Markus Andrews

Oliver Dowden drew laughter from the government benches when he said he will “take no lectures on profligacy” from the SNP.The deputy prime minister stood in for Rishi Sunak during PMQs on Wednesday 7 June, when Mhairi Black questioned him over the “priorities” of the Tory party in the cost of living crisis.“This government plans to cut taxes for the richest, spend £6bn imprisoning people fleeing war and persecution and has lost £21bn to government fraud throughout this pandemic,” Ms Black said.“Is the view from the prime minister’s luxury helicopter so skewed that during a cost of living crisis, he thinks this is what people’s priorities are?”Mr Dowden then hit back, saying: “I’m going to take no lectures on profligacy from the SNP”. More

Angela Rayner urged deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden to “go back to school” and improve his “dire” PMQs “punchlines” as the pair clashed in the House of Commons on Wednesday 7 June.The duo stood in for Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer and exchanged barbs at the Despatch box, first over the Covid inquiry, before moving on to schooling issues.“For the last couple of years, he’s been trying to prep prime ministers for this, but these punchlines are dire,” Ms Rayner said of Mr Dowden’s performance.“He really needs to go back to school himself.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email A “stealth tax raid” by Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt will force almost 5m healthcare workers to pay hundreds of pounds more in tax, analysis shows. The government’s decision to freeze income tax […] More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Rishi Sunak will raise his concerns about Joe Biden’s green subsidy plan when the pair meet in Washington for talks on Thursday. The prime minister arrived in the US for two days of […] More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email In an election reflecting opposition to Russia’s war against Ukraine, European Union member Slovenia overwhelmingly defeated Moscow’s close ally Belarus on Tuesday for a seat on the U.N. Security Council starting in January. […] More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Artificial intelligence (AI) could create “dystopia” if advancements in the technology are not managed properly, but its usefulness should not be overlooked, a Government minister has said. Paul Scully, minster for tech and […] More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Keir Starmer has said he will not repeat mistakes which “decimated” coal mining communities in the 1980s when his government phases out new oil and gas drilling. The Labour leader was told by […] More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Watch as Sir Keir Starmer delivers a speech at GMB Union congress on Tuesday 6 June. The leader of the opposition reassured the group that Labour’s plan to transition to clean energy will […] More