Author: Laura Robinson

Rishi Sunak today flatly dismissed a warning from the UK’s food tsar that bringing cake into work is like smoking around colleagues.Downing Street insisted Mr Sunak was committed to ‘personal choice’ – revealing that he is personally ‘very partial’ to carrot cake.Aides underlined the message by bringing in cupcakes for journalists at a briefing after the weekly PMQs session. The bullish stance came after Professor Susan Jebb, chair of the Food Standards Agency, compared cakes in the office to passive smoking.Professor Jebb, who teaches diet and population health at the University of Oxford, told the Times: ‘If nobody brought in cakes…

By Henry Deedes for the Daily Mail Published: 12:56 EST, 18 January 2023 | Updated: 13:29 EST, 18 January 2023 Back in the days when Tim Henman was the lonely standard-bearer for British tennis, his sponsors struck upon a scheme to toughen up his image.The softly spoken, public school-educated darling of the home counties lacked the necessary steel for an international sports star. Too prim, too proper, they thought.The poor marketing men at Adidas tried just about everything: new clothes, new haircut. They even suggested old Henners stop shaving for a few days to appear more rugged.Even then, he appeared…

Ministers have broken their own cap on foreign aid spending by a billion pounds because so much cash is being ploughed into helping asylum seekers in the UK, it emerged today.Foreign aid spending is currently capped at 0.5 per cent of GDP – some £11bn – having been reduced from 0.7 per cent by Rishi Sunak when he was chancellor.But money being spent housing Channel migrants, plus refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan, means that the spending will be 0.55 per cent of GDP this year, the BBC reported.   The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), which controls the foreign aid…

Former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor has called for Starmer to ‘apologise as leader of the Labour Party for ever considering Tom Watson to be a member of the House of Lords and putting his name forward.’ Former Labour Deputy Tom Watson had falsely accused Mr Proctor and other senior public figures of involvement in a VIP paedophile-ring leading to a £2.5 million investigation.Asked how this reflects on the Leader of the Opposition, and plausibly, our next Prime Minister, Mr Proctor replied: ‘He should be nowhere near number 10. ‘He should never be Prime Minister. Starmer created this problem while being Director of Public…

Rishi Sunak finally appointed a new ethics adviser today as he handed the role to Historic England chairman and investment banker Sir Laurie Magnus.The Prime Minister had previously promised to fill the vacant position of Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests as ‘one of the first things’ he did on entering No10.But it has taken him almost two months to find someone to take on the job.Despite finally filling the position, Mr Sunak came under fire this afternoon for not beefing up Sir Laurie’s powers in the role. Sir Laurie Magnus, the chairman of Historic England and an investment banker, is the…

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan today blamed ‘inverted snobbery’ as she hit back at the focus on her £10,000 Rolex watch.The Cabinet minister defended her pricey wristwear as she attacked those who might believe she should ‘never have made any money’ and remained ‘working class’.But Ms Keegan saw herself dragged into a fresh row with unions after she claimed teachers were ‘probably within the top 10 per cent of earners in some parts of the country’.She was immediately challenged over her comments and told that some teachers were having to take on second or third jobs because they ‘cannot make ends meet’…

Andrew Wood represents Gele and Llanddulas on Conwy council, North WalesDuring a recorded Zoom meeting in July Cllr Wood appears to be driving his carIn the video, he can be seen raising his hand to vote and adjusting the deviceCllr Wood denies the allegations and said he has only taken audio calls in his car By Elizabeth Haigh For Mailonline Published: 07:19 EST, 14 December 2022 | Updated: 11:27 EST, 14 December 2022 A ‘completely reckless’ Welsh councillor has been accused of voting in a virtual Zoom council meeting while driving his car.Councillor Andrew Wood was spotted on camera dialling into…

Liz Truss’ Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has admitted he and the Prime Minister ‘blew it’ with his disastrous mini-budget and said her top team got ‘carried away’.Mr Kwarteng said his ‘biggest regret’ from his time as Chancellor was that he was ‘too impatient’. His comments mark a huge U-turn from his stance while still in government, when he fiercely defended the mini-budget and told the UK ‘there’s more to come’.The September mini-budget proposed tens of billions of pounds of tax cuts but was completely unfunded, sending markets into turmoil and the pound falling to a record low against the dollar.  Kwasi Kwarteng…

Michelle Mone is under investigation by the HoL Commissioners for StandardsA medical supplies firm she recommended to ministers won £203m in contractsShe is accused of lobbying for it to win the huge deals to provide face masks By Martin Beckford Policy Editor For The Daily Mail Published: 17:01 EST, 24 November 2022 | Updated: 07:13 EST, 25 November 2022 A Tory peer suffered a fresh blow last night as a Westminster sleaze watchdog stated for the first time that she is caught up in a criminal inquiry.Michelle Mone has been under investigation by the House of Lords Commissioners for Standards since January…

PM previously pledged a ‘comprehensive ban’ on new smart motorways Transport Secretary Mark Harper failed to rule out building more of the roads Dr Alan Billingsis is now calling on the Prime Minister not to U-turn on the banBy Fiona Parker For The Daily Mail Published: 15:09 EST, 23 November 2022 | Updated: 15:51 EST, 23 November 2022 A police chief has urged Rishi Sunak to halt the smart motorway rollout and prevent ‘any more deaths’.The Prime Minister previously pledged a ‘comprehensive ban’ on new smart motorways after branding them ‘unsafe’.But Transport Secretary Mark Harper later failed to rule out building more…