EXCL: UK taxpayers have paid out more than £34,000 to cover cost of science minister Michelle Donelan’s libel case - more than double the sum the government previously admitted.
theguardian.com/politics/2024/…

🚨NEW: Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith urges ministers to pause fines of unpaid carers

Big intervention after The Guardian ⁦Patrick Butler⁩ series this week. Story with ⁦Eleni Courea⁩ 👇 theguardian.com/politics/2024/…

Ministers are facing calls to abandon the “cruel and nonsensical” fines levied on tens of thousands of unpaid carers for unwittingly breaching earnings rules by just a few pounds a week. theguardian.com/society/2024/a…

“Cruel and nonsensical” : MPs urge reform of carers allowance penalties amid calls for ministers to publish buried official study examining impact of fines on carer's lives. By Josh Halliday, me, and Aletha Adu theguardian.com/society/2024/a…

‘Desperate neglect’: teachers washing clothes and finding beds as poverty grips England’s schools theguardian.com/education/2024…

Who is Vaughan Gething, the new Welsh Labour leader? theguardian.com/politics/2024/…

'Labour's opportunistic sanctimony is difficult to stomach. This is the definition of instrumentalisation. Racism is not a game. When a party exploits it for its own political advantage, it cheapens the accusation and deepens the cynicism.' theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

New w/ Rowena Mason + matthew weaver -
Frank Hester asked if there was “no room for the Indians” and suggested staff climb on a train roof during a crowded meeting, before saying he made “a lot of jokes about racism”.

theguardian.com/politics/2024/…

What's on tomorrow's front pages? 📰

Sky's @AnnaBotting takes a first look at Tuesday's headlines with guests Jack Elsom and @AlethaAdu on the #PressPreview .

#SkyPapers 👉 trib.al/IgERD3N

📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube

Biggest Tory donor said looking at Diane Abbott makes you ‘want to hate all black women’ theguardian.com/politics/2024/…

Three Tory ex-home secretaries warn against politicising anti-extremism theguardian.com/politics/2024/…

UK anti-Islamophobia body has not met for four years despite hate crime rise dlvr.it/T3tJLW

Excl - The government’s anti-Muslim hatred working group has been “on pause” for four years, despite repeated promises from officials & a sharp rise in hate crime

theguardian.com/news/2024/mar/…

Revealed: legal fears over Michael Gove’s new definition of ‘extremism’ dlvr.it/T3sh3F

Commendably creative defence of Michelle Donelan for running up a £15,000 taxpayer-funded libel* bill from Penny Mordaunt – Donelan's decision to decline redundancy pay after serving about 36 hours as education secretary 'speaks volumes about her character'.

EXC: Jeremy Hunt has privately admitted to MPs that he can't raise the VAT threshold for businesses UK-wide because of EU rules

Hunt has told colleagues he can't go above £90,000 because of the Northern Ireland protocol

theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/m…

So touched by this profile in The House magazine

Delighted to be on this year's 100
Women in Westminster list

It's lovely to see so many great women celebrated ✨
#WiW100

UK ministers consider ban on MPs engaging with pro-Palestine and climate protesters theguardian.com/world/2024/mar…

Budget plans risk ‘second lost decade’ of living standards, Jeremy Hunt told theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/m…

Monday’s GUARDIAN: “Budget plan risks forcing UK into second lost decade, Hunt warned” #TomorrowsPapersToday