Politics

Labour has called for an investigation into the appointment of Liz Truss’s chief of staff, after it was revealed he was questioned as a witness in an FBI bribery inquiry and was initially being paid by Number 10 via his lobbying company. Mark Fullbrook refused to answer questions about the FBI investigation when tracked down

The Bank of England has confirmed it intervened to stabilise the pensions market following the chancellor’s mini-budget as multiple firms which schemes were reliant on faced the prospect of being wound up within hours. Responding to a letter from Treasury Select Committee chairman Mel Stride asking for greater clarity on why the Bank intervened at

The plane flying Liz Truss to meet the Queen at Balmoral for her appointment as prime minister a month ago was hit by turbulence in bad weather and struggled to land at Aberdeen airport. The aircraft’s helpless circling in mid-air was seen at the time as a bad omen for her premiership. And after a

Liz Truss vowed to “get Britain through the tempest” and insisted “everyone will benefit” from the result of her economic policies in her keynote party conference speech during which she was heckled by climate activists. Addressing Conservative members at the event in Birmingham, as she battles to save her premiership, the prime minister acknowledged that

In power for just 28 days – and for 10 of them politics was paused following the death of the Queen – it has been the worst possible start for Liz Truss. A (mini) budget unveiling £45bn of tax cuts without a fiscal framework, precipitating a £65bn emergency bond buying programme by the Bank of

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has attacked Tory MPs who she claims “staged a coup” against the prime minister over her plan to scrap the 45p tax rate. Speaking at a Telegraph event at the Conservative Party conference, Ms Braverman said she had been “in favour” of the policy and was “disappointed” by the government’s U-turn.

A law allowing the deportation of illegal migrants and effectively banning them from claiming asylum could be introduced by the home secretary as she unveils plans for another “crack down” on Channel crossings. In her first major speech to the Conservative Party conference, Suella Braverman is expected to set out proposals for legislation that will

The first rule of U-turns, as a veteran former cabinet minister told me last week, is to do them quickly. Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng decided late last night to cut their losses, both saying this morning that the policy of abolishing the 45p rate for those earning more than £150,000 had become a “distraction”.

A little under four weeks as prime minister and it couldn’t really have gone worse for Liz Truss. A mini-budget that precipitated a run on the pound (it has rallied a bit since), a £65bn emergency intervention by the Bank of England to prop up pension funds, and the withdrawal of nearly 1,000 mortgage deals

Kwasi Kwarteng is facing calls for an official inquiry following a report that he attended a private champagne reception with hedge fund managers following his mini-budget. The Sunday Times newspaper reported that the chancellor joined the gathering in Chelsea on 23 September and was said to have been “egged on” to pursue his plan of

Liz Truss is set to face a wretched week at the Tory Party conference after the disastrous reaction to Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax-cutting mini-budget. The prime minister arrived in Birmingham on Saturday looking buoyant just hours before yet another injurious poll was released. Hopes to be greeted by an adoring host of members have likely been

In his book on the failure of Ronald Reagan’s economic revolution, the US president’s one-time guru David Stockman wrote that the only thing worse than short-termism in politics is ideological hubris in government. The so-called “father of Reaganomics”, Stockman was a key part of an economic overhaul that has some eerie echoes of the current

Liz Truss has for the first time acknowledged that “there has been disruption” to the UK economy following last week’s mini budget. Since the chancellor’s announcement of £45bn in tax cuts the value of the pound has plummeted, nearly half of mortgages have been pulled and the Bank of England launched a £65bn bail-out to

The mini-budget “seemed designed to provoke the markets” when they were already vulnerable, a backbench Tory MP has said, in the latest criticism of the new government from its own side. Writing in The House magazine, Waveney MP Peter Aldous joined the criticism of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng‘s mini-budget last week. He highlighted the

Labour has surged to record leads in multiple polls in the wake of the economic turmoil after the government’s mini-budget. A YouGov/Times poll placed Labour 33 points ahead of the Conservatives, believed to be the largest lead for Labour in any recorded poll since 1998, when the-then PM Tony Blair was enjoying his “honeymoon period”.

Liz Truss has surfaced today after a week out of the public gaze to insist she believes her mini-budget was right, and “global forces” are to blame for the financial situation. In a round of regional radio interviews ahead of her party conference, Liz Truss’s pre-prepared answers struggled against some tough questioning. “Are you ashamed

Liz Truss is a “danger” to the economy and has “lost control” after the fallout from the government’s mini-budget, Sir Keir Starmer has told Sky News. Speaking to political editor Beth Rigby, the Labour leader stopped short of calling for the PM and her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, to quit, saying it was a “secondary” issue.

Sir Keir Starmer has called for a recall of parliament to discuss the financial market turmoil following Friday’s mini-budget. Speaking to reporters, the Labour leader said the move by the Bank of England to launch a temporary bond-buying programme to prevent “material risk” to UK financial stability was “very serious”. Politics Hub: ‘Growing movement’ for

Labour will tomorrow unveil plans to ensure every primary school child in England has access to fully funded breakfast clubs under a government led by Sir Keir Starmer. Announcing the scheme on the final day of the party’s conference in Liverpool, Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, will say the policy will be paid for

Keir Starmer has announced that a Labour government will create Great British Energy – a new, publicly owned company that will generate renewable sources “to cut bills, create jobs and deliver energy independence”. The role of GB Energy will be to provide additional capacity alongside the private sector, to establish the UK as a clean