Politics

A look at Jonathan Powell’s CV shows that, on paper, he is more than qualified for the job of national security adviser. An experienced government operator intimately involved in crafting the Good Friday Agreement and at the heart of many complex discussions over foreign policy during the New Labour years. Indeed in 2014, David Cameron

Can a Labour prime minister get on well with a Republican US president? Or a Conservative PM with a Democrat in the White House? The short answer is yes, absolutely. There are plenty of examples of a good relationship and close bond between a Labour prime minister and Republican president. And vice versa. Indeed, some

David Lammy has downplayed calling Donald Trump a “neo-nazi” and insisted he can find common ground with the new president-elect. The foreign secretary said the remarks he made in 2018 were “old news” and at the time most politicians “had some pretty ripe things to say” about the then leader of the US. Mr Lammy

MP Mike Amesbury has been charged with common assault following an incident in Frodsham, Cheshire last month Cheshire Police said the 55 year old will appear in a magistrates court later today to face the assault charge. In a statement, police said the charge “relates to reports of an assault on a 45-year-old man on

It wasn’t yet official, but Sir Keir Starmer was straight out of the blocks on Wednesday morning to congratulate Donald Trump on his imminent victory – as America reeled from an election that turned from being too close to call into an emphatic, definitive and quick win. The president-elect took the Electoral College, the popular

Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard share their daily guide to the day ahead in politics in under 20 minutes. With everyone waking up to the possibility of a second Trump presidency in the US, how will the UK government react? There may be huge news across the pond, but

A Labour MP has been mugged on the way back to his London flat. Chris Webb said the attack happened on Monday evening as he walked home from Parliament. The 38-year-old, who represents Blackpool South, said he was “attacked and mugged by a group of individuals” who were on bikes and wearing balaclavas. “Luckily, I

Tom Tugendhat is not serving in Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet as the new Tory leader continued her appointments today. Former Home Office minister Chris Philp has been awarded the job of shadow home secretary, the last of the key posts to be announced. Unveiling a host of announcements today, Ms Badenoch, who was elected leader

The education secretary has said no decision has been made on whether university tuition fees will increase with inflation each year. Bridget Phillipson has announced the maximum cap on tuition fees in England will go up in line with inflation from April 2025. The cost of tuition will increase by £285 to £9,535 next year

An increase in university tuition fees in England is expected to be announced for the first time in more than seven years, Sky News understands. Fees have been capped at an annual level of £9,250 since the 2017/18 academic year. Politics latest: Badenoch announcing shadow cabinet It’s expected that Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson will confirm

Another £75m will go towards “smashing the gangs” as the government beefs up its new Border Security Command unit. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is set to announce the additional funding as he hosts the Interpol general assembly in Glasgow from today, the first time the UK has hosted it in more than 50 years.

Rachel Reeves has admitted she was “wrong” to say higher taxes were not needed during the election campaign – but businesses will have to make less money or pay staff less to cover the tax increase. A month before Labour won the July election, the chancellor said “we don’t need higher taxes, what we need

Kemi Badenoch has won the race to be the next leader of the Conservative Party. The 44-year-old North West Essex MP has been declared the winner of the months-long contest, beating Robert Jenrick. Ms Badenoch received 53,806 votes to Mr Jenrick’s 41,388. Politics latest: Reaction after new leader of the opposition revealed Ms Badenoch has

The Crown Prosecution Service’s special crime division is considering whether to charge MP Mike Amesbury after CCTV showed the politician punching a man in the street. While the police are responsible for collecting evidence, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is responsible for whether someone should be charged with a crime. Cheshire Police has now handed

A Treasury minister has conceded the measures in the budget do hit “working people” – but insisted Labour had not broken their manifesto promises. Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, argued the government had “honoured” its commitment in its election-winning manifesto by not raising the tax rates on working people – specifically, income

The pound has fallen sharply after the chancellor announced the biggest tax rises in a generation. Over the last three days, sterling has dropped by 1.2% (in trade weighted terms) – the biggest fall in 18 months. Between around 1.30pm and 5.30pm today, versus the dollar, it dropped from about 129.9c to the pound to

One hundred and eighteen days into the Labour government, and finally we get to see what the slogan on the front of the manifesto – Change – really means. And you might be forgiven for feeling rather blindsided. Because the tax and spending plans outlined today by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the first Labour budget

The budget will increase taxes by £40bn, with the lion’s share coming from a £25bn rise in employers’ national insurance contributions, the chancellor has announced at the budget. The rise is bigger than predicted but Rachel Reeves added there would be measures to protect small businesses from the change. Ms Reeves, who said she was

👉 Listen to Politics At Jack And Sam’s on your podcast app👈 Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard share their daily guide to the day ahead in politics in under 20 minutes. Today, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers the first Labour budget in 15 years. She’s looking to close a £40bn

The Labour manifesto never did add up. On the one hand, Keir Starmer vowed there would be “no return to austerity” under his government, while also insisting he had “no plans” to raise taxes beyond an £8bn raid on private equity, oil and gas companies, private school fees and non-doms to pay for more teachers