The cost of living soared 5.1% in the 12 months leading up to November 2021, up from 4.2% in October, and the highest hike since September 2011. Surging costs of transport and energy were mostly responsible for the rise, which far surpassed forecasts of a 4.7% jump, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).…
Today, the Foreign Affairs Committee publishes written evidence submitted to the Committee by a whistleblower who worked on the Afghanistan Crisis Response within the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). The evidence will form part of the Foreign Affairs Committee’s inquiry into the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The whistleblower, Raphael Marshall, worked for the FCDO as a Desk Officer.…
With drug related deaths said to be at record highs, the government is today launching a 10 year drug strategy for England and Wales. The new strategy will combine greater investment in treatment programmes, both in the health service and the prison service, alongside a tougher crack down on drug supply. It also contains fresh…
Social care minister Gillian Keegan has claimed the government’s new white paper on adult social care provides an “ambitious 10-year vision”. Ms Keegan told MPs that many of the sector’s issues are so problematic “that successive governments over decades have decided to duck them rather than deal with them but this Government is determined to…
Government proposals to forcibly push back people attempting to cross the Channel should be scrapped if the Government cannot show they are compatible with the UK’s human rights obligations, a report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights has found. Last week 27 people died trying to cross the Channel into England. Over 26,000 people have made the perilous journey to the UK…
Following the deaths of over 20 migrants crossing the channel yesterday, home secretary Priti Patel told the Commons that “yesterday was a moment that many of us had feared for many years.” Patel reiterated her belief that harsher border control was needed, saying: “More than 20,000 have been stopped this year… We have dismantled 17…
The home secretary has told MPs that she has reiterated the British government’s offer to kickstart joint patrols in French waters in order to prevent the crossing of small boats. In a statement his afternoon, Priti Patel told MPs that she has spoken with the French interior minister Gérald Darmanin in order to approach a…
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will today launch a revamped British development finance institution that will invest billions in infrastructure and technology in low and middle income countries across Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. The government says the new British International Investment (BII), will be a key part of its wider plans to mobilise up to…
Today, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, leading barristers and over 40 women’s charities have condemned the government’s Nationality and Borders Bill (the Bill) as “harmful and discriminatory” to women who have survived sexual and gender-based violence. The legal opinion of Stephanie Harrison QC and barristers Ubah Dirie, Emma Fitzsimons…
