Politics

Rishi Sunak’s speech at the Conservative Party conference fell flat with the British public, a new poll suggests. During his speech, the prime minister confirmed his long-rumoured decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester and announced plans to introduce some of the strictest smoking laws in the world. New polling

Rishi Sunak has signed new deals with Serbia, Belgium and Bulgaria to help target the criminal gangs who smuggle people across the Channel in small boats. The prime minister made the announcement at the European political community summit in Spain after a whirlwind week at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. Mr Sunak urged European

There are fresh calls to clean up politics with stronger rules around lying after senior Tories made false statements around meat taxes and 15-minute cities at their annual party conference. Green MP Caroline Lucas told Sky News a “dishonesty epidemic is infecting the Tory party” as she called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to acquaint

Rishi Sunak’s recent shift on green policies gave us the biggest indication yet that he is planning for a general election. Standing on a podium with the slogan “Long term decisions for a brighter future”, the prime minister made clear his watering down of net zero pledges was not a one-off, but the beginning of

Boris Johnson has been warned he could lose public funding for legal advice if he tries to “frustrate or undermine” the government’s position on the COVID inquiry. Cabinet Office lawyers have told the former prime minister that public money would “cease to be available” if he breaks conditions such as releasing evidence without permission, the

A sitting Labour MP has filed a complaint against Geraint Davies after he was suspended over allegations of inappropriate behaviour, Sky News understands. It means Labour has now received two formal complaints after a woman also contacted the party yesterday. The 63-year-old has been “administratively suspended” from the party pending an investigation into reports of

Labour has blocked a sitting mayor from standing for a new role in the North East in a move that has reawakened divisions in the party. Jamie Driscoll, the serving North of Tyne mayor, revealed on social media that he had been “barred” from running as the Labour candidate to contest the North East mayoralty

Labour has vowed to ease the “burden” on university graduates by lowering monthly student loan repayments. It is the first indication of how the party plans to reform the system after leader Sir Keir Starmer scrapped a leadership pledge to abolish tuition fees entirely. Politics live: ‘Plenty of politics at play’ in Johnson WhatsApp row

In the wake of the Geraint Davies allegations, Labour has said it will look again at its processes for dealing with these types of complaints. In a (very long) email to all staff, the party’s general secretary, David Evans, went through all the resources already available – and the list was long. In doing so,

A Labour MP has claimed one of her colleagues who was reported to the police for alleged sexual assault is still on the opposition frontbench because the party “has chosen not to act”. Charlotte Nichols, who represents Warrington North, did not name the individual but said she has challenged Labour officials about the claims and

Boris Johnson is giving all the WhatsApp messages and diaries available to him directly to the COVID inquiry, Sky News understands. The former prime minister had originally given the information to the Cabinet Office, but it had refused to comply with the inquiry’s order to hand over all the material in unredacted form. Friday’s move

MPs under investigation for violent or sexual crimes could be banned from parliament under new plans to crack down on Westminster “sleaze”. Members of parliament themselves will vote on measures which could bar colleagues from entering the parliamentary estate or going on taxpayer-funded trips if they are being probed by police for serious offences. The