Indy TV

A Cabinet minister has said the Government’s troubled Rwanda deportation scheme should be running “within weeks”.Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “We want them to take off as quickly as possible… We very much plan to have it within weeks”.Asked whether the Government has a carrier yet, Ms Atkins said: “The Home Office is working on this, and so believe you me, the Home Office is ready to go.”“They haven’t got one, have they?” Sir Trevor asked her. More

Sir Keir Starmer clashed with a reporter over a question about Angela Rayner during his visit to Blackpool on Thursday, 11 April.The Labour leader visited the Lancashire town ahead of next month’s by-election.When asked by ITV reporter Andrew Misra if he was 100 per cent confident Angela Rayner has done nothing wrong regarding the sale of her former council house in Stockport, Sir Keir would not explicitly say if he was.As he was pressed on his answer, Sir Keir told the journalist: “Don’t try and play a game on this… I have full confidence in her.“You should be asking questions about the state of the NHS.” More

Labour’s Wes Streeting accused the government of prioritising tax dodgers over doctors as he hit out at Rishi Sunak for “failed” NHS waiting list promises.The shadow health secretary said the healthcare system is facing “the worst crisis in its history” and that it is “crucial” a general election brings change.“We have a plan to cut NHS waiting lists, delivering two million more appointments a year through extra evening and weekend working funded by closing tax loopholes and clamping down on tax avoidance,” Mr Streeting said.“We prioritise doctors, not tax dodgers.” More

Boris Johnson has hit out at Rishi Sunak’s smoking policy, branding his plan to phase out the sale of tobacco products ‘nuts’.Speaking at a gathering of conservatives in Ottawa on Thursday (11 April), the former prime minister said: “When I look at some of the things we’re doing now, I think they are absolutely nuts.”Mr Johnson added: “We are banning cigars, what is the point of that? The party of Winston Churchill wants to ban cigars, how mad is that? More

Listen as Victoria Atkins clashes with Nick Robinson over NHS spending during an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday 11 April.The health secretary was challenged on the Conservative Party’s promise of “unfunded tax cuts at a time that there is a crisis in the NHS”.Host Robinson took issue with chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s decision to cut 4p off national insurance at the same time that Rishi Sunak is failing to meet his promise to cut hospital waiting lists.Ms Atkins responded by suggesting that the government is “spending record amounts on the NHS”, which Mr Robinson described as a “meaningless statistic”. More

The shadow transport secretary has confirmed Labour has “no plans to resurrect HS2”.Speaking to Good Morning Britain on Thursday 11 April, Louise Haigh disputed an “unsourced and inaccurate brief” suggesting the opposition wants to keep parts of the project between Birmingham and Crewe.“We’ve got no plans to take HS2 back off the shelf,” Ms Haigh said.“There will – as a result of the government’s completely ill-thought-through plans – always be an issue with capacity north of Birmingham and we will have to address that in the future.“But we have no plans to resurrect HS2 as it stands.” More

Rishi Sunak has defended the UK’s decision not to suspend arms sales to Israel.Mr Sunak has been under mounting pressure, including from within his own party, to immediately suspend the sale of arms amid a growing chorus of opposition to the number of civilians killed.The prime minister appeared on a live LBC caller phone in on Wednesday (10 April) and defended his decision, stating “none of our closest allies” have stopped existing export licences.Mr Sunak told presenter Nick Ferrari that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu “needs to do more” to alleviate the suffering in Gaza. More

Rishi Sunak has offered an apology for wearing Adidas Samba trainers after being accused of “destroying a fashion icon”.The prime minister was shown wearing the white shoes during a recent interview in Downing Street.His fashion choice was slammed by British GQ magazine, who wrote that “in a bid to present himself as young and hip, Rishi Sunak took an eternally cool sneaker and ruined it for everyone”.“I issue a fulsome apology to the Samba community,” the PM said, responding to the backlash on LBC on Wednesday morning (10 April).“But, in my defence, I would say I have been wearing Adidas trainers including Sambas – and others, in fact – for many, many years.” More