Politics

After the debacle of Liz Truss’s September mini-budget, with all its mega ramifications, and an autumn statement eight weeks later that performed an about-turn so big that the country’s tax burden hit a 70-year-high, Wednesday’s budget will be all about stability and sticking to the plan. “No big bangs in this budget,” is how one

UK security minister Tom Tugendhat has asked the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to look into TikTok after governments around the world have begun banning it from their work phones. The Chinese-owned video sharing app is increasingly under the European and US microscope over security and data privacy, with concerns it could be used to

The UK, US and Australia will work together “keeping our oceans free” with a new generation of nuclear-powered attack submarines, Rishi Sunak has said. Mr Sunak met US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in San Diego to announce the next stage of the Aukus partnership plan. The plan will deliver nuclear-powered

Rishi Sunak has declined to offer his backing to the chairman of the BBC and stressed his appointment was made by his predecessor Boris Johnson. Richard Sharp has been dragged into the BBC row over Gary Lineker because of his close ties to government and the role he played when Boris Johnson was considering taking

There’s a run on a bank, meltdown at the BBC about its proximity to government and Rishi Sunak needs to prove on Wednesday’s Budget that he has not abandoned growth. Yet on Sunday the prime minister flew 5,000 miles to the US west coast to deal with a threat that may one day eclipse them

The budget will “break down the barriers” to getting people back into work in the face of more than a million vacancies and a sluggish economy, the chancellor has told Sky News. With more than half a million people having disappeared from the UK workforce since the outbreak of COVID-19, tackling economic inactivity will be

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is flying to the United States on Sunday for defence talks with President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. One of the items on the agenda will be the next phase of the AUKUS nuclear submarine programme. AUKUS, announced in September 2021, is a pact under which the UK

The first UK-France summit in five years has concluded, resulting in “unprecedented measures” to tackle illegal migration, as well as joint pledges on Ukraine and energy security. Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron have given the clearest demonstration yet of what has become dubbed “Le Bromance”, as the pair sought to draw a line under post-Brexit

Britain will payout £480m over the next three years in a deal struck between Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron to tackle small boat Channel crossings, with measures including funding for a new detention centre in France. The fresh package agreed between the prime minister and the French president to deal with the migrant crisis will

Charges have been dropped against three former executives of G4S’s electronic tagging arm who were accused of defrauding the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) following a 10-year investigation. G4S Care and Justice Services had provided electronic monitoring services to the government from 2005 to 2013. The subsidiary of security giant G4S was accused of misleading the

Rishi Sunak will use talks with President Emmanuel Macron to push for a returns agreement allowing migrants to be sent back to France after crossing the English Channel. The prime minister is set to meet the French president in Paris on Friday where he will prioritise discussing his “stop the boats” plan. Downing Street wants

Matt Hancock was told by the Cabinet Office to tone down claims in his book that a Wuhan lab leak started the pandemic over fears it would “cause problems” with China. The former health secretary wanted to include in his Pandemic Diaries book that the Chinese government’s explanation “just doesn’t fly”, the latest messages leaked

Boris Johnson earned 85% of all the outside pay generated by MPs this year, Sky News can reveal. The former prime minister has declared earnings of £4.8m, mostly since stepping down from Downing Street in speeches and book deals, the latest update to the Westminster Accounts by Sky News can reveal. Some £3.7m of this

The home secretary has told Sky News the government’s new plan to stop small boat migrants arriving in the UK is “not breaking the law”. Suella Braverman said she is “very confident” the measures announced on Tuesday “are in compliance with our international law obligations”. The government revealed its new plan to stop migrants entering

Rishi Sunak has said the crackdown on small boats crossing the Channel is needed as the current system that is being exploited is “unfair on the British people”. The prime minister described the new Illegal Migration Bill as “tough, but it is necessary and it is fair”. “This will always be a compassionate and generous

The UK’s inability to replenish its dwindling munitions stockpile is putting national security at risk, MPs have warned. The UK and its NATO allies have allowed reserves of ammunition to fall to “dangerously low levels” while supporting Ukraine in its defence against Russia, according to the Commons Defence Committee. And it could take at least

Tory MPs are fighting between themselves over Sue Gray’s decision to leave the civil service to work for Labour, leaked WhatsApp messages reveal – as questions continue to swirl over the controversial job move. In a series of exchanges seen by Sky’s deputy political editor Sam Coates, allies of Boris Johnson clashed with their colleagues

Sir Keir Starmer has appointed partygate investigator Sue Gray as his chief of staff, prompting some Tory MPs to say her inquiry was a “Labour stitch-up”.    But she will have to set out the timeline of her discussions with Labour, including when she first began talking to Sir Keir about the role. Not the

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case described Boris Johnson as a “distrusted figure” during the COVID pandemic and warned the public were unlikely to follow isolation rules set out by him, leaked messages have revealed. Mr Case said to then health secretary Matt Hancock the public needed to be told to isolate by “trusted local figures, not

The government is stepping up its bid to stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats with a new set of legislation. This week the Illegal Migration Bill will be presented in the House of Commons – and will reportedly include a ban on asylum claims for anyone who arrives in the UK illegally. Refugee