Politics

Rishi Sunak has been criticised for announcing a “surprise” round of honours – including a knighthood for a major donor to the Conservative Party. It was announced on the Thursday before the Easter bank holiday weekend that Mohamed Mansour was being knighted for business, charity and political service – he had given £5m to the

Sir Keir Starmer has admitted Boris Johnson was “right” to propose levelling up but said he was “frustrated” by the former prime minister’s “unforgivable” failure to deliver. The Labour leader also claimed the policy, which defined Mr Johnson’s premiership, was “strangled at birth” by his successor, Rishi Sunak. Speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth

No wonder the Labour Party is desperate for a general election now and bitterly disappointed that Rishi Sunak has “bottled it”, in Keir Starmer’s words, and is sticking to his plan not to hold it until the autumn at the earliest. Sir John Curtice, the UK polling guru, has gone on the record that there

Angela Rayner has said she will not publish the “personal tax advice” she received on the sale of her council house despite a police development over her living arrangements. Labour’s deputy leader told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme she was “confident” she had done “absolutely nothing wrong” with regards to the sale of her council

A minister has hit out at “credulous clerics” and “lefty lawyers” after documents seen by Sky News revealed how the Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi was granted asylum after he was baptised. Science minister Andrew Griffith said Ezedi, who attacked a woman and two children with an alkali in London earlier this year, should not

The UK’s approach to China is “more robust” than its allies, Rishi Sunak has claimed, as he continues to face calls to use more aggressive language to describe Beijing in the wake of two cyberattacks. The prime minister said suggestions the government was not taking strong action against China were “completely and utterly wrong”. Mr

When David Cameron was prime minister, Oliver Dowden was one of his backroom fixers, first at Tory HQ and then in 10 Downing Street. From his early days as a Tory researcher he’s been known as “Olive” because of an office typo. But it’s a nickname that’s stuck, even now he’s deputy prime minister. Politics

China “state-affiliated actors” have been blamed by the government for two “malicious” cyber attack campaigns in the UK. Making a speech in the Commons, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden revealed the two incidents involved an attack on the Electoral Commission – responsible for overseeing elections and political finance – in 2021, and targeted attacks against

MPs are set to be briefed on the cyber threat posed by China today, while a smaller group of parliamentarians will be told about specific threats against them. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is applying to the Speaker’s office to make a statement to parliament about China on Monday, Sky News understands. Meanwhile, three MPs

Britain will sanction individuals whom it alleges are involved in Chinese backed-disruption of the democratic process on Monday. Ministers will step up pressure on China tomorrow when they set out further details of the attack on the Electoral Commission and 43 individuals, including MPs and peers. The Politics at Jack and Sam’s podcast reveals this

Rishi Sunak looks to have seen off his backbenchers – at least for now. The nascent rebellions have gone quiet in the past few weeks and the Commons is currently in its Easter recess, with MPs returning to Westminster on 15 April. Time away from parliament normally strengthens – or at least prevents the further

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has warned the UK should “absolutely” be concerned about the threat of Islamic State following the terror attack in Moscow. At least 133 people died in the massacre in the Russian capital on Friday. Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), which is a branch of the militant group operating in central Asia, has claimed

The chancellor has claimed that earning £100,000 a year is “not a huge salary”. Jeremy Hunt made the remark on social media platform X, in a post which was aimed at his constituents in Surrey. He will be campaigning hard as he is changing seats for the next general election after the boundaries were redrawn

Harry Maguire says he did not give permission for the Conservative Party to use an image of him and his partner on social media. The photo is of the footballer talking to his then girlfriend – now his wife – Fern Hawkins after England‘s penalty shootout win over Colombia in the 2018 World Cup in

Home Secretary James Cleverly used a private chartered flight to visit Rwanda at a cost of £165,561.53 to the taxpayer, government documents have revealed. The latest transparency data from the Home Office showed Mr Cleverly took the flight in December last year as he headed to Kigali to sign a new treaty with the African

Police are investigating alleged racist comments made by a major Tory party donor about former Labour MP Diane Abbott. The remarks were made by businessman Frank Hester during a company meeting, where he said Ms Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and she “should be shot”. A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said