Politics

Thousands of prisoners languishing in prison indefinitely deserve “justice” and should be resentenced as a priority, the UN’s leading torture expert has said. Speaking to Sky News, Alice Jill Edwards described sentences of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) as a “horrific indictment of the British justice system”. PM suffers post-election poll slump – politics latest

Infected blood campaigners have criticised a “derisory and insulting” offer from the government as part of the compensation scheme. The row centres around former pupils at the Lord Mayor’s Treloar’s College, where children with haemophilia were experimented on without their knowledge. Under the recently announced compensation package, victims of the scandal could receive as much

Sir Keir Starmer should have labelled the recent riots in England “racist” earlier than he did, Thangam Debbonaire has said. The former Bristol Central MP said she was “distraught” to see the riots unfold across the UK at the start of this month. Ms Debbonaire, who was shadow culture secretary in Sir Keir’s shadow cabinet

The education secretary has said private schools have themselves to blame for closures – not the government’s VAT policy. Bridget Phillipson said some private schools have failed to balance their books over a number of years as she denied they had closed because the government is making them pay 20% VAT on fees from January.

A funding injection of £13.5m will be given to businesses and workers affected by job losses at Tata Steel, the government will announce. Up to 2,800 jobs at Tata Steel are expected to be axed at the country’s biggest steelworks in Port Talbot as the company moves over to a greener form of steel production

Hundreds of homes built for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham are being sold off by the council at a projected loss of more than £300m, in a situation branded “nothing short of a scandal”. The government is facing pressure to intervene to stop the sale of 755 properties on the Perry Barr Estate to a

Liz Truss has stormed off stage after a banner featuring a lettuce and the words “I crashed the economy” unfurled behind her at an event. The former prime minister was taking questions from an audience in Beccles, Suffolk, as part of her book tour on Tuesday evening when campaign group Led By Donkeys carried out

There were “multiple and fundamental failures” with the NHS’s management of Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane’s mental health treatment, the health secretary has said. Speaking after a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report found paranoid schizophrenic Calocane’s condition was downplayed by the NHS, Wes Streeting said the report’s findings were “deeply distressing”. Calocane fatally stabbed students Grace

Sir Keir Starmer has spoken with the Iranian president as part of international efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, Sky News understands. The 30-minute phone conversation with Masoud Pezeshkian followed a joint statement on Monday issued with France, the US and Germany calling on Iran and its allies not to “jeopardise the opportunity

Tory leadership contender Tom Tugendhat will call for a national conversation about the root causes of the recent riots – hitting out at the “reckless rhetoric” of Nigel Farage. In his first major speech since declaring his bid to head the Conservative Party, the former security minister will attack a “culture of denial” that moves

A government minister has been unable to guarantee that rioters who are sent to prison won’t be released early under a controversial scheme to ease overcrowding. Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, said the government had delivered an “incredibly swift and publicly visible” response to the riots that gripped the UK last week, including by publicising

The Labour Party has received an official complaint over a social media post by one of its MPs which campaigners argue blames Jews for the outbreak of riots across the UK. Campaign group Labour Against Antisemitism (LAAS) has accused Clive Lewis, the Labour for Norwich South, of breaching the official definition of antisemitism with a

Children will be taught how to spot extremist content and fake news online under proposed changes to the school curriculum, the education secretary has said. Bridget Phillipson said she is launching a review of the curriculum in both primary and secondary schools to embed critical thinking across multiple subjects and arm children against “putrid conspiracy theories”.

The wife of a Tory councillor has pleaded guilty to publishing written material to stir up racial hatred following the Southport stabbings. Childminder Lucy Connolly admitted making the post about asylum seekers at Northampton Crown Court after she was previously arrested and re-arrested in the first half of August. UK riots latest: Anti-racism protests planned

Junior doctors will begin voting later this month on whether to accept the government’s pay offer. The new Labour government has offered the medics in England a 22.3% average pay rise, which the British Medical Association (BMA) union is recommending is accepted by members. If it does pass, it would signal an end to the

A former Labour councillor has been charged with encouraging violent disorder. Ricky Jones, 57, was filmed addressing a crowd at a London demonstration on Wednesday evening, the Crown Prosecution Service said. Jaswant Narwal, chief crown prosecutor for CPS London North, said: “Jones was filmed addressing a crowd… during which he appeared to make remarks and