Politics

Pupils in England will study maths up until the age of 18 under plans to be unveiled by Rishi Sunak. The prime minister will say there is a need to “reimagine our approach to numeracy” in his first speech of the year on Wednesday, adding: “Letting our children out into the world without those skills

There is “not a bottomless pit of money” to be spent on increasing workers’ pay, Transport Secretary Mark Harper has warned the RMT union – as rail staff undertake further strike action today. Mr Harper told Sky News “there is a fair and reasonable pay offer on the table” and said it is “deeply unhelpful”

UK Border Force officers have joined patrols on French beaches for the first time in a bid to stem the flow of migrants crossing the Channel. The first joint patrols are believed to have taken place just before Christmas after months of negotiations between UK and French officials. The collaboration aims to give UK officers

The Archbishop of Canterbury has kicked off 2023 by putting the Church of England on a collision course with Rishi Sunak’s government. Justin Welby is a canny political operator who is almost certainly the most political archbishop of Canterbury in recent years. And there have been a few of those. During 2022 he led an

The major events which come define a year, or even a decade, are seldom predicted. Nobody foresaw the 9/11 attacks on the US in 2001 which then swamped the leaderships of Tony Blair and George W Bush. This time a year ago most experts doubted that Russia would go ahead with the vicious attack on

Given the drama of 2022, there is no guessing what 2023 will throw at us. Still, that needn’t stop us having a shot, so without further ado, here are some of the charts that might help tell the story of 2023. 1. The gas divergence One of the most curious things about 2022 was that

Ian Blackford watched the election of his successor Stephen Flynn via zoom, surrounded by his closest allies. And by boxes. His imminent forced departure from the two-floor, wood-panelled suite of offices afforded to the leader of parliament’s third party, was a source of sadness and frustration. Nicola Sturgeon had made her own unhappiness clear to

Rishi Sunak has warned the UK’s problems will not “go away” in 2023 after a “tough” 12 months. In his New Year message, the prime minister promised the “very best of Britain” will be on display in the coming months as he pledged continuing support for Ukraine. And he also predicted King Charles’s coronation on

Tory and Labour MPs who caused trouble for Boris Johnson have been recognised in the first New Year Honours list to be published since he left No 10. Conservative Julian Lewis, chairman of the parliamentary intelligence and security committee (ISC), and Labour MP Chris Bryant, who chairs the commons standards committee, have both received knighthoods.

Tony Blair wanted Vladimir Putin to have a seat at the international “top table” during his time as prime minister, according to newly released official files. The Labour PM from 1997 to 2007 believed the Russian president was at heart a “Russian patriot” and it was important to encourage him to adopt Western values, the

Government targets to curb the number of smokers in England by 2030 will not be met, according to new analysis. In 2019 ministers set out an ambition for England to become “smoke-free” by 2030 – which is said to be achieved when adult smoking rates fall to 5% or less. But Cancer Research UK said

There are no plans to introduce mandatory COVID-19 tests for arrivals to the UK from China, after a series of other countries said they would impose controls. The news comes after China announced it was abandoning its COVID-zero policy and was preparing to reopen its borders in January. There are fears that the end of

The North East of England could be the latest region to get a directly elected mayor as part of a new £1.4bn devolution deal. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said the new deal would bring fresh powers over skills, transport and housing to people across areas including Northumberland, Newcastle and Sunderland. It would also see

The British government would not apologise over Bloody Sunday as it would mean accepting liability, confidential documents have revealed. The incident in January 1972 saw members of the Parachute Regiment shoot dead 13 civil rights protesters on the streets of Derry. Papers from the Irish government have now detailed a conversation between then-Northern Ireland Secretary

More than one million thefts were left unsolved across England and Wales last year, according to analysis from Labour. The party has said it is “disgraceful” 1,145,254 cases were dropped because the police failed to find a suspect. The analysis also shows the average cost of a domestic burglary for a family was £1,400, meaning

The UK education secretary’s Twitter account appears to have been hacked, with its profile picture changed to an image of Elon Musk and several posts promoting a cryptocurrency once backed by the billionaire. While Gillian Keegan’s page still describes her as MP for Chichester and secretary of state for education, and has retained its banner

To say 2022 was an eventful year in British politics is certainly an understatement. Luckily (or unluckily), politicians gave us some memorable quotes to remind us of all the year’s tumultuous events. From the bizarre to the poignant and the outrageous, here they are: January Boris Johnson: “Categorically nobody told me it was against the

The government is facing calls to crack down on a hunting loophole after figures suggested that hundreds of suspected illegal incidents took place in just five weeks. The League Against Cruel Sports said there were 303 combined incidents of hunt havoc (trespass, road interference and disturbing animals) and illegal fox hunting between 1 November and

2022 has been a tough year, in which the UK has often been hit harder than its peer countries in the G7 – the club of the world’s wealthiest democracies. Russia’s bloody attack on Ukraine led to dramatic spikes in energy costs. A global cost of living crisis has been driven by soaring inflation and

Rishi Sunak has hired the Spectator’s political editor, James Forsyth, as his political secretary. The move comes as the PM continues bolster his top team in Downing Street in the hope of overturning recent negative polling results for the Conservative Party. It is understood that Mr Forsyth’s role will be to act as a link