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Sixty four Tories and four independent MPs who lost party whip plan to stand down from the Commons amid dire polling for ConservativesA cohort of Conservative MPs standing down before the next election have netted jobs worth millions of pounds and have taken dozens of all-expenses-paid trips funded by foreign governments and lobbyists, the Observer can reveal.Sixty-four serving Tory MPs and four independent MPs...

Prime minister says not getting people into work is ‘irresponsible burden’ as he says ‘next parliament, a Conservative government’ will enact reformsRishi Sunak is arguing that not getting people into work is an “irresponsible burden” on future generations and taxpayers. He says:We risk not only letting those people down [the people who are long-term sickness benefits], but creating a deep sense of unfairness amongst...

Katie Fieldhouse says Conservative party failed to act after she reported incident in early JanuaryThe Conservative activist who has accused a Tory MP of making a late-night demand for money has said she is appalled by the party’s response.Katie Fieldhouse has said Mark Menzies called her one night in December at 3.15am asking for £5,000 to pay “bad people” who had detained him in...

Work and pensions secretary attacks system of dealing with minor mental health problems as PM takes aim at ‘sicknote culture’Nearly everyone who gets signed off work for feeling “a little bit depressed” is classified as incapable of work, according to a senior government minister, as Rishi Sunak prepares to announce a new drive to get sick people back into employment.Mel Stride, the work and...

Exclusive: India seeking to use approach of UK election as bargaining chip and any exemption would be controversialIndia is demanding an exemption from the UK’s planned carbon tax as part of negotiations aiming to finalise a free trade deal before the UK election.India’s negotiating team have spent this week in London in a surprise set of talks to try to overcome the remaining hurdles...

Rating of -59 is record low for a prime minister in modern times – matching John Major’s score in August 1994, according to IpsosRishi Sunak’s approval rating is at a record low for a prime minister in modern times, according to the polling company Ipsos.In its latest Political Monitor report it says net satisfaction with Sunak (% satisfied with how he is doing his...

Mark Menzies allegedly spent £14,000 of campaign funds on medical costs and demanded £6,500 from aide to ‘escape captors’A Conservative MP has lost the party whip over allegations he misused campaign funds and demanded thousands of pounds from an aide to pay off “bad people” in the middle of the night.Mark Menzies, 52, was suspended from the Tory parliamentary party on Wednesday night while...

How much should Britain get involved in the conflict in the Middle East? The Guardian’s John Harris is joined by the columnist Gaby Hinsliff and former national security adviser Peter Ricketts to talk about the fallout from Iran’s attack on Israel at the weekend. Plus, John talks to Gaby about smoking bans, NatCon and Liz Truss’s new bookArchive: Sky News, BBC News Continue reading...

Lords also press ministers to allow independent Rwanda monitoring as deportation bill returns to CommonsUK politics – latest updatesRishi Sunak’s government is considering concessions on the Rwanda deportation bill to allow exemptions for Afghans who served alongside UK forces, parliamentary sources say.Ministers are also being pressed to give ground to an amendment to the legislation so that the east African country could be ruled...

Peers pass four amendments inserting safeguards into bill, including exempting migrants who helped British troopsDavid Cameron, the foreign secretary, has said that Israel is gearing up to retaliate after the mass Iranian drone and missile attack launched on Saturday night.Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem this morning, where he has meetings scheduled with senior figures including Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, Cameron said:It’s right to...

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...

The former prime minister spent just 49 days in office but wants to stay on the world stage. Her attacks on Biden and praise for Trump are aimed at the populist rightIn her new book, the former British prime minister Liz Truss directs scathing attacks and mockery at Joe Biden, president of her country’s closest ally. Biden was guilty of “utter hypocrisy and ignorance”,...

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...

UK foreign secretary says Israel has right to respond but Britain does not support a retaliatory strikeMiddle East crisis – live updatesWorld leaders urge restraint in aftermath of Iran attack on Israel – what we know so farThe UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, urged Israel to act with its head as well as its heart and not escalate the conflict by mounting a revenge...

Karina Moon, who is sole carer for her daughter most of the week, was told she needed to repay £11,292.75 or be prosecuted for fraudEx-ministers press Sunak on ‘persecution’ of carers who broke earnings rulesCarers in the UK: have you been threatened with prosecution for benefit fraud?Karina Moon vividly recalls the telephone call that brought her to tears. She was stood, frozen, in the...

Hundreds of thousands could lose out in England and Wales under disability benefit reforms after general electionHundreds of thousands fewer disabled people could receive cold weather payments under the Conservatives’ planned post-election disability benefit reforms, according to an internal government report seen by the Observer.The briefing, by civil servants at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), says that under the plans, new applicants for...

Campaign draws on performers and artists to encourage 300,000 more young people to register ahead of this week’s deadlineA last-minute drive to alert young British people to therisk of losing their say in how the country is run launches this weekend, spearheaded by many famous faces, including some not normally associated with politics or campaigning.YouTubers such as Amelia Dimoldenberg, host of Chicken Shop Date,...

Former home secretary will rub shoulders with populist right from across the globe, including Hungarian prime minister Viktor OrbánRishi Sunak is being urged to stop his former home secretary from attending a rightwing convention featuring figures who have been under investigation for extremism, in the latest sign of his waning control of his party.Suella Braverman, who has been a central plotter against the prime...

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...

Meeting to discuss PM’s key policy overshadowed by reports of lack of housing for deportees or airline to remove them from UKRishi Sunak has welcomed the Rwandan president to Downing Street amid signs that ministers are struggling to find an airline or housing in Kigali to carry out their flagship deportation plan.The meeting on Tuesday was overshadowed by the former home secretary Suella Braverman’s...

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...