Politics

The government will introduce a new law to parliament on Tuesday, which they say will ensure 40% of trains will still run on strike days. The new minimum service level regulations will also make sure “certain priority routes can remain open” – though it is not yet clear which journeys will be covered. Other rules

The leader of Burnley Council and 10 other councillors have resigned from the Labour Party this evening over Sir Keir Starmer’s decision not to push for a ceasefire in Gaza, Sky News understands. Afrasiab Anwar, who has been in the party for 10 years, was among those calling for the leader to step down on

The deputy prime minister has said he fears there has not been the “moral clarity” that “Jewish lives matter” after the Hamas attack on Israel. Oliver Dowden warned the Jewish community in the UK was “fearful” after a number of pro-Palestinian marches. Rishi Sunak’s deputy drew comparisons with the Black Lives Matter protests after the

The home secretary has said anyone vandalising the Cenotaph on Armistice Day “must be put into a jail cell faster than their feet can touch the ground”. Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Suella Braverman said she doesn’t want to “undermine” the police process by banning pro-Palestinian protests planned for Armistice Day next weekend, but that

Tory MP Bob Stewart has surrendered the Conservative whip while he considers an appeal against his conviction for a racially-aggravated public order offence. The Beckenham MP informed chief whip Simon Hart, according to a government source. Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats had called for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to take action over the “totally

Suella Braverman wants to restrict the use of tents by homeless people in built-up areas, according to a report. The home secretary’s proposals are said to include allowing charities to be fined if they give out tents that become a nuisance. Ms Braverman wants the plans included in two clauses of a new criminal justice

Tory MP Bob Stewart showed “racial hostility” towards a protester by telling him to “go back to Bahrain” during a demonstration outside a Foreign Office building, a court has been told. The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into the incident after a complaint was made by activist Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, who has said he was

More than half of people feel politicians are using so-called culture wars to distract from other issues, according to a survey which also found the term “woke” is increasingly seen as an insult. Almost two thirds (62%) of those polled said politicians “invent or exaggerate” culture wars as a political tactic – up from less

Rishi Sunak has said the UK’s AI safety summit will “tip the balance in favour of humanity” after governments reached a “landmark agreement” with tech companies to test their models before their release. The prime minister said while the event at Bletchley Park was “only the beginning of the conversation”, it showed there was a

Only one in 10 voters who supported the Tories in 2019 have switched to Labour, according to a major new poll for Sky News.   The exclusive YouGov survey of 5,621 voters found 11% of 2019 Tory voters would now vote for Labour while slightly more – 12% – have switched to Reform UK, a

Boris Johnson asked his most senior scientific advisers if blowing a “special hair dryer” up your nose could kill COVID, according to Dominic Cummings. Mr Cummings’s full evidence statement to the COVID inquiry has been revealed, following his blockbuster in-person grilling on Tuesday. In the document, which runs for more than 100 pages, Mr Johnson‘s

The government has cancelled rail industry plans for the mass closure of ticket offices in England, saying they failed to reach the “high threshold of serving passengers”. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) announced over the summer that it planned to shut almost all of the nation’s 1,007 train station outlets in an effort to reduce

Boris Johnson suggested he saw COVID as “nature’s way of dealing with old people” and was “obsessed” with them accepting their fate, the inquiry into the pandemic has heard. During a hearing on Tuesday, notes were shared from the government’s former chief scientist describing a “bonkers set of exchanges”. Sir Patrick Vallance wrote in one

The number of people who died from COVID-19 in the UK has been projected onto the walls of Barnard Castle – the evening before Dominic Cummings was set to give evidence to the official inquiry into the virus and how the UK government handled it. A message saying “231,332 COVID deaths – is that clear

The UK’s top civil servant described “being at the end of my tether” over Boris Johnson’s indecision during the pandemic and said he “cannot lead”. WhatsApp messages shown to the COVID inquiry on Monday reveal the then prime minister’s leadership ability frustrated some of the most senior figures in government. Politics Live: WhatsApps by aides

The COVID public inquiry is set to become explosive this week, with former Boris Johnson aide Dominic Cummings expected to dish the dirt on the former prime minister. The maverick former No 10 adviser, once Mr Johnson‘s closest ally but now his sworn enemy, heads a list of top former Downing Street insiders giving evidence