Politics

You might not know who the people are, or what they do behind the big black door of Number 10, but what just happened in the bowels of Downing Street is a big moment. After getting off to a pretty dreadful start in government, Sir Keir Starmer has moved to get a grip of his

Northern Ireland’s first minister Michelle O’Neill has apologised after two Sinn Fein officials provided the British Heart Foundation (BHF) with references for a former employee who was under investigation for child sex offences. Ms O’Neill, the party’s vice president, reiterated her “anger and disgust” that the press officers provided the employment references for 42-year-old Michael

Sir Keir Starmer’s government has not yet been in place for 100 days. By all accounts, things are not going well. The Labour leader and his top ministers have had to backtrack after taking freebies totalling many thousands of pounds for clothing and entertainment. Sue Gray, the ex-civil servant he recruited as chief of staff,

The government has pledged nearly £22bn to fund projects that capture greenhouse gases from polluting plants and store them underground, as it races to reach strict climate targets. The plans are designed to generate private investment and jobs in Merseyside and Teesside, two industry-heavy areas that will be home to the new “carbon capture clusters”.

Sir Keir Starmer will travel to Brussels on Wednesday to hold talks with EU leaders about “putting the Brexit years behind us” and bolstering ties with the UK. The prime minister has vowed to “reset” relations with Europe following tensions between the previous Tory government and the EU – though he has ruled out a

Sir Keir Starmer has said Britain stands with Israel and warned he is “deeply concerned” that the Middle East “is on the brink”. In a televised address from Downing Street, the prime minister condemned an attack by Iran which saw around 200 missiles launched into Israel. Sir Keir, who was on the phone to the

Robert Jenrick is within touching distance of Kemi Badenoch after a surge in his support, according to an exclusive Sky News poll of Tory members. The latest YouGov survey of Conservative members for Sky News suggests there is a path to victory for all four candidates, although Tom Tugendhat faces a bigger hurdle than the

Politicians, we know only too well, are fond of repetition. With Sir Keir Starmer it’s: “My father was a toolmaker.” With Sadiq Khan it’s: “Did I ever tell you my dad was a bus driver?” With Tom Tugendhat it’s: “I was a soldier. I served my country.” No, really, Tom? Politics Live: Badenoch praises Israel

Former deputy prime minister Sir Oliver Dowden has become the most senior ally of Rishi Sunak to be interviewed in the official investigation into betting on the date of the general election, Sky News understands. He follows Mr Sunak’s former parliamentary aide Craig Williams and former Downing Street chief of staff Liam Booth-Smith in being

Four contenders and the biggest platform of the year to make their case to be leader of the opposition. Welcome to the Conservatives’ annual conference in Birmingham – a four day job interview in the glare of the spotlight, with the axe falling on two of the four candidates in just 10 days when MPs

In some ways this isn’t surprising. Rosie Duffield has been open with her discontent with the party, specifically over the party’s gender views – and she has been only too happy in her disagreement with Sir Keir Starmer. But what is surprising is the strength and tone of the letter – it is savage –

Boris Johnson claims he considered authorising a raid on a warehouse in the Netherlands during the pandemic to retrieve COVID-19 vaccines. In his upcoming memoir, he described meeting senior military officials in March 2021 to discuss the plans, which he admitted were “nuts”. Another extract from his upcoming book, released by the Daily Mail, describes

Applications for pension credit hit nearly 75,000 in the eight weeks since the new chancellor announced the winter fuel payment for pensioners would be means-tested for the first time. Figures released on Friday by the Department for Work and Pensions figures showed there were around 74,400 pension credit claims in the eight weeks since 29

Sir Keir Starmer has called for Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a ceasefire, saying “escalation serves no one”. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, the prime minister implored the two sides to “step back from the brink”. It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his nation’s troops would keep “fighting at

Russell Findlay has been elected the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives. The MSP saw off competition from Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher in the bruising battle to replace Douglas Ross. Mr Findlay won with 2,565 votes. Mr Murdo placed second with 1,187 votes, while Ms Gallacher claimed third with 403 votes. The announcement comes

Downing Street has said Sir Keir Starmer did not break any rules when he used Lord Alli’s London penthouse to record a COVID-era broadcast urging people to “work from home”. The prime minister revealed on Wednesday he used the millionaire Labour peer’s home, estimated to be worth £18m, for his son to study for his

Sir Keir Starmer has attacked Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, accusing the country of “treating [its] own citizens as bits of meat to fling into the grinder”. Speaking at the United Nations Security Council in New York – and sat opposite a Russian representative – the British prime minister accused the state of committing

Sir Keir Starmer campaigned in the general election about being a politician who would do things differently and lead a government of service.  His was a message of change not just about how he would run the country, but also about how he would lead the government change. It was billed not just as a

A motion calling for Labour to reverse its cut to the winter fuel allowance has been backed by party conference members, in an embarrassing blow to Sir Keir Starmer. While there is nothing binding about the vote, it puts further pressure on the Labour leadership over its controversial decision to take away the benefit from

Sir Keir Starmer has defended removing the winter fuel allowance from millions of pensioners as he warned of a “hard” path ahead. The prime minister, giving his keynote speech at Labour’s conference, was attempting to turn around the doom and gloom of the past few months. He addressed concern about cutting the winter fuel allowance,