Politics

A cabinet minister has played down the suggestion of a government split on the Rwanda asylum plan after the home secretary said it was not the “be all and end all” of migration policy. Backbench Tory MPs have criticised James Cleverly after he urged people not to “fixate” on the controversial deportation scheme, and said

Pensioners have started receiving payments of up to £600 to help them with the cost of living throughout the winter. The government says around 11.5 million pensioners will be receiving the winter fuel payments for the second year running. The winter fuel payments come on top of the additional £300 provided per household through the

If the Conservatives thought the autumn statement would bring the party a much needed boost – announcing cuts to national insurance and business taxes – some very big numbers were lurking just around the corner that would ruin the party. The very next day, the Office for National Statistics released figures that showed net migration

Nicola Sturgeon is among senior figures accused of “misfeasance” in former first minister Alex Salmond’s fresh legal action against the Scottish government. Mr Salmond took the government to court in 2019 and was awarded £512,000 over its mishandling of harassment complaints against him. The former SNP leader – who was first minister between 2007 and

Boris Johnson has heaped further pressure on Rishi Sunak over the UK’s “all-time high” net migration figures, as he suggested “demographic change” had led to “race riots” in Dublin. The former prime minister criticised net migration numbers released this week as “way too big” and suggested imposing a minimum income of £40,000 for those who

It is more bad news for the government on migration. There are lots of headline figures coming out from the Office for National Statistics, but the most important one is this: net migration to the UK in the year to December 2022 has been revised up to 745,000. That is a huge number: higher than

Net migration to the UK has risen to 672,000 in the year to June 2023 – up from 607,000 for the previous year, the ONS has said. The last figure for a 12 month period was released in May, saying net migration had hit 606,000 – deemed a record high for a calendar year. But

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has insisted his tax cuts are about “long-term growth” for the economy, calling it “silly” to think they were instead about the timing of the next election. The Conservative Party has been told to be ready for a general election from 1 January, a senior government source told Sky News’s political editor

Jeremy Hunt has acknowledged it will “take time” to bring taxes down, but he had “made a start” with his autumn statement. The chancellor admitted the tax take – the total the government collects – stood at £45bn, outstripping the benefits of the cuts announced in the fiscal event. The headline-grabbing announcement in Mr Hunt’s

Jeremy Hunt will claim the economy is “back on track” in an autumn statement that is expected to prioritise tax cuts and economic growth. The chancellor is expected to say the government’s plan for the economy is “working” but “the work is not done” as he unveils measures to boost business investment by £20bn a

Public sector borrowing reached the second highest level for any October since records began, according to official figures, casting doubt on the prime minister’s pledge to cut debt and the chancellor’s capacity to cut taxes. Public sector net borrowing was £14.9bn last month, £4.4bn more than the same point last year and the second highest

Professor Sir Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, will be the latest high-profile figure to reveal his first-hand experience of the COVID pandemic when he gives evidence to the inquiry later today. Sir Chris became a household name alongside the chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, when the pair appeared alongside politicians at the daily

Boris Johnson was left “bamboozled” by the science around COVID, according to the government’s then chief scientific adviser. Extracts from Sir Patrick Vallance’s diaries were shown to the official inquiry into the handling of the pandemic on Monday, with several references to the prime minister’s difficulty in getting to grips with the data he was

Nigel Farage made his debut on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! by sticking his head through the window of a campervan filled with snakes and rummaging around in gunk. The former UKIP and Brexit Party leader was taunted about Brexit before he was chosen by the public to take part in the

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says “everything is on the table” when it comes to tax cuts in this week’s autumn statement. Speaking to Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Mr Hunt said his speech on Wednesday would focus on growth, and pledged to “remove the barriers that stop businesses growing”. Politics live: Chancellor facing questions

One of the most quoted pieces of folk wisdom is that “voters don’t like divided parties”. The implication is that a political party which can’t keep its own house in order is unlikely to be trusted to run the country. This month epic disunity has been on display in both the government and the opposition.

The chancellor has warned “difficult decisions” need to be made to “reform the welfare state” as he mulls introducing controversial tax cuts in next week’s autumn statement. Jeremy Hunt said there is “no easy way to reduce the tax burden” following reports he’s looking to slash inheritance tax and levies on businesses. Tax levels are

Jeremy Hunt has said there is the chance to lower taxes in the autumn statement next week, arguing the economy had “turned a corner”. Ahead of Wednesday’s financial announcement, the chancellor said that as inflation had halved over the year, “this is the moment” to focus on growth. But he argued that there is a

Rishi Sunak has vowed to “take on” anyone who is “standing in our way” regarding the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. The prime minister struck a combative tone following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Wednesday, which found the policy – a key tenet of Mr Sunak’s pledge to stop small boat crossings

A group of Tory MPs plans to write a letter to Rishi Sunak demanding his “emergency legislation” to revive the Rwanda deportation scheme overrides human rights laws. Sky News understands the New Conservatives group – a cohort of predominantly red wall MPs on the right of the party – will demand the legislation be “over-engineered”