Politics

This week the leaders were selling their visions to voters as they launched their manifestos, and Sunak and Starmer went head to head in Grimbsy at the Sky News live election special The Battle For Number 10. Watch their journeys in the latest week in our animated map below. This campaign is being fought on

Both the Starmer and Sunak campaigns agree: the first head-to-head of the election campaign was – in many ways – a difficult watch. The two men have spent a fortnight on the campaign trail attacking one another from hundreds of miles apart. It was undoubtedly snippy. Suddenly they were together in a room, able to

“Neither of them are blessed with natural charisma.” This rather damning assessment of both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer – the UK’s choice of future prime minister – focuses on their speech and body language, not how they might lead the country. The leaders of the two main parties face weeks of interviews, speeches,

Wales’s first minister has lost a confidence vote. Vaughan Gething has only been first minister since March, but in that time he has faced questions over a controversial £200k donation to his leadership campaign from a man convicted of environmental offences. Mr Gething said the donations had been made in line with party protocols and

Sir Keir Starmer’s team knew they would hit a wobble at some point in this campaign and Diane Abbott turned out to be it. After 72 hours of trying to stonewall questions about her future in the Labour Party, the leadership finally crumbled and Sir Keir performed the U-turn: Diane Abbott can stand for the

Some sports fans and music lovers who want to vote are set to be double booked on polling day after Rishi Sunak called a general election on 4 July. The prime minister announced in the pouring rain this afternoon that “now is the moment for Britain to choose its future“. But those set to see

Victims of the infected blood scandal will get £210,000 as an interim compensation payment from as early as this summer, the government has announced. Cabinet minister John Glen told parliament the initial payment will be given to people living with the effects of contaminated blood “within 90 days, starting in the summer”. Infected people who

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has offered a “wholehearted and unequivocal” apology to the victims of the infected blood scandal, saying it was a “day of shame for the British state”. Mr Sunak said the findings of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s final report should “shake our nation to its core”, as he promised to pay “comprehensive

On Thursday, former prime minister Theresa May claimed this election – like every one – would be ultimately fought on the economy. Today, we got a sense of how that battle is going to play out. Jeremy Hunt, with his senior Conservative politician hat on, launched into a blistering attack on Labour, accusing the party

Oh, dear! Rishi Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Act was supposed to prevent this sort of legal challenge. The ink is barely dry on the act after it became law last month, and the government has already lost its first battle in the courts. Ruling ‘blows claims about Rwanda plan out of water’ – live updates

No deportation flights to Rwanda will take off under a Labour government, Sir Keir Starmer has told Sky News. The Labour leader told Sky News political editor Beth Rigby “there’ll be no flights” as he wants to “scrap the scheme”, which aims to send asylum seekers entering the UK illegally from a safe country, such

Wales’s first minister Vaughan Gething has said he is “entirely relaxed” after being accused of misleading the UK COVID Inquiry. Nation.Cymru reported on Tuesday that Mr Gething sent a text message in which he said “I’m deleting the messages in this group”. “They can be captured in an FOI [Freedom of Information request] and I

The Chinese state has hacked the Ministry of Defence, Sky News understands. MPs will be told on Tuesday of a massive data breach involving the MoD, targeting service personnel. It is understood investigations have not shown any data has been taken. The government will not name the country involved, but Sky News understands this to

More than 115,000 asylum seekers will be trapped in “permanent limbo” by the end of the year as a result of the government’s flagship Rwanda plan, according to a detailed study by the Refugee Council. The effect of the Rwanda plan will push the already struggling UK asylum system into “meltdown”, the council’s chief executive

The morning after the 2019 general election, Boris Johnson pledged to people in the North East who had voted Conservative for the first time that he and the party would “repay your trust”. That year was the Brexit election, and the Conservatives ultimately won because they and Mr Johnson were trusted to “get Brexit done”

Rishi Sunak warned the world is now “more volatile and dangerous” than at any time since the Cold War, as the prime minister embarked on a trip to Poland and Germany to discuss the threat of expansionist Russia and refocus the world’s eyes back on to Ukraine. Speaking to journalists on the flight over to

Immigration enforcement staff have had their leave cancelled as the government hopes its plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda will become law this week. Speaking to Sky News, Lucy Moreton from the ISU, the union for borders, immigration and customs, said the staff who will be expected to arrest and remove people still

The Home Office has promised to close 150 migrant hotels by May after figures showed aid spending on asylum seekers in the UK rose to £4.3bn in 2023. The department said the number of people staying in taxpayer-funded accommodation had dropped from 56,000 in September to fewer than 20,000 people currently as part of a drive

Online comments made by Harry Potter author JK Rowling have not been recorded as a non-crime hate incident, Police Scotland has confirmed. It comes after the force said no further action would be taken over social media posts made by the writer in response to Scotland’s controversial new hate crime laws. A non-crime hate incident

The Archbishop of Canterbury will use his Easter sermon to say the church is not party political after facing criticism over his high-profile condemnation of the government’s controversial Rwanda deportation scheme. Justin Welby will tell the congregation on Sunday that Anglicans are “all different” in their politics, as he urged “love-in-action” to help those caught