Grant Shapps replaces Ben Wallace as defence secretary taking fifth post in a year August 31, 2023 Grant Shapps has been made defence secretary, in a mini-reshuffle sparked by predecessor Ben Wallace stepping down from cabinet. It comes after Wallace announced in July he would be leaving the role and stepping down as an MP as the next election – after a political career spanning almost a quarter century. Shapps, who has [...]
Covid medical boss Jonathan Van-Tam takes job at vaccine maker Moderna August 18, 2023 Former Covid medical officer Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam has joined vaccine maker Moderna as an advisor, it has been revealed. The former deputy chief medical officer, who played a key role in the UK’s pandemic response has taken the post on a part-time basis at the US pharmaceutical giant, since May. He is working as [...]
Tory MP failed to declare £70,000 shares in Shell while environment sec August 11, 2023 A Conservative MP failed to declare that she held shares valued at more than £70,000 in Shell while she was environment secretary. Theresa Villiers admitted her shareholding in the oil and gas company via her latest update to the register of members’ financial interests. Under the section “other shareholdings, valued at more than £70,000”, Ms [...]
Labour must ‘learn lesson’ of Tories using ULEZ by-election attack July 22, 2023 Sir Keir Starmer has warned Labour must “learn the lesson” of seeing the ULEZ policy used against it following a narrow defeat in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election. The Labour leader said there was “something very wrong” when a policy was on “each and every Tory leaflet” following attacks on London mayor Sadiq Khan’s [...]
Johnny Mercer will ‘soon be history’, says Keir Starmer July 22, 2023 Sir Keir Starmer has labelled Johnny Mercer a “silly sod” who will “soon be history”, after he compared Labour’s new 25-year-old MP to a character from comedy series The Inbetweeners. The minister for Veterans’ Affairs said Keir Mather had been “dropped into” the Selby and Ainsty constituency in North Yorkshire and “spouted identikit Keir Starmer [...]
You win some, ULEZ some: A mixed bag of by-election results but what does it all mean? July 21, 2023 Well, it was quite a night. Three by-elections, three very different constituencies, and – at face value at least – something for everyone. If you’re catching up now, the headlines are: Rishi Sunak dodges a triple defeat, as the Tory Party held onto Uxbridge, while Labour won big in Selby and the Lib Dems took [...]
All you need to know about this week’s by-election battles July 17, 2023 With Parliament set to break up for summer recess this Thursday, MPs of all stripes are preparing to head back to their constituencies for the summer. But before the long August holidays, there could be some political upsets in store. Voters in three constituencies of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Selby and Ainsty and Somerton and [...]
Cabinet Office MUST hand over Boris Johnson messages by Monday after court loss July 6, 2023 The Cabinet Office will have to hand over Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages, notebooks and diaries by Monday afternoon after it lost a High Court challenge against the chairwoman of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. The department brought legal action over Baroness Heather Hallett’s order to release the documents, arguing it should not have to hand [...]
Chris Pincher: Ex whip facing suspension over ‘profoundly damaging’ groping claims July 6, 2023 Former Government whip Chris Pincher is facing a potentially by-election triggering eight-week suspension from the Commons after the standards watchdog upheld “profoundly damaging” groping allegations. The Standards Committee said his conduct was “completely inappropriate” and “represented an abuse of power”, in its report published on Thursday. Mr Pincher was found to have groped two people [...]
Britain to rejoin EU’s R&D Horizon scheme after months of hard post-Brexit talks July 5, 2023 Britain and the European Union (EU) are edging closer to a deal on the UK’s re-entry into the Horizon Europe research programme. Sources said negotiators have produced a draft document following months of talks, with Rishi Sunak expected to consider it in the coming days. However, the prime minister could still reject the proposals over [...]
