BBCTom Pursglove was the MP for Corby from 2015 to July this this yearA former Conservative MP and government minister who lost his seat in the July general election said he did not miss the social media abuse he received.Tom Pursglove, who had represented Corby, in Northamptonshire, since 2015, was beaten by Labour's Lee Barron.Two months on, he told the BBC he was still looking for a new job.He added
ShutterstockFour former Conservative environment secretaries have warned the government against cutting a fund that pays farmers in England to plant woodland and improve water and soil quality alongside producing food.The Environmental Land Management Scheme (Elms) was devised by then-minister Michael Gove following Brexit to replace the EU's common agricultural policy. Earlier this month, the Guardian reported that Labour ministers were planning to cut the fund by £100m. A Department of
Sunak presses Starmer on winter fuel payment cutsSir Keir Starmer has refused to say whether his government will publish an assessment of the impact of removing winter fuel payments from most pensioners.At Prime Minister's Questions, Conservative leader Rishi Sunak accused the prime minister of "hiding" the analysis and asked how many deaths would be caused by the policy.Sir Keir said his decisions to "stabilise the economy" meant he could increase
Labour’s green policies are costing jobs and “hollowing out working class communities,” the leader of the GMB union has warned.Gary Smith told the BBC the government had to stop “decarbonisation through deindustrialisation” and called for an “honest debate” about the government’s plans for British industry.While the unions have welcomed Keir Starmer's new government, at the TUC conference in Brighton tensions between the political and industrial wings of the labour movement
We have to recalibrate what jeopardy looks like at Westminster.Over the last few years I have reported on countless votes in the Commons where the outcome might imperil not just the policy under discussion, but the very future of the government of the time.The row about the winter fuel payment - as passionate as the views of many are on it - was never going to do either of those
An MP says she felt she would "never succeed in a career" with her natural hair, as campaigners call on the government to make Afro hair a protected characteristic to stop discrimination.Pauline Hamilton sponsored a drop-in session at Parliament, where campaign group World Afro Day (WAD) called for the 2010 Equality Act to add the specification for Afro hair.More than 100 public figures, including Mel B and Beverley Knight, have
Winter fuel payments are set to stop for millions of pensioners this year after an attempt to block the cuts failed.MPs voted on a Conservative motion aimed at halting government moves to restrict the payment to all but the poorest pensioners. It was defeated by 348 to 228 votes - a majority of 120.On the eve of the vote, Chancellor Rachel Reeves had urged backbenchers to support her change to
BBCThe Conservative leadership contest has been whittled down to four candidates after former cabinet minister Mel Stride was knocked out in a vote of Tory MPs.The former immigration minister Robert Jenrick finished top with 33 votes, with Kemi Badenoch second on 28 votes.James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat both got 21 votes each from Tory MPs, leaving Mel Stride with the fewest votes on 16.There will be further voting after the
BBCJess Phillips has previously spoken about receiving an increase in personal abuse as an MPA man who prosecutors said sent MP Jess Phillips abusive emails, with one telling her "hell is real and you will burn" after the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war, has been jailed for three months.Nabil Arif, 36, from Birmingham, sent correspondence to the Birmingham Yardley Labour MP between 13 October and 20 February.Ms Phillips said the
BBCDawn Matthews will miss out on the winter fuel tax payment"I think I will be working until I die, because that payment meant I could pay the bills."Dawn Matthews, 68, from Hampshire, works from home for 18 hours a week in an administrative job for the NHS. Because of her income, she misses out on being eligible for the Government's pensioner's winter fuel tax payment by less than £3. She
