Politics

Tens of thousands of rail workers may return to picket lines after their union rejected revised pay offers to avert more walkouts. The RMT union had been deliberating over a 5% pay rise, backdated to January last year, along with a 4% hike for 2023. The offer was made by train operators and Network Rail

Rishi Sunak is facing his first test at the ballot box this year as voters head to the polls for the West Lancashire by-election. The outcome could reflect how the public feels about the prime minister and Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer ahead of the next general election and local elections in May. The seat

A former Labour MP who submitted fake expenses to fund a cocaine habit while in office has been convicted of fraud. Jared O’Mara, who represented Sheffield Hallam from 2017 to 2019, was on trial at Leeds Crown Court for submitting “dishonest” invoices to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa). He was accused of trying to

Reshuffle day, and as we watched familiar names slot into slightly less familiar job titles with, let’s be honest, limited short-term real-world consequences, we did learn one big and important thing: That Rishi Sunak has yet more personal priorities. Just to recap for those not quite across the full list: The prime minister regularly tells

Greg Hands has replaced Nadhim Zahawi as Conservative Party chairman and two new departments have been created in Rishi Sunak’s first cabinet reshuffle. Former trade policy minister Mr Hands, MP for Chelsea and Fulham, takes over the role that will involve leading the Tories through the next election, which polls suggest they could lose to

Liz Truss has said she would never want to be prime minister again but “doesn’t regret” her time in Downing Street. In an interview with The Spectator, the former PM ruled out a future bid at the top job after her tumultuous 44 days in the position last year. Asked whether she would want to

Widespread NHS strikes are “a badge of shame for the government”, Sir Keir Starmer has said. The Labour leader made the comment as tens of thousands of NHS staff – including nurses and ambulance workers – staged the biggest walkout in the organisation’s history in England and Wales. Unions are demanding pay rises amid the

A nursing union leader is calling on the prime minister to intervene as the biggest NHS walkout in history gets under way. Royal College of Nursing’s director for England, Patricia Marquis, told Sky News that so far there has been no “direct contact” with Rishi Sunak despite four previous strike days. “It’s a cry out

Grant Shapps has said Liz Truss had the right priorities but failed as she did not try to deal with the “big structural issues” first. The business secretary said he agreed the UK should have a low-tax economy, as the short-lived prime minister advocated, but inflation and debt needed to be dealt with first. He

Former prime minister Liz Truss has said she was never given a “realistic chance” to implement her radical tax-cutting agenda and blamed what she called a “powerful economic establishment” for removing her from Downing Street. In her first detailed comments since she was ousted from Number 10, Ms Truss said she had not appreciated the

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab should be suspended while he is investigated over bullying allegations, a former Conservative chairman has said. Mr Raab, who is also the justice secretary, is the subject of an inquiry after several civil servants made complaints, which Sir Jake Berry believes is enough for him to step aside from his

The prime minister is looking to ban people arriving in the UK via small boats from appealing against deportation, Sky News understands. Rishi Sunak has made stopping Channel migrant crossings one of his five priorities in office, promising to introduce new laws to “make sure that if you come to this country illegally, you are

“It’s not who you are but who you know” is a saying often used to explain why those with family connections to successful people seem to have a head start doing well in the next generation. In the US this phenomenon has led Gen Z to coin a new tag “nepo babies” as they list

The first 100 days of Rishi Sunak’s premiership are done – a yardstick that his predecessor Liz Truss never even reached, while Boris Johnson found himself utterly consumed with firefighting a pandemic. Mr Sunak can take some comfort in the fact he’s made it this far without a full-blown leadership crisis or an external global

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told Sky News he believes China’s President Xi is a bigger threat to the world than Vladimir Putin. Speaking on Beth Rigby Interviews, Mr Pompeo said President Xi is intent on world dominance. “He wants to own you,” the US politician warned. “He wants hegemonic intent across

Labour is demanding the government publishes its promised progress report on “levelling up”, saying there is “no excuse for dodging scrutiny by both parliament and the public”. Shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy has written to her government counterpart, Michael Gove, pointing to the pledge he made when launching the levelling up white paper one