Politics

Rishi Sunak has repeatedly refused to say whether the UK would have to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to deliver his government’s plan for removing asylum seekers who arrive illegally. Making his debut appearance at the Commons Liaison Committee, the prime minister was asked by the SNP’s Joanna Cheery whether the UK

The lowest paid NHS workers had to be given a salary top-up this year to avoid breaching national minimum wage laws, the head of a union said as she pleaded with ministers to negotiate pay. Rachel Harrison, national secretary of the GMB union, told MPs that NHS staff had to be given more money this

Conservative MP Bob Stewart has said he made “a mistake” after he was caught on video telling a human rights activist to “go back to Bahrain”. In video footage obtained by Sky News, Sayed Alwadaei, the director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), confronts the veteran Tory MP outside a reception hosted

Suella Braverman has defended the government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda after the High Court ruled earlier today that the scheme is lawful. Making a statement in the Commons, the home secretary said the Rwanda policy is a “humane” and “practical alternative” for those who come to the UK through “dangerous, illegal and

Strikes will continue across a number of industries this week in an escalating campaign of industrial action, with Border Force workers among those expected to walk out. The strike by more than 1,000 Border Force employees will affect passport control desks at Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow airports from Friday until Boxing Day, and

The government’s outgoing adviser on violence against women has accused the home secretary of “normalising hate” that black people get on Twitter with her rhetoric on immigration. Nimco Ali, who announced she was leaving her role as an independent adviser at the Home Office earlier this month, accused Suella Braverman of “normalising hateful rhetoric”. Asked

Former Conservative cabinet minister Robert Buckland has called on Rishi Sunak to “chart a middle course” with striking nurses after the first NHS-wide walkout took place on Thursday. The former justice secretary told Sky News there is “a big gulf” between the NHS pay review body’s (PRB) July recommendation of around 4% pay increases for

Parents have been assured that the Online Safety Bill will not just hold social media companies responsible for illegal content on their platforms, but any material which can “cause serious trauma” to children. In an open letter, Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan sought to assuage fears that the long-delayed legislation had been watered down after finally

A parliamentary committee has recommended that a peer should be suspended from the House of Lords for nine months for lobbying ministers on behalf of a company seeking regulatory approval for its COVID-19 sanitisation products. The Earl of Shrewsbury, who was a Conservative peer until October, was found to have made £57,000 lobbying for the

A deal between train companies and rail unions is “achievable”, Mick Lynch, the head of the RMT union, has said as the biggest day of transport strikes causes travel misery for commuters. A meeting, convened by Huw Merriman, the rail minister, was held on Thursday to try and resolve the bitter dispute over pay, jobs

Parts of the UK are facing more travel trouble with rail, bus and highways workers walking off the job today in the continuing dispute over pay and conditions. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union will begin another 48-hour strike, after talks failed to make progress on Thursday. The RMT said “further discussions” had

Former health secretary Sajid Javid has warned that the NHS “won’t survive many more years” without “fundamental reforms”, urging the country to have an “honest debate” about the service. In his only broadcast interview since announcing he would stand down at the next general election, the MP told the Beth Rigby Interviews programme that tackling

Nurses will continue to strike in January if the government does not negotiate with them on pay, union leader Pat Cullen has told Sky News. Ms Cullen, of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said it was “absolutely not true” that pay is a “tiny element” in the dispute as she hit out at “disparaging”

A backbench Conservative MP has failed in an attempt to override international human rights rulings and get the Rwanda deportation scheme up and running again. Jonathan Gullis was said to have the backing of former prime minister Boris Johnson and former home secretary Priti Patel – but the bill he proposed was voted down by

Senior health leaders have raised concerns about the care of cancer patients during the impending nurses’ strikes – including warnings that some chemotherapy appointments are being rescheduled. In a letter seen by Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, the head of cancer care for NHS England, Dame Cally Palmer, called on Royal College of Nursing

A Tory MP has been made bankrupt after a court heard he owed around £1.7m. Adam Afriyie, who has held the seat of Windsor since 2005, was given the bankruptcy order during an online hearing in the Insolvency and Companies Court on Tuesday. Judge Nicholas Briggs was told the MP owed around £1m to HM

Kwasi Kwarteng brushed aside warnings his disastrous mini-budget could trigger a backlash on the financial markets, Treasury officials have told MPs. James Bowler, permanent secretary at the Treasury, insisted on Monday that Mr Kwarteng was told about the potential damaging impact of his £45bn package of unfunded tax cuts, but could not be persuaded to

The government’s top responsibility is to tackle inflation, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has told Sky News as thousands of public sector workers go on strike. Mr Hunt said the strikes, which are taking place every day until the end of the year, are a “symptom of the fact that people are very worried that their pay

Troops are being trained to drive ambulances ahead of strikes as the government holds emergency COBRA meetings to limit disruption while 10 different industries go on strike this week. Over the weekend, government sources said a decision had not yet been made to put in a formal request to the Ministry of Defence but said

The government is “dangerous, reprehensible and irresponsible” for failing to sit down with nurses to try and avert a strike, Labour has said. NHS nurses are due to strike next Thursday and on 20 December in a dispute over pay and patient safety. It is the first time the Royal College of Nursing has staged