Politics

Sir Keir Starmer will promise to halve levels of violence against women and girls within 10 years of Labour taking office. The Labour leader will also pledge to halve serious violent crime and raise confidence in the police and criminal justice system following a damning report into Scotland Yard by Baroness Casey. Sir Keir will

Did Boris Johnson intentionally mislead Parliament about what he knew and when about rule-breaking events in Number 10? The privileges committee maintains it is “very likely” he did. Wednesday’s appearance in front of the privileges committee was billed as the day of reckoning for the former prime minister, with all the jeopardy that it brought.

A senior civil servant questioned Boris Johnson’s plan to say COVID guidance had been followed at all times in Downing Street, according to new evidence published by MPs investigating whether he lied over partygate. In written evidence from Martin Reynolds, the former principal private secretary to the then prime minister, he said he questioned whether

Nicola Sturgeon has urged the SNP candidates vying to succeed her as first minister to “protect the ingredients of success” – telling Sky News the leadership contest so far has been “a less than edifying process”.  In a Beth Rigby interview due to air at 9pm on Sky News, Ms Sturgeon acknowledged the turmoil in

Boris Johnson has said he accepts he misled parliament over partygate but insists his statements were “in good faith”. In his evidence to the privileges committee, published on Tuesday, the former prime minister accused it of having gone “significantly beyond its terms of reference”. He added that it was “unprecedented and absurd” to claim that

The DUP says its MPs will vote against a key aspect of Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal when it is put to a crunch vote in parliament this week. In a statement, party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said while the Windsor Framework represented “significant progress” in addressing concerns with the Northern Ireland Protocol, it does not

The government’s food tsar has quit in order to freely criticise the Tories’ “insane” inaction against obesity. Henry Dimbleby, the co-founder of the food chain Leon, said ministers were refusing to impose restrictions on the junk food industry due to an obsession with “ultra-free-market ideology”. He said this was partly to blame for the fact

Love him or hate him, everyone knows that Boris Johnson thrives on being the centre of attention. Next Wednesday afternoon from 2pm the former prime minister will be back in the spotlight at Westminster for a high stakes appearance, which is bound to be a popcorn moment for spectators. Live on television, members of the

The government “doesn’t relish” deporting migrants to Rwanda but is being “forced” to pursue the controversial policy because of the rise in Channel crossings, a cabinet minister has claimed. Oliver Dowden was asked by Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday if he is “comfortable” with the idea of sending children and families to the east African

The chief executive of the Scottish National Party has resigned with immediate effect in the face of a no confidence vote. Peter Murrell, who is married to Nicola Sturgeon, said his future had become “a distraction” from the current contest to replace his wife as SNP leader and first minister following a damaging secrecy row.

The home secretary has arrived in Rwanda as the government’s deal to send asylum seekers to the country remains mired in legal challenges. It is 11 months since the UK agreed the deal, which would see people who claimed asylum in Britain deported to the central African nation to have their application processed, and if

Teacher strikes will be paused for two weeks while education unions and the government hold “intensive” talks over pay, workload and conditions. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan will meet with representatives today – with discussions to continue over the weekend until Sunday. The National Education Union (NEU), National Association of Headteachers (NAHT), NASUWT The Teachers’ Union,

Criminals who fail to turn up in court to hear their judgment should face tougher sentences as a matter of “respect” for victims, Dominic Raab has said. The justice secretary said it should be considered an aggravating factor in sentencing if someone who commits a crime decides to “snub” the court. Last year, Jordan McSweeney,

The SNP have lost around 30,000 party members since 2021. The SNP reported a membership of 125,534 in December 2018. According to data published by the Electoral Commission, that dropped to around 104,000 by the end of December 2021. On Thursday, the SNP admitted just 72,186 members were eligible to vote in the party leadership

TikTok is expected to be banned from UK government phones later today, Sky News understands. Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden will make a statement to Parliament this afternoon on “the security of government devices”, where it is understood he will confirm the ban. The Chinese-owned video sharing app has been under increasingly scrutiny over its

Jeremy Hunt said the British economy is “proving the doubters wrong” and will avoid recession, as he delivered his first full budget speech to Parliament. The chancellor said the government’s plan for the economy was “working” as he announced what he called a “budget for growth”. He said forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility

Flat owners say more needs to be done to “save them from ruin” after developers who have not yet agreed to fix post-Grenfell safety defects were named and shamed in the Commons. Housing Secretary Michael Gove called out 11 housebuilding companies who missed a March 13 deadline to sign up to an agreement aimed at

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

Support for Scottish independence has continued to slide in the country, according to an exclusive YouGov poll for Sky News, with 46% backing an exit from the UK compared to 54% who want to remain part of the union. Support is even lower when those who answered “don’t know” are included in the statistics –