All news by author: Ashley Cowburn

More than £140million has already been handed to the African nation by UK Home Secretaries in the past two years - despite not a single asylum seeker being sent there

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said 'more things may need to be done' less than 24 hours after the Home Secretary James Cleverly announced a migration crackdown

MPs voted to establish a body for a full compensation scheme for thousands of patients infected with HIV and hepatitis C in the 1970s and 1980s

Labour leader Keir Starmer sparked a row by hailing the divisive Tory PM Margaret Thatcher for bringing about 'meaningful change' and 'setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism'

Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock faced excruciating questions about his affair with aide Gina Coladangelo as he appeared at the Covid Inquiry for a second day of evidence

The former Health Secretary endured two days of questions at the Covid Inquiry where he was interrogated on deaths in care homes and the decisions to impose lockdowns

The Cabinet minister Esther McVey was asked by a member of the BBC Question Time audience: 'I just wonder if it tells us something the Tory Party needs a minister for common sense?'

The Tories boasted about the 0.7% overseas aid goal in their general election manifesto. But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said restoring the target in the next five years is not 'possible'.

The unfortunate moment prompted laughter from MPs as Rishi Sunak attempted to deliver his final response to Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions

The Tories promised to build 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s. But the target has never been met and there have been warnings the number could plummet next year

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham also accused ministers of 'behaving appallingly' as he gave evidence to the Covid Inquiry along with Sadiq Khan and Steve Rotheram

Home Secretary James Cleverly has denied making the remark but the Conservative Mayor of the Tees Valley Ben Houchen accused him of 'dragging Stockton's name through the mud'

Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock will appear at the Covid Inquiry next week alongside the ex-Deputy PM Dominic Raab and a host of city mayors including Andy Burnham

Responding to the Autumn Statement Labour's Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Britain will still be worse off under the Tories after Jeremy Hunt cut national insurance by 2p

The Tory Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said at the Autumn Statement benefits will be 'stopped' for claimants if they 'choose not to engage' with new mandatory work placements

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced what the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage will be from April 2024 onwards ahead of the Autumn Statement today

Fewer than one in six (16%) of voters think their personal finances will improve over the next six months as the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt prepares to unveil the Autumn Statement

New Foreign Secretary David Cameron mocked Boris Johnson's No10 farewell reference to Cincinnatus - a Roman leader who returned from his farm to lead for a second time

What time is the Autumn Statement 2023? Will the state pension increase, how will income tax and National Insurance rates change and will benefits such as Universal Credit rise?

The Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies Paul Johnson said the country's welfare system is 'possibly the meanest in Europe in terms of how it treats the unemployed'

Jeremy Hunt was shown a question on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg asking: 'Why change inheritance tax when you have the lower paid struggling to pay their bills?'

The MP Bob Stewart who surrendered the Conservative whip earlier this month was found guilty of a racially aggravated offence after telling an activist to 'go back to Bahrain'

Save the Children UK says the DWP's cost of living payments are being spent on debts and overdue energy bills as they called on the Tories to increase benefits in line with inflation

The Tory Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is said to be looking at plans to halve the 40% rate of inheritance tax as he prepares to unveil the Autumn Statement next week.

The sacked Home Secretary has suggested introducing emergency powers to exclude "all avenues of legal challenge' in a bid to get flights to Rwanda off the ground