PMQs verdict: Starmer rails against Sunak’s record on Raac in high-stakes session
“Can I welcome everybody back”, began Speaker Lindsay Hoyle as MPs returned to the cauldron of the commons ready for the term’s first round of jousting at Prime Minister’s Questions. With Westminster all a quiver over concerns about Raac concrete in schools and public buildings, it was of course Rishi Sunak, rather than Keir Starmer, […]
Rishi Sunak accused of ‘halving’ school rebuilds as chancellor amid RAAC scandal
The government has been accused of halving the number of schools that could be rebuilt in the 2021 spending review. This review was conducted during the period Rishi Sunak served as chancellor. Former civil servant Jonathan Slater told the BBC that this was despite a recommendation from the Department for Education, where he served as […]
Week-in-Review: With another cautious reshuffle, Sunak risks cementing status as tinkerer-in-chief
Some say that reshuffles, if executed well, can sharpen and re-energise governments, set ambitious agendas and boost a prime minister even if their authority is ailing. Rishi Sunak is not one of those people. The prime minister has been presented with opportunity after opportunity to shake up his top team. But, at every turn, he […]
Rishi Sunak’s ‘good vibes’ theory of foreign policy is under threat
It has been viewed with some surprise how enthusiastically Rishi Sunak, the Brexiteer and former chancellor with no discernible foreign policy experience, has taken to his responsibilities on the world stage. In his 10 months so far as prime minister, the PM has made twelve international trips to twelve countries and hosted a string of […]
Rishi Sunak: ‘Keir Starmer must explain the ULEZ expansion’
The prime minister has this afternoon reiterated his opposition to the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to outer London, saying the scheme is “solely the responsibility of the Labour Party”. In an interview with GB News, Rishi Sunak said: “I do understand the frustration, and I think that the Mayor and Keir […]
Dorries’ diatribe shows Sunak is doomed, but not for the reason she thinks
Why was Nadine Dorries’ 1,800-word resignation statement so long? The answer, simply, is because it had so much to do. First and most pertinently, it had to righteously rubbish Rishi Sunak’s approach to government. But elsewhere, Dorries dedicated space for her own obituary as a former culture secretary dishonourably denied a place in the Lords; […]
The dilemma facing Rishi Sunak over Nadine Dorries
Nadine Dorries, the lingering member for Mid Bedfordshire, is on a mission. 77 days after she announced her resignation with “immediate effect” in protest at being left off Boris Johnson’s resignations honours list, she continues to investigate the terms of her spurning. It is not yet clear whether the former culture secretary’s amateur sleuthing has […]
Week-in-Review: How to spin like Rishi Sunak
One reading of this long summer recess is that it has been an extended learning exercise for Rishi Sunak who has — at other moments of political quiet — failed to do the requisite heavy lifting and suffered for it politically. The Easter recess, parliament’s last long break, was dominated by the Labour Party amid […]
Rishi Sunak rules out pursuing referendum on net zero — as it happened
Rishi Sunak has rejected demands to hold a Brexit-style referendum on net zero, facing down calls from his party to give the public a vote on the 2050 climate target. He told ITV News: “Most people are committed to getting to net zero”. In recent weeks, “Red Wall” MPs have been among Conservatives urging Mr Sunak […]
‘Small boats week’ sets up extended period of political jeopardy for Rishi Sunak
How should a prime minister — especially one under such concerted pressure as Rishi Sunak — treat the relative quiet of summer recess? There are a few schools of thought. One suggests the PM-in-question should bide his time, return to the drawing board and prepare a slew of politically-charged policies for a future King’s Speech […]
