Source claims PM was given ‘general description’ of alleged incident but gave Williamson a job anyway Rishi Sunak is facing scrutiny over whether he knew about Gavin Williamson’s alleged bullying of a senior civil servant whom he told to “cut your throat” before reappointing him to government. Two sources claimed the prime minister had been alerted to Williamson’s “credible and substantiated bad behaviour” while defence secretary when he drew up his cabinet. Continue reading… ​Source

Move to lower threshold from £150,000 would be in line with Hunt’s vow that tax rises should hit ‘broadest shoulders’ Jeremy Hunt is expected to increase the number of people paying the highest rate of tax by lowering the threshold from £150,000, according to Treasury sources. The move to increase the number of taxpayers paying the 45p rate of tax is a handbrake turn from Liz Truss’s government, which proposed to abolish the rate altogether.

RSA chief executive says more than a century of progress was now going into reverse The worsening health of the British people is holding back economic growth for the first time since the Industrial Revolution after years of underinvestment in services, Andy Haldane has warned. The chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) said more than a century of progress on health and wellbeing was going into reverse, with a direct impact on

Footballer admits having parties during Covid lockdown but tells court any sexual contact was consensual The Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has denied he is a “danger to women” who thinks the normal rules do not apply to him, a court has heard. The Premier League player said his life went “crazy” and he was “taking risks” by partying during the Covid-19 lockdown, but he said he had never raped or sexually assaulted women. Continue

Judicial review begins over definition of ‘woman’ in 2018 law to improve gender balance on public boards The Scottish government is facing a judicial review over plans to include transgender women in legislation aimed at improving gender balance on public boards. Aidan O’Neill KC, for the campaign group For Women Scotland, said the court of session’s ruling would have significant implications for the protection of single-sex spaces across the UK, as well as proposals to

Home secretary says it is officers’ duty to take a firmer line to safeguard public order The home secretary, Suella Braverman, has accused police of failing in their duty and demanded an intensified crackdown on Just Stop Oil activists disrupting the M25 motorway. In a rare move to criticise officers in the midst of an operation, Braverman told police chiefs at their annual conference that she expected “a firmer line to safeguard public order. Indeed,