Politics

There is “absolutely no question of the lights going out this winter” and the energy price cap will remain in place despite escalating gas prices, the business secretary has said. Kwasi Kwarteng said the cap “protects millions of consumers” and reiterated “the need for us all to prioritise consumers” during crisis talks with industry figures.

Rich countries must do more to help developing nations cut carbon emissions, Boris Johnson will tell other world leaders at a high-level gathering in New York. The prime minister will be hosting the meeting on climate change with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. It is understood the PM is likely to focus on coal, cash

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has challenged his party to “tear down” the Conservatives’ “blue wall” in order to help oust Boris Johnson from Downing Street. In his keynote address at the Liberal Democrat conference on Sunday, Sir Ed said the Tories would only lose power at the next election if his party took

New Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has defended the UK’s “hard-headed” security pact with the US and Australia, amid a deepening diplomatic row with France. The AUKUS deal saw the UK, Australia and the US form a security pact to develop and deploy a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, adding to the Western military presence in

Nadine Dorries, the new culture and sport secretary, has promised to “take action” to prevent more football clubs going under after Derby County became the latest to get into financial trouble. She was responding to comments by Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville, who called on her to appoint an independent regulator to “stop this happening”.

Michael Gove’s new levelling up department is being warned not to expect a large injection of new cash in the spending review hours after Boris Johnson called levelling up “our fundamental project”, Sky News understands. Mr Gove‘s department, which covers housing, the Union, local government and elections, will be expected to negotiate its three-year budget

“It’s Howard o’clock” has become a slogan used on swimsuits, t-shirts, bags, mugs, bottles of wine and, even, turned into a monopoly-style drinking game. But while Isle of Man chief minister Howard Quayle might have become an almost cult-like personality during the COVID crisis, he was also working 20 hour days, scrambling to purchase an

Boris Johnson will gather his cabinet later for the first meeting of his top team since the prime minister’s reshuffle. It comes after the PM completed a shake-up of his cabinet that saw a number of high-profile casualties. Dominic Raab was replaced as foreign secretary by Liz Truss and moved to the roles of justice

Dominic Raab will keep playing an “important senior role” in the government despite being moved in Boris Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle, Downing Street has said. Mr Raab was replaced as foreign secretary by Liz Truss and shifted to the justice brief, a move widely seen as a demotion. Live updates as government reshuffle continues Please use

Penny Mordaunt has been appointed as minister of state at the Department for International Trade after Boris Johnson reshuffled the main cabinet positions yesterday. Michael Ellis will take on Ms Mordaunt’s former role as paymaster general at the Cabinet Office. One of the top changes saw Liz Truss getting the foreign secretary brief, bumping out

Gavin Williamson has been sacked as education secretary in a cabinet reshuffle that has also seen Dominic Raab removed from the Foreign Office. Mr Raab, who had been heavily criticised for his handling of the Afghanistan crisis while foreign secretary, will now become justice secretary and deputy prime minister. He has been replaced as foreign

The health secretary has defended the government’s advice that people return to their workplaces after scientists warned a new wave of COVID hospital admissions could be triggered. Experts advising the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) warned pressure on the NHS could rise “very quickly” with daily hospital admissions rising to 7,000 by next

Lockdowns, mandatory face masks, vaccine certificates, and work from home orders could return this winter as part of a “plan B” to deal with the pandemic, the health secretary has announced. Sajid Javid said if the data shows the NHS is likely to come under “unsustainable pressure” from the COVID-19 pandemic again, the government has

The government has accepted the recommendation from the UK’s chief medical officers that children aged 12 to 15 should be offered a first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine and invitations will start being sent out next week. Making the announcement in the Commons, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “We will now move with the

Boris Johnson has said the government wants to avoid the introduction of COVID vaccine passports in England “if we possibly can”, but added they would be an option to be kept “in reserve”. The prime minister, who will on Tuesday set out his plan to deal with coronavirus during the upcoming autumn and winter months,

Nicola Sturgeon will ask the UK government to agree to another Scottish independence referendum “in the spirit of co-operation”. Scotland’s first minister will tell SNP members that “democracy must – and will – prevail”, to allow the country another vote on its future. She is due to deliver the closing speech of the SNP conference

A cabinet colleague has rallied to the defence of the home secretary as she faced fresh claims of breaking ministerial rules over a meeting with a billionaire Tory donor and British Airways. Health Secretary Sajid Javid gave his backing to Priti Patel, saying she was doing “incredibly well”, as Labour demanded an investigation into her

The prime minister is expected to repeal some powers of the Coronavirus Act as he sets out the government’s plan for managing COVID-19 over the autumn and winter. Boris Johnson will outline the next steps in the pandemic response at a news conference next week. Number 10 said COVID-19 will circulate alongside flu and other

Boris Johnson will denounce the terrorists who killed nearly 3,000 people during the 9/11 attacks while paying tribute to their victims on the 20th anniversary. The prime minister has recorded a video message that will be played at a memorial event on Saturday at the Olympic Park in east London where a memorial forged from

Private COVID-19 testing companies will face £10,000 fines for taking advantage of holidaymakers as 91 are removed from the government’s approved list following a review. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said following a review by the Competition and Markets Authority into the private COVID testing market, 135 providers have also had their inaccurate prices corrected. “They