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Rishi Sunak cracked jokes about missing out on lunch as he reacted to news that the Bank of England has lifted UK interest rates to a 15-year high.Speaking from a warehouse in Kent, the prime minister said everything about his visit was “superb”, but that his team was “a little bit sad that there was no meatballs at lunch”.Aside from the awkward joke, Mr Sunak moved to assure the British public that “we are going to get through this”.“I am totally, 100 per cent on it, it is going to be okay and we are going to get through this,” he said. More

Floundering foreign secretary James Cleverly was left red-faced in a bruising BBC interview when he was put on the spot over the inflation crisis.Challenged six times to say how Rishi Sunak planned to cut price rises Mr Cleverly’s stumbling replies were greeted with laughter by interviewer Amol Rajan.Eventually Mr Rajan ended the interview abruptly, silencing Mr Cleverly for the weather forecast.At one point tongue tied Mr Cleverly mistakenly talked about “low skilled inflation” harming the economy – he meant to say “low skilled immigration.”Mr Rajan became so frustrated with Mr Cleverly’s evasiveness he sarcastically thanked him for “giving me an economics lesson.” More

Shaun Bailey has apologised “unreservedly” after a video emerged of his Tory campaign team drinking and dancing at a gathering during lockdown in December 2020.At the time, lockdown rules meant that six people were allowed to meet socially distanced outside.The video emerged after the former London mayoral candidate was offered a peerage by former prime minister Boris Johnson, who was found by the Privileges Committee to have misled Parliament over parties at Downing Street during Covid lockdowns.Mr Bailey said the event “obviously turned into something once I left and I didn’t realise that.” More

David Cameron was heckled as he left the Covid Inquiry on Monday, 19 June, after giving evidence.Shouts of “shame on you” were heard as the former prime minister made his way out of the hearing in London.The former Conservative leader told the inquiry it was a “mistake” for his government to focus too heavily on preparations for combating a wave of flu rather than a coronavirus-like pandemic.Mr Cameron his government’s austerity cuts which have been blamed for leaving the NHS in a “parlous state” before the pandemic hit. More

Sir Ian McKellen was spotted in the House of Commons watching MPs through opera glasses as MPs debated the Partygate report by the Privileges Committee which found that Boris Johnson misled Parliament over rule-breaking parties at Downing Street during Covid-19 lockdowns.The Oscar-nominated actor was seated in the MPs’ guests gallery, occasionally using the glasses to observe proceedings.Sir Ian observed a debate in which former prime minister Theresa May urged all MPs to back the privileges committee’s findings that her successor lied to parliament. He declined to comment on leaving the House. More

Sir Peter Bottomley, the father of the House of Commons, has said that he will support the Privileges Committee’s report which found that Boris Johnson misled Parliament over rule-breaking parties at Downing Street during Covid-19 lockdowns.The Conservative, who is the longest-serving MP in the Commons, recalled a time where he had the words “I made a mistake, I apologise” into Hansard in the 1980s and reccommended that the former prime minister should have done the same.Sir Peter’s comments came as Mr Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, urged all MPs to back the privileges committee’s findings. More

Theresa May has urged MPs to consider their constituents during a debate on the Partygate report by the Privileges Committee which found that Boris Johnson misled Parliament over rule-breaking parties at Downing Street during Covid-19 lockdowns.Many Tory MPs were not in the House of Commons during a free vote and debate on the report’s findings on Monday, 19 June.The former prime minister told her colleagues in the house that they are leaders in their communities and their jobs come with responsibility – and that it is important to punish MPs that break the rules. More

Michael Gove has apologised in response to new footage showing Tory staff joking at their lockdown Christmas party that they were ‘bending the rules’.At least 24 people are thought to have been at the party at the Conservative Party HQ at the end of 2020.”It’s terrible…the fact this party went ahead is indefensible”, he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge, adding those who were involved had been ‘disciplined’.The attendees were allegedly the staffers responsible for assisting with Shaun Bailey’s mayoral campaign.”I just want to apologise to everyone really”, he added. More