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Sir Jeffrey Donaldson hailed Saturday, 3 February as a “good day for Northern Ireland” historic day” as powersharing returned to Stormont following a two-year hiatus.”We look to our future. A future that I believe can be one where Northern Ireland prospers. Where NI is stable and at peace with itself,” the DUP leader said.Michelle O’Neill has been appointed as the first nationalist First Minister.The Sinn Fein vice president has pledged to work with unionists to build a better future for Northern Ireland. More

A BBCQuestion Time audience member defended Nicola Sturgeon after the former first minister faced criticism for deleting WhatsApp messaged on her mobile phone.The comments appeared to refer to the time the Covid Inquiry spent discussing the use of WhatsApp during the pandemic and the deletion of messages.On Wednesday (31 January), Ms Sturgeon said she did not keep messages on her phone for security reasons from 2007 onwards, and directly confirmed that she had deleted the messages.Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross accused the former first minister of “destroying vital evidence”.The Question Time audience member described criticism of Ms Sturgeon as a “witch hunt.” More

Kemi Badenoch has denied that she is part of an alleged plan to oust Rishi Sunak as prime minister.“This is a nonsense story. This is the media trying to fuel lots of gossip about Westminster,” the Conservative minister said on Thursday, 1 February.It comes after The Guardian reported that the business secretary is a member of a Tory WhatsApp group called “evil plotters”, a name her allies insist is a tongue-in-cheek joke.A Tory insider told the newspaper that Ms Badenoch is not directly involved with any plot to topple Mr Sunak, but “she’s got a campaign ready for when the moment does eventually come.” More

Lindsay Hoyle has revealed that all MPs “get death threats” as he addressed Mike Freer’s resignation.The government minister has said he will stand down at the next general election after a series of threats and an arson attack on his constituency office.Mr Freer has said he can no longer put his family through the anxiety for his safety.“We all get death threats, but Mike really has been targeted,” Sir Lindsay said, reacting to the resignation on Thursday morning (1 February).“Thankfully, he’s here to tell the story, but I’m really saddened he’s felt he’s had to stand down.” More

Nicola Sturgeon said her responsibility regarding decisions made during the coronavirus pandemic was “to the Scottish people, not Boris Johnson”.The former first minister was being questioned on Wednesday, 31 January, about announcing Covid measures before the UK Government, something she said was not designed to “annoy” Westminster.“The nature of the decisions we were taking meant that they had to be communicated quickly and clearly to the public,” Ms Sturgeon said.Ms Sturgeon added that if she were to seek to not “irritate” the former prime minister, she would have had to agree to do “whatever Boris Johnson wanted me to do”. More

Nicola Sturgeon fought back tears as she was grilled by the Covid inquiry about deleted WhatsApp messages during the pandemic.Giving evidence, the former first minister was asked if she thought she was well suited to be a leader after heavily criticising Boris Johnson’s handling of the crisis.“I was the first minister when the pandemic struck. There’s a large part of me that wishes that I hadn’t been”, Ms Sturgeon said, appearing upset.“But I was and I wanted to be the best first minister I could be during that period.” More

The Labour leader has accused the Conservatives of laughing at an Iceland employee who is struggling to pay his mortgage.Sir Keir Starmer started Prime Minister’s Questions today (31 January), saying: “This week I met one of the employees at Iceland in Warrington, Phil.”After being interrupted by heckling during his question in the Commons, Sir Keir said: “Laughing at an employee at Iceland who’s struggling with his mortgage, shame.“He told me that his mortgage is going up by a staggering £1,000 a month, Prime Minister. Mr Sunak replied: “Thanks to this Government, Phil and millions of other workers, not just at Iceland but across the country, are benefitting this month in their pay packet for a tax cut worth £100s for someone on an average salary.” More

Sir Keir Starmer has mocked a Conservative MP who claimed he could not afford to pay his mortgage on a £118,300 ministerial salary.George Freeman, MP for Mid Norfolk, quit as science minister last November in order to take other jobs.“One of the most difficult experiences for any member of this house is speaking to those at the sharp end of this government’s cost of living crisis. So nobody could fail to be moved by the plight of the member of Mid Norfolk,” Sir Keir began.“His mortgage has gone up £1,200 a month. He’s been forced to quit his dream job to pay for it… a Tory MP counting the cost of Tory chaos.“After 14 years, have we finally discovered what they meant when they said: ‘We’re all in this together?’” More