Politics

New defeats for the government’s Rwanda bill in the House of Lords have set up a parliamentary showdown on Wednesday – forcing MPs to consider changes to Rishi Sunak’s stop the boats plan. Downing Street wants to get the bill – which declares Rwanda a safe country and stops appeals from asylum seekers being sent

“Significant progress” has been made towards a post-Brexit deal for Gibraltar, Spain, the EU and the UK have said. In a joint statement following talks in Brussels, the parties said they had agreed “general political lines” on the territory’s future status and said a final deal could be reached within weeks. Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron

Former defence minister Tobias Ellwood has said the West is in “denial” about Vladimir Putin, who “is now more powerful than Stalin”. The senior Tory MP said he agreed with his colleague James Heappey that the UK should consider sending troops to Ukraine to give training to the armed forces in their war against Russia.

An energy minister has announced he is standing down from his government role to focus on local issues in a further blow to Rishi Sunak. Graham Stuart, the MP for Beverly and Holderness, said he would “fully support” the prime minister from the backbenches. Mr Stuart became minister of state for climate in September 2022

The health secretary has insisted the government “will not criminalise” homeless people, after a large backlash to its proposals for a new law. Ministers are seeking to replace the 200-year-old Vagrancy Act from 1824 – which makes rough sleeping illegal – with its new Criminal Justice Bill, which the government says will instead target “nuisance

Oliver Dowden has accused Israel of making “big mistakes” during the conflict in Gaza and insisted the UK government is “holding them to a very high standard”. Speaking to Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on the six month anniversary of the 7 October attacks, the deputy prime minister insisted the UK was not giving Benjamin Netanyahu’s

MP safety has long been a concern in Westminster but the issue is back under the spotlight after conservative MP William Wragg was this week caught up in a “phishing” scandal. The parliament security team insist it takes online safety and security extremely seriously, but MPs are facing cyber attacks that have become more sophisticated

Police in Northern Ireland have said they received a complaint that led to the arrest of former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson over allegations of historical sexual offences in early March. Donaldson resigned over the allegations on Friday. It is understood he will be “strenuously contesting” all charges against him. The Police Service of Northern

The Archbishop of Canterbury will use his Easter sermon to say the church is not party political after facing criticism over his high-profile condemnation of the government’s controversial Rwanda deportation scheme. Justin Welby will tell the congregation on Sunday that Anglicans are “all different” in their politics, as he urged “love-in-action” to help those caught

A former ethics adviser to Boris Johnson broke the rules in the House of Lords by “assisting an outside organisation in influencing” government officials at the Ministry of Defence, a watchdog has ruled. A report from the Lords Commissioner for Standards said Lord Geidt – who advised the former prime minister between April 2021 until

The Home Office granted 275 certificates of sponsorship for care workers after “forged” documents were used to make an application, a damning report into the department has shown. The probe, by ex-borders and immigration inspector David Neal, claimed the Home Office had a “limited understanding” of the care sector after it was added to the

When David Cameron was prime minister, Oliver Dowden was one of his backroom fixers, first at Tory HQ and then in 10 Downing Street. From his early days as a Tory researcher he’s been known as “Olive” because of an office typo. But it’s a nickname that’s stuck, even now he’s deputy prime minister. Politics

Thousands of junior doctors in Wales have begun a four-day walkout – their longest yet – in a dispute over pay and working conditions. A wet morning in Cardiff was not enough to dampen the resolve of the medics calling for their pay to be restored to previous levels. At the heart of their calls

Diane Abbott has said she is “glad” police are investigating alleged racist comments made by Conservative Party donor Frank Hester. The remarks, first reported by the Guardian, were said to have been made by businessman Frank Hester during a company meeting in 2019, where he said Ms Abbott made him “want to hate all black

Home Secretary James Cleverly used a private chartered flight to visit Rwanda at a cost of £165,561.53 to the taxpayer, government documents have revealed. The latest transparency data from the Home Office showed Mr Cleverly took the flight in December last year as he headed to Kigali to sign a new treaty with the African

A government bill centred on deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda has been sent back to MPs after peers rejected it. The Safety of Rwanda Bill had been debated in the House of Lords after their previous changes were dismissed by the Commons earlier this week. In the upper chamber, the government lost seven votes by

Tory MPs trooped purposefully through the voting lobbies on Monday night to knock down all the Lords’ amendments which had threatened to rip the Rwanda bill to shreds. It was without the drama of the last vote in January, when three Tory figures resigned their posts and dozens signed amendments to toughen up the bill.

MP Diane Abbott has criticised Speaker Lindsay Hoyle for not calling on her to speak at this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions during a debate on racism. The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington said she was “surprised” not to be called to speak, with the debate “mostly about racism and me”. “Stood over 40

An MP has asked the home secretary to consider introducing sanctions on the irresponsible sale or use of catapults to kill or harm wildlife following a Sky News investigation. The report exposed a UK-wide network in which children – some primary school age – have been sharing footage and photos of their kills in WhatsApp

The first minister of Wales has said Boris Johnson was like the “absent manager” of a football team in the early days of the pandemic. Mark Drakeford criticised the former prime minister during his evidence to the UK COVID public inquiry. He said Mr Johnson was “not taking it seriously” and was deliberately unclear about