~theguardian-world | Bookmarks (47)

Health secretary defends Conservative NHS dental recovery plan after scathing response from the British Dental Association Good morning. Labour has been campaigning hard recently on the dire state of NHS dentistry, which is near-impossible to access to many places, and today the government is responding by publicising its own NHS dental recovery plan. The British Dental Association has been scathing about it. It is...

PM says he is ‘not a betting person’ after making £1,000 bet during an interview with Piers MorganGood morning. Rishi Sunak gave an interview to Rachel Burden on Radio 5 Live this morning and he was asked about £1,000 bet he appeared to accept from Piers Morgan about the success of his Rwanda policy. The move has been widely condemned as distasteful. Sunak did...

PM also criticised for saying ‘the facts speak for themselves’ when asked if Keir Starmer was a terrorist sympathiserRishi Sunak has been called “out of touch” after taking a £1,000 bet with Piers Morgan on whether deportation flights to Rwanda will take off before the general election.Morgan said to the prime minister on TalkTV: “I’ll bet you £1,000 to a refugee charity you don’t...

The man who reportedly once organised sex parties for the wealthy is alleged to be involved in a plot to replace Rishi Sunak“Advisers advise, ministers decide,” goes Margaret Thatcher’s aphorism. But if Nadine Dorries is right, one Conservative adviser has the power to elevate and overthrow prime ministers and has been exercising it for two decades.Some might accuse Dorries of hyperbole. But even to...

Former PM is fomenting revolt describing proposal as ‘absurd’ as government set to go ahead with plans to ban disposable vapesGood morning. Two weeks ago Rishi Sunak saw off the Tory rebels wanting him to toughen up the Rwanda bill, last week former cabinet minister Simon Clarke was shouted down by colleagues when he called for a new leader, but the turmoil in the...

Jeremy Hunt targets further reduction in ‘jobs tax’ in March budgetThe government is considering handing workers another tax cut with a further reduction in national insurance, amid desperate attempts to move on from a campaign to destabilise Rishi Sunak by the Tory right.With frustration within the cabinet that the Conservative party has been unable to free itself from internal warring over Sunak’s immigration plans...

Chris Philp says manufacturers found ploy to get around previous ban on previous ban on zombie knives Good morning. Labour and the Conservatives are in a bidding war over knife crime today, with Keir Starmer announcing or re-announcing various plans to deal with the problem on the day when the Home Office is laying legislation before parliament to ban zombie-style knives. Pippa Crerar has...

Clarke, a Truss ally, says Tory party should ditch PM ahead of general electionAs Eleni Courea reports, in private Conservatives have been even more critical of Simon Clarke than the former ministers who have been criticising him on X. She says:Speaking privately, other Tory MPs were even more forthright. “Not sure we should be taking top tips on leadership from Liz Truss’s right hand,”...

PM rejects calls from MPs for Commons vote over military action as pressure grows to clarify long-term strategy on Red Sea crisisRishi Sunak has warned there could be further bombing of Yemen if Houthi attacks on shipping continue, as he came under mounting pressure from MPs to clarify Britain’s long-term strategy for tackling the deepening crisis.The prime minister told parliament that a second round...

Hunt draws comparisons with Thatcher’s tax-slashing chancellor as he claims UK is ready for economic boomJeremy Hunt has compared himself to former tax-cutting chancellor Nigel Lawson, as he joined Rishi Sunak in teasing further potential cuts in the spring budget.Writing in the Mail on Sunday, the chancellor drew comparisons with the late Lawson, who was known for slashing personal taxation while serving in the...

Nobody seems to know mystery organisation that funded YouGov survey but its agenda is clearAt the centre of this week’s mega-poll that projected an election wipeout for the Conservatives there lurked both a mystery and a statement of the obvious. Who was behind it? No one seemed to know. But what do they want? Seemingly, a change from Rishi Sunak.It is a sign of...

Prime minister expected to talk about Rwanda bill after it cleared Commons as Tory ‘rebels’ abandoned protestIn an interview with LBC, Chris Philp, the Home Office minister, claimed that Rishi Sunak was in a better position in the light of the Rwanda bill getting a third reading. Asked if Sunak was “stronger or weaker” after the passing of the Bill but the departure of...

Michael Tomlinson says ‘there’s a difference of about an inch’ between Tory MPs, despite resignation of two deputy chairsThe illegal migration minister has rejected suggestions of a deepened split within the Conservative party over the prime minister’s Rwanda bill, saying “there’s a difference of about an inch” between MPs.On Tuesday night, Rishi Sunak faced the biggest rebellion of his leadership after two deputy chairs...

Warning that bill is not compatible with international rules comes amid mounting revolt by Tory MPsRishi Sunak’s revised Rwanda plan is still in breach of international law, the UN’s refugee agency has said.The warning came amid a mounting revolt by Conservative MPs threatening to vote against the bill. They drew on a poll believed to be funded by rightwing opponents of Sunak’s leadership. It...

Defence secretary dismisses poll, saying things will change by time general election takes placeGood morning. News organisations, including the Guardian, tend to be a bit wary of splashing on opinion polls. Polls are never 100% reliable, there is a good case for saying they constrain political reporting (because if journalists assume X can’t win, they don’t cover what X might do if they were...

Lee Anderson could be one of ‘six Conservatives on the payroll’ ready to support the amendmentsConservative rebels have said as many as 70 MPs could back amendments or abstain from supporting Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda bill, telling the prime minister he will have “nowhere to go” if he does not toughen up the legislation.A leading figure on the right wing of the party said...

Legal bodies, academics and human rights groups say treaty risks undermining rule of lawRishi Sunak’s Rwanda treaty is unlikely to address concerns raised by the supreme court about the country not being a safe place to send asylum seekers, a House of Lords inquiry has been told.Ahead of next week’s showdown on the Rwanda legislation, the Law Society, academics and human rights groups said...

Assessment comes despite claims by Rishi Sunak that Rwanda is safe when making case for asylum policyThe government has admitted that Rwanda still has “issues with its human rights record” despite claims by Rishi Sunak that it is a safe country.Documents released on Thursday said that “while Rwanda is now a relatively peaceful country with respect for the rule of law, there are nevertheless...

Wes Streeting says he is shocked by the extent to which the health and wellbeing of the nation’s children has declinedGood morning. Keir Starmer will today start a series of fortnightly visits around Britain intended to promote Labour’s “missions”, and today he is in the north-west of England launching the party’s child health action plan. He has written about the proposals for the Guardian...

Kevin Hollinrake, the minister for postal services, says a government announcement on the scandal is imminent Good morning. Cabinet is meeting for the first time this year and, among its other problems, the government is still under pressure to announce something definitive about the Post Office Horizon scandal that will show it is responding to the outrage generated by the ITV drama about the...

Party to ask for details of individual relocation costs and any payments to the Rwandan governmentLabour will table a vote in parliament on Tuesday calling for the release of documents relating to the UK government’s Rwanda deportation policy.The vote, which will be part of a humble address on the opposition day debate in the Commons, will ask for any documents that show the cost...

Parliament returns for election year with a resignation over North Sea drilling and a fight over the Tories’ Rwanda planRishi Sunak is facing a backlash in parliament this week over plans to allow more oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, as Tory troubles pile up on multiple fronts in the run-up to a general election expected this year.MPs return to Westminster on...

Paul Maynard under investigation by MPs’ expenses watchdog over claims he charged taxpayers for political campaign servicesCalls have been made for the prime minister to suspend the whip from a minister while claims he used his taxpayer-funded constituency office to campaign for the Conservative party are reviewed.Paul Maynard, the pensions minister, has been referred to an investigator by the parliamentary expenses watchdog over reports...