Around 43 per cent of state-funded schools now operate as academies, educating over half of pupils in England across over 2,700 academy trusts, and the Department for Education (DfE) aims for all state-funded schools to become part of a family of academy trusts. But in a report today the public accounts committee (PAC) says a…
UK inflation has rocketed to a new 30-year high , according to fresh data from the ONS this morning. Figures released this morning show that the consumer price index soared to 6.2 per cent this February, up from 5.5 per cent in January and higher than the forecasted 6 per cent forecast. This marks the…
A minister has said the government cannot stop the impromptu sacking of 800 staff at UK-based ferry firm P&O. Armed forces minister James Heappey descried the company’s behaviour as “disgraceful” but said the state had little ability to intervene. “I think that is the reality,” he explained in an interview with BBC Breakfast. “The Government…
The foreign secretary has claimed that western powers failed to fence in Putin as they “let down” their guard in the wake of the Cold War. Truss told the Sun newspaper that Vladimir Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea was not responded to adequately as the West “let down our guard” following the demise of the…
UK residents who offer to host people fleeing Ukraine will undergo criminal record checks, the health secretary. Sajid Javid said the UK needed to “get the right balance” between aiding refugees from the Russian invasion and efficiency. The Bromsgrove MP said the government did not plan to enforce a cap on numbers. “With the hosts…
The Pentagon has rejected Poland’s claims it would send a fleet of fighter jets to Ukraine. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby shot down Poland’s claims it planned to send 28 jets to an American airbase in Germany — where they would henceforth be sent to Ukraine. “We will continue to consult with Poland and our other…
The Independent Expert Panel (IEP) has today published a report reprimanding John Bercow, the former Speaker of the House of Commons, for breaching Parliament’s bullying and harassment policy. The IEP decided that his conduct was so serious that he should never be allowed a pass to the Parliamentary estate; and that if he were still…
A ban on Russian oil and gas in Britain could “quite possibly” go ahead, the minister for Europe and North America suggested this morning. However, James Cleverly went to argue that it would be “more significant” if Europe at large were to increase efforts to decouple itself from Russian energy reliance. “From the UK’s point…
