[ad_1] Joshua NevettPolitical reporter andSam FrancisPolitical reporter Getty ImagesUntil this week, Angela Rayner was considered to be one of the most powerful women in Britain, a deputy prime minister who was widely tipped to be a future candidate for the top job in politics.A self-described "proper working-class" woman, Rayner grew up in poverty and left school without any qualifications at 16. She became the first female MP for the Greater
[ad_1] Getty ImagesAngela Rayner has resigned as deputy prime minister, housing secretary and the deputy leader of the Labour Party, after admitting she underpaid tax after buying a flat in Hove.Below is her resignation letter in full, along with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's response and a letter from Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministerial ethics, in which he sets out that Rayner breached the ministerial code.Rayner's resignation
[ad_1] PA MediaAngela Rayner has resigned from government after admitting she should have paid more stamp duty when she bought a flat in Hove earlier this year. She stood down from her roles as deputy prime minister and housing secretary, as well as her elected position as deputy leader of the Labour Party.Here is a breakdown of how the story unfolded.Rayner buys a house in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, with her
[ad_1] Mitchell LabiakBusiness reporterGetty ImagesChancellor Rachel Reeves has some big decisions to make ahead of the Budget on 26 November.Economists say she is on track to break her own rules on government borrowing unless she can find billions to make up the difference between the amount being spent on public services and generated through taxes.To fill the gap, reports have suggested the government is considering shaking up stamp duty and
[ad_1] Reform UK may need to rethink its pledge to deliver £90bn of tax cuts, the party's deputy leader Richard Tice has suggested.The Reform UK manifesto published ahead of last year's general election made commitments to slash income tax in particular, as well as large spending pledges on defence.However, Tice told the BBC: "A manifesto in July 2024 is not appropriate for a manifesto or contract whenever the next general
[ad_1] Former Conservative minister Nadine Dorries has defected to Reform UK.Speaking to the Daily Mail, the ex-MP for Mid-Bedfordshire said: "The Tory Party is dead. Its members now need to think the unthinkable and look to the future."Dorries served as culture secretary and as a health minister under Boris Johnson, of whom she was a close ally.She is the latest in a string of defections from the Conservatives to Reform
[ad_1] The UK's national security is safe "for now and for the next few years", the outgoing head of the British armed forces has told the BBC.Adm Sir Tony Radakin said his optimism on defence came from the UK being a nuclear power and a member of Nato, which he described as "the biggest and strongest gun club ever", and that its closest ally is the US.Sir Tony was Chief
[ad_1] Sir John CurticeProfessor of politics at the University of StrathclydeBBCOn 3 October 2021, Reform UK held its first conference - a modest one-day get-together in Manchester - only a short distance from the much larger Conservative Party gathering, taking place nearby at the city's Convention Complex at the same time.At the Reform event, only a few hundred activists were present in the function room - and Nigel Farage, not yet
[ad_1] The Home Office has been given permission to challenge a High Court ruling which allowed Palestine Action to appeal against its ban under terror legislation.The group's co-founder, Huda Ammori, was granted permission to appeal in July after her lawyers argued the ban breached the right to free speech.Lawyers for the government were initially denied permission to appeal against that court ruling, but in an order seen by the PA
[ad_1] Lewis AdamsBBC News, EssexEPA/ShutterstockChris Whitbread, leader of Epping Forest District Council, is taking on the Home Office in courtA council trying to block a hotel from housing asylum seekers has confirmed its plan to appeal directly to the Supreme Court.Migrants were due to be moved out of The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, after Epping Forest District Council secured a temporary injunction in August.This was later overturned at the
