Politics

The rollout of smart motorways should be suspended amid safety concerns, MPs and campaigners have said. Government plans to remove the hard shoulder from all future smart motorways and use the lane for live traffic are “premature”, a report from Commons Transport Select Committee (TSC) has said. Demonstrators carried 38 cardboard coffins to the Houses

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has set a 48-hour deadline for a fishing dispute with France to be resolved before the UK moves ahead with legal action. Speaking to Sky News at the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, Ms Truss hit out at the French for behaving “unfairly” and accused them of operating outside the

“It’s one minute to midnight and we need to act now,” the UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson will declare on Monday as he seeks to stir world leaders into dramatic action at urgent UN climate talks. At the COP26 opening ceremony, the prime minister will say humanity has “long since run down the clock on

COP26 President Alok Sharma has said he wants “more out of every country” and now is the time to deliver on limiting temperature rises to below 1.5C. Ahead of around 120 world leaders gathering at the event in Glasgow on Monday for a two-day summit, Mr Sharma urged them to do more to help the

This year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow is “the world’s moment of truth” in the fight to tackle global warming, Boris Johnson has said on the eve of its opening. Speaking ahead of the COP26 climate summit which begins on Sunday, the prime minister described the event as a moment for “decisive action” from

Boris Johnson has not ruled out triggering the dispute mechanism against France as a row between the two countries over post-Brexit fishing rights escalates. On Friday, France seized a British scallop trawler and threatened to block ports and increase checks on boats and lorries over the UK denying some boats a licence to fish in

Boris Johnson has warned that “team world” was “5-1” down at half-time in the fight to tackle global warming, as he implored world leaders to act now on the eve of two global gatherings of world leaders. Speaking to journalists on Friday en route to the G20 in Rome, the prime minister acknowledged the scale

Wales’ first minister has criticised Westminster’s decision to remove all countries from the red list as he said a new variant that is more resistant to vaccines will emerge. Mark Drakeford hit out at the government as he said he is having to re-impose some COVID restrictions due to rising cases. He said there are

COVID measures in Wales are to be strengthened in an attempt to reduce high levels of the virus. Infection rates in Wales are currently higher than any other part of the UK. First Minister Mark Drakeford said COVID-19 cases have “risen sharply to the highest rates we have seen since the pandemic began and more

Britain has begun preparations for a major clash with the EU by activating a key government committee to look at the fallout from suspending cooperation over Northern Ireland, Sky News has learnt. Ministers are holding discussions inside the key cabinet committee, which oversaw Brexit fallout preparations, about the repercussions of triggering Article 16, which allows

Rishi Sunak will hit the airwaves to sell his budget later, after it was warned that the chancellor’s economic set piece will leave the poorest families “far worse off”. Having vowed to build “a stronger economy for the British people” after the coronavirus crisis in his address on Wednesday, Mr Sunak will face questions about

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has set out a budget for a “new economy” after the COVID crisis with a £150bn increase in government spending – but he also warned of “challenging” months ahead due to the continuing pandemic and rising inflation. In his statement to the House of Commons, Mr Sunak promised “the largest increase this

The chancellor is putting the finishing touches to his budget, after the Commons speaker again hit out at policies being trailed ahead of Rishi Sunak’s address to MPs on Wednesday. Sir Lindsay Hoyle accused the government of displaying “discourteous” behaviour” towards MPs by announcing many key elements of the chancellor‘s budget ahead of time. Extra

Rishi Sunak will deliver his Autumn Budget and Spending Review to MPs in the Commons today, setting out the government’s spending and financial strategy. It should take place at around 12:30pm, just after the conclusion of Prime Minister’s Questions. The chancellor’s address usually lasts around an hour – although in 1853 William Gladstone spoke for

Millions of nurses, teachers and members of the armed forces will receive a pay rise next April as Rishi Sunak unfreezes public sector pay in the budget. In his second pay giveaway in 24 hours, after announcing a rise in the national living wage, the chancellor confirmed he is ending a one-year COVID freeze imposed

The EU’s current proposals to reform the Northern Ireland Protocol “don’t go far enough”, the UK’s Brexit minister has said. Appearing before MPs, Lord Frost said proposals from Brussels to change the protocol “do, for the first time, acknowledge they might be willing to change their own laws in order to deal with the special

When Rishi Sunak stands up to deliver his budget and three-year spending review on Wednesday it will be his first real opportunity to set the tenor of his chancellorship unencumbered from the immediate crisis of COVID – although the fall-out of this pandemic will undoubtedly loom large. It will make a change for a chancellor

Rishi Sunak has refused to be drawn on the future of the eastern leg of HS2 just three days before announcing his spending plans in the autumn Budget later this week. Deflecting a question on the matter on Sky’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday, the chancellor also failed to confirm whether a new Northern Powerhouse Rail

The removal of dangerous cladding from high-risk buildings is unlikely to be complete until seven-and-a-half years after the Grenfell Tower tragedy, government data suggests. The timeframe has been projected from analysis of the latest monthly figures released by the recently renamed Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLHC). If work continues at the current

England’s regional mayors have welcomed a £6.9bn spending boost for local transport – but they are also being warned of a “massive sting in the tail” to come from Chancellor Rishi Sunak. At next week’s budget and spending review, Mr Sunak is expected to announce £5.7bn will be put into transport settlements for city regions,