Browsing: UK politics

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We’ll keep you updated with the latest from No 10 – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Met’s Partygate probe slammed as allies rally around Boris Johnson

What are the 3 main political parties in UK?

Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats. 

What political type is the UK?

The United Kingdom is a Constitutional Monarchy in which the reigning monarch (that is, the king or queen who is the head of state at any given time) does not make any open political decisions. All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament.

Who runs England?

The Prime Minister is the leader of Her Majesty’s Government and is ultimately responsible for all policy and decisions. The Prime Minister also: oversees the operation of the Civil Service and government agencies. 

Is the UK a two party system?

The two party system in the United Kingdom allows for other parties to exist, although the main two parties tend to dominate politics; in this arrangement, other parties are not excluded and can win seats in Parliament.

Health sec claims Boris Johnson still ‘has a huge role to play’ in politics Health

Health sec claims Boris Johnson still ‘has a huge role to play’ in politics

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Health Secretary Steve Barclay has insisted Boris Johnson still has a ‘huge role to play’ in politics and should remain an MP after the next general election.

The backing comes after the former prime minister hit out at the Cabinet Office for handing over information to police relating to further potential lockdown breaches during his premiership.

Mr Barclay, who was appointed Health Secretary by Mr Johnson after Sajid Javid dramatically quit the role and triggered a wave of resignations that ended in his downfall, defended his former boss on Sunday.

Asked on Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday show whether the former prime minister was ‘toast’, he replied: ‘No, I think Boris has a huge role to play. We saw his leadership in the country’s response to Ukraine where he took the lead on that.’

Mr Johnson is facing fresh imquiries in his behaviour during lockdown (Picture: PA)

He added: ‘Of course I want to see Boris back as a member of Parliament and I want to see all my colleagues back but the point is Boris achieved many things’.

Mr Johnson appeared flustered when he was approached by Sky News at an airport in Washington DC on Friday and quizzed about entries from his ministerial diary which have been referred to two forces.

The Times, which broke the story, reported the documents show visits by friends to Chequers – the prime minister’s grace and favour country residence – and further events in Downing Street.

Asked what the entries show, he replied: ‘They merely record events in my day.’

Mr Johnson was previously fined for attending a gathering in Downing Street to mark his birthday in June 2020 – one of a series of political crises that ultimately led to the end of his premiership.

‘This whole thing is a load of nonsense from beginning to end … I think it’s ridiculous that elements in my diary should be cherry-picked and handed over to the police, to the Privileges Committee without even anybody having the basic common sense to ask me what these entries referred to,’ he said.

The new information came to light during a review by Government-funded lawyers ahead of the Covid public inquiry.

Health secretary Steve Barclay made the claims during an interview with on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday (Picture: Sky News)

Mr Johnson has since announced he is severing ties with his legal team and seeking new lawyers, which the Sunday Mirror reported could cost taxpayers up to £1 million.

The Cabinet Office is adamant ministers played ‘no role’ in the decision-making process behind the police referrals, while Mr Johnson believes he is the victim of a ‘politically motivated stitch-up’.

But, as reported by the Sunday Times, Jeremy Quin, the Paymaster General, is understood to have approved the handing over of documents to the Privileges Committee investigating whether Mr Johnson lied to Parliament over partygate.

The fallout adds to the problems confronting Mr Sunak, who was handed a fixed penalty alongside Mr Johnson over the June 2020 event and now faces unrest from the former prime minister’s allies.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he believes the public is ‘fed up to the back teeth’ with stories about the former prime minister.

‘These are deeply personal things and increasing revelations about Boris Johnson, I think, just add to that sense of hurt and people are fed up with it,” he told broadcasters on Friday.

‘I do think there are questions now about why these allegations have not come out before, all these allegations.’

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Volodymyr Zelensky to arrive in London today for meeting with Rishi Sunak London

Volodymyr Zelensky to arrive in London today for meeting with Rishi Sunak

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The Ukrainian president leaving from the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany (Picture: Shutterstock)

Volodymyr Zelensky will make a surprise visit to Britain today for a meeting with Rishi Sunak.

London will be the latest stop on his tour of European capitals after the president travelled to Paris for an audience with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

Ukraine’s leader said he will ‘meet my friend Rishi’ and conduct what he described as ‘substantive negotiations face-to-face and in delegations’.

A statement on Twitter this morning read: ‘Today – London. The UK is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air.

‘This cooperation will continue today. I will meet my friend Rishi. We will conduct substantive negotiations face-to-face and in delegations.’

Today – London. The UK is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air. This cooperation will continue today. I will meet my friend Rishi. We will conduct substantive negotiations face-to-face and in delegations.— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 15, 2023

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