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Rishi Sunak is “quick to anger” and a man whose smile is “not always genuine”, according to former cabinet minister Nadine Dorries.

Ms Dorries was a stalwart ally of Boris Johnson, and has continuously criticised Mr Sunak since he took over as leader of the party and government last year.

She claims he – among many things – blocked her ascension to the House of Lords. This has been denied by Downing Street.

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Speaking to the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge, Ms Dorries was asked why she had described Mr Sunak as “sickly nice” in her new book, The Plot.

Explaining what she meant, Ms Dorries said: “If you saw him in his interview with Elon Musk I think you know what I mean.

“There’s a smile [that] is not always genuine – and I’m sure you’ve read many times yourself and heard many times yourself – but he was, he’s quick to anger, and because that mask often slips.”

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Ms Dorries said she had seen this happening.

Asked when this occurred, she said it was “just an irritability” – adding that it was “very hard to put on an image, isn’t it, all day”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak laughs while listening to The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby speak at the annual Lord Mayor's Banquet at the Guildhall in central London. Picture date: Monday November 13, 2023. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire

“It’s very hard to keep that fixed grin and that, you know, that cheerful chappy demeanour all day long when you’re prime minister,” she said.

“It’s like 24 hours a day, so I’m not surprised the mask slips because it’s quite hard to keep up that effort.

“I think that’s part of the problem.”

Asked about the recent reshuffle, Ms Dorries said she did not think it was right to sack Suella Braverman.

She accused Downing Street of lying about not signing off a controversial article authored by the former home secretary in which she accused the police of “playing favourites” with pro-Palestine protesters.

When Ms Dorries was a minister and Mr Johnson was in power, Downing Street came under scrutiny for its statements on partygate and Chris Pincher – the latter event precipitating the collapse of the administration.

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On Lord David Cameron‘s appointment as foreign secretary, Ms Dorries claimed the job was “created” so Lord Cameron could be put in the House of Lords – something she thinks would not have happened otherwise due to the Greensill lobbying scandal.

Sky News has contacted Number 10 and Lord Cameron for comment on Ms Dorries’s claims.

Watch the interview tonight at 7pm on the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge

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‘Shameful’ that black boys in London more likely to die than white boys, says Met Police chief

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'Shameful' that black boys in London more likely to die than white boys, says Met Police chief

It is “shameful” that black boys growing up in London are “far more likely” to die than white boys, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley has told Sky News.

The commissioner told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that relations with minority communities “is difficult for us”.

Sir Mark, who came out of retirement to become head of the UK’s largest police force in 2022, said: “We can’t pretend otherwise that we’ve got a history between policing and black communities where policing has got a lot wrong.

“And we get a lot more right today, but we do still make mistakes. That’s not in doubt. I’m being as relentless in that as it can be.”

He said the “vast majority” of the force are “good people”.

However, he added: “But that legacy, combined with the tragedy that some of this crime falls most heavily in black communities, that creates a real problem because the legacy creates concern.”

Sir Mark, who also leads the UK’s counter-terrorism policing, said it is “not right” that black boys growing up in London “are far more likely to be dead by the time they’re 18” than white boys.

“That’s, I think, shameful for the city,” he admitted.

The Met Police chief’s admission comes two years after an official report found the force is institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic.

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Baroness Casey was commissioned in 2021 to look into the Met Police after serving police officer Wayne Couzens abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard.

She pinned the primary blame for the Met’s culture on its past leadership and found that stop and search and the use of force against black people was excessive.

At the time, Sir Mark, who had been commissioner for six months when the report was published, said he would not use the labels of institutionally racist, institutionally misogynistic and institutionally homophobic, which Casey insisted the Met deserved.

However, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who helped hire Sir Mark – and could fire him – made it clear the commissioner agreed with Baroness Casey’s verdict.

After the report was released, Sir Mark said “institutional” was political language so he was not going to use it, but he accepted “we have racists, misogynists…systematic failings, management failings, cultural failings”.

A few months after the report, Sir Mark launched a two-year £366m plan to overhaul the Met, including increased emphasis on neighbourhood policing to rebuild public trust and plans to recruit 500 more community support officers and an extra 565 people to work with teams investigating domestic violence, sexual offences and child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Watch the full interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am on Sunday.

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Unite votes to suspend Angela Rayner over Birmingham bin strike

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Unite votes to suspend Angela Rayner over Birmingham bin strike

Labour’s largest union donor, Unite, has voted to suspend Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over her role in the Birmingham bin strike row.

Members of the trade union, one of the UK’s largest, also “overwhelmingly” voted to “re-examine its relationship” with Labour over the issue.

They said Ms Rayner, who is also housing, communities and local government secretary, Birmingham Council’s leader, John Cotton, and other Labour councillors had been suspended for “bringing the union into disrepute”.

There was confusion over Ms Rayner’s membership of Unite, with her office having said she was no longer a member and resigned months ago and therefore could not be suspended.

But Unite said she was registered as a member. Parliament’s latest register of interests had her down as a member in May.

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The union said an emergency motion was put to members at its policy conference in Brighton on Friday.

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Unite is one of the Labour Party’s largest union donors, donating £414,610 in the first quarter of 2025 – the highest amount in that period by a union, company or individual.

The union condemned Birmingham’s Labour council and the government for “attacking the bin workers”.

Mountains of rubbish have been piling up in the city since January after workers first went on strike over changes to their pay, with all-out strike action starting in March. An agreement has still not been made.

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Rat catcher tackling Birmingham’s bins problem

Ms Rayner and the councillors had their membership suspended for “effectively firing and rehiring the workers, who are striking over pay cuts of up to £8,000”, the union added.

‘Missing in action’

General secretary Sharon Graham told Sky News on Saturday morning: “Angela Rayner, who has the power to solve this dispute, has been missing in action, has not been involved, is refusing to come to the table.”

She had earlier said: “Unite is crystal clear, it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette.

“Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts.

“The disgraceful actions of the government and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire and rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises.

“People up and down the country are asking whose side is the Labour government on and coming up with the answer not workers.”

SN pics from 10/04/25 Tyseley Lane, Tyseley, Birmingham showing some rubbish piling up because of bin strikes
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Piles of rubbish built up around Birmingham because of the strike over pay

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said the government’s “priority is and always has been the residents of Birmingham”.

He said the decision by Unite workers to go on strike had “caused disruption” to the city.

“We’ve worked to clean up streets and remain in close contact with the council […] as we support its recovery,” he added.

A total of 800 Unite delegates voted on the motion.

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Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

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Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

Binance co-founder CZ has dismissed a Bloomberg report linking him to the Trump-backed USD1 stablecoin, threatening legal action over alleged defamation.

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