Civil servants are “woefully unprepared” for a seismic transformation of Whitehall under new plans the prime minister wants to implement. The sweeping reforms – which include merging, abolishing and creating new government departments – are just a “tiny fraction” of wide-scale plans to shake-up the civil service. Downing Street is set to embark on the […]
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Anti-terrorism officers, high profile politicians and famous celebrities have had their home addresses published online along with more than 1,000 recipients of the New Year Honours. The Cabinet Office has been accused of endangering lives through the accidental publication of details which include house numbers and postcodes and said it is investigating how it happened […]
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The monarch returned to parliament for the second time in nine weeks to deliver what Boris Johnson claims is the “most radical” Queen’s Speech “in a generation”. Brexit, the NHS and terrorist sentencing – three key issues from the election campaign – dominated the speech which also laid out plans for constitutional reform and measures […]
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MPs return to the Commons today (Monday) following the Conservative’s seismic election victory with a number of the country’s key institutions in the new government’s firing line for reform or facing the scrap altogether. While Boris Johnson will welcome 109 new Tory MPs, the prime minister is set to make the most of his 80 […]
Continue ReadingLabour leader Jeremy Corbyn says his party would axe formal tests for English primary schools, known as Sats. He claimed they left many children in tears or made them vomit with stress and said scrapping the tests would be one of the first acts of any Labour government. The pledge was met with cheers from […]
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The NHS is to offer patients in England a ‘gene testing’ service that will predict their chances of developing a range of illnesses. They will be charged for the gene sequencing service and be expected to share their data anonymously with scientists afterwards. The gene health report will forecast their chances of developing conditions such […]
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Rail unions are to blame for spiralling fares due to their excessive pay demands, the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said today. As commuters were hit by a 3.1 per cent rise on their return to work today, Mr Grayling said unions demanded ‘higher pay rises than anyone else’ and went on strike to get them. […]
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The future re-nationalisation of Britain’s railways cannot be ruled out, says the man leading a review into the future of the industry. Former British Airways chief executive Keith Williams says that ‘all options are on the table’ as part of his year-long review. Williams, who was also deputy chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, will […]
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Council leaders from across the country have called for an emergency injection of cash to avoid a financial crisis caused by years of austerity cuts. Almost 80 Labour council leaders have written to Communities Secretary James Brokenshire warning of a ‘catastrophic’ collapse if the cuts continue. They are demanding that additional planned funding cuts of […]
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The new Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd walked into a row over poverty with a United Nations expert within days of taking up her post. She had criticised a report by UN expert Philip Alston that blamed Government austerity policies for inflicting “misery” on thousands of UK citizens. Mr Alston, the UN special rapporteur […]
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