Boris Johnson demanded a guarantee from the Taliban of safe passage for those wanting to leave Afghanistan, after US president Joe Biden resisted pressure at a virtual G7 summit to extend the deadline for the withdrawal of American troops beyond 31 August. The prime minister was speaking shortly after chairing a virtual summit of the G7 at which he and allies including Emmanuel...
Cabinet ministers have been accused of undermining Covid advice and putting MPs’ and parliamentary staff’s safety at risk by declining to wear masks, as they packed the Commons chamber full to debate Afghanistan’s takeover by the Taliban. Just two government frontbenchers chose to wear a face covering when parliament was recalled on Wednesday – the...
Three-quarters of Britons support doctor-assisted dying for people who are terminally ill, compared with one in three MPs, according to a poll. The fresh evidence of overwhelming public backing for a change in the law comes as a private member’s bill on assisted dying is awaiting its second reading in the House of Lords. Lady Meacher,...
People around the world need a “global green deal” that would tackle the climate crisis and restore the natural world as we recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of politicians from the UK, Europe and developing countries has said. The Global Alliance for a Green New Deal is inviting politicians from legislatures in all...
Boris Johnson has summoned tech companies to Downing Street to order them to do more to tackle online abuse, amid mounting criticism of the government after black England players were deluged with racist posts in the aftermath of their Euro 2020 defeat. The England footballer Tyrone Mings has criticised the home secretary, Priti Patel, for her...
Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson is aiming to beat fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos into space by nine days. Branson’s company announced on Thursday evening that its next test flight will take place on 11 July and that its founder will be among the six people on board. All other passengers are company employees. It will be...
Britain recorded a further 11,625 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases on Tuesday — the highest number since mid-February — amid concerns at the spread of the Delta variant. Daily figures also show a further 27 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Tuesday, bringing the UK total to 128,008. The case...
Dozens of secondary schools in England have reintroduced mask requirements in the classroom, despite government guidance dropping the rule in May. As many pupils returned from the half-term break, schools in areas with high Covid infection rates, including many in the north-west such as Tameside, Cheshire and Oldham, as well as Bedford, Kent and Staffordshire,...
Every week governments make headline announcements about saving the planet, and every week their small print unsaves it. The latest puff by the G7 is a classic of this genre. Apparently, all seven governments have committed “to conserve or protect at least 30% of the world’s land and at least 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030”....
A decision by the Home Office to delay a review into the unsolved 1987 murder of British private detective Daniel Morgan has been described as “a kick in the teeth” by the deceased’s family. The Daniel Morgan Independent Panel was due to publish its findings into the Metropolitan Police’s handling of the investigation into his death on 17 May, only for the government to...