Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, has left Rostov-on-Don and ended the armed insurrection against Vladimir Putin. After one of the most extraordinary days in Russian history, he said he marched within 125 miles of Moscow but said he decided to go no further to avoid bloodshed. Putin, who had ordered his
Today, MPs will get the chance to debate and vote on the Privileges Committee report on Boris Johnson. This will not be whipped by the government, allowing Tory MPs to vote how they wish. So far more than a dozen of Johnson’s supporters in parliament have expressed public criticism of the report but some stop
This morning the Privileges Committee published their findings of their investigation into Boris Johnson’s conduct in the wake of the partygate scandal. They found that Johnson had misled the House of Commons and said that, had he not resigned as an MP, they would have recommended a 90-day suspension for him. As part of their
On 12 June, Carla Foster, 44, was sentenced to 28 months’ imprisonment at Stoke on Trent crown court for aborting her unborn baby using abortion pills after the legal cut-off point of 24 weeks. Here are the remarks made by the judge, the Hon. Mr Justice Pepperall, during her sentencing:
Boris Johnson has announced that he is resigning from Parliament ‘at least for now’, after the Privileges Committee recommended his suspension as an MP for ten days. The Committee had been investigating whether the former PM misled the Commons about parties in Downing Street. Now that he has stepped down, Boris will trigger a by-election in
Nine months after Boris Johnson left Downing Street, his list of resignation honours has today finally been finally published. Here is the full list of those who have received honours: Order of the Companions of Honour. Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Sir William Nigel Paul CashChair of the European Scrutiny Committee.
Prince Harry has finished his second day of giving evidence in the High Court. The Duke of Sussex is taking legal action against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) alleging that tabloid reporters broke the law to get stories about him. He was cross-examined by the Mirror Group’s barrister Andrew Green and then was asked questions by
Prince Harry is in the High Court today, being cross-examined as he sues the publisher of the Daily Mirror over alleged phone hacking (you can follow proceedings throughout this afternoon here). Here is his witness statement: I, PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX, of [address available to the trial judge] WILL STATE AS FOLLOWS: My Background My Relationship
Prince Harry has finished his first day being cross examined in the High Court as part of his case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). The Duke of Sussex – the first member of the royal family to give evidence in court in more than 130 years – says reporters used unlawful means, including phone hacking,
Boris Johnson has faced a three-hour grilling in front of the Privileges Committee, where he was quizzed about parties in Downing Street during the pandemic. The former PM is accused of lying to parliament when he told MPs that ‘the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times’. The cross-party committee, led by
This afternoon MPs will get the chance to register to vote on the ‘Stormont brake’ aspect of Rishi Sunak’s revised Brexit deal, with No. 10 treating this as a vote on the Windsor Framework as a whole. Labour have said that they will back the Conservatives in the voting lobbies so there is no danger
Jeremy Hunt is today unveiling his first Budget. He has told the Commons that his Budget will help deliver on Rishi Sunak’s five priorities that the Prime Minister set out in January: namely halving inflation, reducing the national debt and increasing growth. Hunt has reprised much of his Bloomberg speech from January with championing the
Below is an edited transcript of Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation speech, made this morning at Bute House. Coffee House readers may be interested to note that the words ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘my’ are used 153 times in the speech. ‘Scotland’ is only mentioned 11 times. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming along. I’m sorry to
In this week’s issue of The Spectator, Katy Balls reveals what Liz Truss would have done in her quest for growth had her mini-Budget not blown up. She would have gone on to launch an eight-point ‘autumn of action’. There were to be eight ‘follow-up moments’ revealing Truss and her Chancellor’s plans for supply-side reforms
Liz Truss has broken her three-month long silence since leaving No. 10 at the end of October. In a 4,000 word article for the Sunday Telegraph, she reflects for the first time on the mini-Budget, the challenges she faced within government and the mistakes she made in her 49-day premiership which made her the shortest-serving
More than half of Tory MPs now back Rishi Sunak in the race to become prime minister. Penny Mordaunt remains in the contest, but she has until 2 p.m. to persuade 100 Tory MPs to support her leadership bid. Here is who is backing whom: Rishi Sunak (197) 1. Crispin Blunt 2. Julie Marson 3. Richard
With nominations to be the Tory leader closing tomorrow afternoon, there are still just over 100 MPs to publicly say who they want to take over from Liz Truss. Here’s the list of those left to declare: Adam Afriyie, Windsor (2005) Adam Holloway, Gravesham (2005) Alberto Costa, South Leicestershire (2015) Alec Shelbrooke, Elmet and Rothwell
Following the disaster of last month’s mini-Budget, Liz Truss’s premiership is now hanging by a thread. The sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng and his replacement by Jeremy Hunt appears to have not placated many of Truss’s critics on the Tory benches. Veteran backbencher Crispin Blunt became the first elected member of her party to call for
The government won tonight’s opposition day debate on shale gas extraction, but only after confusion around whether it amounted to a vote of confidence or not. Amid scenes of carnage in the Commons, no Tory MPs defied the three-line whip to vote against Labour’s motion but some 40 did abstain. A full list of those
It’s day one of Tory conference and already the drumbeat of rebellion is filling the air. There was much to digest in last week’s mini-Budget but the measure that has attracted the most attention was the eye-catching plan to cut the top rate of tax from 45p to 40p. This morning Michael Gove attacked the
