Boris Johnson departs 10 Downing Street for PMQs

Boris Johnson has departed 10 Downing Street ahead of his weekly appearance at Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons.

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  • Helen McCrory championed charity with Damian Lewis in one of last public appearances, weeks before her death

    ‘Very few people had any idea what she was clearly going through,’ tweets GB News presenter Dan Wootton

  • Dining room table Prince Philip was born on now used in City boardroom

    A dining room table on which Prince Philip was said to have been born is now used in a City boardroom - and the Duke was once even invited to have lunch around it. The Duke’s mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was said to have delivered the future consort to the British monarchy on the table at a villa in Corfu in 1921. Its unlikely journey across the continent began in 1932, when the Greek royal family asked the British consul in Greece to sell their furniture from their summer villa. The Duke had left Greece with his family ten years earlier after King Constantine, his uncle, was forced to abdicate and his father, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, was banished from the country by a revolutionary court. John Vaughan-Russell, the British consul at the time, is believed to have taken possession of the dining room furniture for around 28,000 drachma and moved it to the consulate in Patras, before it later went into storage. There it remained until 1977, when Mr Vaughan-Russell’s son, who was working in Hong Kong at Jardine Matheson, the trading company, asked a friend if he wanted to buy it. “My father always used to say that Prince Philip was born on this table,” Mr Vaughan-Russell was said to have told the friend, a director at the shipbrokers Howe Robinson. The company duly bought the large dining room table - along with 12 chairs, a sideboard, a carving table and the original receipts - only to discover it was too big to fit in their office.

  • The poisoned clouds that are suffocating the people of Iraq

    Flames of burning gas that puncture the sky are not just killing the planet – they’re killing Iraqis. In oil towns blighted by this toxic air across the country, locals tell Bel Trew they fear for their future as, one by one, their friends and family are struck by disease

  • ‘Staff have been treated like cannon fodder’: NHS bosses issue stark warning on future of health service

    Exclusive: ‘You can’t keep putting pressure, accountability and responsibility on people and expect them to endlessly soak it up’

  • John Cleese pokes fun at Hank Azaria's apology for Apu on 'The Simpsons'

    Cleese said he was sorry for 'any distress' caused.

  • 'This is a disaster': Boris Johnson urged to act after cases of Indian 'double mutant' variant found in UK

    Experts have called for the government to take action after it emerged that a concerning COVID variant first found in India has already been detected in the UK.

  • Step forward, Prince Edward: the future Duke of Edinburgh's newfound role at the heart of the royals

    One of the inevitable results of Prince Philip’s sad death is a shake-up in the House of Windsor. And Prince Edward, who will in time become the Duke of Edinburgh, is bound to take on a more prominent role in supporting the Queen and, in time, her successor, Prince Charles. Prince Philip may not have been in the royal line of succession. But his importance to the monarchy was paramount – and his death leaves a huge gap to be filled. The title of Duke of Edinburgh has now been automatically inherited by Prince Charles. But, in a sign of the affection of the Queen and Prince Philip for their youngest son, it will be passed on to Prince Edward on the sad day of the Queen’s death. This was made clear by the Queen in 1999, when Prince Edward married Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999 and was made Earl of Wessex. When Prince Charles becomes king, the title of Duke of Edinburgh will ‘merge in the Crown’, meaning the title no longer exists. But Charles III will bestow on his youngest brother a new ‘creation’ of the ‘Duke of Edinburgh’ – the fourth creation of the title since it was first bestowed in 1726. It makes perfect sense. Of Prince Philip’s four children, Prince Edward has always been most closely associated with the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, created by Prince Philip in 1956. Prince Philip funeral news and royal family updates

  • Colin the Caterpillar vs Cuthbert, Curly and Wiggles: we decide which tastes best

    In the tale of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, along with an ice-cream cone, a pickle, a slice each of Swiss cheese and salami, a lollipop, a wedge of cherry pie, a sausage, cupcake and a slice of watermelon, our ravenous protagonist devours a piece of chocolate cake. It is perhaps no coincidence that the latter has become synonymous with the insect (and visa versa), and subsequently that a caterpillar-shaped sponge is often the most familiar guest at birthday parties and office celebrations across the land. Nor is it surprising that the news of Marks & Spencer taking Aldi to court in a bid to protect its Colin the Caterpillar cake has provoked such an uproar. The retailer has accused the discounter chain of riding on its reputational coat-tails after Aldi began selling its own Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake, which looks very similar. But since M&S launched Colin (a chocolate-coated sponge cake bearing buttercream, topped with sweets and fronted by a smiling white-chocolate face) some 30 years ago, similar critters have emerged, and not only from the German discount store. From Cuthbert and Wiggles to Curly and Carl the free-from caterpillar, there are cute-faced chocolate Swiss rolls in almost every supermarket – and each has a band of fervently loyal supporters. But how do they compare to each other? Does Colin hold the gold standard when it comes to softness of sponge and flavour of edible boot? Are the sprinkles on Curly superior to those adorning Morris? While Aldi has not stocked its Cuthbert cake since mid-February and so was sadly unavailable for review, we netted the best of the rest and put them to the test.

  • Indonesian trolls flood Thai grooms’ adorable wedding photos with death threats

    A same-sex Thai couple who shared their heartwarming wedding photos on social media have been flooded with vicious homophobic hate from Indonesian trolls.

  • 'I’m A Celebrity': Vernon Kay reveals the surprising celeb he took advice from before the show

    He was warned to look out for the troublemaker in the group

  • Line Of Duty’s Adrian Dunbar Presenting Have I Got News For You Was An Acronym-Filled Delight

    Mother of God.

  • What Happens to The Duke of Edinburgh Title Now?

    Prince Philip immortalised the Duke of Edinburgh title with over 70 years of service. The title will eventually pass on to Prince Edward, but not until the Queen dies and Prince Charles becomes King.

  • Teenage Queen and Prince Philip pictured together in rare images from 1939

    The pictures were unearthed from a private collection and show Philip looking after a 13-year-old Elizabeth.

  • Travel restrictions in Scotland ease as country revealed to be harshest in UK for lockdown

    New rules allowing Scots to travel outside council areas and meet more people outdoors have come into force, as it emerged that Scotland endured one of the most stringent lockdowns of anywhere in the world. From Friday, Scots can travel anywhere in mainland Scotland and meet up to six others from six households outside. Announcing the latest easing of restrictions at an unscheduled briefing on Tuesday, Nicola Sturgeon said the continued decline in virus cases meant the restrictions could be eased earlier than planned. But on Thursday, the First Minister said that while it was “positive” the easing of restrictions had been brought forward, Scots should not allow their guard to drop. "Don't go to crowded places, if you're headed to a beach or a park and it's crowded please come away again because crowded places are not safe places to be.” She added: "As long as we all stick to the advice that's still in place, this easing of restrictions tomorrow should be the first of many and I think, not least because of the vaccine programme, we can all afford to be just that bit more optimistic right now."

  • Pro-UK parties could stop an independence majority at Holyrood, claims Lib Dem leader

    Pro-UK parties could yet stop an independence majority at Holyrood because even “hardline” SNP voters are unsure about Nicola Sturgeon’s mid-pandemic push for a new referendum, the Lib Dem leader has claimed. Launching his party’s manifesto, Willie Rennie said the SNP vote was “softer than I’ve ever seen it” in the current campaign and insisted it was “all to play for”. He predicted that momentum could rapidly swing away from the nationalists in the final weeks of the campaign, despite opinion polls currently suggesting a pro-independence majority after May 6 is a near certainty. The Lib Dems have said the next Holyrood term should be focused on recovery from the pandemic rather than a new independence vote. The party is proposing large increases to spending on mental health services, a jobs guarantee for young people and play-based education up to the age of seven. It also published proposals for MSPs to be able to vote to hold Scottish ministers in "contempt of parliament" after the SNP repeatedly defied votes in the previous term. The Lib Dems won just five seats at Holyrood in 2016 but Mr Rennie insisted his party had the potential to make gains across Scotland, highlighting Caithness, Sutherland and Ross as a seat he believes he can take from the SNP. “There's a lot to play for, and the vote amongst the SNP is softer than I have ever seen it,” Mr Rennie said. “The hesitation amongst the SNP voters is considerable. “There was a lady I met the other day, she's been a hardline SNP supporter all of her life. She said she was just not sure this time, and [her reasons were] Alex Salmond and pushing an independence referendum in the middle of a pandemic.” He also claimed that centrist Tory voters were moving to the Lib Dems because they were put off by a “harder, darker edge” to the Conservatives under Douglas Ross. He claimed socially liberal voters attracted by the “bubbly and bright” Ruth Davidson at the last election did not like the current incumbent. Mr Rennie said the Tories had adopted more right wing positions under Mr Ross and cited a masked photocall on a military jeep as an example in which he “just looked a bit darker”.

  • Ghislaine Maxwell lawyers reveal more than 2,000 ‘highly confidential’ photos in the evidence against her

    The trial is set to begin 12 July

  • Quiz: Are you an expert on superstitions?

    If you think you’re a master of British superstitions, try your luck with our multiple choice quiz.

  • Prince Philip apologised to Richard Nixon for faux pas with 'lame' toast during White House visit

    Throughout his decades in public life, Prince Philip was known for putting his royal foot in his mouth with occasional off-the-cuff remarks that could be embarrassing. But his faux pas at a White House dinner with President Richard Nixon in 1969 was enough for Philip to actually lose sleep. In a handwritten note to the president uncovered by archivists at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California, the Duke of Edinburgh wrote to "humbly apologise" for failing to toast the president's health as dictated by protocol during a "stag" dinner in his honor. "After the brilliance of the other speakers and yourself, I am afraid my contribution was very lame," Philip wrote to Nixon from Greenland on Nov 7 after his solo US trip had concluded. He added: "That night I woke up in a cold sweat when I realised I had forgotten to propose your health!" Philip died last week at age 99, and his funeral is Saturday. He was married to Queen Elizabeth for 73 years. "I think the letter itself shows the character of Prince Philip that so much of the public in the U.K. and across the Commonwealth, and really across the world, have come to admire," said Jim Byron, executive vice president of the Nixon Foundation. He said the letter was discovered before the coronavirus pandemic but made public this week, as a way of marking Philip's death. "It expresses some private feelings of a moment in time that the public really doesn't always get a chance to see," Mr Byron added.

  • This is how much Drag Race queens spent while competing on the show

    Prepare for your dreams of walking the Drag Race runway to be ruined, because an investigation has ReVealed the astronomical amounts previous contestants have spent competing on the sow.

  • Britain wanted Joe Biden to 'keep US forces in Afghanistan'

    The UK wanted US troops to stay in Afghanistan, the head of the Armed Forces has revealed. General Sir Nick Carter said President Biden's decision to pull out all 2,500 US troops by September 11 was "not the decision” the UK wanted. The Chief of Defence Staff said: "It's not a decision that we'd hoped for. But we obviously respect it, and it's clearly an acknowledgement of an evolving US Strategic posture." Earlier this week President Biden vowed to end America's "forever war" in Afghanistan, which began 20 years ago following 9/11, when they first arrived to bring down the Taliban regime harbouring Osama bin Laden. Nato said the withdrawal process would begin by May 1 and could be completed in just a few months. However, many have cautioned that the UK, which has agreed to an "orderly departure of our forces" by withdrawing the remaining 750 British troops by the deadline, said they had no choice but to cooperate because staying without the US was impossible. Former defence minister Tobias Ellwood, Chairman of the Defence Select Committee, said the US decision risked "losing the peace" and allowing extremism to "regroup". It was "concerning" and "not the right move". He said British forces had "no choice" but to leave due to the US's "significant force protection capabilities from which we benefited". Mr Ellwood added: "Remaining allied forces are unable to fill that vacuum without upgrading our posture for which there is no political appetite."