More stories

  • in

    China touts the benefits of its ‘Belt and Road’ initiative to Italy, which may end the agreement

    Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email China’s foreign minister is seeking to sell his Italian counterpart on the benefits of leader Xi Jinping’s signature “Belt and Road” initiative of Chinese-built and -funded infrastructure projects, as Rome considers whether to […] More

  • in

    Gavin Williamson apologises to MPs for bullying former Tory chief whip

    Sir Gavin William apologised “fully and unreservedly” in the House of Commons for sending a series of expletive-laden messages to the former chief whip.Sir Gavin had sent a series of expletive-laden text messages to the then chief whip, Wendy Morton in September 2022 in the run-up to the Queen’s funeral, in part complaining that he was not invited to the ceremony. The messages were leaked to the media and Ms Morton lodged a complaint in November 2022.“During this exchange I used intemperate and inappropriate language which I regret and I apologised for shortly after,” he said.“I apologise to them again now and I apologise to the House fully and unreservedly. I will do my utmost to ensure this does not happen again.” More

  • in

    Gillian Keegan shown viral clip of her swearing about school concrete row live on air

    The Education Secretary Gillian Keegan was played a viral clip of her swearing on a “hot mic” over the school concrete row live on the news. Sky News presenter, Sophie Ridge joked “I wasn’t sure she was going to turn up”, before playing the clip to the palpably uncomfortable minister. In the clip, Ms Keegan appeared unaware she was still being recorded. She said: “Does anyone ever say, you know what, you’ve done a f****** good job because everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing?” The Education Secretary took part in a series of broadcast interviews on Monday morning (4 September) about the decision to fully or partially close schools in England because of safety concerns about concrete used to build some buildings. More

  • in

    Labour Party reshuffle – latest: Starmer vows to ‘reset’ UK reputation abroad after changes to top team

    Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Keir Starmer reshuffled his top team on Monday morning, moving several key players – and promoting other less well-heard of MPs and allies. Below is the full list of the new positions in […] More

  • in

    Gillian Keegan’s ‘sat on their a***s’ outburst piles pressure on Sunak over collapsing schools crisis

    Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Pressure is mounting on Rishi Sunak after his education secretary was caught on camera saying others had “sat on their a***” over collapsing schools. Gillian Keegan was filmed voicing her frustrations about the […] More

  • in

    Summer’s over for UK politicians as Sunak faces a crisis over crumbling schools

    Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email British lawmakers headed back to Parliament on Monday after their summer break. But thousands of U.K. children won’t be returning to their classrooms this week, because their schools are at risk of collapse […] More

  • in

    Gavin Williamson ordered to apologise for bullying chief whip after he wasn’t invited to Queen’s funeral

    Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email A watchdog has ordered Gavin Williamson to formally apologise to MPs for bullying a colleague who did not allocate him tickets to the late Queen’s funeral. The Independent Expert Panel found that Sir […] More