly attacked Conservative plans over non-dom tax status. Having defended the status against calls for abolition for years, in March Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt announced it would adopt Labour’s policy and scrap the status. However, the way they are planning to...

Kevin Hollinrake has said in his view ‘people should be prosecuted’All our UK politics newsI mentioned in the introduction that Reform UK are giving a press briefing that they have billed as being about “Labour’s betrayal of the working class”. That will be starting in a few minutes and I will bring you any key lines that emerge …John Harris writes for us today,...

Treasury minister Gareth Davies says William Wragg will remain Tory MP while there is an investigationAll our UK politics newsLabour in Scotland have also been on the attack over taxes, with an ad taking a swipe at the SNP and Conservatives.In comments release to the media, Labour’s leader in Scotland Anas Sarwar criticised what he said was “SNP and Tory mismanagement”, saying:[First minister] Humza...

Levelling up secretary says he should have been upfront with David Cameron about his role in leave campaignMichael Gove has admitted “moral cowardice” during the Brexit campaign by not being upfront with David Cameron about his role in the leave campaign.In an interview for the Political Currency podcast with George Osborne and Ed Balls, the levelling up secretary said he was initially reluctant to...

National Education Union leader says morale among teachers is at ‘an all time low’ in radio interview There is widespread agreement in the UK and the US that Israel has “gone too far” in its war against Hamas, Darren Jones, a Labour Treasury spokesperson, said this morning.In an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Jones said:I think what we’ve seen from President Biden, from...

Anneliese Dodds says the honour for Mohamed Mansour appears clearly tied to his £5m donation to the ToriesRishi Sunak’s decision to hand a knighthood to a businessman and former Egyptian government minister who donated £5m to the Conservative party is the sign of a prime minister who “simply believes he’s on the way out”, Labour has said.Mohamed Mansour, a senior treasurer of the Tory...

Co-owner of investment management firm called for ‘urgent’ post-Brexit changes to City rules at committee meetingsA senior Tory MP is facing questions over whether he used his Commons Treasury committee role to lobby for post-Brexit changes to City rules, which stand to benefit the industry where he has a second job.John Baron, who in addition to his role as an MP is co-owner and...

Exclusive: Man who has now given party at least £10m copied Steve Barclay into email about problems with bid, documents showThe Conservative mega-donor Frank Hester complained to the NHS and the health secretary last year over problems his IT business had bidding for a contract, documents show.The Leeds businessman, who owns a healthcare tech firm responsible for 60m UK medical records, raised a complaint...

In today’s newsletter: Inside the buildup to the 2 May vote, and what the result might mean for Labour at the general election• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning.The streets of London are riddled with “crime and desperation”. “Ulez enforcers dressed in black faces covered with masks” terrorise the city “at the beck and call of their Labour mayor master”....

Ministers condemn allegedly racist remarks and say they knew about them only after signing deal The Jamaican government has joined widespread condemnation of comments by the Conservative’s party’s biggest donor, Frank Hester, amid concerns about a contract it signed with his digital health company.Earlier in March, the Guardian revealed that during a meeting in 2019 Hester had said Diane Abbott, Britain’s first black female...

Footage of people panicking, designed to attack the London mayor’s record on crime, was filmed in a New York subway stationThe Conservatives have deleted an online video that used scenes of a panicked crowd at a New York subway station to criticise Sadiq Khan’s record on crime in London.The attack ad, posted on X in support of Susan Hall – Khan’s rival for the...

Minister says ‘labelling ups and downs of life as medical conditions holds people back and drives up benefit bill’ as report comes out into women’s pensionsQ; Are you feeling sorry for the Princess of Wales at the moment?Yes, says Starmer. We should leave her alone. Continue reading...

Shadow chancellor to deliver prestigious Mais lecture and will announce plans to rewire the TreasuryTribune, the long-established paper (now a magazine and website) for the Labour left, is not impressed by Rachel Reeves’ suggestion that Margaret Thatcher delivered a decade of renewal.Rachel Reeves’ claim that Margaret Thatcher ‘delivered a decade of national renewal’ is the latest attempt to justify the suffering caused by her...

Business secretary dismisses reports of plot and rejects calls for her party to return donations from Frank HesterReports of Conservative plots against Rishi Sunak are the work of just “one or two” MPs, and the party needs to unite before May’s local elections, Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary has argued.In a sometimes combative media round, Badenoch also said the Tories did not need to...

Reform UK is making the headlines but tactical voting can power Ed Davey’s party in seats where they are the Tories’ main challengersThe Liberal Democrats gathered this weekend for their final spring conference before the general election. You may be forgiven for not knowing this.The fourth-largest party barely feature in current political discussions lately, and are flatlining in the polls even as the government...

Exclusive: King’s Fund issues challenge as poll finds two-thirds of people want firms to be forced to cut sugar, salt and fatBritain’s political parties have been urged to show courage by forcing food producers to make their products healthier, as new polling shows two-thirds of voters back the move.Compelling food manufacturers to strip out large amounts of fat, salt and sugar would help “denormalise”...