Politics

WASHINGTON — Abortion rights are at risk at the Supreme Court, but the short-term threat may not come from extreme measures like the one passed by Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday. The court led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is more likely to chip away at the constitutional right to abortion established in 1973 […]

A Conservative MP asking a sombre question in the Commons about bereavement care was interrupted by an automated announcement about a test being completed. The Speaker joked that Antoinette Sandbach had “passed the test with flying colours” before she carried on with her question to the prime minister. BBC political coverage in text, video, images

The acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration defended the agency’s certification procedures involving the now-grounded Boeing 737 Max airplane, telling the House Transportation Committee on Wednesday that the process by which company-paid employees inspected their own aircraft was “a good system.” The F.A.A. executive, Daniel Elwell, said his agency was reviewing a decades-old practice

Brexiteer Peter Bone said Conservative activists in his Wellingborough constituency want Theresa May to resign before next seek’s EU elections. The Tory MP said they told him the PM’s Brexit deal was “worse than staying in the European Union”, and they want the UK to leave the EU now on a no-deal basis. Mrs May

Democrats vying for the party’s nomination for president roundly condemned a measure approved by the Alabama Senate on Tuesday that would outlaw almost all abortions in the state, calling it an outrageous, appalling and unconstitutional attack on women that they vowed to challenge. Among the measure’s most forceful critics were the leading women candidates: Senator

The SNP’s Westminster leader was not impressed with the PM’s answer when he asked about a “backroom agreement” between Labour and the Conservatives to force the Brexit “shoddy deal through”. Ian Blackford said it would “sell out” Scotland, but Theresa May replied that only the SNP wanted to “sell out the interests of Scotland”. He

Democrats vying for the party’s nomination for president roundly condemned a measure approved by the Alabama Senate on Tuesday that would outlaw almost all abortions in the state, calling it an outrageous, appalling and unconstitutional attack on women that they vowed to challenge. Among the measure’s most forceful critics were the leading women candidates: Senator

A Labour MP called on the PM to speak the “truth about Europe” rather than the “big lie” of those who opposed it. Barry Sheerman told her he was a “passionate Eurosceptic” when he became an MP 40 years ago, but had changed his mind as the EU had “delivered prosperity” and “kept the peace”.

The acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration will face questions from members of the House Transportation Committee on Wednesday about the regulator’s role in approving Boeing’s now-grounded 737 Max airplane to fly. It will be the first in a series of hearings that House Democrats plan to hold on the troubled jet, which was

The government has closed a tax loophole and applied retrospective charges on freelancers, with some getting unexpected tax bills of up to tens of thousands dating back to 1999. The Loan Charge has affected people from a range of professions – IT contractors, oil and gas workers, locum doctors, social workers and nurses – who