Politics

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”

Jeremy Hunt has said there is “no guarantee” deportation flights to Rwanda will take off next year – in an apparent climbdown on the government’s position. On Wednesday Rishi Sunak said three times the flights would take off by spring, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling that the asylum scheme is unlawful. Follow live: James Cleverly

A wave of Labour frontbenchers have resigned in order to back an SNP motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Afzal Khan, Yasmin Qureshi, Paula Barker and Naz Shah are among the shadow junior ministers that have defied party orders to abstain from the vote. The MPs say Sir Keir Starmer’s calls for humanitarian pauses

Rishi Sunak has said he will introduce emergency legislation to make sure his Rwanda plan is not blocked again and said “flights will be heading off in the spring as planned”. After the Supreme Court ruling that the flagship asylum policy is unlawful, the prime minister said he has been working on a new international

The government’s flagship immigration policy, known as the Rwanda plan, is hanging in the balance this morning as ministers wait for the judgement of the highest court in the land. But what is the scheme? Why is it so controversial? And how has it ended up in the judicial system? The Rwanda plan was first

Suella Braverman has accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of having “manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver” on key policies in a scathing letter after being sacked as home secretary. In an explosive attack, she said she only accepted the job in September last year because she was given “firm assurances” he would prioritise issues like

Rishi Sunak will meet with his new cabinet today after a dramatic shakeup of his top team saw David Cameron make an unexpected return to frontline politics. In a major gamble to revive his faltering premiership, the prime minister gave the former Tory leader a peerage in order to make him foreign secretary. It means

David Cameron has been appointed as foreign secretary as a cabinet reshuffle kicks off in Downing Street. The former prime minister was seen entering Number 10 this morning, shortly after Rishi Sunak began changing his top team. Follow live for updates and analysis on reshuffle Mr Cameron is no longer an elected politician as he

Speculation is mounting about the possibility of an imminent cabinet reshuffle by Rishi Sunak – one which could see Suella Braverman ousted as home secretary. Sources have told Sky News’s deputy political editor, Sam Coates, that the possibility of a reshuffle has already been discussed. “Until the formal confirmation of a reshuffle, we won’t know

A veteran cabinet minister has refused to say whether Suella Braverman will still be home secretary in a week’s time. Asked about Ms Ms Braverman on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said that a “week is a long time in politics” – and that he would not be making any predictions.

Suella Braverman has been accused of emboldening far-right protesters who clashed with police in London on Armistice Day. It follows calls for the home secretary to be sacked after branding pro-Palestinian demonstrations, including one planned for Saturday in central London, “hate marches” and accusing the police of “double standards” in the way they handle protests.

Deepfake audio of Sadiq Khan that has circulated on social media “does not constitute a criminal offence”, the Metropolitan Police has said. The digitally generated audio, using the London mayor’s voice and mannerisms, purports to be a recording of him playing down the importance of Remembrance weekend commemorations. A spokesman for the mayor said the

Suella Braverman and Tory critics of the police are undermining public confidence in law enforcement and eroding trust in Britain’s system of democracy, according to heated WhatsApp exchanges among Tory MPs leaked to Sky News. The true scale of the civil war between Tory MPs over the policing of pro-Palestinian marches and behaviour of the

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has distanced himself from Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s criticism of the Metropolitan Police. Speaking this morning, Mr Hunt said: “The words that she used are not words that I myself would have used.” In her article in The Times published on Wednesday, Ms Braverman likened pro-Palestinian demonstrations to marches seen in Northern

More than 1,000 officers from forces around the country will be drafted in to help the Metropolitan Police this weekend amid intense political pressure to prevent disruption to remembrance events. Police chiefs have backed Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley’s decision to resist banning a pro-Palestinian march on Armistice Day despite comments from the prime minister