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    The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's renowned personal secretary is set to leave her role after the birth of their child in spring just weeks after another aide suddenly resigned. Samantha Cohen, 50, is a key member of Meghan's Kensington Palace staff and her departure will fuel rumours that the Duchess is difficult to work for. Ms Cohen is nicknamed Samantha the Panther and was also one of the Queen's most trusted aides having served as a communications secretary and spent 17 years working for the royals. Meghan's personal assistant Melissa Touabti also quit, just six months after the Royal wedding at Windsor Castle in May. Ms Cohen is believed to have joined Harry and Meghan's household on an interim basis in early 2018. The Duchess is reported to have been keen to...

    Theresa May has warned Conservative MPs they risk handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to Number 10 unless they back her Brexit deal. The prime minister added that failure to approve her agreement also brings a very real risk of the UK not leaving the European Union. Mrs May is fighting to save her Brexit deal ahead of a crucial Commons vote on Tuesday, with her leadership also in jeopardy amid a mounting Tory revolt. Brexiteers Boris Johnson, David Davis and Priti Patel all addressed grassroots Conservative activists on Saturday at the National Conservative Convention, fuelling speculation about their ambitions. Mrs May has insisted she is still the best leader for the Conservatives, and spoke of her hope that the Brexit deal would be secured by Christmas. The prime m...

    Theresa May could be forced to stand down as prime minister if her Brexit deal is defeated in the Commons next week, a Tory former leader has warned. Eurosceptic Iain Duncan Smith cautioned against May and her cabinet deciding to brazen it out, saying such an approach would be a disaster. How the PM responds after the vote matters more than anything else she has done, he told the Daily Telegraph (£). I believe that if the response is, we’ve lost but we will do this all over again’ it will become a leadership issue. I don’t want it to be. If she and the Cabinet decide to brazen it out and simply say [a defeat of] anything under 200 is not as big as you think, then that would be a disaster. The paper reported cabinet ministers have also warned May she would have to ...

    Theresa May looks on course to suffer a heavy loss The prime minister has been warned tinkering with her Brexit deal won't cut it as she was advised to delay a looming vote on her agreement. Theresa May is facing the prospect of a heavy defeat when the House of Commons votes on her deal next Tuesday. With many MPs opposed to the so-called backstop arrangement included in the agreement struck with Brussels, it is estimated the prime minister could be at least 90 votes short of winning parliament's approval. On Thursday night, Tory backbenchers tabled an amendment to the parliamentary vote on Mrs May's deal. The clause is aimed at giving MPs a future choice on whether the UK enters the backstop arrangement a means to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland or...

    While Christmas is a time of joy for most of us, that's not the case for the UK's most vulnerable children and young people. We've partnered with giving platform Benevity to raise funds for two charities the NSPCC and the Children's society  to try to help change that. You can help make a difference please donate now. Police will cease to automatically pass information about people suspected of being in the country illegally to deportation authorities if they come forward as victims of crime, according to a new policy hammered out in the wake of the Windrush scandal, the Guardian has learned. The new measures, agreed by police chiefs in England and Wales, include a ban on officers checking the police national computer solely to see if someone has leave to remain in ...

    The second day of the marathon Brexit deal debate in the Commons got under way as Home Secretary Sajid Javid addressed MPs. It began immediately after Prime Minister's Questions in which Theresa May was accused of hoodwinking Parliament over bombshell warnings included in the legal advice about her deal which she denied. The Government was forced to publish the legal texts in full after it was held in contempt following a motion in the Commons on Tuesday. Wednesday's debate on the Brexit deal in the Commons was focussing on security with Mr Javid leading with an opening statement and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt to deliver a closing speech.