Politics

The surprising comments came after Tory cabinet member Gillian Keegan said she would "pick them up myself" when asked how she'd get absent children back into school

The analysis comes 10 years after the controversial policy, which restricts the total amount of support a household can receive, was first introduced as part of an austerity drive

Teachers, doctors and nurses deserved to be paid more but they also deserve to work in schools that are not crumbling, hospitals that are not overcrowded, and wards with enough beds and scanners

Teachers, troops, prison officers, police, junior doctors and consultants are being offered pay rises - but critics warned that failing to fully fund the wage increases would mean cuts elsewhere

Paul Routledge on the inexcusable rise of malnutrition in England, and how this all points to a return to Victorian times with cases of illnesses like scurvy and rickets on the up alongside Tory austerity

There are questions being raised about where the money for pay rises will come from, with departments having been told they will have to slash their budgets in order to fund them

Labour's Shadow Deputy Leader made the comments as she outlined her party’s plan for 'a new standards watchdog with tougher rules and stronger enforcement'

Junior doctors have blasted the Government's pay offer as 'derisory' as they insist it equates to just 84p an hour extra for new doctors

Rishi Sunak is under intense pressure to drop the controversial project after top judges last month ruled it was unlawful because the central African nation isn't a safe place to send refugees

The four major teaching unions said they would recommend that their members accept the Government's 6.5% wage offer after a bitter stalemate over pay, funding and working conditions

Millions of police, NHS workers, police and teachers will get their pay rises, but Rishi Sunak is accused of taking a "wrecking ball" to public services and urged to "come clean" over what he'll cut

Labour's Deputy Leader, who received free school meals as a child, said she wanted all primary kids to be eligible for the benefit but said there was 'not an endless supply of money'

Legislation pushed through by former Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has been thrown out by the High Court in a huge victory for unions

While Mr Sunak often looks awkward at events, this melts away around Italian far-right PM Giorgia Meloni, who he appeared relaxed and warm around at the Nato summit in Lithuania this week

Tens of thousands of appointments are expected to be cancelled during the latest industrial action by junior doctors, with NHS bosses claiming the walkout is 'the most disruptive yet'

The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) which oversees the work of spy agencies including MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, said the UK had 'consistently failed to think long-term' and details 'serious' failings

Justin Welby told the House of Lords that immigration and asylum mustn't be used as as a "wedge issue to divide people" as peers inflicted nine defeats on the Government over Suella Braverman's Bill

The ex-Prime Minister has applied for planning permission for the works in the grounds of his Cotswolds grand manor house, which he bought earlier this year after being ousted from Downing Street

The British Medical Association starts a five day walk-out in England at 7am on Thursday after rejecting a 5% pay award offered by the Tories, who now refuse to negotiate with medics

Since my student years in the run-up to New Labour’s victory in 1997, we simply have not made enough progress in breaking down the barriers between the “haves’” and the “have nots”, writes Professor Graeme Atherton

Take Back Control has turned into Stop The Boats, the latest three-word slogan designed to grab the headlines. But like its predecessor it’s totally meaningless, Eva Simpson writes

Every modern Prime Minister gets a novelty jug which is sold in the Houses of Parliament's gift shop - but collectors may be disappointed by the latest ceramic ornament of PM Rishi Sunak

Shadow minister Sarah Jones noted that mainly just Black female MPs had come to the debate on the Met's investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence

In an extraordinary move, Dawn Butler lambasted Rishi Sunak's number two after he claimed Labour green plans would cost mortgage payers an extra £1,000 a year

The former Prime Minister, who crashed the economy in her 49-day stint in No10, insisted growth was a 'long game' as she introduced a new research institute to enact her vision