The King has set out the government’s policies for the coming year in the first King’s Speech for 70 years. It was also the first since Rishi Sunak became prime minister and will probably be the last before the next general election. Of the bills set out in the speech, it could be the law
Politics
Tougher sentences for the country’s most serious offenders and a crackdown on grooming have taken centre stage in the first King’s Speech in decades. The King struck a personal note when he began his speech – the first by a king in over 70 years – by acknowledging the “legacy of service and devotion to
Boris Johnson asked his most senior scientific advisers if blowing a “special hair dryer” up your nose could kill COVID, according to Dominic Cummings. Mr Cummings’s full evidence statement to the COVID inquiry has been revealed, following his blockbuster in-person grilling on Tuesday. In the document, which runs for more than 100 pages, Mr Johnson‘s
There is a danger on days like today of focusing on dazzling but smaller-scale revelations that have come out of today’s evidence at the COVID inquiry hearings. This includes the eye-opening WhatsApps appearing on the courtroom screens, the biblical language about the cabinet and prime minister, the misogynist comments about officials, a prime minister on
Boris Johnson suggested he saw COVID as “nature’s way of dealing with old people” and was “obsessed” with them accepting their fate, the inquiry into the pandemic has heard. During a hearing on Tuesday, notes were shared from the government’s former chief scientist describing a “bonkers set of exchanges”. Sir Patrick Vallance wrote in one
The UK’s top civil servant described “being at the end of my tether” over Boris Johnson’s indecision during the pandemic and said he “cannot lead”. WhatsApp messages shown to the COVID inquiry on Monday reveal the then prime minister’s leadership ability frustrated some of the most senior figures in government. Politics Live: WhatsApps by aides
Boris Johnson and his former adviser Dominic Cummings sent “disgusting and misogynistic” WhatsApp messages that will be released by the COVID inquiry next week, George Osborne has claimed. The former Tory chancellor said he understands that some “pretty astonishing and frankly, shocking” messages will be made public when Mr Cummings gives evidence at the hearings
Dominic Cummings, Martin Reynolds and Lee Cain are among the former Downing Street employees who will be giving evidence to the COVID Inquiry next week. It forms part of Module 2 of the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, which is “examining core UK decision-making and political governance”. Mr Cummings has previously provided bruising testimonies when appearing before
The BBC has defended the appearance of its director general at the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers where anger was expressed over the corporation’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. Tim Davie addressed the committee of Tory MPs this evening in what has been regarded as an unusual move. Speaking to journalists before and after the
A mosque in South Wales that hosted Sir Keir Starmer has apologised for the “hurt and confusion” caused by the visit after a backlash from some within the Muslim community. The South Wales Islamic Centre issued a statement late on Tuesday evening in which it sought to “clarify our stance” following the Labour leader’s visit
Polls have closed in two by-elections as the Conservatives attempt to hold on to their seats of Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire. Voters began casting their ballots at 7am, with polling stations shutting their doors at 10pm, and results are expected in the early hours of Friday morning. Watch our Sky News by-election special on TV
Polling has opened in two crunch by-elections taking place today in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth. Voters in the constituencies will have until 10pm to decide who they want to represent them in parliament, following the resignations of Conservative MPs Nadine Dorries and Chris Pincher. Ms Dorries, a key ally of Boris Johnson, officially quit her
The UK could have had fewer coronavirus-related deaths if the country had gone into lockdown two weeks earlier, a government scientist has said. Professor Steven Riley, who worked for Imperial College London at the time of the pandemic, told the UK COVID-19 Inquiry that the government should have called the lockdown on 9 March 2020
A bout of COVID, getting a speeding fine and a young man behind me – unbeknown to me – baring his backside at the camera while I was broadcasting live. These are just some of the perils I’ve encountered covering by-election counts in more than 20 years at Sky News. Mid Bedfordshire, on Thursday, will
Suella Braverman will use her Conservative conference speech to address “failings” by the party, “particularly on immigration”. Ms Braverman’s team told Sky News she will be “honest about the failings in recent years, particularly on immigration, but will say that under Rishi the Conservatives are raising their game”. The source added it will be “Suella
The government is set to issue new guidance across England to ban mobile phones from schools, Sky News understands. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan will make the announcement later today during the Conservative Party conference, which is being held in Manchester this week. Politics live: Election question momentarily throws Hunt She will recommend the devices are
Boris Johnson has said delaying or scrapping the northern leg of HS2 would be “betraying the north of the country and the whole agenda of levelling up”. The ex-prime minister’s intervention on the eve of the party’s conference comes as Sky News understands the government is set to scrap or delay the Birmingham to Manchester
Elon Musk has announced his social media company X, formally known as Twitter, has removed the team monitoring election misinformation. The tool to report misinformation has been taken away – except for in the European Union – prompting concern from thinktank Reset Australia ahead of the country’s aboriginal rights referendum next month. In a post
The Home Office has been ordered to stop work converting a former military base into an accommodation site for asylum seekers, over concerns planning conditions have been breached. West Lindsey District Council has issued the government with an enforcement notice and stop notice in regards to RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. It means work must cease
GB News breached impartiality rules after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was interviewed by fellow Tory MPs Esther McVey and Philip Davies, Ofcom has found. An episode of Saturday Morning With Esther And Phil featured a pre-recorded interview that focused on the government’s approach to economic and fiscal policies ahead of the budget, which was announced four