In the red corneer, the wounded outgoing foreign secretary Dominic Raab. in the blue corner, his replacement, the high-flying Lizz Truss. The prize up for grabs? A 17th-century country house! Typically, Chevening is used as the private residence of the foreign secretary. Raab, furious at being demoted during Boris Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle last week, has…
BBC chairman Richard Sharp today defended the corporation’s recruitment processes, amid claims a board member with links to the Conservative government attempted to block Jess Brammar’s appointment as executive news director. Sharp told the digital, culture, media, and sport committee that Sir Robbie Gibb was within his rights to raise concerns of “reputational importance”. Gibb…
There’s a good chance if you’re on social media that you’ve come across an internet bot. These bots take the guise of normal accounts but are either generated or adapted by computers to post out a vast amount of content. “There’s a kind of spectrum, if you like,” explains Helen Margetts, director of the Public…
MPs have doubled down in support of the Covid-19 vaccine, during a Westminster Hall debate on vaccine discrimination. An e-petition that received over 347,000 signatures, called on the government to outlaw discrimination against people who choose not to have the vaccine. Labour MP Jack Dromey MP urged people who are worried about the vaccine to speak…
The Green Party is uniquely positioned within UK politics. Its voice has always been significant in putting climate change on the political agenda. Today, the party finds itself in uncharted territory. As the climate emergency grows more serious by the day, the Greens could be afforded the political space to cement themselves as a serious political force in England…
Professor Chris Whitty and US rapper Nicki Minaj are at the epicentre of a bizarre feud over Covid-19 vaccines. Earlier in the week, Nicki Minaj tweeted an unsubstantiated story suggesting the Covid-19 vaccine made people impotent. Professor Whitty said the people who were “peddling untruths” should be “deeply ashamed”. In response, the US rapper appeared…
MPs on both sides of the chamber delivered passionate speeches in the Commons today during a debate on proposed reforms to the criminal justice system to better deal with public disasters. The debate centred on the Hillsborough disaster. Maria Eagle, calling for an independent public advocate to be established, closed her opening remarks by saying:…
Boris Johnson has outlined Britain’s new military pact, named Aukus, with the United States and Australia today in the Commons. While Johnson stated that the pact is “not intended to be adversarial towards any other power”, he dodged former prime minister Theresa May’s question regarding what Britain would do in the face of a Chinese…
MPs clashed during an opposition day debate today regarding Labour’s proposal to set up a joint committee to investigate the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Lisa Nandy brought forward the bill, saying: “Two decades of work: the transformation of the economy through landmine clearance, the improvements to health care, media…
Labour’s proposition to keep the £20 universal credit uplift passed today by 253 votes to 0. However, the government is still expected to get rid of the uplift later this year. Following the vote count, Labour MP Angela Eagle said: “It was once the case, Madam Deputy Speaker, that when governments lost opposition votes, they…
