UK

More than eight million households will start receiving the first of two payments intended to help with the cost of living today. Almost one in four low-income households in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will get £326, with the second instalment of £324 sent this autumn as part of the government’s £37bn support package.

House building has not kept up with population growth in almost half of the local authorities in England, Sky News analysis has found. In the decade to 2021, the population grew faster or at the same pace as the number of homes in 150 out of 309 local authorities, according to our analysis of data

Rishi Sunak has stuck by Boris Johnson as he officially launched his leadership bid, saying he won’t “demonise” his former boss. The ex-chancellor defended the prime minister, calling him “one of the most remarkable people I have ever met”, despite resigning last week over Mr Johnson’s conduct in office. Fellow contenders Tom Tugendhat and Kemi

There is a 30% chance that Sunday will be the hottest day the UK has ever seen – with yesterday’s heat already having an impact. Senior government officials met to discuss plans for the first-ever heatwave emergency in a bid to deal with the rising temperatures, according to the Telegraph. A national emergency is declared

Flights from Gatwick are more likely to have been cancelled so far this year than at any other major UK airport. The rate is 10 times worse than Stansted, the best-performing British hub. More than 3% of planned flights from Gatwick didn’t take place, compared with 0.3% of those from Stansted, according to figures from

Train drivers have voted overwhelmingly to strike over pay, increasing the threat of more disruption to rail services this summer. Members of the drivers union Aslef at eight train companies have backed industrial action. Aslef members at Chiltern, LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express, Arriva Rail London, Great Western, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains voted by around

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has officially joined the race for the Tory leadership, with Home Secretary Priti Patel potentially set to announce her candidacy. A surprise entry has also been made by Foreign Office minister Rehman Chishti, meaning 11 Conservatives are now fighting to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister. Writing in the Telegraph newspaper,

Trade minister Penny Mordaunt has joined the Tory leadership race, becoming the ninth person to enter the field. “Our leadership has to change. It needs to become a little less about the leader and a lot more about the ship,” she said, going on, “I’m Penny Mordaunt, and I’m ready to serve as the next

Four more Conservative MPs have joined the Tory leadership race, widening the field to eight. Nadhim Zahawi, the newly appointed chancellor, Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, and the ex-health secretaries Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid all announced their bids on Saturday. Earlier in the day Ben Wallace, who was the bookies’ favourite to succeed Mr

The UK has started turning the first of around 10,000 Ukrainian recruits into frontline soldiers at four bases across England, safe from Russian missile fire, it can be revealed. The new troops, operating in groups of about 200, have been arriving from Ukraine daily to join a specially-condensed training programme offered by British soldiers. They

The first candidates have entered the contest to replace Boris Johnson with more hopefuls expected to throw their hats into the ring over the weekend. Last night, Rishi Sunak announced his bid on social media, promising to “restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country”. The former chancellor, who spectacularly resigned on Tuesday evening

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner have been cleared of breaking lockdown rules on a visit to Durham last year, following a police investigation. Both had vowed to step down if they were found to have breached regulations during a trip to the city in April 2021, ahead of the Hartlepool

Boris Johnson’s resignation has effectively fired the starting gun on the Conservative Party leadership race to replace him. It comes as questions remain over whether his desperate attempts to cling on as prime minister mean he should not be allowed to remain in office while his successor is picked. Tom Tugendhat became the first Conservative

Boris Johnson has announced his resignation as prime minister after less than three years in Number 10, saying: “No one in politics is remotely indispensable.” Speaking from Downing Street, he thanked the millions of people who voted Conservative at the last election, and said the reason he fought so long to remain in office was

Boris Johnson is still prime minister this morning despite a cabinet revolt, more than 40 of his own MPs quitting their government roles and at least one senior Tory saying they’d be willing to run for the party leadership. The prime minister dramatically sacked Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove late on Wednesday evening after it

Boris Johnson has pledged to “keep going” as prime minister despite 18 MPs resigning from his government. Asked at Prime Minister’s Questions by fellow Conservative Tim Loughton if there were “any circumstances in which he should resign”, Mr Johnson said he would if he “felt it was impossible.. to go on” as a government. But