Politics

Matt Hancock has said it was his decision to resign as health secretary after being caught breaking lockdown rules by kissing his aide Gina Coladangelo – contrary to Boris Johnson’s version of events. The former government minister told Sky News’ Beth Rigby Interviews programme that he chose to stand down from his role after CCTV

A Cabinet minister has accused migrants making perilous journeys across the Channel of “choosing to be putting their lives at risk and be exploited by criminals”. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi spoke to Sky News’ Kay Burley as he sought to defend the government’s plan to send people who arrive via illegal routes to the UK

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of choosing to “slander decent people” in private but lacking the “backbone to repeat it in public”. The Labour leader claimed that Mr Johnson showed a different attitude “once the cameras were off” – during bad-tempered exchanges at Prime Minister’s Questions. Sir Keir accused the PM of going

Boris Johnson has hit back at Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby over his criticism of sending illegal migrants to Rwanda, claiming the top clergy should be condemning Vladimir Putin instead. In an upbeat speech to Tory MPs after his partygate apology in the Commons, the prime minister said that while bishops attacked the Rwanda deal

Boris Johnson will face a Commons vote on whether claims that he misled MPs over partygate should be investigated. Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle granted a request from opposition MPs for a vote which will be held on Thursday – and which Sky News understands will seek to refer Mr Johnson for investigation by the privileges

A cabinet minister has likened Boris Johnson’s lockdown fixed penalty to a parking fine – ahead of the prime minister facing MPs for the first time since the punishment was issued. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis also told Sky News’ Kay Burley that Mr Johnson had not misled parliament when he initially declared that no

Nicola Sturgeon has been spoken to by police to “remind her of the importance of wearing a face covering when there is a legal requirement to do so”, Police Scotland has said. The Scottish first minister has apologised for what she said was “a few seconds” without a face covering and said officers were “absolutely

Boris Johnson is preparing to set out his “version of events” on partygate as he faces MPs this week for the first time since being fined as a result of a police investigation. Mr Johnson is expected to update the House of Commons on the affair as parliament resumes following the Easter break – after

New allegations have emerged regarding lockdown parties in Downing Street – with Labour claiming Boris Johnson has “deliberately misled the British people at every turn”. The prime minister has already been fined once for breaking COVID rules on his birthday in 2020, but that is said to be regarded as the least problematic of a

The Home Secretary has issued a “ministerial direction” in relation to the Rwanda asylum plan, overruling concerns from her own civil servants, Sky News understands. Ministerial directions are used when the top civil servant in a department has objected to the costs or feasibility of a spending plan. A Home Office source said: “Home Office

In our analysis of the government’s new plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, we’ve looked at the moral and legal implications as well as the cost. There is one thing we’ve overlooked, though, and that is how those changes will impact the country which the government says will process “tens of thousands” of asylum

Coming two days after the prime minister was fined for breaking his own lockdown rules, today’s eye-catching asylum announcement has been greeted by many as a cynical attempt to change the subject. In reality, this unveiling has been in the offing for a while, with details of the home secretary’s trip to Rwanda pencilled in

There are “question marks” around the validity of Sajid Javid’s claim to “non-dom” status, according to tax experts. The health secretary previously told The Sunday Times he had held non-domiciled status for six years between 2000 and 2006, which would mean not having to pay UK taxes on his overseas earnings. He said he was

Boris Johnson said he will face the Commons next week to “set the record straight” over his partygate fine – as more of his MPs called on him to quit. The prime minister apologised earlier this week after he was ordered to pay a £50 fixed penalty for attending a birthday gathering in Downing Street

Conservative peer David Wolfson has quit as justice minister over the “scale, context and nature” of breaches of COVID regulations in Downing Street. Lord Wolfson said in a letter to Boris Johnson he was quitting not only over the events themselves, or the prime minister’s “own conduct,” but also “the official response to what took

Despite everything that has happened in the last few days, the official Treasury line is that Rishi Sunak never contemplated resigning and is committed to staying in the UK. Of course one of the complications Mr Sunak faces is that – on a practical level – it would be not as straightforward as it once