Politics

The UK has planned to ensure second COVID jabs are administered on time, according to the culture minister, who also confirmed a batch of the Moderna vaccine was due to arrive in the coming weeks. It comes as England is set to relax lockdown restrictions with the rule of six returning from Monday, and the

Nicola Sturgeon has warned now is “not the time to gamble” with Scotland’s future as she said there were “significant questions” about Alex Salmond’s return to politics. The SNP leader made her comments after her predecessor and former mentor confirmed he would be standing for his newly-formed Alba Party as a regional list candidate in

England’s route out of lockdown remains on schedule with the prime minister declaring there is nothing to dissuade him from “continuing along our roadmap to freedom”. Speaking to the virtual Conservative Party spring conference, Boris Johnson said he was looking forward to going to the barbers, for a pint in a pub and to “unlocking

Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond has re-entered frontline politics to become the leader of the new pro-independence Alba Party. The party was registered with the Electoral Commission in January by retired TV producer Laurie Flynn. Alba Party will stand candidates in the Scottish Parliament elections on 6 May. Mr Salmond said in a statement:

Rishi Sunak is calling on Britain’s employers to end working from home and allow staff back in the office – or risk them voting with their feet and quitting.  Looking beyond the pandemic, the chancellor says working in an office is crucial for young people to get to know colleagues and seek out mentors to

MPs have voted to extend the government’s emergency COVID legislation for another six months. Despite opposition from some Tory backbenchers, the Coronavirus Act 2020 was passed by 484 votes to 76, a majority of 408. MPs also approved the regulations underpinning the steps to ease restrictions from 29 March as laid out in Boris Johnson’s

Boris Johnson is facing a Tory rebellion on lockdown rules in the Commons, 24 hours after telling drinkers they may need a COVID vaccine or negative test to go to the pub. MPs are due to vote on extending emergency COVID legislation for six months until 25 September and current lockdown rules into July, but

For a prime minister who likes to give little away when he appears before the Liaison Committee, Boris Johnson dropped a number of news bombs. The biggest bombshell was that pub landlords may be given the power to bar anyone without a COVID jab in future, in a massive blow to the nations under-40s who

Boris Johnson is facing a tough end-of-term interrogation on COVID-19 by senior MPs after claiming the UK is making progress a year after his first lockdown. As well as his last Prime Minister’s Questions clash with Sir Keir Starmer for three weeks, he is facing questions from MPs who chair all-party select committees. His double

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hailed the “courage, discipline and patience of the nation” one year after he first announced a lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking at a Downing Street news conference, he said: “We suffered so many losses.” And he said we have at times been “fighting in the dark” against a

Getting a COVID vaccine could be made mandatory for care workers who look after the most elderly, the health secretary has told Sky News. Matt Hancock said that, while vaccines would not be made mandatory for the general public, they could be required for those whose profession sees them work with the most vulnerable. He

Nicola Sturgeon did not breach the ministerial code over her handling of the Alex Salmond harassment case, an independent investigation has found. The finding was made by James Hamilton, the Scottish government’s independent adviser on ministerial standards. He had been asked to examine whether Scotland’s first minister “attempted to influence the conduct of the investigation” into

Boris Johnson is expected to urge EU leaders this week to dismiss any proposals to block coronavirus vaccine exports to the UK. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen insisted over the weekend that the EU has the power to “forbid” exports of coronavirus doses, adding: “That is the message to AstraZeneca.” And EU Commissioner Mairead

This Thursday, three dozen satellites will be fired into space from a launch station in a desolate corner of eastern Russia, less than a hundred miles from the northern Chinese border. Each a little bigger than a fridge, they are attached to a Russian rocket which will travel 750 miles up into what is known

Refugees arriving in the UK will be given the right to remain permanently, under a new system the home secretary has described as “fair but firm”. Priti Patel will announce that those fleeing war or persecution who come through the “safe and legal resettlement route” will be given indefinite leave to remain. Currently, resettled refugees

More than 60 MPs have signed a letter to the home secretary calling for the easing of COVID-19 restrictions to allow protests to go ahead. The letter to Priti Patel, organised by campaigns group Liberty and Big Brother Watch, warns that allowing the police to criminalise people for protesting “is not acceptable and is arguably

The prime minister has said there will be “no change” to England’s lockdown easing roadmap, despite the NHS warning of a “significant reduction” in the supply of coronavirus vaccines next month. Speaking at a Downing Street news conference, Boris Johnson said: “Our progress along the road to freedom continues unchecked. “We remain on track to

Boris Johnson has had the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. The prime minister, who is aged 56, got his first dose at London’s St Thomas’ Hospital, where he was treated in intensive care last April after contracting COVID-19. By having the vaccine, Mr Johnson joins more than 26 million people in the UK who have received a

Sky News can reveal further details contained in a report that found Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon misled parliament. Holyrood’s harassment committee also concluded that it finds it “hard to believe” she didn’t know of concerns around Alex Salmond’s behaviour before November 2017. And committee members have included a passage in their report to say