Politics

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has insisted the UK will maintain support for Britons trapped in Gaza, as he said it was proving “incredibly difficult” to open the Rafah border crossing into Egypt. Speaking to Sky News’ Trevor Phillips On Sunday Morning programme, the cabinet minister also said that 10 was “not an unreasonable estimate” for

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has condemned Hamas’s “evil” attack on Israel one week on from the group’s surprise raids. In an unprecedented incursion, Hamas took hostages and killed civilians last weekend. In the week since, Israel has retaliated by bombing Gaza, from where the militants launched the attack. Civilians have been caught up in the

An MP who defected from the Scottish National Party to join the Conservatives this week has said she and her family have been forced into hiding after receiving a barrage of threatening messages. Dr Lisa Cameron said she was told “I hope you burn” and “I hope someone throws a brick at you in the

The mother-in-law of Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf has asked “where is people’s humanity?” – in a tearful appeal on social media from Gaza, adding: “This will be my last video.” Elizabeth El Nakla – the mother of Mr Yousaf’s wife Nadia – visited Gaza last week with her husband Maged, when Hamas launched a

Britons are “highly likely” to be among those held by Hamas in Gaza, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has told Sky News. The cabinet minister revealed the UK had also sent additional intelligence personnel to the region as part of efforts to release those captured or assist citizens trapped in the besieged enclave. His comments came

The UK will send RAF aircraft and Royal Navy ships to carry out surveillance over Israel in a show of support following the Hamas incursion over the weekend. RAF aircraft will begin patrols in the next 24 hours while two ships will be sent to the eastern Mediterranean. A Royal Navy task group will be

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s recent delay to key climate targets will actually cost households more, rather than saving them money as he claimed, his own climate advisers have concluded. In September, Mr Sunak pushed back the end of new petrol and diesel car sales from 2030 to 2035, and scrapped a plan to make landlords

Convicted criminals could avoid jail from next week because prisons are full, according to reports. The Times reported that Lord Edis, the senior presiding judge for England and Wales, has said that from next week the sentencing of criminals who are on bail should be delayed. Some prisoners may also be released early under proposals

Sir Keir Starmer called the protester who threw glitter over him during a speech an “idiot” but admitted the security breach “could have been a lot worse”. The Labour leader said a lot of people have asked him what was going through his mind when the man stormed the stage ahead of his keynote address

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged a “Britain built to last” with a new generation of towns in a major pitch to the nation about why he should be the next prime minister. Delivering a keynote speech at the annual party conference in Liverpool, the Labour leader promised to build 1.5 million homes by reforming the

Asylum seekers who were evacuated from the Bibby Stockholm have been told they will return to the barge next week. A total of 39 migrants were moved into the floating accommodation in August as part of a government plan to cut down the number being housed in hotels. But within days, the group of men

The foreign secretary has called on supporters of Palestinians to stay at home after protests over the conflict between Israel and Hamas in London. James Cleverly said the protests were causing concern in the Jewish community, “who have often been on the receiving end of prejudice and threats of violence”. “There is no need, there’s

Sir Keir Starmer will promise the country a “decade of national renewal” if Labour gets into power at the next general election. Speaking at his party’s annual conference on Tuesday, the Labour leader will make pledges on housing, policing and devolution as he sets his sights on at least two terms in office to rescue

Two of Westminster’s best-connected journalists – Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard – provide the essential guide to politics in the week ahead. They look to what’s in store at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool – including how Sir Keir Starmer will lay out his priorities ahead of a general election –

Labour has been warned against being “too timid” and “limping into Number 10” by the head of its biggest donor on the eve of the party’s conference in Liverpool. Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said she wanted the party to resemble the reforming Labour government of 1945 led by Clement Attlee in the

When Labour last met in Liverpool for its annual conference, Liz Truss had just delivered her mini-Budget, sterling had fallen to a 37-year low and the markets were about to be plunged into turmoil. With her government imploding and weeks after the Johnson collapse, Labour were on a high. Sir Keir Starmer had clocked up

This Labour Party conference will feel different. Unlike the Conservatives, they don’t need a big comeback moment to save them from dire polling, nor are there peacocking leadership hopefuls waiting in the wings (or at least, there is no looming vacancy). Instead, particularly after the massive win in the Rutherglen by-election, this is a party

Labour rallies in Scotland have been far from headline news for a very long time.  Their political sparkle fizzled out in the wake of the independence referendum in 2014 as an electoral punishment for teaming up with the Conservatives in a bitterly bruising campaign. Opponents have repeatedly poked fun at Labour’s failures at the polls,

Scottish Labour has won the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election. Michael Shanks replaces shamed MP Margaret Ferrier, who was ousted from her seat in August following a successful recall petition for breaching COVID restrictions during lockdown in 2020. Voters took to the polls between 7am and 10pm on Thursday and out of the 82,104 electorate,