As the clock struck the hour for Prorogation yesterday, a silence fell over the House of Lords that felt heavier than the usual afternoon lull. For the final time, the red benches were occupied by the 92 hereditary peers whose families have,
In the high-stakes theatre of international diplomacy, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been playing a losing hand. After initially cosying up to the US President and rolling out the red carpet for a second state visit last year and basking in the
Yesterday, Sir Philip Barton, the former permanent under-secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), delivered a series of startling revelations to the Foreign Affairs Committee about the appointment process of Peter Mandelson. In highly charged session, Sir Philip laid bare
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer finds himself yet again facing a bruising day in Parliament, over his decision to appoint disgraced peer Lord Mandelson to the role of US Ambassador. The crisis will reach a fever pitch tomorrow, after the Speaker Lindsay
It started with a throwaway comment from one Labour MP to me about a month ago, “if you really want to get on under Starmer, you have to be a claimant lawyer”. What do you mean, I asked, “The PM likes people
The political landscape surrounding the Assisted Dying Bill appears to be undergoing a seismic shift as the legislation moves toward its final day of debate in the House of Lords tomorrow. What was once presented, some might say spun by its proponents
Yesterday in Parliament, hidden beneath the noise of the Mandelson scandal, or “vetting-gate” as one MP referred to it to me, was an important debate on whether to ban social media for children under the age of 16. Once again, ministers in
The political landscape surrounding the Assisted Dying Bill appears to be undergoing a seismic shift as the legislation moves toward its final day of debate in the House of Lords tomorrow. What was once presented, some might say spun by its proponents
I have always considered myself one of the good ones. In the quiet, ongoing battle against environmental degradation, I believed I was holding the line with a degree of distinction. My home is a testament to this commitment; several years ago, I
If you listen closely enough to Westminster this week, you can hear more than the usual hum of aides, advisers and overworked officials. You can hear the sound of a government that keeps insisting it is calm and disciplined while everyone around
At first glance, the headline figures released yesterday looked like a rare bit of good news for the Treasury. If you only skimmed the top line, you might think the labour market is holding up better than expected. Unemployment fell unexpectedly to
The atmosphere in the House of Commons this Monday reached a fever pitch as Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced a wall of condemnation over the security vetting scandal involving Lord Mandelson. In a session marked by raw anger and historic ejections, the