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    Now HS2 northern leg is axed – what next for rail travel in the north?

    Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Rishi Sunak axed HS2 north of Birmingham today, claiming it would free up £36 billion to spend on other transport projects elsewhere. The prime minister listed a number of other schemes that would […] More

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    Rishi Sunak axes A-levels and reveals ‘Advanced British Standard’ replacement

    Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Rishi Sunak has announced his plan to scrap A-levels and replace it with a new qualification called the Advanced British Standard (ABS) aimed at creating the “best education system in the western world”. […] More

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    Gillian Keegan cries as Rishi Sunak shares his backstory in conference speech

    Gillian Keegan was spotted tearing up during Rishi Sunak’s speech at Conservative Party conference on Wednesday 4 October.The education secretary became emotional as the prime minister discussed his backstory and recalled a sweet moment he shared with his grandfather when he first became an MP.Mr Sunak also confirmed that the northern leg of HS2 will be scrapped and discussed a number of other policies during his wide-ranging speech.He announced he was replacing A levels with an “Advanced British Standard” qualifications system, and will follow New Zealand in tabling plans to raise the smoking age each year in Britain. More

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    Scientists insist they did not make Government policy during Covid pandemic

    Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Scientists advising the Government during the Covid pandemic have insisted they did not make policy, despite ministers at the time saying they were “following the science”. The UK Covid-19 Inquiry heard submissions from […] More

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    Sunak jokes that Nicola Sturgeon faces prison as he takes aim at ‘forces of separatism’

    Rishi Sunak took aim at Nicola Sturgeon during his speech at the Conservative Party conference, joking that Scotland’s former first minister could “go down”.The prime minister told delegates in Manchester that the “forces of separatism are in retreat across our country” and made direct reference to Ms Sturgeon.“Nicola Sturgeon wanted to go down in the history books as the woman who broke up our country,” Mr Sunak said.“But it now looks like she may go down for very different reasons.”His comments – which appeared to poke fun at the ongoing police investigation into the SNP’s finances – sparked laughter from the audience. More

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    UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rallies his Conservatives by saying he’s ready to take tough decisions

    Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Battling gloomy polls and mounting doubts, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday urged skeptical voters, and his own Conservative Party: Keep me in office and I’ll offer you change. In his first […] More