Politics

Campaigners are calling for statutory right of access across the countryside, as 2,500 public nature spots are obstructed by public land with no legal right of way - and we want to hear your thoughts

MP Scott Benton has lost an appeal against his suspension from the Commons over a lobbying row. It means there will likely be a by-election in his Blackpool South seat

Tory MPs sat glued to their mobile phones in the Commons on the same day ministers ordered pupils to get off theirs. Has the time come to ban such devices in Parliament?

The UK Statistics Authority's Sir Robert Chote said the public could have been 'misled or at least confused' by Treasury Minister Laura Trott's claims about taxes falling

The Trades Union Congress said a staggering 66% of employees on zero hours contracts have been with their current firm for over a year while 12% have been for over 10 years

The majority of cash-strapped local authorities in England are planning to hike council tax in April as they struggle to stay afloat after years of squeezed funding

A poll for the National Education Union found nearly nine in 10 (88%) parents outside London backed universal provision of free lunches in primary schools across England

Parents have been left thousands of pounds worse off after childcare costs soared by a third faster than inflation since the Tories came to power, according to Labour's analysis

Darren Lewis says the Labour Party appears convinced it needs only to turn up to win a general election – because it’s not the Tories

Liam Byrne, chair of the Commons Business Committee, demanded Post Office bosses and ministers end the blame game and get cheques in the post to victims of the Horizon scandal

The Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves could be overheard asking "where is he?" as the more junior Treasury minister Bim Afolami was sent to field questions in his boss's absence

Conservative MPs sat checking their mobile phones in the Commons just hours after ministers announced a clampdown on devices in classrooms over fears they're a distraction

Officials at the Atomic Weapons Establishment are said to be blocking a ministerial review of secret records about blood tests on Cold War troops

Regulator Ofcom has announced it is investigating the hour-long 'People's Forum: The Prime Minister' broadcast on GB News, which saw Rishi Sunak plead with voters to back him

Labour's Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would spoil his ballot if he was a Rochdale voter after the party withdrew support for candidate Azhar Ali

Former Conservative Party chairman Chris Patten warned Rishi Sunak that the party 'won't stand a prayer of winning the next election' if it lurches to the right to pursue Reform UK

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has told headteachers that mobile phone use should be prohibited throughout the entire school day, including break and lunchtimes

First, the sub postmasters’ legitimate complaints about the faulty IT system were ignored, and now they have been let down by a government which has failed to honour its commitment to deliver “full and fair” compensation

Some 58 Tory MPs have already announced they are quitting next time around but the figure could top 100 – by some counts even 150

Steve Rotheram told The Mirror he looks forward to Keir Starmer achieving a similar election triumph for Labour to that of Tony Blair in 1997

Victims of the Horizon IT scandal accused ministers of not matching their words with action as a former Post Office boss claimed he'd been told to delay compensation payments

Keir Starmer's remarks come as Labour faces pressure to back an SNP motion in the Commons this week demanding an 'immediate ceasefire' in the Middle East conflict

Figures buried in Office for Budget Responsibility documents suggest the amount raised from council tax is set to reach £57.4billion - double what is was under Labour

Maria Caulfield received £7,920 in severance when she was sacked as a Health Minister in September 2022, but kept the money when she returned to her old department weeks later

Ministers face calls to outlaw the controversial LD50 test which sees animals fed chemicals until half die, and also bring in a blanket ban on experiments on dogs