UK Politics

Suella Braverman has reacted to a photo in which she was pictured standing on a guide dog’s tail at the Tory party conference.The Home Secretary issued an “apology to all dogs” after she took to the stage at a Blue Collar Conservatism reception on Tuesday (3 October).Ms Braverman was pictured with her foot on a guide dog’s tail.The dog, named Inca, was at the conference with Guide Dogs UK, who are campaigning for a ban on pavement parking.“I don’t think any dogs were harmed in the filming of my visit,” Ms Braverman said. 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 has finally announced that HS2’s northern leg will be scrapped, weeks after The Independent first revealed he would axe the landmark high-speed rail project. The prime minister was met with howls […] 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 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

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

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

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

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

Rishi Sunak confirms HS2’s Manchester leg will be scrapped More