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    Commentators often describe me as ‘a man in a hurry’. It’s true that in every job I’ve done in government, I’ve driven change and been determined to deliver the benefits of new policies as quickly as possible. I have used the Whitehall machine to get things done and force through dynamic reforms. I have directed civil servants rather than letting them direct me. That’s what I did as education secretary – with 1.9million more children now in good and outstanding schools. That’s how I approached reform of the criminal justice system – modernising our courts and making punishments fit the crime. Also, it’s how I’ve approached my current job as Environment Secretary – with swift action on reducing single-use plastic, on animal welfare, farming and fisheries. And it’s ...

    A woman has sparked a debate on tube etiquette after giving up her seat on the London Underground for a young boy. The woman involved said the boy's mother asked her to let her son sit down because he was just a child. She later questioned whether she made the right decision. The post led to some debating in what circumstance an adult should give up a seat for a child, while others shared their experiences of being asked to stand. Describing the incident on Reddit, the woman said: On the busy tube and managed to get a seat when a woman tells me give my seat to her son because ‘he’s just a child. He looked 10 years old and she didn’t say he needed a seat for any particular reason. I stared at her in disbelief and didn’t even know what to say and then she raised h...

    Donald Trump branded Britain's NHS hospitals a sea of blood after the recent spate of knife crime. The brutal US President made the scathing remarks during a remarkable interview with Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain which aired this morning. The world leader said: In London you have stabbings all over. I read an article where everybody is being stabbed. They said your hospital is a sea of blood, all over the floors. But his comments come days after 13 people were killed when a crazed gunman went on a rampage in Virginia Beach in the latest mass shooting in the US. The killer stormed a government building with a rifle and a .45 caliber handgun, police say. There have been more than 140 'mass shootings' in the US this year, which a crowdsourced database define...

    An investigation has revealed the risk of food poisoning because of dangerous practices at a US chicken factory, ahead of trade talks which could force the UK to accept the meat after Brexit. The undercover probe by Channel 4 laid bare the danger of cross-contamination with the deadly bacteria salmonella and campylobacter, because of poor standards outlawed by the EU. As normal in the US, the chicken is washed in chemicals a practice banned in the UK under EU law because scientists fear it does not remove bacteria and simply masks safety failures. Nevertheless, the US has made clear it will demand the UK accept chemical-washed poultry in any trade deal – and Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, has suggested a ban will be impossible. The expose by the Disp...

    Six MPs have split from Change UK just four months after the party was founded. Among those to quit were interim leader Heidi Allen and party spokesperson Chuka Umunna. They were joined by Luciana Berger, Sarah Wollaston, Gavin Shuker and Angela Smith. In a statement, the six said they would return to parliament as Independent MPs. “We believe that our priority right now must be to provide collegiate leadership to bring people together in the national interest,” the group said. “We know the landscape will continue to shift within the political environment and have concluded that by returning to sit as independents, we will be best placed to work cross party and respond flexibly”. The move has left Change UK with less than half the MPs it once had, with just five ...

    Donald Trump should think on about fuelling far right hate and create a better and more peaceful world, Jeremy Corbyn has said as the US president met with the prime minister. Addressing a mass rally against the US president in central London, the Labour leader lambasted Trump, claiming he has no answers to the world’s crises, including 65 million refugees, climate change and poverty. Corbyn, who faced criticism for boycotting the state banquet attended by Trump, he was willing to meet the president hoping to have that dialogue about politics but said he was very disappointed by the president’s “attack” on London’s muslim mayor Sadiq Khan. Looking out at a sea of ‘Dump Trump’ placards on Whitehall, Corbyn thanked everyone for being there, adding: “Look around this...

    Donald Trump’s state visit this week to the UK is being promoted as a celebration of a close alliance tempered through war. It could be more accurately described as a personal lap of victory for the US president, performed largely at the expense of his hosts. Trump arrives in London having survived Robert Mueller’s last blow, a verbal recap of the special counsel’s finding that the president could neither be charged with crimes nor exonerated. The president is now on the counter-attack and may well use his visit to repeat his claim called utterly ridiculous by GCHQ that UK intelligence helped spy on his election campaign. The rich pageantry that the British monarchy supplies will not only distract from the lingering clouds of suspicion, but send a bright red, whit...

    The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has compared the language used by Donald Trump to rally his supporters to that of the fascists of the 20th century in an explosive intervention before the US president’s state visit to London that begins today. Writing in the Observer, Khan condemned the red-carpet treatment being afforded to Trump who, with his wife Melania, will be a guest of the Queen during his three-day stay, which is expected to provoke massive protests in the capital on Tuesday. Khan said: President Donald Trump is just one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat. The far right is on the rise around the world, threatening our hard-won rights and freedoms and the values that have defined our liberal, democratic societies for more than 70 years...

  Britain should go for a no-deal Brexit with the EU and refuse to pay the agreed £39 billion divorce bill, US President Donald Trump has said on the eve of a visit to London. Donald Trump has called on Britain to leave the EU without a deal if Brussels refuses to meet its demands as he urged the Government to send in Nigel Farage to negotiate. In his second extraordinary intervention into British politics ahead of this week's state visit, the US president suggested the UK should "walk away" from talks and refuse to pay the £39 billion divorce bill if its requests are not met. He told the Sunday Times it was a "mistake" not to involve Brexit Party leader Mr Farage in negotiations, saying he has a "lot to offer" and is someone he likes "a lot". Mr Trump added: "He is a very ...