Politics

Carillion have today been described as "callous" after they sent staff emails on Saturday simply telling them not to bother turning up for work on Monday. The official reciever this morning confirmed a further 452 posts had been made redundant. According to staff they were notified by email at the weekend which advised them not to turn up to work. Rehana Azam, GMB National Secretary said: "Loyal Carillion staff are being treated with utter contempt by PWC. “The receiver told the...

Theresa May has put safeguarding her position from hardline Tory Brexiters above safeguarding a good outcome in Brexit negotiations by committing to taking Britain out of any prospect of a customs union with the EU - however impossible a position that may be. A Number 10 source insisted: “it is not our policy to be in the customs union. It is not our policy to be in a customs union.”  The statement was a bizarre U-turn after Theresa May pressed...

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of central London today to call on the government to invest more money in the NHS. NHS staff, union workers, activists, MPs, and celebrities took part in the march from Gower Street to Downing Street to call on Theresa May and Health and Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt to take action on the current NHS crisis. Last November, NHS chief Simon Stevens asked the government for an extra £4 billion but...

In an interview on her trip to China Theresa May told Sky political editor Faisal Islam that she will take Britain out of the Customs Union - even if that does make Britain poorer - as her own government’s leaked studies have shown. The Prime Minister was keen to stress the trade agreements she had secured on her visit for British businesses, but the Sky political presenter immediately pointed out that these were agreements that had been made with Britain...

Boots the chemist is charging the National Health Service obscene amounts of money for products that sell for a fraction of the price in-store. A Times investigation has revealed that the high street chain has charged the NHS as much as £1,500 for single pots of moisturiser that others have sold for less than £2. Boots sent a £1,579 bill to the health service for one 500ml tub of a specially made cream for patients with skin problems in 2016, the...

Steve Baker was forced to formally apologise to the House this morning for entertaining a conspiracy theory put forward by Jacob Rees-Mogg. The Brexit minister said he was sorry for not challenging a damaging claim that Treasury officials are attempting to influence Brexit policy. Mr Baker said on Thursday the accusation was "essentially correct", leading to headlines such as the one below in right-leaning press outlets. But he told MPs the next morning: "As I explained yesterday, I considered what...

@BenGelblum As Tory donors turn against Theresa May and she runs out of Conservative colleagues leaping to her defence, one of her ministers has been rebuked by the Chief Tory whip for asking an obvious but embarrassing question: "whether a government could legitimately lead a country along a path that the evidence and rational consideration indicate would be damaging." If the facts suggest Brexit will leave the country poorer, should Theresa May still be pretending otherwise and pursue a course...

@BenGelblum With Britain's police budgets set to lose £700m a year, amid rising crime, and yet more cuts planned for border forces, parliament today heard of the tragic consequences of less money to fight a growing drug-fuelled gang crime epidemic. Knife crime is not being driven by minors and teenagers. It is being driven by organised criminals exploiting children, arming our young people and fighting turf wars over a £12bn drugs market, Tottenham David Lammy told the House of Commons,...

Feisty Emily Thornberry stood in at PMQs today, for Jeremy Corbyn, with David Lidington standing in for the PM as she in China. Thornberry said that the DUP and Tories were a “coalition of cavemen” because of their opposition to lower the voting age to 16, which all other main parties support. A concern for the Conservative Party is that 16-18 year-olds might be less likely to vote for their party. As the lively debate continued Thornberry said there was...