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Andrew Bowie avoided a question on whether or not he thought it was right that standing charges for gas and electricity have gone up.The energy minister spoke to BBC Breakfast on Friday (25 August) after the announcement that average household energy bills will fall after wholesale prices dropped slightly.However, consumers still face the prospect of paying more this winter because government help which was in place last year has gone.“What we need to focus on today is the fact that people’s average energy bills are coming down. The standing charge as it is is a matter for Ofgem,” Mr Bowie said. More

Labour MP Dawn Butler spoke out on Good Morning Britain about calling Boris Johnson a liar in parliament. Butler was ejected from parliament in 2021 after calling the then Prime Minister a liar and refusing to withdraw her remarks. It is forbidden for an MP to accuse another of lying in the House of Commons. “Every week I kept thinking ‘how come we’re allowing this guy, who’s the Prime Minister, to come into parliament, the cornerstone of our democracy of our country, and lie to parliament and the country’,” the MP said. ”You can’t have a Prime Minister that just comes in and lies and then walks off and then we’re just supposed to accept that,” she added. More

A Syrain asylum seeker has challenged his move to the Bibby Stockholm barge on mental grounds.The man told Sky News he had come to the UK to escape war and conflict, but said the small rooms on the barge remind him of when he had to go into hiding from ISIS back in Syria.The man said: “We are looking for more space. We run away from war, trauma and conflict.“If you squeeze me into a place you are putting me back to that space where I was hidng when ISIS was attacking our area.” More

Lee Anderson’s comments on migrants boarding the Bibby Stockholm were “not unreasonable,” Alex Chalk has said.The Tory deputy chairman told the Express: “If they don’t like barges then they should f*** off back to France.”The incendiary comments came after 15 migrants boarded the barge in Portland, Dorset.Twenty others have been granted a last-minute reprieve after legal challenges.The justice secretary said Lee Anderson “expresses the righteous indignation of the British people” and added that his “indignation is well placed”. More

Andrew Malkinson has said that his wrongful conviction compensation represents “two decades of living hell” after he spent 17 years in prison for a rape in Greater Manchester he did not commit.The 57-year-old’s case sparked outrage about living costs covering their time in prison being docked from compensation payments.The rule was scrapped with immediate effect on Sunday, 6 August, by Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC.Mr Malkinson said the payment under the miscarriage of justice compensation scheme, which is a maximum of £1m for more than 10 years’ imprisonment, represents “lost opportunities and lost love.” More

A junior doctor slammed prime minister Rishi Sunak telling him “it’s your fault we are all unhappy” during a heated live phone-in on LBC on Wednesday morning.Junior doctor Olivia, from Newcastle, called the show to say she found it “amazing” the prime minister blames the doctor strike for NHS increased waiting times.Olivia told Sunak: “You’re losing staff because we’re undervalued, and it’s not just doctors, it’s everyone. We are all leaving. A happy workforce is your responsibility. You’re the government. Your staff aren’t happy. That’s your fault and ultimately that’s not good for patients.” More