Politics

The Criminal Bar Association has warned the government against increasing sentencing powers for magistrates, saying the “knee-jerk reaction” would “simply make things worse” for overcrowded prisons. Reports over the weekend claimed the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) was looking at doubling the sentences that magistrates were allowed to impose from six months to a year, enabling

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called for a tax on the wealthiest instead of cutting support for “struggling pensioners”. Speaking after arriving at the Lib Dem conference in Brighton on a jet ski, Sir Ed said his party is the only one offering up a solution on how to “plug the awful financial

The NHS will not get any more funding without reforming, Sir Keir Starmer has said as he laid out a 10-year plan to fix the health service. The prime minister stressed his plans to build an NHS fit for the future “do not just mean putting more money in”, and will take a decade to

Former Labour MP Harriet Harman has called for the police to act “quicker” when it comes to their investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire. The public inquiry into the west London blaze that saw 72 killed in 2017 delivered its final report on Wednesday. Politics live: MPs to get vote on winter fuel payment cuts

The Metropolitan Police has ended its investigation into the general election betting scandal without bringing any charges. A number of Conservative politicians and officials, as well as police officers based around parliament, got into hot water over allegations they had placed bets on the timing of July’s vote before it had been publicly announced by

Conservative leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat has called Elon Musk’s claim civil war was inevitable in the UK “delusional”. In his first major speech since declaring his bid for the Conservative leadership, the former security minister hit out at the billionaire X owner who has been criticising Sir Keir Starmer’s response to the week of riots

Elon Musk has branded Sir Keir Starmer a “hypocrite” over his approach to policing – while also goading the prime minister over a Labour MP’s historical tweets. Musk has been sparring with Sir Keir since last week after the prime minister blamed social media companies for allowing the spread of false claims that the Southport

Sir Keir Starmer has told police chiefs to remain “on high alert” after anticipation of more disorder largely failing to materialise on Wednesday. The prime minister is understood to have told an emergency COBRA meeting that the levels of policing and swift justice in response to the past week’s unrest has “undoubtedly” worked as a

A sharp rise in families living in temporary accommodation has prompted calls from English councils for the government to deal with the homelessness crisis. The total number of people living in temporary accommodation across England rose by 12.3% to a record 117,450 households in the year up to March 2024, the latest government data shows.

The home secretary has said prison places “are ready” for the “thuggish minority of criminals” rioting across the UK, ahead of an emergency COBRA meeting today. Yvette Cooper will hold the emergency meeting this morning following nearly a week of rioting in cities and towns across the UK. More than 140 people have been arrested

An emergency ban on puberty blockers introduced by the Conservative government was lawful, the High Court has ruled. Campaign group TransActual, and a young person who cannot be named, had challenged then health secretary Victoria Atkins’s decision to impose “banning orders” on puberty blockers, which delay puberty by suppressing the natural production of sex hormones.

Sir Keir Starmer has avoided committing to considering scrapping the two-child benefit cap as he said there is “no silver bullet” to solving child poverty. A growing number of Labour MPs have been putting pressure on the prime minister to remove the cap introduced by the Conservative government which means families can only claim child

Baroness Eluned Morgan has been nominated as Wales’ first female first minister. The 57-year-old has a political career spanning three decades. In that time, she’s served as an MEP, shadow minister in the House of Lords and has held several positions within the Welsh government. She unsuccessfully stood for the Welsh Labour leadership in 2018,

A Scottish government minister’s father remains under police investigation for posting an image of the Star of David linked with a swastika. Tom Arthur snr resigned from the SNP after the Facebook post was reported to Police Scotland in April, with the force initially investigating it as a “communications offence”. The post was shared on

A new era of government, and a distinctly more upbeat mood: on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer cut the figure of a prime minister enthralled with the job, rather than weighed down by it. And so he should be. He is one of the most powerful post-war prime ministers this country has seen. Having won a

King Charles has delivered the new Labour government’s first King’s Speech setting out its priorities for the months ahead.   On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson looks at what the government has promised with Sky’s deputy political editor Sam Coates and economics editor Ed Conway. Plus, Niall speaks to people and politics correspondent Nick

Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard are here with their guide to the day ahead in politics. Today is the first King’s Speech of the Labour era, as Jack and Sam rattle through what to expect. Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer is hosting the Irish prime minister as part of his

A news website in Wales has claimed the minister sacked over allegedly a leaking text from the first minister was not the source for their story. Nation Cymru posted an article in May claiming that in 2020 then-health secretary Vaughan Gething had told a ministerial chat he would delete all their messages so they could

A total of 1.6 million children are now affected by the two-child benefit cap as the Labour government faces pressure to lift it. The Conservative government introduced the cap, which prevents parents from claiming child tax credit or Universal Credit for more than two children for those born after April 2017. Politics live: Streeting orders

The special relationship between the US and UK is forged on shared history, common values, and diplomatic ties that are far deeper and enduring that any one president or prime minister. But there was no doubt that President Joe Biden seemed particularly pleased to welcome the new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to the Oval