News about James Roberts

After a drive to make her Tory leader Tony Badenoch's campaign revived, there was increasing excitement last night. A few weeks ago, Backingbadenoch.co.uk's website was silently updated, as well as the relevant Twitter and Facebook pages. The campaign, according to her aides, was "grassroots" and had nothing to do with her. Tory sources were not convinced.

Ms Badenoch, who was supported by Michael Gove in her leadership run last year, is reported to have named a 'campaign manager' and told MPs, 'I'm one of you.' Ms Badenoch's allies denied the allegations, saying that James Roberts, the 'campaign manager' was 'leading on MP engagement,' and that her meetings with MPs were to discuss post-Brexit deregulation. "Kemi isn't shy about what's going wrong at the moment," a senior Tory MP said. She sees herself as one of the few grown ups to take over Rishi, re-align the party to the right, and keep One Nationers happy.'

JAMES ROBERTS: It's a 'gift' to hardworking employees and officials, according to Lib Dem civic leader Bridget Smith (pictured), a new four-day week at her South Cambridgeshire district council. Any working week of the year is a gift. And, best of all, Smith hasn't had to pay for it. The experiment's deceptive price tag, which was unveiled in January and has since been extended until March 2024, has inevitably been funded by her own council taxpayers' generosity.

The scheme, which has been officially submitted to Tory Justice Minister Lord Bellamy, is still in the draft process and will require Whitehall permission to go further. Jane Hutt (inset), Julie Morgan, and Mick Antoniw were among the letter's signators, who stated that all migrants (main) aged 18 and over should be provided with universal basic education without being denied of legal assistance.

Former MPs and their families and relatives are among the Commons' staff whose families and acquaintances are honoured with a medal from the Commons Speaker. The rejection by voters, according to the paper, should be 'emotional and painful,' and the 'noble enterprise' of public service should be protected, encouraged, and acknowledged.' When parliamentarians, who receive a fixed salary of £84,144, are barred from office, the cross-party alliance suggested a slew of steps to cushion the blow. According to the paper, severance payments should be brought into sync with other parliaments, possibly pushing pay-offs - effectively 'golden goodbyes' - to six figures.

Official figures show that more than 30,000 asylum seekers have been waiting in Britain for more than six years as their applications are acknowledged. Nearly half - 13,000 residents have lived in the United Kingdom for more than a decade, while taxpayers pay their living expenses to the tune of billions of pounds per year. According to the Home Office statistics from a Freedom of Information request by The Sun on Sunday, 60,290 cases have dragged on for at least three years. For ten years, 12,994 people had been in limbo.

In the fear that fraudsters are going to abuse remote employees last night, critics urged welfare chiefs to stop remote working. Civil servants can dole out benefits remotely without the need for claimants to visit an office and conduct a face-to-face interview. Responsible for distributing more than £216 billion in welfare claims for unemployment, sickness, and housing assistance. Ministers were recently blasted by a committee of MPs after bungling employees in the Department of Work and Pensions lost a historic £8.6 billion last year, almost double what was lost the year before the pandemic.