Politics

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey calls it “the first big mistake this government has made”. The decision by the new Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves to axe the £300 Winter Fuel Payment for 10 million pensioners forever is probably the biggest domestic headache for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as MPs return to Westminster from

Employers will have to offer flexible working hours – including a four-day week – to all workers under government plans. To receive their full pay, employees would still have to work their full hours but compressed into a shorter working week – something some workplaces already do. Currently, employees can request flexible hours as soon

Labour heavyweight Harriet Harman is joining Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast as a permanent member of the team. The former acting leader of the party and mother of the House will now sit alongside Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby and Conservative peer Ruth Davidson as the three women bring the news – and their

Smoking could be banned in pub gardens, outdoor restaurants and outside stadiums, according to reports. The measures are currently being considered by ministers according to The Sun newspaper. Smokers would also been prohibited from lighting up outside sport venues, nightclubs and in small parks, the newspaper said – citing “secret Whitehall papers”. Read more:How would

“Woeful budgeting” by the Home Office has led to years of overspend on asylum, a watchdog has claimed. For the past three years, the department has set £110m aside for asylum operations. But a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the actual spend had averaged £2.6bn a year in that time.

Sir Keir Starmer has said his government wants a reset with the EU – “but that doesn’t mean reversing Brexit or re-entering the single market”. Following a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, the prime minister said plans for a new treaty with Germany are about a “reset” with the EU. He said

Cast your mind back to the heady days of early July, as a beaming Sir Keir Starmer swept into Downing Street to a cheering crowd and the promise of “change”. Britain’s seventh ever Labour prime minister had won a landslide that deservedly drew parallels between himself and the party’s most successful election winner Tony Blair.

Sir Keir Starmer will vow on Tuesday to “reverse a decade of decline” and to “fix the foundations” of the UK economy. Delivering a much-trailed speech in the gardens of Downing Street ahead of parliament’s return next week, the prime minister will acknowledge the state of the public finances but pledge to “do the hard

A Labour donor who contributed more than £500,000 to the party did have a pass to Number 10 for a short time, the government has told Sky News. The Sunday Times reported Lord Waheed Alli, a television executive who has donated to Labour over the last 20 years, had been given a pass granting him

Messaging is a key weapon in any government’s armoury. Back in 2010 the new coalition spent the first few months re-iterating the line that Labour had caused economic chaos, aided by the famous note “there is no money left”. It was so successful that some political analysis believe it was a big factor in helping

The August bank holiday has arrived – the cue for millions to get back to work after whatever holidays they have managed to enjoy. Over this weekend many Britons will be coming home from Europe through ports, airports and the Channel Tunnel. Their trips may have included frustrating delays and border checks but there won’t

The Metropolitan Police has ended its investigation into the general election betting scandal without bringing any charges. A number of Conservative politicians and officials, as well as police officers based around parliament, got into hot water over allegations they had placed bets on the timing of July’s vote before it had been publicly announced by

A Scottish Tory leadership candidate has said he still does not support gay marriage because of his religious beliefs, 10 years after voting against it. However, Murdo Fraser told Sky News that he is now “quite relaxed” about same-sex adoption, having previously voiced opposition to it. Politics live: Rising energy costs ‘deeply worrying’ for families

Magistrates have been told to consider pushing back the sentencing of criminals because of concerns about overcrowding in prisons. Sky News has seen an internal direction sent to courts in England and Wales saying hearings due in the next two weeks should be reviewed if the defendant is currently on bail – and potentially postponed

Let’s start with one claim that’s been causing a bit of confusion today. Contrary to what the Home Office press release today suggests, small boat crossings to the UK have not fallen since last year – at least not in any sense that any normal person would understand it. Actually, the cumulative number of people

It is “laughable” for Rachel Reeves to claim she didn’t know the full state of the public finances until she took office, Ruth Davidson has said. Speaking on Beth Rigby’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives accused the new chancellor of trying to “build a political narrative” in order to justify

Almost all small boat arrivals who claimed asylum in the UK over the last year are still waiting for a decision from the Home Office, figures show. In the year ending June 2024, the Home Office said 99% of all the people arriving in small boats had an asylum claim recorded either as a main

Labour’s plan to increase detention capacity is unlikely to stop small boat crossings and the “only real solution” is a deal with the EU, the former head of the UK’s Border Force has said. Tony Smith told Sky News while the new government’s announcements – including reopening removal centres and staffing up the National Crime

Official data shows government borrowing in July was above expectations and at its highest since the pandemic. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expected borrowing to be £46.6bn – instead it reached £51.3bn. Our economics and data editor Ed Conway joins Niall Paterson to talk about the unexpected rise in government borrowing and Chancellor Rachel

Labour is pressing ahead with the previous government’s plan to reopen two immigration centres in a bid to achieve the highest rate of removals since 2018. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said detention capacity will be increased with the provision of 290 beds across Campsfield House and Haslar. The former, in Oxfordshire, closed in 2019 while