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Government borrowed £120.7bn in the last financial year, with just under £12bn in MarchBusiness live – latest updatesJeremy Hunt’s scope for a substantial pre-election tax giveaway has been hit after the latest set of official figures showed the UK’s public finances in worse shape than thought at last month’s budget.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the government borrowed £120.7bn in the...

PM to publicly warn peers to back down but treatment of Afghans remains a concern for the LordsSky News has broadcast a clip of Rishi Sunak addressing a meeting of the government’s illegal migration operations committee in the cabinet room at No 10 this morning. It is almost certainly a preview of what he will say at the press conference, which is due to...

There are signs Labour’s polling lead is a bit soft. But with the Tories trailing in leadership and economy, experts aren’t sure it will matterUK general election opinion polls tracker: Labour leading as election loomsUK politics – latest updatesAs 2014 came to a close, it seemed Ed Miliband would be the next prime minister, with the Labour party leading David Cameron’s Conservatives as the...

Government auditors must look into claims of complicity in corruption on arms deals with UK, says Labour peerAlleged Ministry of Defence complicity in the “national scandal” of bribery on arms deals in Saudi Arabia must be investigated by government auditors, a senior Labour politician has said.Peter Hain, the antiapartheid campaigner and peer, said in a letter to the National Audit Office (NAO) that a...

Sixty four Tories and four independent MPs who lost party whip plan to stand down from the Commons amid dire polling for ConservativesA cohort of Conservative MPs standing down before the next election have netted jobs worth millions of pounds and have taken dozens of all-expenses-paid trips funded by foreign governments and lobbyists, the Observer can reveal.Sixty-four serving Tory MPs and four independent MPs...

Caribbean historians want Richard Drax to pay reparations – but now Barbados plans to buy his land for homesThe Conservative MP under fire for his ancestors’ role in Caribbean slavery is in line for a multimillion-pound payout from the Barbados government.Despite threats to make Richard Drax pay reparations and seize his family’s plantation – described by one historian as a “killing field” of enslaved...

Prime minister says not getting people into work is ‘irresponsible burden’ as he says ‘next parliament, a Conservative government’ will enact reformsRishi Sunak is arguing that not getting people into work is an “irresponsible burden” on future generations and taxpayers. He says:We risk not only letting those people down [the people who are long-term sickness benefits], but creating a deep sense of unfairness amongst...

PM launches consultation on personal independence payment amid ‘spiralling’ disability welfare billRishi Sunak has announced fresh curbs on disability benefits, saying he wants to explore whether some cash payments to claimants suffering from mental health conditions could be replaced by treatment or access to services.In a speech on welfare, the prime minister said he was launching a consultation on the personal independence payment (Pip),...

Katie Fieldhouse says Conservative party failed to act after she reported incident in early JanuaryThe Conservative activist who has accused a Tory MP of making a late-night demand for money has said she is appalled by the party’s response.Katie Fieldhouse has said Mark Menzies called her one night in December at 3.15am asking for £5,000 to pay “bad people” who had detained him in...

Work and pensions secretary attacks system of dealing with minor mental health problems as PM takes aim at ‘sicknote culture’Nearly everyone who gets signed off work for feeling “a little bit depressed” is classified as incapable of work, according to a senior government minister, as Rishi Sunak prepares to announce a new drive to get sick people back into employment.Mel Stride, the work and...

Exclusive: India seeking to use approach of UK election as bargaining chip and any exemption would be controversialIndia is demanding an exemption from the UK’s planned carbon tax as part of negotiations aiming to finalise a free trade deal before the UK election.India’s negotiating team have spent this week in London in a surprise set of talks to try to overcome the remaining hurdles...

Rating of -59 is record low for a prime minister in modern times – matching John Major’s score in August 1994, according to IpsosRishi Sunak’s approval rating is at a record low for a prime minister in modern times, according to the polling company Ipsos.In its latest Political Monitor report it says net satisfaction with Sunak (% satisfied with how he is doing his...

Mark Menzies allegedly spent £14,000 of campaign funds on medical costs and demanded £6,500 from aide to ‘escape captors’A Conservative MP has lost the party whip over allegations he misused campaign funds and demanded thousands of pounds from an aide to pay off “bad people” in the middle of the night.Mark Menzies, 52, was suspended from the Tory parliamentary party on Wednesday night while...

How much should Britain get involved in the conflict in the Middle East? The Guardian’s John Harris is joined by the columnist Gaby Hinsliff and former national security adviser Peter Ricketts to talk about the fallout from Iran’s attack on Israel at the weekend. Plus, John talks to Gaby about smoking bans, NatCon and Liz Truss’s new bookArchive: Sky News, BBC News Continue reading...

Lords also press ministers to allow independent Rwanda monitoring as deportation bill returns to CommonsUK politics – latest updatesRishi Sunak’s government is considering concessions on the Rwanda deportation bill to allow exemptions for Afghans who served alongside UK forces, parliamentary sources say.Ministers are also being pressed to give ground to an amendment to the legislation so that the east African country could be ruled...

Peers pass four amendments inserting safeguards into bill, including exempting migrants who helped British troopsDavid Cameron, the foreign secretary, has said that Israel is gearing up to retaliate after the mass Iranian drone and missile attack launched on Saturday night.Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem this morning, where he has meetings scheduled with senior figures including Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, Cameron said:It’s right to...

Belgian PM condemns move by local mayor to shut down radical rightwing conference as ‘unconstitutional’The NatCon conference featuring Nigel Farage, Suella Braverman and the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, among its speakers will resume on Wednesday after a Brussels court overturned a local mayor’s decision to close it down on Tuesday.After moves condemned as “unacceptable” and “unconstitutional” by the Belgian prime minister, Alexander De...

Party hopes to attend meetings of EU foreign affairs council should it win UK electionDavid Lammy: Labour’s foreign policy will be realistic about us as a nation, not nostalgic about what we used to beLabour wants to draw closer to Europe on key foreign and security issues by frequently attending meetings of the monthly EU foreign affairs council.The move, which is likely to trigger...

PM’s plan to prevent those under 16 ever being able to buy tobacco should pass due to Labour support, but many of his own MPs could abstain or vote againstIn another interview this morning, Laura Farris, minister for victims, told GB News that she thought Liz Truss, the former PM, was wrong to call for the supreme court to be abolished. Asked about the...

Former PM launches apparent attack on civil servants over plans she said had been put ‘in the bin’UK politics – latest updatesLiz Truss has blamed “unelected individuals” in the Department of Health and Social Care for the government’s planned smoking ban as she launched an apparent attack on civil servants such as the chief medical officer for England, Sir Chris Whitty.The former prime minister...

The former prime minister spent just 49 days in office but wants to stay on the world stage. Her attacks on Biden and praise for Trump are aimed at the populist rightIn her new book, the former British prime minister Liz Truss directs scathing attacks and mockery at Joe Biden, president of her country’s closest ally. Biden was guilty of “utter hypocrisy and ignorance”,...

Foreign secretary talks up party’s prospects – and his ‘very good boss’ Rishi Sunak – on morning broadcast round Conservative party members are more dissatisfied than ever with Rishi Sunak, a survey for ConservativeHome suggests. In its latest monthly survey, ConHome found that Sunak had a net satisfaction rating of -27.7 (total satisfied with how he’s doing minus total dissatisfied). Only Michael Tomlinson, the...

UK foreign secretary says Israel has right to respond but Britain does not support a retaliatory strikeMiddle East crisis – live updatesWorld leaders urge restraint in aftermath of Iran attack on Israel – what we know so farThe UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, urged Israel to act with its head as well as its heart and not escalate the conflict by mounting a revenge...

Karina Moon, who is sole carer for her daughter most of the week, was told she needed to repay £11,292.75 or be prosecuted for fraudEx-ministers press Sunak on ‘persecution’ of carers who broke earnings rulesCarers in the UK: have you been threatened with prosecution for benefit fraud?Karina Moon vividly recalls the telephone call that brought her to tears. She was stood, frozen, in the...