Politics

Rishi Sunak has wished the King a “speedy recovery” after Buckingham Palace announced he was diagnosed with a form of cancer. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on X: “Wishing His Majesty a full and speedy recovery. “I have no doubt he’ll be back to full strength in no time and I know the whole country

Rishi Sunak has insisted the priority in Northern Ireland is “day-to-day” governing rather than “constitutional change”. The prime minister was in Northern Ireland to celebrate the restoration of power-sharing in the nation. This came after changes were made to the post-Brexit settlement, reducing the checks on goods travelling between Northern Ireland and the rest of

Rishi Sunak is visiting Northern Ireland to celebrate the restoration of power-sharing at Stormont, where he will meet the country’s first nationalist first minister. Over the weekend, an executive was finally re-established after almost two years without one in the region. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which had been holding up the process, allowed a

The Clapham chemical attack is “not really about asylum”, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has claimed. A manhunt is still under way for Abdul Ezedi following the attack on Wednesday 31 January in which a mother, 31, and her two children, three and eight, were hospitalised. After two failed attempts, the 35-year-old suspect’s asylum claim to

Northern Ireland’s new first minister has told Sky News she “absolutely contests” the UK government’s claim that a referendum on Irish unity is decades away. Sinn Fein‘s Michelle O’Neill, the first nationalist to occupy the office, described her elevation at Stormont as “a historic day, truly representing a new dawn”. In a document, outlining the

Without political input, many important decisions on budgets and public sector pay have been impossible to pass. Successive suspensions at Stormont over the years have contributed to long-term issues in the public sector, with impacts seen across all areas of public services. But perhaps nowhere more so than in the health and social care sector.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has revealed to Sky News she no longer goes out socially because of threats and abuse and that she was “scared” when confronted by pro-Palestinian supporters. The senior frontbencher said the level of intimidation had impacted on her day-to-day life and she had changed her behaviour. People wanting to see

The suspected chemical attacker who targeted a woman and children is still at large, and the focus is on the police finding hm. But inside government, serious questions are starting to be raised about how a convicted sex offender is understood to have been granted asylum, after being handed a suspended jail sentence. Abdul Shokoor

Rachel Reeves has refused to commit to Labour’s pledge of investing £28bn in green technologies if her party wins the next election. Asked 10 times by Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby if the policy remained in place, the shadow chancellor appeared to dodge the question. Instead, she pointed to increasing government debt and “the

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has rejected Nicola Sturgeon’s claim she did not seek to politicise the pandemic – claiming he “didn’t believe it for a minute”. The former first minister repeatedly fought back tears as she appeared before the UK COVID-19 Inquiry on Wednesday, claiming she took accusations that she sought a different approach to

A government minister who avoided being murdered “by the skin of my teeth” is stepping down as an MP at the next general election over fears for his personal safety. Mike Freer, Conservative MP for the north London constituency of Finchley and Golders Green, has faced a series of death threats and was targeted by

The UK government is tabling legislation to end post-Brexit checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Significantly, the Withdrawal Act will also be amended, meaning EU law will no longer apply automatically in Northern Ireland. The details are contained in a government document which effectively details the deal to restore power-sharing at

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) are “in a position” to restart the executive in Northern Ireland after a near two-year absence – if ministers keep to the “agreed timeline” over a fresh deal on post-Brexit trade, their leader has said. The power-sharing agreement between the main parties at Stormont collapsed in 2022, with the unionist

The government believes “all the conditions are now in place” for a return of power-sharing in Northern Ireland following a deal reached with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said he was looking forward to the “restoration of the institutions at Stormont as soon as possible” following a near two-year suspension

The Archbishop of Canterbury has again slammed the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, telling the House of Lords: “We can as a nation do better than this bill.” Speaking in the upper chamber, the Most Rev Justin Welby said the government was “continuing to seek good objectives in the wrong way”, leading

Iceland supermarket boss Richard Walker has switched his support from the Conservatives to Labour, saying Sir Keir Starmer’s party is “the right choice” for his customers. Mr Walker, a former Tory donor and the executive chairman of Iceland, said under Sir Keir’s leadership Labour had “progressively moved towards the ground on which I have always