Paul McNamara , Senior Political Correspondent

The Home Secretary James Cleverly has apologised after he joked at a reception in Downing Street about spiking his wife’s drink with a date rape drug. 

Pubs should be in the midst of their most profitable time of the year, but rising energy bills mean many will be forced to shut down for good, according to a leading trade body. 

The UK just got closer to falling into an official recession – after new figures showed the economy shrank in the third quarter of the year. 

Councils in England which ‘drag their feet’ over housing development applications could face action, and could even see their planning powers taken away, the housing secretary Michael Gove has warned.  

Councils have warned that many are still at risk of going bankrupt – despite £64 billion in funding for English local authorities which ministers have just announced for next year. Michael Gove said it represented a “real terms increase” of almost 6.5%.

Labour say they will vote against the Rwanda bill.

The top civil servant at the Home Office has been summoned before MPs on Monday – to explain the full costs of the government’s scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. 

In the last few minutes, reports say Robert Jenrick has resigned as immigration minister over the Rwanda migrant bill, as Labour accused the Government of ‘total chaos’. 

The former minister and MEP, Baroness Glenys Kinnock, has died at the age of 79. 

Boris Johnson intends to apologise for mistakes the government made in the handling of the pandemic. 

Politicians from all parties have paid tribute to the former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling – who has died three years after being diagnosed with cancer.

Net migration hit a record high in 2022, after the Office for National Statistics revised its previous estimate. And it’s not a small revision. It now says net migration – which is the number of people coming to the UK minus the number leaving wasn’t 606,000 in 2022 as it previously estimated, but 745,000 –…

Rishi Sunak has denied ‘tinkering’ with the Government’s plans to remove illegal migrants to Rwanda – amid scathing criticism by his sacked Home Secretary Suella Braverman. 

MPs have been voting on that SNP amendment calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, they rejected the amendment by 293 to 125.

Labour is facing a significant rebellion in the Commons tonight. Shadow Women and Equalities Minister Yasmin Qureshi has already stepped down to back the SNP amendment calling for a ceasefire.