Politics

Liz Truss is set to face a wretched week at the Tory Party conference after the disastrous reaction to Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax-cutting mini-budget. The prime minister arrived in Birmingham on Saturday looking buoyant just hours before yet another injurious poll was released. Hopes to be greeted by an adoring host of members have likely been

Three-and-a-half weeks ago, Liz Truss was beaming as she was announced as the new leader of the Conservative Party. She did not embrace her husband or console her defeated opponent – reaching instead for her victory speech and marching onto the stage. The contrast as she heads to her party’s annual conference in Birmingham is

Consumers are being warned they may be targeted by scammers as the government’s energy price guarantee comes into effect. Messages asking for people to provide personal or financial details to receive support should be treated as fraudulent activity, as no applications are required, the business secretary has said. The £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme will

You have to go back to Tony Blair’s honeymoon period after his 1997 landslide general election victory to find a Labour opinion poll lead as massive as 33 points. All those critics of Sir Keir Starmer – mostly on the Corbynista left-wing of the party, who’ve claimed with the Tories in turmoil, Labour should be

Labour has surged to record leads in multiple polls in the wake of the economic turmoil after the government’s mini-budget. A YouGov/Times poll placed Labour 33 points ahead of the Conservatives, believed to be the largest lead for Labour in any recorded poll since 1998, when the-then PM Tony Blair was enjoying his “honeymoon period”.

Liz Truss has surfaced today after a week out of the public gaze to insist she believes her mini-budget was right, and “global forces” are to blame for the financial situation. In a round of regional radio interviews ahead of her party conference, Liz Truss’s pre-prepared answers struggled against some tough questioning. “Are you ashamed

Liz Truss is a “danger” to the economy and has “lost control” after the fallout from the government’s mini-budget, Sir Keir Starmer has told Sky News. Speaking to political editor Beth Rigby, the Labour leader stopped short of calling for the PM and her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, to quit, saying it was a “secondary” issue.

Sir Keir Starmer has condemned a Labour MP for “racist” comments she made about Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng. Rupa Huq was administratively suspended pending an investigation after she claimed that Mr Kwarteng was “superficially” black. The MP for Ealing Central and Acton made the remarks about the UK’s first black chancellor at a Labour conference fringe

Labour will tomorrow unveil plans to ensure every primary school child in England has access to fully funded breakfast clubs under a government led by Sir Keir Starmer. Announcing the scheme on the final day of the party’s conference in Liverpool, Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, will say the policy will be paid for

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said “the cavalry is coming with Labour” as he sought to portray the party as a government in waiting. Mr Streeting was speaking with Sky News’ Kay Burley ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s keynote speech at the Labour conference in Liverpool. He said Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget last Friday had

Sir Keir Starmer will claim a “changed” Labour can turn the UK into a “growth superpower” in his keynote conference speech – as a new poll gave the party its largest lead over the Conservatives in more than two decades. The Labour leader will tell party delegates in Liverpool on Tuesday that Labour’s Green Prosperity

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she’s never felt so optimistic about the future of the Labour party in her more than 12 years as an MP. Speaking to Sky News’ Kay Burley, Ms Reeves called Sir Keir Starmer a “brilliant man” and said that under his leadership, the party is finally “winning the battle

Labour will pledge to “build British industry” through the use of a state-owned investment fund during the second day of the party’s conference in Liverpool on Monday. In her speech tomorrow, Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, will set out the party’s industrial strategy, which includes promises to invest in national projects from battery factories to

A union boss has said Sir Keir Starmer must “cosy up to working class people” to be effective in Opposition against the Conservative government. Speaking to Sky News’ chief political correspondent Jon Craig ahead of Labour’s party conference, RMT chief Mick Lynch said Sir Keir must “show a way that he identifies with the struggles

The Labour Party’s annual conference begins today – and policies on neighbourhood policing and clean energy are among those on the agenda. The Labour leader is seeking to set out the dividing lines between his party and the new Tory government during the four-day event. Speaking at a London Labour reception on Friday evening, Sir

Labour will attempt to fight back against the chancellor’s Trussonomics tax giveaways by unveiling rival plans to boost economic growth at its conference in Liverpool. The four-day conference will begin with a tribute to the Queen by party leader Sir Keir Starmer and the national anthem, a move that will be criticised by left-wingers. Deputy

It may have been billed a mini-budget, but what Kwasi Kwarteng announced on Friday was massive. A package of tax cuts on a scale not seen for half a century, paid for through borrowing at increasingly expensive rates in the hope that it will deliver better growth. This is an administration that promised “shock and

Fresh evidence of a toxic bullying culture in Parliament has emerged, as a Sky News investigation reveals numerous shocking allegations of abusive behaviour by MPs. A five-month-long probe uncovered disturbing accounts of MPs regularly demeaning and berating staff, leaving them feeling scared and isolated. Some felt forced to leave politics altogether while others suffered lasting

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has announced that April’s National Insurance hike is to be reversed from 6 November. The 1.25 percentage point increase was introduced under former chancellor Rishi Sunak, but during the Tory leadership race Liz Truss pledged to change it. Mr Kwarteng made the announcement ahead of a “mini-budget” on Friday. Politics hub: Health

People working part-time will face cuts to their benefits if they do not look for extra hours, the chancellor is set to announce. As part of his mini-budget on Friday, Kwasi Kwarteng will say claimants working up to 15 hours a week on the National Living Wage will have to take “active steps” to increase