Politics

Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard are back with their daily guide to the day ahead in politics in under 20 minutes. On the day of a big Commons vote on the future of winter fuel payments, Jack and Sam discuss whether this is really the first big test of

Ministers are not looking to soften the blow for 10 million pensioners who will no longer receive winter fuel payments, the prime minister’s spokesman has said. Ahead of a vote on Tuesday on the controversial decision to limit winter fuel payments to those on pension credit, the government is remaining steadfast despite growing opposition from

Prisoners set to be released early tomorrow have been trawled through in an attempt to not let domestic abusers go, the policing minister said. Tuesday will see about 1,700 prisoners released early to alleviate overcrowded prisons in England and Wales. The government said serious violent criminals, terrorists and domestic abuse perpetrators will not be released

Firebrand union leader Sharon Graham has told Sky News that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is guilty of “picking the pockets of pensioners” by cutting winter fuel payments.  The leader of the Unite union was speaking on the opening day of the TUC conference in Brighton, where she spearheaded demands for a wealth tax on millionaires to

The health secretary has said NHS waiting lists need to be “millions lower” by the next general election in 2029. Wes Streeting told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips he is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure waiting lists are brought down, including using the private sector. He said the “NHS waiting

Children’s health is facing a deadly crisis, with life-threatening illnesses, obesity, eating disorders, and infectious diseases soaring, a shock new government report reveals. Sir Keir Starmer is blaming the Conservatives for a “broken NHS” and claims the Tories’ NHS reforms are “unforgivable and “hopelessly misconceived”. The shocking findings on the deteriorating health of the nation’s

Sir Keir Starmer is visiting the Republic of Ireland as part of a “reset” of relations following the change of government. The prime minister will meet with his Irish counterpart, Simon Harris, as part of the visit to Dublin. At the same time, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn will be committing the UK government to

The Green Party will demand the government introduces a wealth tax when Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers her first budget next month. Giving a speech at his party’s annual conference in Manchester, co-leader Adrian Ramsay said the UK “needs to invest in defending public services and protecting our environment – and we can do that with

The government is not ruling out sending offenders to Estonia as a means of alleviating severe overcrowding on the UK prison estate. Sky News understands that having offenders serve out their sentence in the Baltic state is one of many options being considered to address over-capacity on the prison estate – where there are thought

Sir Tony Blair has warned that tragedies such as the Grenfell Tower fire cannot be completely avoided. The former prime minister, who left office in 2007, said it was a “difficult thing to say”, but that even when systems work well and are “well intentioned”, people are “going to make mistakes”. In an exclusive interview

The deputy prime minister has said she is unhappy with how long it is taking to remove unsafe cladding from buildings following the Grenfell Tower fire. Angela Rayner, who is also the housing secretary, said the government “has got to make sure that we accelerate remediation” after the final phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “deeply sorry” for the actions of the British government after a damning report into the Grenfell Tower blaze said ministers “failed to act”, despite knowing the risk of building materials. A landmark report into the disaster that claimed 72 lives in June 2017 was published earlier on Wednesday,

The East Midlands market town of Kettering is famous for its trusty boots, Weetabix and at one stage John Profumo. It is also a proper bellwether seat having swung between Labour and the Conservatives over the past 30 years. In July it helped form part of Labour’s majority of 158. The Conservatives’ worst defeat since

Former minister Tom Tugendhat has apologised for the “disrespect and double standards” of previous Conservative governments as he made his appeal to become the next party leader. Speaking from Westminster at his campaign launch, Mr Tugendhat said he had “witnessed the recent political trauma” within the Tory ranks “with a combination of depression and anger”,

Day one of a new term at Westminster and Sir Keir Starmer was already facing double trouble from Labour MPs. First, a partial arms export ban on Israel, which opponents claimed was a sop to pro-Gaza Labour left-wingers, ended up pleasing no-one. And then, predictably, at a packed Parliamentary Labour Party meeting, senior cabinet ministers

A new political term, and a new reality for the Conservatives, as what’s left of the party regroups in Westminster and gets down to the business of picking a new leader. On Monday, it was the turn of Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly to officially launch their campaigns ahead of the first knock-out round on

The Tories will not win back trust of the British people by simply “pointing out how terrible Labour are”, Kemi Badenoch will say. Speaking at the launch of her Conservative leadership campaign on Monday, the former Business Secretary will attack the new government as failing to offer “something better”. But despite reeling off a list

The economy could have crashed had the government not found savings by cutting winter fuel payments for pensioners, a minister has said. Lucy Powell told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that the loss of the benefit, which will now be means tested, was necessary because of a “£22bn blackhole” left behind by the Conservatives. Politics

As the photos of Angela Rayner raving in an Ibiza nightclub confirm, the deputy prime minister enjoys her time off. But hey, it was August. And, to be fair, hours earlier she chaired a meeting in Whitehall on building safety, before jetting off to the Spanish holiday isle. But while “Angela Raver” was enjoying the

A Labour politician has defended himself as a “renters champion” despite flats he rents out reportedly found to be in poor condition. Jas Athwal, the newly-elected MP for Ilford South, owns 15 rental flats, but some tenants have claimed they regularly have to clean their bathroom ceilings to remove mould. In an investigation first reported