Politics

Boris Johnson has been accused of presiding over a “culture of disregard for the rules” after a picture emerged of him hosting a virtual quiz flanked by two colleagues in Downing Street last Christmas. The image, obtained by the Sunday Mirror, shows the PM on screen in his office reading out questions for Number 10

Some staff at the Treasury had office drinks while England was in lockdown last year. The Times reported that around two dozen civil servants were present for the drinks on 25 November, 2020. The group had been working on the Autumn Spending Review, the Treasury said. UK could see one million infections – COVID latest

The government has been “presented with some very challenging new information” about the Omicron variant and will keep restrictions “under review”, Michael Gove has said after he chaired a meeting of the COBRA emergency committee. Mr Gove headed the talks with first ministers and deputy first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to discuss

At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Boris Johnson apologised after footage emerged of senior Number 10 staff joking and laughing about a Downing Street Christmas party last year - but told MPs he has been repeatedly “reassured” no such event occurred. The PM told MPs he was “furious” at the leaked video and had asked Cabinet

Boris Johnson’s claim he knew nothing about who was funding the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat has been contradicted by an investigation. The Electoral Commission has fined the party £17,800 for improperly declaring donations by Huntswood Associates used for the works at 11 Downing Street, where the PM lives. In its report, concluding an

Boris Johnson is facing mounting pressure from senior backbenchers over an alleged lockdown Downing Street Christmas party and the move to “Plan B” COVID restrictions. Conservative former chief whip Mark Harper led the criticism against the government as Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the Commons further measures were being brought in from Friday, including vaccine

Fewer than one in 10 people believe Number 10’s claim that no party took place in Downing Street last December during lockdown. An Opinium poll for Sky News found 64% think a party did take place, 9% said it did not take place and 27% did not know. This suggests the public is sceptical of

Boris Johnson will face a day of difficult questions after footage emerged of Number 10 officials joking and laughing about a Christmas party in Downing Street last year during a time of strict COVID restrictions. The prime minister is set to square off against Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs, where he could also

The Foreign Office’s top civil servant has admitted to MPs he was on holiday for nearly all of the UK’s evacuation effort in Afghanistan. Sir Philip Barton, who earns around £185,000 per year, was on annual leave – during which he spent time both in the UK and abroad – between 9 to 26 August

Damning claims from a whistleblower about failures during Britain’s evacuation from Afghanistan will be presented to MPs today. The government is accused of being unprepared for a huge number of cries for help from Afghans at risk because of their links with the UK. Some of those Afghans have since been murdered, it is alleged.

The FDA union has lost a High Court challenge over Boris Johnson’s decision to back Priti Patel following accusations that she bullied staff. The prime minister decided last year that the home secretary did not breach the ministerial code by bullying members of her team. This was despite an investigation by the then independent adviser

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has told Sky News he is to call in police after claims that drug abuse is rife in the Houses of Parliament. Sir Lindsay is demanding a drugs crackdown – including sniffer dogs prowling the corridors – amid growing evidence of cannabis and cocaine being used openly. Allegations include a

It would have been “wrong” for a Christmas party to have been held in Downing Street last year, deputy prime minister Dominic Raab has admitted – but he hit out at “unsubstantiated claims” of a festive bash in Number 10. The Metropolitan Police have said they are currently considering complaints from Labour MPs that Prime

Scotland Yard is “considering” complaints from two Labour MPs about Christmas parties held in Downing Street last year that allegedly broke coronavirus regulations. The Metropolitan Police said that while it does not routinely look into “retrospective breaches of the COVID-19 regulations”, it would “consider the correspondence received”. Backbenchers Neil Coyle and Barry Gardiner have asked

The speeding up of COVID booster jabs in England will happen no later than 13 December, NHS bosses have said. From that date, or earlier, the online booking system for coronavirus vaccines will be updated in order to allow people to book their booster jab three months after their second dose. It comes after Prime

The Metropolitan Police has not received any complaints about an alleged party in Downing Street last year when indoor socialising was banned under COVID restrictions, the force’s commissioner has said. It has been reported this week that a large party was held on 18 December last year where around “40 or 50” people were crammed

Downing Street have confirmed “in-person events” such as parties will be held in the lead up to the festive period as a Cabinet minister urged Britons to “keep calm and carry on with your Christmas plans”. A Number 10 spokesperson told Sky News celebrations will be held across Whitehall in the run up to Christmas

The Conservatives have held on to the southeast London seat of Old Bexley and Sidcup after a by-election prompted by the death of MP James Brokenshire in October. Mr Brokenshire, who represented the area since 2010 until his death from lung cancer, had held the seat with a majority of almost 19,000. Thursday’s by-election, however,

Former cabinet ministers who remain in parliament earn an average of £162,000 on top of their MP salary from the private sector in their first year after leaving government, Sky News research has found. The figure, arrived at by analysing data from the register of members’ interests between 2015 and 2021, excludes earnings from media

Number 10 has stressed that Christmas parties should not be cancelled and there are no rules limiting their size after conflicting comments from ministers and officials in recent days. The discovery of the Omicron variant of coronavirus has prompted speculation about how Britons should be approaching festive celebrations this year. As scientists work to assess