Cumbria county council has said it will reconsider the planning application for a new coalmine near Whitehaven, which has prompted widespread criticism. Government ministers in January declined to intervene in the go-ahead for the mine on the basis it was a local decision, but environmental campaigners have warned it undermines UK efforts to tackle climate … Read more
Last October, I was thrilled to get an appointment with a special adviser in Downing Street. Even though I stood for the Conservatives in the Chippenham constituency in 2010, getting this appointment felt like a great achievement after years of trying to engage with the party again. I’d been drawn to stand for the party … Read more
A Conservative peer breached parliament’s code of conduct when he and five MPs tried to get senior judges to intervene in a hearing on whether references to support the former MP Charlie Elphicke at his sentencing for sexual assault could be made public. Lord Freud failed to meet the standards of conduct expected of individual … Read more
Matt Hancock has set out tough new measures to stop Covid-19 variants from entering England, including a 10-year sentence for incoming passengers who lie about where they have travelled when abroad. The health secretary said people who entered the UK from 33 high-risk countries would have to pay up to £1,750 to quarantine in government-designated … Read more
We’re setting up a new system of hotel quarantine for UK and Irish residents who’ve been in red list countries in the last 10 days. In short, this means that any returning residents from these countries will have to quarantine in an assigned hotel room for 10 days from the time of arrival. Before they … Read more