Politics

Rishi Sunak has promised to reward hard work with tax cuts as he struck an optimistic note over the UK’s economic prospects. Official figures next week may show the UK slipped into a technical recession at the end of last year, while the prime minister is facing a heavy opinion poll deficit against Labour and

Sir Keir Starmer’s first conversation with his future wife ended with her snapping “Who the f*** does he think he is?” The Labour leader told British Vogue that he didn’t have the “best of starts” with his now spouse, Victoria. The pair first spoke over the phone when Sir Keir called the former solicitor to

Rishi Sunak has published his personal tax return, showing he paid more than half a million pounds in UK tax last year. The document shows he paid a tax bill of £508,308 in the financial year 2022-23. His income included £1.8m in capital gains, as well as his £150,000 prime minister’s salary. The prime minister

The dentist Rishi Sunak visited in Cornwall to promote his “recovery plan” is not accepting new NHS patients, it has emerged. The prime minister met staff and patients at Gentle Dental in Newquay on Thursday. Politics Live: Starmer ditches his ‘biggest dividing line’ with Tories He told broadcasters that “it hasn’t been easy enough for

Rishi Sunak should apologise for his transgender jibe which was made while Brianna Ghey’s mother was in parliament, Gordon Brown has told Sky News. The former PM was speaking to the Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge a day after the current occupier of Number 10 joked during Prime Minister’s Questions about Sir Keir Starmer’s record

The father of murdered transgender teenager Brianna Ghey has demanded an apology from Rishi Sunak, saying he was “disgusted” with the prime minister’s comments in the Commons today. Speaking to Sky News, Peter Spooner said Mr Sunak’s remarks during PMQs, which the schoolgirl’s mother Esther attended, were “degrading” and “absolutely dehumanising”. He said: “As the

Rishi Sunak has been criticised for aiming a political jibe about transgender people at Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer – while Brianna Ghey’s mother Esther attended PMQs. In Prime Minister’s Questions, his weekly showdown with MPs and the leader of the opposition, Mr Sunak said the Labour leader had broken promises on “defining a woman”.

Shortly after Liz Truss and co took to the stage to launch the new Popular Conservatism – or “PopCon” – movement, pitching itself as an anti-woke, anti-green, anti-elite, anti-immigration voice of the voter, my phone buzzed with a message from a very disgruntled MP. “What everyone is privately thinking is that the rules must change

Nigel Farage believes it’s possible to replace the Conservative Party with his own Reform Party as he predicts an “extinction event” for the government at the next election. Mr Farage was speaking to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby at the launch of the Popular Conservatism (PopCon) group in Westminster. Headlined by former prime minister

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

The UK armed forces are losing personnel faster than they can recruit, leaving their “warfighting readiness” in doubt, according to a new report by the Defence Committee. The report also found the military has “key capability and stockpile shortages” that would hamper its ability to engage in “all-out, prolonged war”. The report comes amid intensifying

It was dubbed “a Protestant parliament for a Protestant people” but 90 years later, there is a Catholic in the office of the first minister. When Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill accepted the nomination, in the Irish language, a nationalist held the highest title in devolved government for the first time. The sense of history was

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

Rachel Reeves has defended her decision not to restore a cap on bankers’ bonuses, arguing businesses do not need “more chopping and changing”. The shadow chancellor said that when the government scrapped the cap under Liz Truss, Labour did not “feel that was the right priority in that budget”. But she said much stronger rules

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