Politics

By now, you are probably aware that at 3.30pm the new chancellor will tell MPs of an approximately £20bn black hole in the public finances, necessitating immediate painful spending cuts today and paving the way for tax increases in an October budget. Rachel Reeves and her team will then challenge the Tories over who knew

Conservative leadership contests always start with much handshaking and hat doffing, but it never takes long for the muckraking and kneecapping to commence. Mel Stride managed as much – albeit in a characteristically courteous manner – when he popped up on Friday to announce his campaign. Asked about another candidate’s apparent volte-face on the European

Former home secretary Dame Priti Patel has said it is “time to put unity before personal vendetta” as she threw her hat into the ring for the Tory party leadership. Entering the increasingly crowded field to replace Rishi Sunak, the senior Conservative MP laid the blame for their worst-ever defeat on 4 July not on

The government is considering repealing a controversial law that could have seen universities and student unions fined for failing to uphold freedom of speech on campus. A Whitehall source branded The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, which was due to come into force next week, “an antisemites’ charter” that could have lent a

The government is expected to agree to above-inflation pay rises for public sector workers in the coming days, amid concerns over the costs of not settling, Sky News understands. Independent pay review bodies have already recommended the above-inflation figure to ministers for teachers and nurses of about 5.5% to keep them in line with increases

Mel Stride has become the fourth Conservative MP to enter the race to become the party’s next leader. The former work and pensions secretary – who now holds the shadow role – hinted his candidacy to Sky News earlier this week, saying there was a “reasonable chance” he would run. But he has now officially

Robert Jenrick will join the race to run for Conservative Party leader this morning. The former minister is the third Tory to throw their hat into the ring to replace Rishi Sunak as leader of the party after he stepped down following a devastating loss at the general election three weeks ago. Mr Jenrick served

Former security minister Tom Tugendhat has joined the race to replace Rishi Sunak as the next leader of the Conservative Party. He is the second person to formally join the race, with shadow home secretary James Cleverly announcing his candidacy yesterday. Nominations for the race opened up this evening, with Mr Tugendhat, Mr Cleverly, Suella

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted his government will “do difficult things” to tackle violence against women and girls following a Sky News report about sexual harassment in the ambulance service. At his first PMQs in his role as prime minister, Sir Keir was asked by Labour MP Charlotte Nichols how his government plans to tackle

Seven Labour MPs have been suspended from the parliamentary party after voting against the government to call for the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap. Richard Burgon, John McDonnell, Imran Hussain, Apsana Begum, Zarah Sultana, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Ian Byrne have all had the whip suspended for six months, at which point the decision will

The Bibby Stockholm barge will stop housing asylum seekers from the end of January 2025 as part of the government’s overhaul of the asylum system. The barge, currently moored in Dorset, was set up by the last Conservative government as one of its attempts to cut hotel bills for people who had come to the

Rishi Sunak’s replacement as Conservative leader will be announced on 2 November, the Tory party has confirmed. The party said the former prime minister, who led the Conservatives to their worst-ever defeat on 4 July, will remain acting leader until that date. Nominations to succeed Mr Sunak will open on Wednesday at 7pm and will

Sky News’ hugely popular politics podcast Electoral Dysfunction will go on tour in September after a busy summer covering the general election. A series of live shows around the UK will be hosted by Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby. She will be joined by regular panellist Ruth Davidson, who is a Conservative peer, and a

The previous government was set to spend £10bn on the now-scrapped Rwanda scheme, the home secretary has revealed. Giving a statement in the Commons, Yvette Cooper said £700m of taxpayers’ money had already been spent on the scheme, which the Conservatives brought in to act as a deterrent to those travelling in small boats across

Unfunded spending commitments crash the economy, a Treasury minister has warned, as he defended keeping the two-child benefit cap in what is shaping up to be the first big test of the Labour government. Speaking on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, James Murray highlighted the market turmoil triggered by Liz Truss’s 2022 mini-budget

A Treasury minister has said there is a cost to not striking a deal on public sector pay in the face of reported proposals for inflation-busting wage hikes costing billions of pounds. But speaking on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, James Murray insisted the Labour government’s fiscal rules were “non-negotiable” as he refused