Politics

It wasn’t yet official, but Sir Keir Starmer was straight out of the blocks on Wednesday morning to congratulate Donald Trump on his imminent victory – as America reeled from an election that turned from being too close to call into an emphatic, definitive and quick win. The president-elect took the Electoral College, the popular

Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard share their daily guide to the day ahead in politics in under 20 minutes. With everyone waking up to the possibility of a second Trump presidency in the US, how will the UK government react? There may be huge news across the pond, but

Tom Tugendhat is not serving in Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet as the new Tory leader continued her appointments today. Former Home Office minister Chris Philp has been awarded the job of shadow home secretary, the last of the key posts to be announced. Unveiling a host of announcements today, Ms Badenoch, who was elected leader

A proposed ban on vaping and smoking in pub gardens will not go ahead, the health secretary has confirmed. Wes Streeting said the Labour government would not press ahead with the idea after it was floated over the summer and caused an outcry within the hospitality industry. Back in August, Sir Keir Starmer said his

The education secretary has said no decision has been made on whether university tuition fees will increase with inflation each year. Bridget Phillipson has announced the maximum cap on tuition fees in England will go up in line with inflation from April 2025. The cost of tuition will increase by £285 to £9,535 next year

Dozens of migrants living in “abhorrent” conditions on the Chagos Islands may now be offered the chance to be transferred to the UK following legal action. Some 61 Tamil Sri Lankan asylum seekers, including 16 children, have been living on Diego Garcia – the largest of the islands in the Indian Ocean – since October

After emerging victorious in the Tory leadership race, Kemi Badenoch has begun to unveil her top team in her new shadow cabinet. Ms Badenoch, who beat Robert Jenrick to become the new Tory leader, has said the party’s first duty would be to hold Labour to account and to prepare for government by the time

Another £75m will go towards “smashing the gangs” as the government beefs up its new Border Security Command unit. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is set to announce the additional funding as he hosts the Interpol general assembly in Glasgow from today, the first time the UK has hosted it in more than 50 years.

A Labour MP has said he was involved in an incident where he “felt threatened” and is cooperating with police. Mike Amesbury, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, said he felt “threatened on the street following an evening out with friends” on Friday night in Cheshire. “This morning, I contacted Cheshire Police myself to report

The UK has agreed to step up its partnership with Albania following a successful summer in which the two countries carried out a collaborative crackdown on drugs and crime. Senior Home Office officials will travel to Tirana, the capital of Albania, for further talks before Christmas on how to tackle serious and organised crime, as

Newly elected MPs are struggling to set up offices in their constituencies due to fears for their safety and spiralling rents, Sky News has learnt. Several MPs who spoke to Sky News said they believed landlords were becoming increasingly reluctant to have them as tenants due to the perceived risks that came with the job

Who counts as a working person will matter a lot next week when the new Labour government unveils what is being billed as a historic budget. Sir Keir Starmer used the phrase “working people” repeatedly in the general election as he sought to reassure voters he wasn’t going to raise their taxes. But as this

The government is to ban the sale and supply of single-use vapes by next summer. Legislation to introduce the ban from 1 June next year has been laid out in parliament, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) confirmed. Businesses will have until the deadline “to sell any remaining stock they hold and

Sir Keir Starmer has rejected calls for reparations for slavery, saying it would lead to “very long, endless discussions” about the past. The prime minister said while the transatlantic slave trade was “abhorrent”, he believes the countries affected by it would rather the UK help them with contemporary challenges, such as the impact of climate

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted his relationship with Donald Trump has not been jeopardised after the Trump team filed a legal complaint against the Labour Party over its activists travelling to the US to support Kamala Harris in the tightly fought US presidential race. The prime minister said on Tuesday he had “established a good

One prisoner let out today under the government’s early release scheme celebrated by saying “big up Keir Starmer”. But Number 10 did not see the funny side of the situation – with the prime minister’s spokesperson saying Sir Keir “shares the public’s anger” over the matter. Today is the second time the Labour government has

Tougher punishments outside prison are being considered as part of a government review into sentencing. The review will be launched on Tuesday by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood in a bid to ease overcrowding in the prison system. Led by former Conservative justice secretary David Gauke, the review will be activated on the same day that

The British public and clinicians are being asked to share their experiences and ideas to “help fix our NHS”. Health Secretary Wes Streeting is calling on the entire country to help shape the government’s “10 Year Health Plan” with a “national conversation”. Members of the public, NHS staff and experts are being invited to share

The health secretary has warned of “difficult and big choices” coming in the budget, while refusing to rule out that tax thresholds will be frozen. Wes Streeting told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme the government “can’t fix 14 years in one budget” and there are lots of choices “we will have to

A housing minister has lost her building safety brief after Grenfell survivors complained about her attendance at a conference sponsored by a firm criticised by an inquiry into the deadly fire. Rushanara Ali said she understands that “perception matters” and trusted relationships between the government and the Grenfell community are “essential”. It came after Grenfell