Whitehall

Rishi Sunak has told the Chinese premier he has “serious concerns” about Beijing’s interference in Britain’s democracy after police arrested a suspected Westminster spy working for China. Sunak challenged Li Qiang, China’s premier at the end of the G20 summit in Delhi, following a report by the Sunday Times of the arrest of a parliamentary researcher. The Guardian reports that MPs...

MPs that lose seats to get £20k pay out as their...

MPs who lose their seats in the next general election are set to receive a bumper payout of almost £20,000 – double the current rate for exiting members of parliament. The more than 70 MPs standing down at the next...

Bibby Stockholm debacle fires Tory fury at ‘incompetent’ Home Office

Conservative MPs are furious with the Home Office over the Bibby Stockholm fiasco after legionella bacteria was detected on board the controversial barge being used to house asylum seekers. All...

Defence secretary Ben Wallace announces he will quit after battle with Braverman

Ben Wallace has announced he is quitting politics at the next general election and will step down as defence secretary in the next cabinet reshuffle. Wallace is reported to have...

Water company blames people working from home for hosepipe ban

A water company is blaming people working from home for its need to impose a hosepipe ban in Sussex and Kent from Monday (June 26). South East Water – which...

Govt on brink of legal action over Johnson’s WhatsApp message

The government has until 4pm today (June 1) to hand over Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages to the Covid inquiry or face a court battle. Head of the inquiry Baroness Hallett, a former judge, has...

Spies to tackle fraud and text scammers; voters reminded about photo ID

The UK’s intelligence agencies will form a key part of a new crackdown on text scammers and fraud to be announced by the government. Technology used for mass texting of phones will be restricted and...

‘Contemptuous’ Treasury mocks Hancock’s leaked WhatsApps to promote Budget

A video released by the Treasury on Twitter to promote the Budget by mocking Matt Hancock’s leaked WhatsApp messages has been labelled “contemptuous”, “shameful” and “cringe”. Jeremy Hunt’s first full Budget as chancellor – following...

Labour exposes ‘scandalous waste’ of taxpayers’ money by Tory government

Labour has condemned the “lavish spending” culture at the heart of government exposed by its investigation into government procurement cards (GPCs) – credit cards for ministers and officials backed by taxpayers' money. Angela Rayner, Labour’s...

Formal complaints against Dominic Raab triple to at least 24

Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab is the subject of formal complaints from “at least 24 civil servants”, raising a huge question mark over his future and piling further pressure on his boss Rishi Sunak,...