Politics

Humza Yousaf has insisted the Scottish government is “absolutely on track” to meet its target to increase residential rehabilitation places for drug users, as he said he was “devastated” by the latest increase in deaths. Data released on Tuesday showed 1,197 people died as a result of suspected drug use last year – up by

The first minister of Wales has said Boris Johnson was like the “absent manager” of a football team in the early days of the pandemic. Mark Drakeford criticised the former prime minister during his evidence to the UK COVID public inquiry. He said Mr Johnson was “not taking it seriously” and was deliberately unclear about

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has said alleged comments made about Diane Abbott by a Tory donor were “racist” – but that there should be “space for forgiveness”. Ms Badenoch is the first cabinet minister to use the term to describe Frank Hester’s reported remarks about the former Labour MP, after government ministers including Graham Stuart

A Conservative minister appeared to rule out a May general election this morning – while a Labour frontbencher bet £10 with Sky News presenter Kay Burley that a vote would take place that month. Speculation about the date of the general election is continuing to swirl, with the latest possible date of a vote being

Wales not being aligned with the rest of the UK on face coverings during the pandemic was “confusing for the public”, a top medic has told the COVID Inquiry. Wales‘s chief medical officer (CMO) told the inquiry that he “couldn’t see a good argument for mandating, on a public health basis, the use of face

Police are “assessing” a report of hate speech made against Lee Anderson following his claim “Islamists” had taken control of London and its mayor, Sadiq Khan, Sky News understands. The Ashfield MP was suspended from the Conservative Party last weekend after he refused to apologise for the remarks, which have been branded as racist by

The UK COVID inquiry has begun its first hearing in Wales, looking at the decisions taken by the Welsh government during the pandemic. For the next few weeks, the inquiry will sit at the Mercure Hotel in Cardiff. The inquiry will spend until 14 March hearing evidence for Module 2B – core decision-making in Wales.

Lee Anderson has dodged questions over whether he could join the Reform party following his suspension from the Conservatives for his attack on Sadiq Khan. Mr Anderson, the now independent MP for Ashfield, was asked whether he would join the rival party led by Richard Tice but refused to answer. Instead, all he said to

Liz Truss has said the world “needs a Republican back in the White House”, adding that “we’ve seen Joe Biden asleep at the wheel”. In a speech near Washington, DC, the former prime minister did not mention Donald Trump, the former president who is the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination. Speaking to

Lord Cameron says he wants Ukraine’s allies to “do more” to help defeat Russia and that together they “outmatch” President Vladimir Putin’s regime. Speaking to Sky News at a security conference in Munich, the foreign secretary said Ukraine’s partners outmatched Russia “25 to one” and that they’ve “got to make that difference count”. Lord Cameron

Housing minister Lee Rowley has insisted the government has “got to have targets” for building homes – despite ministers dropping the ambition. In its 2019 manifesto, the Conservative Party pledged to build 300,000 new houses each year by the mid-2020s if it got into power. But the figure has never been achieved, and in December

Israel should “stop and think” before taking any further action in Rafah, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has said – as the UK sanctioned settlers in the West Bank. The former prime minister said the UK was “very concerned” about the situation on the Gaza-Egypt border. Local health officials have said 37 people were killed in

Police have dropped a rape and sexual assault investigation into Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell. Mr Rosindell, the MP for Romford, has not voted in the House of Commons since May 2022, when he says the allegations were made. The Metropolitan Police said the allegations included indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of position of trust

The government’s Rwanda bill is “fundamentally incompatible” with human rights law, MPs and peers have warned. A report from parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights, published on Monday, said the proposed legislation “risks untold damage” to the UK’s reputation as an international leader on the issue. Politics live: Tough week for Sunak as by-elections loom

The number of people who could be deported to Rwanda under Rishi Sunak’s £240m scheme “could be quite low”, the home secretary has admitted. James Cleverly said while the scheme was “uncapped” with no upper limit, the number of people sent to the African nation would be “entirely dependent on other work we’re doing in

The UK and France have agreed to “closer cooperation” to tackle illegal migration after two of the countries’ ministers held talks in Paris. Home Secretary James Cleverly and French interior minister Gérald Darmanin signed off on plans to speed up the deployment of aerial surveillance equipment so police can spot and stop small boat crossings

Lee Anderson has said he regrets not voting for the Rwanda bill and would take back his old job as deputy Tory party chairman if asked. The outspoken MP told The Telegraph he should have been “brave” and sided with Rishi Sunak instead of abstaining. His plan had actually been to vote down the bill

Fresh from his Commons victory, the prime minister took to the stage on Thursday to declare he was making progress on his plan to send migrants to Rwanda, his party was “completely united” and any failure to deliver on this pledge would not be down to him, but rather a new bogeyman, peers in the House

In the end the rebellion melted away. For all the talk publicly on Tuesday from rebels that this was about the substance of the bill and definitely NOT a confidence issue in the prime minister, when it came to voting down their leader’s flagship Rwanda plan down, all but 11 rebels caved. Even as they

Rishi Sunak appears to have seen off a Tory rebellion as his controversial Rwanda bill passed its final hurdle in the Commons. The bill, which aims to declare that Rwanda is a safe country to deport asylum seekers to, passed by 320 votes to 276 – a majority of 44 for the government. The bill’s