News

Sir Keir Starmer labelled this week’s Conservative Party conference “a circus” as he hailed Labour’s by-election win in Rutherglen and Hamilton West.The Labour leader travelled to Scotland on Friday 6 October to celebrate with Michael Shanks, describing the win as a “seismic result” for his party.Sir Keir also took aim at Rishi Sunak and the Tories as he addressed a crowd.“Whilst we’ve been busy here, you’ll have seen the Tories have been in Manchester. What a circus,” he said.“Rishi Sunak pretending that he’s going to do things differently? The nodding dog who passed all those decisions that he now says are a complete failure.” More

Humza Yousaf has been forced to apologise after he clashed with the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party over the Scottish Government’s record on policing and crime.The SNP leader hit back at rival Douglas Ross after he was questioned on a fall in officer numbers and plans by Police Scotland to cut some of its stations.“His post-truth, his lies about the police service, it simply will not wash here in Scotland,” Mr Yousaf said.Alison Johnstone, Holyrood’s presiding officer, then stepped in and suggested it was “wholly inappropriate” for him to accuse Mr Ross of lying.She then asked Mr Yousaf three times for an apology, with the first minister initially saying he would instead describe Mr Ross’s comments as a “deliberate inaccuracy” and “post-truths”.The clash between Mr Yousaf and Mr Ross came days after Rishi Sunak joked that Nicola Sturgeon could face prison. More

Penny Mordaunt said ‘stand up and fight’ 12 times in a bizarre speech at the Conservative Party Conference.On 4 October, Rishi Sunak closed the annual gathering of Tory politicians held this year in Manchester, but not before the Leader of the House of Commons delivered a rallying speech which appeared to give nod to ex-prime minister of the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher.Addressing the conference, she said, “stand up and fight for the freedoms we have won against socialism, whether it is made of velvet or iron.”She walked off to rapturous applause, but left many rather puzzled. More

Lee Anderson claimed that there is no poverty in Britain as he spoke at a fringe event at the Conservative party conference on Tuesday, 3 October.The deputy Tory party chairman, once nicknamed “30p Lee” for his comments on food banks, said he “doesn’t believe” in “poverty nonsense,” claiming that there was “real poverty” when he was growing up in the 1970s.Mr Anderson told the event, hosted by Conservative Home and UK In A Changing Europe, added that he believes the UK “is not an impoverished island.”According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 13.4 million people were living in poverty in 2020/21. More

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

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

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’s wife, Akshata Murthy, made a surprise speech at the Conservative Party conference to support her “best friend”.Ahead of the prime minister’s long-awaited address, Ms Murthy took to the stage to explain that her husband has “honesty, integrity and a firm understanding of right and wrong”.“Rishi cares deeply about this party and the values that underpin it. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the support you’ve already shown him,” she said.“Please know, that Rishi is working hard to do the right thing for the country, not just for now, but for the long term.” More