Boris Johnson

Why we’re talking about . . . Health secretary pushing for hike in National Insurance amid social care crisisBoris Johnson is considering an increase in National Insurance rates to pay for a major overhaul in social care and to bring down NHS waiting lists. The rumoured move would break a Tory…

Scientists have known for decades that the particulate emissions from ships can have a dramatic effect on low-lying stratocumulus clouds above the ocean. In satellite images, parts of the Earth's oceans are streaked with bright white strips of clouds that correspond to shipping lanes. These artificially brightened clouds are a…

1. Tory leadership race: odds and polls2. Rishi Sunak: ex-chancellor ‘back in the game’3. Penny Mordaunt: the ‘dark horse candidate’4. Ben Wallace: defence secretary becomes a favourite5. Liz Truss: ‘last true Tory’ with an eye on No. 106. Tom Tugendhat: former soldier to Tory leader?Currently Reading7. Jeremy Hunt: the former…

Britain is in direct talks with the Taliban over securing safe passage out of Afghanistan for UK nationals and Afghans who have worked for Britain, a government spokesperson says. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's special representative for Afghan transition, Simon Gass, travelled to Doha, Qatar, to meet Taliban representatives, the spokesperson…

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said now was “a moment to reflect on everything we have sacrificed and everything we have achieved in the last two decades”Read More

Two decades of engagement in Afghanistan by British troops came to an end on Saturday night as the last military and diplomatic personnel left Kabul airport, ending the largest evacuation mission since the Second World War. Operation Pitting airlifted more than 15,000 British nationals and allied personnel to safety in…

Boris Johnson faced angry criticism from his own backbenchers, as parliament met for an emergency debate on Afghanistan. In the Commons, which was packed for the first time since the start of the pandemic, he denied the government had not been prepared for the sheer speed of the Taliban takeover,…

The UK’s evacuation of civilians from Afghanistan will end today, the head of Britain’s armed forces said. General Sir Nick Carter said the final stages of the rescue mission were ‘going according to plan’. He said: ‘We’re reaching the end of the evacuation, which will take place during the course of…

T roops are preparing for a final push on evacuations from Afghanistan as more than 1,000 people eligible to flee were set to be left behind. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Friday night that only those UK nationals and Afghans who had already been processed would now be…

Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned said time is running out for the evacuation effort in Kabul as the operation was strained by a warning that a lethal terror attack could be launched within hours. The Prime Minister said today that the “overwhelming majority” of eligible people have now been evacuated…