Political news

• Why does Theresa May hate making decisions? Because they all go wrong | John Crace

  09-07-2018 23:40
  At the weekend, everyone was taken aback that the prime minister had actually done something. Then the surprise wore offIt’s now clear why Theresa May is so averse to making decisions. On the rare occasions she does come up with a plan, it invariably seems to go hopelessly wrong. Surprising her cabinet with a new Brexit customs plan that nobody else had seen and daring any ministers who disagreed with it to resign and take the taxi ride of shame home from Chequers had initially seemed to p
  
  Read more

• Boris Johnson leaves his home after resigning as foreign secretary – video

  09-07-2018 23:30
  Boris Johnson leaves his official residence in Carlton Gardens along with his wife on Monday evening, hours after resigning as foreign secretary. Johnson had been expected to host a lunch at the western Balkans summit in central London, but had not shown up. 'We’re still waiting for our host,' Germany’s Europe minister complained on Twitter. He also failed to appear at an emergency Cobra meeting on the Salisbury poisoning, just round the corner on WhitehallMay's plan 'sticks in
  
  Read more

• Theresa May loses Boris Johnson but faces down Brexit rebels – for now

  09-07-2018 23:23
  Tories warned to fall into line or risk handing keys of No 10 to Labour leader
  Politics live – news and reaction to Boris Johnson’s resignationTheresa May has warned hardline Brexiters to fall into line or risk handing power to Jeremy Corbyn after Boris Johnson became the second cabinet minister to resign in 24 hours, claiming Britain was “headed for the status of colony”.After a dramatic day of twists and turns in Westminster, the prime minister addressed Conservative MP
  
  Read more

• Jeremy Hunt replaces Boris Johnson as foreign secretary

  09-07-2018 22:20
  Former health secretary takes over at Foreign Office, with Matt Hancock replacing himPolitics live – news and reaction after Boris Johnson’s resignation
  Jeremy Hunt has been named as foreign secretary to replace Boris Johnson, one of three men who supported remain during the referendum campaign who were promoted in an evening reshuffle.The health secretary was called to Downing Street to be offered the job by Theresa May after a tumultuous day of resignations in response to her soft
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Jeremy Hunt named UK foreign secretary

  09-07-2018 22:16 via ft.com
  Hunt replaces Boris Johnson who resigned on Monday in protest over the government’s Brexit plan
  
  Read more

• Boris Johnson tells PM she is suffocating Brexit 'dream'

  09-07-2018 22:06 via bbc.co.uk
  The PM says she was "surprised" by the foreign secretary's resignation after the cabinet had backed her Brexit plan.
  
  Read more

• The path Boris Johnson took to resigning as foreign secretary

  09-07-2018 21:29
  After bouncing from crisis to crisis over the past few months, the foreign secretary has gone from the cabinet At noon on Monday, speculation started to swirl around Westminster that Boris Johnson was about to follow David Davis out of the door. The foreign secretary, Theresa May’s biggest cabinet beast, had gone missing in action.Johnson had been expected to host a lunch at the western Balkans summit in central London, but had not shown up. “We’re still waiting for our host,&r
  
  Read more

• The Guardian view on Boris Johnson’s resignation: good riddance to a national embarrassment | Editorial

  09-07-2018 21:28
  Theresa May tried to hold her party together over Brexit. Two senior resignations mean she now has to win the battle against the leaver fanaticsTheresa May has been prime minister for just two years. Until Monday she had managed, often at sapping cost, to hold the Conservatives together behind a Brexit strategy that combined unsustainable contradictions, studied vagueness and some abruptly dangerous red lines. Last week at Chequers, Mrs May persuaded her cabinet to blur some of the red lines, cl
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Boris Johnson's resignation letter and May's reply in full

  09-07-2018 21:12 via bbc.co.uk
  Boris Johnson says the prime minister's plans would mean Britain taking on "the status of a colony".
  
  Read more

• Full text of Boris Johnson’s resignation letter — annotated

  09-07-2018 21:07 via ft.com
  The full text of his letter explaining his decision to quit as foreign secretary, with annotations
  
  Read more

• Theresa May vows to fight removal attempts after Boris Johnson quits

  09-07-2018 20:44 via ft.com
  Foreign secretary follows Davis out of cabinet with stinging letter
  
  Read more

• Yet again, Boris Johnson has exposed himself as a self-serving charlatan | Ian Birrell

  09-07-2018 20:37
  The foreign secretary’s resignation shows he is lacking in any principles in his determination to get the top jobThe resignation of Boris Johnson as foreign secretary serves as a perfect metaphor for the tragedy and hypocrisy of Brexit. Here is the Old Etonian who placed himself at the helm of the people’s uprising against the establishment, but only after hesitating about which side to join.He once posed as a liberal, but now positions himself as a populist leader of hard-right nati
  
  Read more

• Never mind cabinet power struggles – the Brexiteers’ vision is chilling | Polly Toynbee

  09-07-2018 20:26
  They know May’s plan won’t survive a first brush with the EU. The endgame is to crash out, and a neo-Thatcherite revolutionT he great decades-long ideological rift in the Tory party is breaking out at its most ferocious. No surprise that it is beyond Theresa May – or any leader – to bridge this chasm. Yet nothing is what it seems. Nobody says what they mean. The Brexiteers themselves have never honestly dared to spell out their true vision, so they cheated
  
  Read more

• Universal credit row: DWP official has 'full confidence' in NAO

  09-07-2018 20:20
  Permanent secretary says DWP has good relationship with National Audit Office despite watchdog’s critical reportThe top government official overseeing universal credit has told MPs he has full confidence in the National Audit Office (NAO), the public spending watchdog that recently published a savagely critical report into the welfare benefit.Since it was published in June, current and former ministers have sought to undermine the report, which concluded that universal credit failed to del
  
  Read more

• Theresa May weathers initial tumult after Boris Johnson resigns

  09-07-2018 20:09 via ft.com
  Parliamentary support for Brexit plan narrows as ministers move to backbenches
  
  Read more

• Full texts of Boris Johnson's resignation letter and PM's reply

  09-07-2018 20:08
  Foreign secretary resigns, telling Theresa May that he can not accept her Brexit planMay’s plan ‘sticks in the throat’, says Boris Johnson as he resigns over Brexit
  Theresa May would fight any no-confidence vote, says No 10 – politics live
  Here’s the full text of Boris Johnson’s letter to the prime minister:Dear TheresaIt is more than two years since the British people voted to leave the European Union on an unambiguous and categorical promise that if they did
  
  Read more

• Martin Rowson on David Davis's resignation – cartoon

  09-07-2018 20:01
  Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Boris Johnson resigns as Foreign Secretary

  09-07-2018 20:01 via bbc.co.uk
  Boris Johnson becomes the second senior cabinet minister to quit within 24 hours.
  
  Read more

• May's plan 'sticks in the throat', says Boris Johnson as he resigns over Brexit

  09-07-2018 19:48
  Senior Conservative becomes third minister to walk out over ‘common rulebook’ proposal
  Brexit resignations - latest developments
  Boris Johnson has quit as foreign secretary, claiming in his resignation letter that the UK was headed “for the status of a colony” if Theresa May’s soft Brexit plans were adopted.The leading Brexiter said that he tried to support the line agreed at Chequers on Friday but while the “government now has a song to sing” he could n
  
  Read more

• British minister blames Russia for death of woman

  09-07-2018 19:47 via ft.com
  Defence secretary Gavin Williamson accuses Moscow
  
  Read more

• Labour poised to vote down Brexit deal

  09-07-2018 19:43
  Party says May’s agreement must meet Keir Starmer’s six tests as Jeremy Corbyn tears into PM’s strategy Labour could be prepared to vote against Theresa May’s final Brexit deal, even if it means walking through voting lobbies with Conservative hard Brexiters, with party sources insisting the government cannot force a no-deal situation. The party has said it will vote against the final Brexit deal unless it meets shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer’s six tests on pr
  
  Read more

• EU reacts with dismay to British Brexit chaos

  09-07-2018 19:43 via ft.com
  Officials stress difficulty of agreeing deal by October and warn of mounting uncertainty
  
  Read more

• Jared O'Mara issues apology for comments posted online in his 20s

  09-07-2018 19:41
  Labour MP says he was in a bad place and used slurs to deflect from low self-esteemThe Labour MP Jared O’Mara has said he is “ashamed of the man I was” as he apologised for sexist and homophobic comments he posted on social media in his early 20s.
  The Sheffield Hallam MP was suspended from the Labour party last year after a series of postings – many dating back over a number of years – came to light, but he was readmitted earlier this month after receiving a formal
  
  Read more

• Theresa May now faces the second Battle of Brexit

  09-07-2018 19:32 via ft.com
  The resignations of Johnson and Davis leave government fighting for an exit plan
  
  Read more

• Dominic Raab: 'class act' Brexiter trusted by Tory MPs

  09-07-2018 19:24
  Can new Brexit secretary sell Theresa May’s plan to Brussels while keeping MPs on side?• Follow the latest political development in our live blogDavid Davis always claimed his training as an SAS reservist helped him in Brexit negotiations. If being a skilled fighter is a prerequisite for one of the toughest jobs in politics, then in his replacement Theresa May has found her man.Dominic Raab, the new Brexit secretary, has a black belt in karate. Davis, when shadow home secretary, tells
  
  Read more

• Few at Foreign Office will mourn Boris Johnson’s departure

  09-07-2018 18:58
  Distracted and discourteous, Johnson should never been asked to be foreign secretaryFollow the latest political developments - liveIt is a reflection on Boris Johnson’s tenure as foreign secretary that he managed to blow up the Foreign Office’s big symbolic effort of 2018 designed to show the UK will remain an active participant in European affairs after Brexit. Related: Boris Johnson resigns as foreign secretary over May's Brexit plansContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Theresa May’s Brexit strategy has failed. Parliament must take the lead | Keir Starmer

  09-07-2018 17:58
  The resignations of David Davis and Boris Johnson show the Conservative party is more divided than everThe resignation of David Davis was about the principle of the Chequers agreement. The resignation of Boris Johnson is about ambition. But both highlight the deep political fracture that lies at the heart of Theresa May’s broken government. Related: David Davis as caretaker prime minister? Don’t rule it out | Katy BallsContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Corbyn mocks PM's cabinet crisis

  09-07-2018 17:58 via bbc.co.uk
  Theresa May's recent comments about restored "cabinet responsibility" drew laughs in the House of Commons.
  
  Read more

• Government halts vaginal mesh surgery in NHS hospitals

  09-07-2018 17:51
  Suspension ordered in England to avoid further risk of ‘life-changing injuries’ to womenThe government has accepted the use of vaginal mesh implants to treat complications after childbirth should be stopped immediately to prevent further risk of “life-changing and life-threatening injuries” to women. It would effectively suspend the use of vaginal mesh implants in NHS hospitals, which would represent a major victory for campaigners. It follows an independent inquiry, orde
  
  Read more

• David Davis as caretaker prime minister? Don’t rule it out | Katy Balls

  09-07-2018 17:36
  The legacy of the former Brexit secretary isn’t a glorious one, but we may see him back again – in an even more powerful roleFor all the chaos David Davis’s resignation as Brexit secretary late on Sunday night has brought, it was unsurprising for several reasons. First, the Conservative MP had threatened to quit so many times that the return on bets predicting it was low – as one Tory MP lamented to me this morning. This is, after all, the second Conservative leader he ha
  
  Read more

• UKIP councillor murder trial: Stephen Searle had affair

  09-07-2018 17:34 via bbc.co.uk
  A trial hears a former Royal Marine had an affair with his son's partner and strangled his wife.
  
  Read more

• Laughter in Commons as Theresa May pays tribute to Boris Johnson's 'passion' – video

  09-07-2018 17:27
  Opposition MPs can be heard laughing as the prime minister pays tribute to Boris Johnson's 'passion' in promoting a global Britain to the world. Johnson resigned as foreign secretary, becoming the third minister in 24 hours to walk out of the government rather than back Theresa May’s plans for a soft BrexitBoris Johnson quits as foreign secretary over May's Brexit plans Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• 'Boris seeking attention yet again': readers on Johnson's resignation

  09-07-2018 17:24
  Here’s how you reacted to Boris Johnson resigning as foreign secretaryMay’s plans to call bullshit on the Brexiteers worked well for about two days, until David Davis and Johnson suddenly remembered they had principles (or could advance their careers) by resigning. Davis was utterly useless anyway, and had been phoning it in for months (four hours of meetings since the start of this year, are you having a laugh?), but this more opportunism from Boris, whose stock has dramatically low
  
  Read more

• Theresa May gives Brexit statement to Commons

  09-07-2018 17:21 via bbc.co.uk
  Theresa May says the two models on offer from the EU over Brexit are "simply not acceptable".
  
  Read more

• Brexiteer-in-chief

  09-07-2018 17:05 via bbc.co.uk
  The foreign secretary has quit over Theresa May's Brexit stance - he has long been a thorn in her side.
  
  Read more

• Brexit plan hangs in balance as Davis and Johnson resign

  09-07-2018 16:48 via ft.com
  Dominic Raab takes on role of managing UK’s exit from EU
  
  Read more

• Boris Johnson quits as pressure on Theresa May mounts

  09-07-2018 16:29 via ft.com
  Foreign secretary follows David Davis in resigning from cabinet
  
  Read more

• New Brexit secretary is a leading Tory Eurosceptic

  09-07-2018 16:22 via ft.com
  Dominic Raab is a former lawyer and diplomat who was once rebuked by Theresa May
  
  Read more

• Dominic Raab

  09-07-2018 16:20 via bbc.co.uk
  A look at the career highs and lows of the new Brexit secretary.
  
  Read more

• Boris Johnson resigns as UK foreign secretary amid Brexit row

  09-07-2018 16:05 via ft.com
  Exit follows departure of David Davis as UK minister negotiating EU divorce
  
  Read more

• Dominic Raab replaces David Davis as Brexit secretary

  09-07-2018 15:56 via bbc.co.uk
  Dominic Raab is given key role after David Davis says PM's Brexit plan is a "compromise too far".
  
  Read more

• Nigel Farage criticised over photo with protected shark

  09-07-2018 15:39 via bbc.co.uk
  "Depressed over Brexit. Went fishing," he posts alongside a photo of himself holding the protected species.
  
  Read more

• UK stops short of 2040 ban on petrol and diesel vehicles

  09-07-2018 15:29 via ft.com
  Government publishes its Road to Zero strategy
  
  Read more

• Chequers pact lacks a Commons majority

  09-07-2018 14:51 via ft.com
  Davis resignation has lit touchpaper for deeper rebellion by Brexiter Tories
  
  Read more

• Westminster turmoil leaves markets little moved

  09-07-2018 14:21 via ft.com
  Coming months will challenge investors’ expectations of an orderly Brexit
  
  Read more

• Labour AM Passmore faces Senedd ban over breath test

  09-07-2018 13:28 via bbc.co.uk
  Labour AM Rhianon Passmore was driving to her mother's house after drinking three glasses of wine.
  
  Read more

• Dominic Raab named Brexit secretary in cabinet reshuffle

  09-07-2018 12:34
  Pro-Brexit former housing minister promoted after David Davis’s resignation• David Davis resignation – latest developmentsDominic Raab, a Brexit-supporting minister, has been promoted to replace David Davis as Brexit secretary, No 10 has announced.Raab was previously housing minister and replaces Davis, who resigned late on Sunday night saying he could no longer support the government’s Brexit policy announced at Chequers last week. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• David Davis departure comes after sidelining by Theresa May

  09-07-2018 12:33 via ft.com
  Brexit secretary’s resignation likely to galvanise Brexiter rebellion
  
  Read more

• Half of new cars sold in the UK to be hybrid or electric by 2030

  09-07-2018 12:25 via ft.com
  The pledge is part of the government’s ‘Road to Zero’ plan
  
  Read more

• Brexit Secretary David Davis resigns

  09-07-2018 12:10 via bbc.co.uk
  The man who fronted talks with the EU says he thinks the UK plan gives away "too much, too easily".
  
  Read more

Follow @political_UKnws on Twitter!