The Facts

When standing down from the House of Commons, MPs are given a new job – either as Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds, or Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead. Holding either of these positions is incompatible with being a Member of Parliament, as it’s thought that MPs cannot scrutinise other Crown Offices whilst holding one themselves.

Interim measures (or ‘Rule 39 orders’) are urgent orders issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on an exceptional basis, where there is an ‘real risk of serious and irreversible harm’.

An Autumn Statement is an update from the Chancellor to MPs on the government’s taxation and spending plans.

Fiscal drag occurs when inflation and earnings rise, but tax thresholds or tax bands do not increase with inflation.

A three-line whip is an instruction by a political party to attend and vote in support of a party’s position in Parliament….

There is no right to strike under UK law. However, under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, everyone has…

The ‘default tariff cap’ – widely called the energy price cap – determines the maximum price per unit customers can pay for…

A windfall tax is levied against companies deemed to have made excessively high profits, or a ‘windfall’, from circumstances they themselves did not engineer. Learn more here.

Volodymyr Zelensky is the current and sixth President of Ukraine. He assumed office in May 2019 and is a member of the…

Martin Reynolds was Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minster from October 2019 until his resignation in February 2022. He previously served…

‘Partygate’ comprises of a series of allegations that a number parties took place across 10 Downing Street and other government buildings over…

Simon Case is the Cabinet Secretary – the most senior policy adviser to the Prime Minister. It is a wide-ranging role which…