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Jacob Rees-Mogg raised Nigel Farage’s issue with Coutts bank during PMQs on Wednesday (19 July), saying that “members of the opposition deserve a bank account”.The former UKIP leader has claimed he has evidence that shows he was targeted “on personal and political grounds” and that the bank decided to close his account because his views “do not align” with their values.“Does my right honourable friend agree with me that however much we may find them tiresome, members of the opposition deserve a bank account,” Mr Rees-Mogg said, asking Rishi Sunak to address the situation. More

Shaun Bailey has taken a House of Lords seat despite a new Partygate police investigation.The 52-year-old accepted the coveted spot despite demands he should wait until police complete a probe into a lockdown “Jingle and Mingle” event held by his campaign team, which he attended.Escorted by Black Rod Sarah Clarke, Independent peer Baroness Clare Fox and Conservative peer Lord Stuart Polak, he was formally introduced as Baron Bailey of Paddington and swore the oathe of allegiance with his left hand across his breast. He then bowed to and shook hands with Lord Speaker Lord McFall. More

The single best way to get out of poverty is by getting a job, Oliver Dowden told MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 12 July.The deputy prime minister filled in for Rishi Sunak this afternoon while the prime minister attended a Nato summit in Lithuania.Mr Dowden told the House of Commons: “The single best route out of poverty is a job and record numbers of people… under this government have got a job.”It comes after the Office for National Statistics released figures showing that the unemployment rate for March to May 2023 increased by 0.2 percentage points on the quarter to 4 per cent. More

Joe Biden shook hands with Rishi Sunank as he arrived at 10 Downing Street for a meeting which could include discussions on cluster munitions and Ukraine’s bid to join Nato.The talks kick off a busy day for the president, who is making a layover in London on the way to the Nato summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.He will also meet King Charles III at Windsor Castle for tea and talks on the climate crisis.Mr Biden’s trip comes after he defended the “difficult” decision to send cluster munitions to Kyiv. More

Protesters interrupted Sir Keir Starmer as he spoke about Labour’s five priorities in Gillingham, Kent, on Thursday (6 July).Footage shows two people carrying a banner demanding that the Labour leader “stop making U-turns” and calling for a “green new deal now.”The opposition leader told the pair to “let him finish,” adding that he would “speak to them after” as they accused of him of U-turning on his £28bn green prosperity plan before being removed by security.”They may have missed the fact that the last mission I launched was on clean power by 2030,” Sir Keir continued. More

Rishi Sunak was avoided a question at the Liaison Committee on whether the government has a “plan B” if the government’s appeal against a High Court judgement ruling plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda are unlawful is unsuccessful.The prime minister has previously stated that the government will seek permission to appeal against the decision at the Supreme Court as he insisted that Rwanda was a safe country and said that the court had agreed with this.Appearing before parliament’s Liaison Committe on Tuesday, 4 July, the prime minister did not say whether the government has alternative plans if the scheme is not upheld in the Supreme Court. More

Jacob Rees-Mogg dodged questions from journalists on Thursday 29 June, after he was criticised in a report from the Privileges Committee.The Tory MP was accused of waging a “coordinated campaign of interference” which put “unprecedented” pressure on the committee investigating whether Boris Johnson lied to parliament over Partygate.Nadine Dorries, Andrea Jenkyns and Priti Patel were also identified in the report.Following the accusations, Mr Rees-Mogg refused to take questions from journalists as he was spotted jumping in a taxi.He told reporters he was “going to church” and then on to the “Test match” – likely speaking about the England vs Australia cricket fixture at Lord’s. More

Nigel Farage has claimed that the “establishment” is trying to “force him out of the UK” by closing his bank accounts.In a video, the GB News presenter says that he has been with the same banking group since 1980 but has recently received a phone call explaining his accounts are being closed.The former UKIP leader goes on to describe how he went to seven other banks to find another personal and business account and has been refused at each one.Mr Farage said that the closure of his bank accounts “may well fundamentally affect… whether I can stay living here in this country.””This is serious political persecution”, he wrote on Twitter. More