Paul McNamara , Senior Political Correspondent

Rishi Sunak is reported to be considering watering down some of the commitments made to reach net zero by 2050. 

A government minister has confirmed that 80 prison officers at Wandsworth prison did not attend their shifts on the day that Daniel Khalife escaped. Justice minister Damian Hinds confirmed the figure, which equates to 39 per cent of the total staff, in response to a question from the local Labour MP.

In the last few minutes, the government has seen its plan to ditch water pollution laws defeated in the House of Lords. The amendment to the Levelling Up Bill was designed to encourage housebuilding, but Labour decided to oppose it in dramatic fashion.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has set out the party’s commitment to workers rights – promising to repeal anti-strike laws and ban zero hours contracts .

Wales’ first minister Mark Drakeford has claimed plans to cut speed limits on most residential roads to 20 miles an hour will reduce collisions and save lives – as he visited one of the areas where the new rules are being trialled. 

A former soldier accused of planting fake bombs at a military base has escaped from prison in south London.

If not swept away, then the restrictions on building onshore wind farms have been loosened, as the Government pledged to get rid of a de-facto ban which had been imposed since 2015.

The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hopes to meet the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, the man widely believed to have ordered the murder of Journalist Jamal Kashogji at the “earliest opportunity”. 

Inflation is down, falling just over 1% last month, but prices are continuing to rise – just more slowly than they were before.

It’s exactly two years since the Taliban seized power again in Afghanistan – forcing thousands of people to flee to Europe, in fear for their lives.

Ministers are coming under renewed pressure to tackle the number of people crossing the channel in small boats – after six people died at the weekend making the journey.

More than seven and a half million people in England are now waiting for routine hospital treatment – the highest figure since records began – and three million higher than before the pandemic. 

It’s not so much his controversial views on asylum seekers which are causing ructions in the Tory party, but senior MP Lee Anderson’s claim that the government had “failed” to stop people crossing the Channel in small boats hasn’t gone down quite so well. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick took pains this morning to distance himself from that.

New polling – given exclusively to Channel 4 News – shows a Labour landslide victory with around 460 seats and the Conservatives reduced to 90 seats – if there were an imminent general election.

The job of the Professional Enablers Taskforce is to root out corrupt immigration lawyers.