Politics

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has refused to commit to tax cuts ahead of the next election, despite growing calls from inside his party. His cabinet colleague Michael Gove told Sky News on Sunday that he wanted to see “the tax burden reduced” by the time the public goes to the polls. But speaking to Kay Burley

Liz Truss is to remake her case for the direction she believes the Conservative Party should take – a year after her administration began to collapse around her. The UK’s shortest ever serving prime minister will speak at a fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester on Tuesday. A year ago, under her

Michael Gove has called for a tax cut before the next general election – putting him at odds with the chancellor on the first day of Conservative Party conference. Jeremy Hunt told The Times newspaper on Saturday the government was “not in a position to talk about tax cuts at all”, and needed to focus

Grassroots Conservative supporters are saying they want to oust Rishi Sunak and “go to war” with the liberal wing of the party in leaked WhatsApp messages obtained by Sky News. We have obtained the discussions amongst members of the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO), founded in December 2022 by donor and Johnson-backer Lord Peter Cruddas after

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has vowed to tackle the “vicious circle of ever-rising taxes” by revamping public services and the welfare system. The cabinet minister argued the state needed to become “more productive”, not bigger, as he pointed to the use of artificial intelligence to realise frontline efficiencies and reduce the burden on the public purse.

Rishi Sunak is considering removing the winter fuel allowance from all but the poorest pensioners as a way of clawing back some taxpayer funds from the elderly as he prepares to fight the next election on a pledge to keep the pension triple lock despite its spiralling costs. Government figures told Sky News the prime

Rishi Sunak is set to block councils from introducing new 20mph speed limits, according to reports. The move is among a package of measures the prime minister is due to announce at the Conservative Party’s annual conference that gets under way in Manchester this weekend. The so-called “plan for motorists” comes in the wake of

Rishi Sunak dodged questions over the future of HS2 as he spoke to local radio stations across the country. The prime minister was repeatedly asked about the northern leg of the high speed rail line between Birmingham and Manchester. He was also quizzed on whether the route would now end in the west London suburb

HS2 is the UK’s biggest infrastructure project, supposed to transform public transport between London, the Midlands and the North. But it is becoming synonymous with political football, disappointment, delays and spiralling costs. It’s been backed by more than one government and political party over the years but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has declined to throw

“Many people” pretend to be gay to claim asylum in the UK, Suella Braverman has claimed, as she defended herself from criticism from Sir Elton John. The home secretary yesterday delivered a controversial speech in which she claimed the asylum system will break if people are given sanctuary for “simply being gay, or a woman,

A cabinet minister has refused to commit to the UK staying as a signatory to the United Nations human rights convention following a controversial speech in the US by Suella Braverman on migration. The home secretary has faced severe criticism over her comments in Washington DC on Tuesday, where she said being gay or a

The United Nations’ refugee agency has rebuked Home Secretary Suella Braverman after she claimed the current asylum system is no longer fit for purpose. Ms Braverman called for a reform of the international system in a speech in Washington DC. She outlined how she believed the current system was “outdated”, and branded the number of

Sir Ed Davey will close this week’s Liberal Democrat conference by promising to “fix our economy with care” after the Conservatives “broke” it with “carelessness”. In his first speech at the annual gathering since becoming leader, he will underline a number of health pledges the party has made over recent days – including enabling patients

Home Secretary Suella Braverman will question whether the foundation of modern asylum law is still relevant in a speech in the US on Tuesday. Ms Braverman will ask whether the United Nations Refugee Convention 1951 is “fit for our modern age”. She will be speaking to the American Enterprise Institute, a centre-right think tank in

Twenty-four hours in A&E is now “no longer a documentary”, leading medics have warned, as figures show almost 400,000 patients spent a day or more in an emergency department in England last year. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) said the very long waits are a “matter of national shame”. Figures uncovered by the

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the government to scrap severance payments for senior figures who break the ministerial code. Research carried out by the party showed a total of £530,000 had been given to ministers after they quit over a breach, despite some of them returning to government within weeks. High profile resignations include

Sir Ed Davey has insisted the Liberal Democrats will continue to support the pensions triple lock under any circumstances. The policy means the state pension has to rise in line with wages, inflation or 2.5% – whichever is higher – each year, with the government taking the decision in the autumn ahead of it being

The northern section of the HS2 high speed rail line looks set to be scrapped by Rishi Sunak, Sky News understands. It comes as a number of Sunday newspapers reported that any decision would be announced before next weekend’s Conservative Party conference. Sky News political correspondent Tamara Cohen said: “The widespread view in Westminster is

Households under financial pressure must be supported ahead of an “inevitable” energy crisis this winter, MPs have told the government. Many in the UK will be paying the same or even more over the winter months than they were a year earlier, despite wholesale market prices dropping. It’s a scenario MPs on the Energy Security

Rishi Sunak’s popularity has plunged to its lowest point since taking office following his watering down of key climate pledges. The prime minister’s net favourability rating has slumped to -45, according to a YouGov survey carried out days after his speech rowing back on net zero pledges. The poll of more than 2,000 adults between