Stride’s Hamlet gag saves Reeves from slings and arrows of economic fortune | John Crace

You can only conclude that Conservative MPs are just too trusting for their own good. Either that or they are catatonically dim. The rest of us know enough to not always believe what we read on the front page of the rightwing papers, but Tory MPs seem to take everything at face value. If it’s in the paper, it must be true. It’s almost touching

Hearing MPs’ life stories brings us closer to them | Letters

I find Simon Jenkins’ article somewhat specious (I don’t want to hear MPs’ personal testimonies in parliament. Issues like assisted dying are for heads, not hearts, 7 January). Many MPs say that it is their personal experience that brings them into politics, as is the case with my local MP, Cheadle’s Tom Morrison. His decision to enter politics was driven by his personal experience of the threat of his family becoming homeless when he was a child.I see him regularly, he lives round the corner

Rachel Reeves blames global volatility for borrowing rates rise amid Tory criticism

Rachel Reeves has told the Conservatives to “get real” as she blamed global economic volatility for the recent sharp rise in UK borrowing rates, which has triggered calls for her resignation and left her contemplating further public sector cuts.The chancellor appeared in front of MPs on Tuesday for the first time since travelling to China and after several days of bond market turmoil that have taken the government’s borrowing rates to their highest levels in decades.Reeves is facing one of the most difficult periods in her six months in office, with investors dumping UK bonds and the pound amid concerns about low growth in Britain and abroad. The government sold £1bn worth of new bonds on Tuesday on the most expensive terms since 2004.Reeves told the Commons that the recent moves in UK bond markets tracked those seen in other countries

UK politics: Starmer says ‘door remains open’ for Tulip Siddiq following her resignation as Treasury minister – as it happened

Tulip Siddiq, the Treasury minister, has resigned.She says Laurie Magnus, the PM’s ethics adviser, has said she has not broken the ministerial code. But she is going because if she were to stay she would be a “distraction” to the government.Here is the letter she has sent to the PM.Tulip Siddiq has resigned as a Treasury minister after repeated questions about her financial links to the ousted Bangladeshi government run by her aunt

Tulip Siddiq resigns as Treasury minister over alleged Bangladeshi financial links

Tulip Siddiq has resigned as a Treasury minister after accepting the government was being harmed by the furore over her close ties to her aunt, the ousted prime minister of Bangladesh now accused of corruption.Siddiq, who was the City and anti-corruption minister, stepped aside after an investigation by Laurie Magnus, the adviser on ministerial standards, into her use of properties given to herself and family by allies of the regime of Sheikh Hasina.She was not deemed by Magnus to have broken any rules over her use of the homes and he found no evidence to suggest that any of Siddiq’s assets were derived from anything other than legitimate means.The inquiry also looked into her presence at the signing of a 2013 nuclear deal between her aunt and Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The adviser accepted her explanation that she had been there only socially and as a tourist

Bangladesh files criminal case against UK minister Tulip Siddiq

Authorities in Bangladesh have filed a criminal case against the UK Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq, accusing her of misusing her position as an MP to gain influence and illegally acquire land with her aunt the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.Siddiq has faced mounting calls to resign over her links to Hasina, who was toppled in August after mass protests across Bangladesh and is facing charges of corruption and crimes against humanity.On Monday, Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission (ACC) said it had filed a case against Hasina and her wider family over an alleged large-scale land grab of lucrative plots in a suburb of the capital, Dhaka. The case named the former prime minister as well as Siddiq.“Sheikh Hasina, in collaboration with some officials, allocated plots for herself and her family members,” said the ACC director general, Akhter Hossain