Sunak's defence pledge sets trap for Starmer

On the plane from Warsaw to Berlin, Rishi Sunak was buoyant as he briefly chatted to the travelling pack. 

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'They need it now': Sunak announces largest military package to Ukraine so far

Rishi Sunak is to announce a £500m military aid package to Ukraine in its war against Russia alongside the UK's largest provision of munitions so far.

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Lords push back on Rwanda bill again - despite PM declaring 'enough is enough'

The House of Lords has pushed the government's Rwanda Bill back to the Commons again as a row continues over the controversial plan to "stop the boats".

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Sir Keir Starmer vows to protect Premier League's world leading status amid regulator concerns

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to work to protect the Premier League's status as the world's leading football competition, echoing some of its concerns about the introduction of a football regulator.

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SNP-led Scottish Government on brink of COLLAPSE as Greens ready to quit

Scotland's coalition government is at risk of collapse after the Scottish Greens announced a vote on their partnership with the SNP following a row over climate targets.

Patrick Harvie, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said today that Scotland is "years behind taking action to reduce emissions" after it dropped its 2030 climate change goals, and admitted he did not know whether the coalition would continue.

The Greens have enjoyed a power-sharing agreement with the SNP - the Bute House Agreement - since August 2021, which gives the latter a majority in the Scottish Parliament when its 63 MSPs are combined with seven from the Greens.

Harvie said the vote on ending the coalition deal, slated for next month, would be the "most important" decision in the history of his party - and warned that backing out would strengthen opponents on climate issues like SNP backbencher Fergus Ewing, who has described the Greens as "hard left extremists who should never be anywhere near government".

The upcoming vote heaps even more pressure on Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf in the wake of the imposition of Scotland's controversial hate crime laws and the re-arrest of Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive and Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, who is charged with embezzling funds from the party.

Yousaf has expressed confidence in the Greens voting to carry on in the coalition - but said the SNP would continue as a minority government if they withdrew.

With his party polling at near-decade-long lows, Yousaf faces rumours of senior nationalists weighing up his replacement - one insider, speaking to the Herald on Sunday, said: "It's a question now of when he goes, not if."

Speaking to the BBC, Harvie said focusing on targets is not enough, adding: "It's been clear for a long time now that Scotland is not on track to reach that target."

READ MORE FROM SCOTLAND:

• 'Get Humza OUT!' Pro-Union demonstrators rally against SNP as Scottish nationalists demand new referendum
  
• Scottish primary schools appoint children as young as FOUR as 'LGBT Champions'
  
• Police Scotland 'can't cope' as hate crime complaints set to outnumber total for ALL other offences with 8,000 in first week
  

The co-leader continued: "This is a moment that is critical for the future of climate policy in Scotland, which is, you know, the reason Greens are in politics in the first place.

"It's critical to the future of our party as well, and over the next few weeks we have probably the most important decision to make that we’ve ever had to make about the future of our party.

"My worry is that, if we if we walked away at this point, we would decelerate the climate action, we would see the hand strengthened of the likes of Fergus Ewing, backbencher in the SNP now, who’s constantly popping up and having a go at environmental policy and urging the Government to slow down."

But Scottish Conservatives chairman Craig Hoy took aim at both the SNP and Scottish Greens, saying: "Patrick Harvie takes no accountability for his party’s shameful record in Government.

"Both he and [Greens co-leader] Lorna Slater have spent the last three years pitifully trading environmentalism for nationalism to the fury of their members who now want out of this toxically incompetent coalition.

"Humza Yousaf is so weak that he has lost any authority he had, and even after the disaster they've been in Government, it's still the Greens calling the shots!

"If Humza Yousaf had any backbone, he would be pulling the plug himself on this shambolic deal which is harming Scotland's economy and jeopardising our oil and gas industry.

"Instead, he is at the mercy of the Green vote, and the coalition of chaos he inherited from Nicola Sturgeon is now hanging by a thread."

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The Week... Rishi tries to save his skin

Two of Westminster's best-connected journalists, Sky News's Sam Coates and Politico's Jack Blanchard, guide you through their top predictions for the next seven days in British politics.

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Ulez: Man says 'dog ATE two letters' informing him of fines

A driver has slammed TfL after a run-in with London's controversial Ulez scheme left him stressed and in thousands of pounds of debt - just for riding his motorbike.

Del Hudson, 54, from Richmond, West London, said he had ridden a 2000-plate Honda Fireblade for years, but didn't consider its lack of Ulez compliance when the zone was expanded in August last year.

When the 54-year-old had been fined the first time, he paid up, but said he assumed that future fines would be collected automatically after receiving an email from TfL informing him he had registered for a London Road User Charging account.

When he was fined four more times, Hudson - who was already in debt - had to watch as the overdue penalties skyrocketed, with one soaring to £2,000.

The motorcyclist said TfL had even issued a warrant which could have seen bailiffs come for his car, while the stress of the looming fines meant he "just didn't deal with it", and only added to the depression and anxiety from which he had suffered "since Covid".

Hudson even claimed that his dog "ate two of the letters", adding that if all seven of his fines had risen to £2,000, they would have totalled half of his annual wage.

But when TfL was contacted by a media outlet about the fines, the organisation made the shock decision to waive the penalties entirely in a "goodwill gesture".

Though Hudson said he believed the waiving of the fines was in an effort to make TfL "look good" and had "something to do with the election".

MORE ON ULEZ:

• Ulez revolt: The county bordering London where 75 PER CENT of fines remain unpaid
  
• Ulez leaves dad with £30,000 of fines just from 'taking children to school'
  
• Ulez: Drivers plot extreme ways to avoid being caught on Sadiq Khan’s enforcement cameras
  

The 54-year-old said even the lifting of the financial burden wouldn't be enough to convince him to vote for Sadiq Khan on May 2, and claimed average people "just can't survive at the moment" and the mayor was "not helping matters in any form or fashion".

A TfL statement read: "We are sorry for any distress caused to Mr Hudson. Following a review of his case, it is apparent that the fines issued to him were correct and followed our standard procedures in the absence of an Auto Pay account.

"As a gesture of goodwill, we have cancelled the outstanding fines and have advised him on how to set up Auto Pay."

Despite Hudson switching to driving his Ulez-compliant car, he said he thought he was now producing more carbon emissions due to his daily commute taking twice as long off the motorbike.

The 54-year-old dad claimed driving on four wheels was far more expensive than on two - but said public transport was not an option thanks to a lung condition which made walking difficult.

Since its rollout across the entirety of Greater London in August 2023 by Mayor Sadiq Khan, Ulez has seen significant backlash both inside the capital and on its borders.

The scheme penalises owners of vehicles which don't meet certain environmental standards with a £12.50 daily charge - which has been criticised as unaffordable and unsustainable.

GB News has approached the Mayor of London for comment.

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