Politics

Cabinet ministers are writing to the prime minister in an urgent attempt to soften some of the spending cuts being demanded ahead of the budget.  The main measures for the budget have to be decided by the end of Wednesday and sent to the Office for Budget Responsibility before the Treasury shuts up for the

Sir Keir Starmer met Taylor Swift when he attended her concert in Wembley, Sky News understands. It has emerged the prime minister and his family spoke to the pop star and her mum for 10 minutes and discussed the Southport stabbings. It had not been clear previously if the two had met. Sir Keir’s attendance

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to support a new law to ban smartphones in schools to stop children “doom-scrolling” – after Number 10 refused to back the plan. New Labour MP Josh MacAlister is calling for the government to make legal changes to make social media and smartphones less addictive for children and to

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to rule out raising national insurance for employers in the upcoming autumn budget. The prime minister would only say Labour’s manifesto promised not to increase national insurance “for working people” when asked if he was going to break a pledge by increasing the tax for employers in the 31 October

Google’s former boss has warned Sir Keir Starmer that he would fail to meet his 2030 clean energy goal unless he fixes UK regulations. Eric Schmidt, Google’s former chief executive officer, said he believes Sir Keir can speed up regulation bureaucracy to ensure the government reaches its goal of decarbonising electricity by 2030. But he

Alex Salmond was the undisputed figurehead of the independence movement for decades.  He was the instantly recognisable, colourful, controversial, and complicated face of a movement that Salmond dragged from the fringes to the forefront of political discourse in the Scotland we know today. Although Salmond has been on the sidelines of the show in recent

The business secretary has suggested the government could put up national insurance for employers in the budget without breaking its election pledges. Jonathan Reynolds told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that Labour’s promise not to increase national insurance “was specifically in the manifesto, a reference to employees”. National insurance is paid by both employees and

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver her first budget at the end of October, providing the first chance for her to change the fiscal rules. Upon entering government in July, the government said the Conservatives left it with a £22bn black hole, so the chancellor is expected to use the 30 October budget to raise some

This shock of Alex Salmond’s death is reverberating around every corner of UK politics. There was not a soul involved in the political life of the past three decades who did not know his name and his achievements. A Marmite figure, Salmond divided opinion. But, he was respected as the giant who was instrumental in

Sir Keir Starmer will mark his first 100 days in office this Sunday. When his press spokesperson was asked ahead of the big day if the prime minister thought it had been a successful start, he simply said: “It’s up to the public to decide that.” The verdict is in, and it isn’t good: Sir

Once again, the government’s narrative on the economy is shifting.  After a summer warning of tax rises and cuts to deal with the “dire” inheritance allegedly left by the Tories, Rachel Reeves made a conscious “pivot” in her conference speech last month to something more optimistic. For the first time in Liverpool, there was a

P&O Ferries is one of the few subjects on which Britain’s political class agree. Its summary sacking of 800 British seafarers and their replacement with cheaper, largely foreign agency staff is universally considered one of the most outrageous acts in the recent history of labour relations. Louise Haigh was among the first and loudest to

Sue Gray will not attend the prime minister’s council of nations and regions on Friday despite her new title as a special envoy. Sir Keir Starmer will meet with leaders of the devolved nations for a summit that will focus on spreading investment and growth across all parts of the UK. Ms Gray, who resigned

The chancellor will need to raise taxes by £25bn if she wants to keep spending rising with national income, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). In its annual ‘Green Budget’ analysis, the IFS warned that the government would have to dramatically increase the £9bn of tax rises outlined in its manifesto to meet

Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch will battle it out to be the next leader of the Conservative Party after James Cleverly was eliminated from the race. Tory MPs held a final vote on Wednesday to reduce the field to a final two, who will then go to a ballot of Conservative members. After picking up

There’s no doubt who has momentum in the Tory leadership contest now. James Cleverly pole-vaulted his rivals to first place – reaping the benefits of a well-thought-through, warm conference speech designed to make the party feel good about itself. Politics latest: Minister refuses to apologise over viral tweet A pitch from the Tory centre that

Tom Tugendhat has been knocked out of the Tory leadership race after receiving the least votes from MPs. It narrows the field down to three, with James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick still in the running to replace Rishi Sunak. Mr Cleverly overtook Mr Jenrick to come out on top with 39 of his

The Labour Party is leading the Conservatives by just one point, a new poll has shown, after weeks of rows over freebies. The latest More in Common voting intention poll has 29% of people saying they would vote for Labour and 28% for the Conservatives. When the election was held in July, the gap between

David Lammy has said the government is “young” after Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray resigned and a new poll found most people think the government is “sleazy”. The foreign secretary said Ms Gray was a “superb public servant” after she quit on Sunday following weeks of briefings against her, including her salary

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.  Following Sue Gray’s resignation, Jack and Sam share the details of her departure and they discuss the mood in Downing Street this morning, as the prime minister gets together his