Matthew Taylor

The Prime Minister has been attending the annual Munich Security Conference, where the prospective Russian invasion of Ukraine is very much at the top of the agenda. The BBC’s Sophie Raworth caught up with Boris Johnson yesterday, following a speech he made warning of the disaster that war would bring. Johnson said in the interview

The situation on Ukraine’s borders now appears to many as though it is the calm before the inevitable storm. In the Sunday Times, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has even criticised some western actors for creating ‘a whiff of Munich in the air’, referencing Neville Chamberlain’s infamous 1938 negotiations with Nazi Germany. Trevor Phillips interviewed the

Boris Johnson’s decision to accuse Keir Starmer of ‘prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile’ while he was director of public prosecutions continues to divide the Tory party. The comment has gone down badly with his own MPs, and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak notably refused to defend the remark. It also led to the resignation

Liz Truss – It is ‘highly likely’ that Russia will invade Ukraine January may be Eastern Europe’s coldest month, but most Ukrainians are unwilling to accept Vladimir Putin’s gigantic bear hug for comfort. Last week, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss claimed to have seen intelligence suggesting a Russian plan to install a puppet government in Kyiv,

Dominic Raab – ‘Serious consequences’ if Russia invades Ukraine The Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab took to the TV studios this morning after another turbulent week for the government. Perhaps the most pressing issue on the agenda is deciphering the motives of Vladimir Putin, as a reported 100,000 Russian troops envelop Ukraine’s eastern border. Trevor

Keir Starmer – I think Boris broke the law and lied about it To preside over one lockdown party might be seen as a misfortune. Two begins to look like carelessness. Imagine then, the Prime Minister’s incredulity if even half of the alleged Downing Street parties are indeed found to have taken place by the

The Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi was in the hotseat this morning as the Sunday interview shows make their return. He spoke to Trevor Phillips and immediately scotched reports in the Sunday Times from Whitehall sources suggesting that the current policy of providing free lateral flow tests could soon be on its way out: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1480100116883197952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw NZ:

Sajid Javid – More restrictions cannot be ruled out before Christmas With Sunday’s interview shows enjoying their last outing of the year, one might be forgiven for thinking that things would be wrapped up as neatly as presents under the tree on Christmas Eve. Instead, signs of the new year’s arguments and battles were laid

If it looked like the Prime Minister was in trouble last week, it seems that was just the tip of the iceberg. The latest needle in Boris Johnson’s side is a photo splashed in the Daily Mirror which shows him hosting a Christmas quiz on December 15 last year. At the time, the capital was

Dominic Raab – Abused children like Labinjo-Hughes need ‘maximum protection’ The Justice Secretary undertook the government’s media round this morning. On Sky, Trevor Phillips began the interview by asking Raab about the tragic case of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, who was tortured and murdered by his father and stepmother last year.  Raab told Phillips that there

Sajid Javid: we’re ‘nowhere near’ renewed social distancing Health Secretary Sajid Javid found himself back in the hot seat this morning after a week which saw the discovery of the new ‘Omicron variant’ of the virus in South Africa. Yesterday, Boris Johnson confirmed that there were at least two cases of this variant already in the

Sajid Javid – 5.9 million are on NHS waiting lists This morning the Health Secretary Sajid Javid took to the TV studios in a week where his departmental remit has been very much back in the spotlight. The Austrian government has announced that it will be going back into a nationwide lockdown, and there is

COP26 eneded last night after two weeks of intense haggling. A pact was approved in principle, but a last minute change by India and China drew most of the attention. The final wording now refers to a ‘phase down’ of coal, rather than a ‘phase out’, as many climate activists had hoped. Alok Sharma, the

Keir Starmer: PM’s actions over Paterson ‘corrupt and contemptible’ If the government could write its own headlines, the last week would doubtless have been awash with the litany of pledges being churned out at Cop26. Instead, Boris Johnson has managed to earn the ire of not just the opposition, but also his own side of

Alok Sharma – All countries must ‘stand up and be counted’ at Cop 26 The much anticipated Cop 26 is getting underway in Glasgow, and there is a lot riding on the government having a successful couple of weeks. The Prince of Wales has already given an address on climate change to the G20 summit

Rishi Sunak – Plan B will not involve furlough This Wednesday will see the Chancellor’s second budget of the year. As always, the contents are hotly anticipated, but Rishi Sunak was reluctant to give too much away this morning. It has been reported that the new Health Security Agency is sounding out local authorities about

Priti Patel – Sir David Amess ‘touched so many lives’ Tributes have continued to pour in this morning for the late Sir David Amess MP, who was murdered while hosting a constituency surgery in his Southend seat on Friday. The attack, which is being treated as a terrorist case, has shaken Westminster to its core,

The Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng joined Trevor Phillips this morning amid a time of turmoil in the energy markets. Wholesale gas prices have risen by 250 per cent since January, and by as much as 70 per cent since August, when the market regulator Ofgem announced its latest price cap for consumers. With 12 energy companies

The Conservative party conference is just beginning in Manchester and, as is tradition, the Prime Minister sat down with Andrew Marr to discuss some of the most important issues facing the country. Marr began by asking about the case of Sarah Everard, who was abducted, raped and murdered by serving policeman Wayne Couzens. Johnson told

Angela Rayner: The cabinet are ‘scum’ If the Labour party was hoping to make the headlines this morning, they were in luck. The party’s conference is underway in Brighton, and it had been expected that much of the focus would be on Sir Keir Starmer’s efforts to reform the way the party elects its leader.