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Former prime minister Sir Tony Blair choked up as he paid an emotional tribute to Lord John Prescott.The former UK deputy prime minister died “peacefully” surrounded by relatives at his care home after a battle with Alzheimer’s, his family said in a statement on Thursday (21 November).Paying tribute to the former trade union activist, Sir Tony said: “I’m feeling devastated, we knew it was coming because he had been very ill, but my deepest condolences to Pauline, Jonathan, and David.”Speaking to BBC Radio 4 Today, Sir Tony said: “There was no one quite like him in British politics.”The former prime minister appeared to struggle to find his words, before adding: “We had our disagreements from time to time, but he was loyal and a massive help to me.” More

Known for his fiery temperament, John Prescott made headlines in 2001 when he punched a protester who had thrown an egg at him during an election campaign in North Wales.The Deputy Prime Minister had been there to speak at a Labour rally while on the general election campaign trail.Lord Prescott said at the time: “I was attacked by an individual. In the melee that followed I clearly defended myself.”Tributes have poured in from across the country, after his death, at the age of 86, was announced by his family on Thursday (21 November). More

Angela Rayner questioned Lee Anderson’s CV after he called the chancellor “Rachel from accounts.”The Reform UK MP for Ashfield asked the deputy prime minister if she agreed with him that the decision to levy inheritance tax on some agricultural property “should be thrown in the trash can along with Rachel from accounts’ CV.”Ms Rayner fired back with a joke about Mr Anderson’s history of switching between political parties.She told the Commons: “He talks about CVs, it’s good to see (Mr Anderson) doing well on his – once a Labour councillor then a Tory MP and now Reform chief whip.” More

Sir Lindsay Hoyle snapped at a Tory MP in what appeared to be a case of mistaken identity during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 20 November.The House of Commons speaker paused proceedings to scold Danny Kruger, telling the opposition MP: “We’ll have less as well unless you want to go and have a cup of tea.”Mr Kruger insisted he had not opened his mouth, to which Sir Lindsay joked: “You must be able to do it like a ventriloquist dummy.”Sir Lindsay later apologised for the mixup, saying it was James Wild — who sat next to Mr Kruger — that he should have addressed. More

Angela Rayner faced boos in the House of Commons as she defended Labour’s proposed changes to agricultural inheritance tax during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 20 November.It came after hordes of farmers descended upon London to protest against the tax plans.From April 2026, landowners who inherit agricultural assets worth more than £1m will have to pay 20 per cent inheritance tax on them.The prime minister has insisted he is “absolutely confident the vast majority of farms and farmers will not be affected by this” but farmers insist that a much larger number will be impacted. More

David Lammy berated Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the UN for fiddling with his mobile phone during a UN Security Council session on a joint UK-Sierra Leone draft resolution calling for a national ceasefire on Monday, 18 November.The foreign secretary criticised Dmitry Polyanskiy for looking down at the device and condemned Russia for blocking a United Nations call for a ceasefire in Sudan.Mr Lammy, who chaired the Security Council session, said: “I ask the Russian representative, in all conscience sitting there on his phone — how many more Sudanese have to be killed… before Russia will act?The war in Sudan began in April 2023 when simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital Khartoum and spread to other regions including Darfur. More

Boris Johnson struggled to explain Brexit during an interview with a French radio station on Monday, 18 November.The former British prime minister, who campaigned to leave the European Union, told France Inter: “There’s an idea of constitutional freedom for the United Kingdom. And, I recount the struggle for Brexit [in Unleashed].”The freedom to do things differently. In particular, you see – We forget all this now because it was two or three years ago but when we had the pandemic, thanks to Brexit we had the chance to do the vaccinations in England much earlier.” More

A farmer predicted “big problems with food shortages” following Labour’s changes to inheritance tax announced in the Budget.Critics have warned that the change, which means farmers will have to pay 20 per cent of tax on inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m from April 2026, will destroy family farms that make up around two-thirds of Britain’s agricultural base.”The biggest worry for us… is to be able to feed the poorer people in society,” Gareth Wyn Jones told GB News on Monday, 18 November.”I won’t be selling any lamb or any beef this week… This is not to make people hungry, this is to show what’s to come in the future.” More