Politics

People should holiday at home this year and not travel abroad unless absolutely necessary, George Eustice has said. The environment secretary told Sky News his advice to the British public “would be holiday at home”, adding that he himself will not be travelling abroad this summer. Mr Eustice added that people must be aware of

Boris Johnson has narrowly avoided a rebellion by some of his own Conservative Party MPs over cuts to the foreign aid budget. Thirty Tories, including former prime minister Theresa May and four other cabinet ministers, had backed a rebellion against the £4bn reduction and had hoped to force a vote on the matter. But Commons

Conservative Party MPs hope to force Boris Johnson to reverse cuts to the foreign aid budget in a vote this afternoon. Thirty Tories, including former prime minister Theresa May and four former cabinet ministers, are backing a rebellion against the £4bn reduction. They will need the support of around 45 Conservatives to defeat the government.

The Indian (Delta) variant of COVID-19 is 40% more transmissible than previous variants, Matt Hancock has told Sky News. The health secretary said the new variant had made decisions behind the 21 June unlocking of restrictions “more difficult”. Speaking on the Trevor Phillips On Sunday show, Mr Hancock said: “That figure, around 40% more transmissible,

Social media companies must do better in removing posts that are “glamourising” dangerous migrant crossings, the home secretary says. Priti Patel wrote to the companies on Saturday to say they must deal with the “totally unacceptable” posts promoting the “lethal crossings”. Among them is a video on TikTok which has been watched more than 800,000

The UK’s medicines regulator has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the decision followed a “rigorous review” of safety and effectiveness in that age group – and that the benefits of having the COVID jab outweighed the risks. The Joint Committee on Vaccination

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has told world finance leaders the world cannot “continue to rely on a tax system that was largely designed in the 1920s”. Speaking at a G7 meeting in London on Friday, Mr Sunak added that the world had “high expectations” for what could be agreed by the finance ministers over the two-day

Welsh leader Mark Drakeford has expressed concern about the Indian coronavirus variant spreading across the border from England hotspots as his country moves to further ease lockdown restrictions. While ruling out a ban on travel, the first minister has urged visitors from the North West to take “all the precautions” in order to keep themselves

Michael Gove has received an alert from the COVID app less than a week after attending the Champions League final in Portugal with his son. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster had to abandon a meeting with Boris Johnson and the devolved leaders on Thursday afternoon after receiving the notification that he had come

Boris Johnson has had his second dose of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine. The prime minister received his jab at the Francis Crick Institute in London on Thursday evening, having had his first dose back in March. His first jab was administered at St Thomas’ Hospital, where he was treated in intensive care last year after

Boris Johnson is set to face a major Commons rebellion next week over his policy to slash foreign aid. Rebel Tory MPs believe they have enough support for new legislation that will see aid spending increase by 2022. Conservative former chief Whip Andrew Mitchell is leading the parliamentary push, backed by a further 14 Tory

Boris Johnson’s COVID catch-up tsar has resigned after the government failed to provide enough money to fund a schools recovery plan. In a letter to Boris Johnson, Sir Kevan Collins said: “I do not believe it will be possible to deliver a successful recovery without significantly greater support than the government has, to date, indicated

A COVID rescue plan to help children in England catch up on lost lessons, costing £1.4 billion, is being unveiled by the government. But plans to add half an hour to the school day, extending it from 8am to 5pm or 6pm, are reported to have been postponed after a Whitehall row over the cost.

The vast majority of Scotland’s central belt will remain in Level 2 restrictions as Nicola Sturgeon delayed the easing of COVID measures for many parts of the country. The first minister said there would be a “slight slowing down” in the lifting of lockdown rules for much of Scotland due to spread of the Indian

The UK’s coronavirus failures have revealed the need for a “revolution in the way we run this country”, a former head of the civil service has said. Whitehall needs to be “more agile” and “we crucially need to be more prepared”, Lord Kerslake told Sky News. While stressing that he was not attacking Whitehall, which

Carrie Symonds is now married to the prime minister – but her influence inside Number 10 has already been under scrutiny. The former Tory Party communications chief – who is taking her husband’s surname – was first romantically linked to Boris Johnson in media reports in early 2019, before he became Tory leader. The couple