Politics

Following a brief rallying call from her frontbenchers, Theresa May is now odds-on to resign in 2018. The beleaguered PM enjoyed momentary support from colleagues last week, but she has come under fire today from her own side as one of her MPs said the “window is closing” on her leadership and her former chief of staff laid into the government’s lack of purpose. A string of Conservatives voiced fresh criticism, casting further doubts on the stability of the prime minister’s...

The Labour leader pledged to confiscate luxury properties that have been left vacant for substantial length of time. He told BBC’s Andrew Marr show: “We would give local authorities the power to take over deliberately left vacant properties. “When you have in the middle a lot of housing stress, you get some luxury, glossy, glistening block built, sold off plan to long distance overseas investors who may buy and sell it before it’s even built…well hang on. Let’s look at...

A tempest was brewing in Shakespeare's home town yesterday when residents held a protest outside the office of under-fire MP Nadhim Zahawi demanding answers about him attending the scandal-hit Presidents Club dinner. The 50-year-old Tory MP, who represents Stratford-upon-Avon, Warks., has not been seen in his constituency since it emerged he was a guest at the sleazy charity bash. On Sunday more than 30 constituents held a demonstration outside his office - which is just 300ft from Shakespeare's grave at...

The UK has witnessed a remarkable rise in crime as police officer numbers hit a record low, according to new figures. Overall crime is up by 14 per cent in the year to September, with a surge in knife and gun attacks recorded. Robbery is up by 29 per cent, vehicle theft by 18 per cent and domestic burglary is up by 32 per cent. The figures have been revealed as the number of police officers fell to 121,929, the...

This afternoon in the most unlikely of international arenas Yorkshire International Football Association will take on the Isle of Man in a first-of-its-kind Conifa league fixture. The 1,000-capacity Hemsworth Miners Welfare FC Community Club based in Fitzwilliam, just outside Pontefract, will be the venue for Yorkshire’s first game against Ellan Vannin, the Manx name for the Isle of Man team, who are ranked fourth in a world league for “repressed minorities, independent nations and stateless peoples”. That Yorkshire counts itself...

President Trump has said he is ready to apologise for retweeting anti-Muslim videos from far right group Britain First. Trump tweeted a succession of Islamaphobic videos from the Deputy Leader of Britain First in November in a move that was condemned by World leaders, including Theresa May. Although his press secretary defended the tweets at the time, the President has told Piers Morgan that he is ready to apologise in an exclusive interview to be aired this weekend. He said he was...

Baroness Tessa Jowell yesterday received a standing ovation in the House of Lords after she gave a moving speech about her battle with brain cancer. Hundreds of peers, including the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, gave the Labour politician a minute-long applause after she called for more cancer treatments to be available on the NHS. In May last year, Ms Jowell announced she had been diagnosed with a high-grade brain tumour known as glioblastoma. In a moving speech, she called for...

After the undercover revelations, printed in the FT, about the alleged sexual harassment at the Presidents Club annual charity dinner last night, there have been calls for Families minister, Nadhim Zahazwi, to resign, as he attended the event. The reputable finance newspaper reported men “repeatedly putting hands up their skirts” and one even said “an attendee had exposed his penis to her during the evening.” Already David Meller, a co-chair of the club, has stood down from the board of...

David Davis today backtracked on new EU rules during the Brexit transition, saying Britain will not refuse to use them. The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union has opted for a "hit and hope" approach on new rules instead, relying on the EU taking a long time to implement them during the likely two-year period after 2019, in the hope that by the time any come in to force the transition will be over. His approach was immediately dismissed as “really...