Politics

Two serving ministers have broken cover to urge Rishi Sunak’s government to “lead the way” and increase defence spending to at least 2.5% at a time of growing threats. In a highly unusual intervention, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, a foreign office minister and former defence minister, and Tom Tugendhat, the security minister and an experienced soldier, published

Politicians have condemned a “moronic act of vandalism” after pro-Palestine activists damaged a portrait of Lord Balfour. Palestine Action shared a video on social media of a demonstrator defacing and slashing the historic painting, which hangs at the University of Cambridge’s Trinity College. In the clip, a woman can be seen spraying red paint before

Former Prime Minister Theresa May has announced she will stand down as an MP at the next general election, it has been reported. In an exclusive statement to her local paper, Mrs May said she had taken the “difficult decision” to quit the Commons after 27 years representing her Maidenhead constituency. The 67-year-old also pledged

Rishi Sunak has appeared to quash lingering speculation of a May general election – saying “nothing has changed” since he last indicated it will happen in the autumn. The prime minister told reporters in January that his “working assumption” is that voters will go to the polls in “the second half of this year”. Politics

Jeremy Hunt has outlined his desire to abolish “unfair” national insurance tax – but admitted it “won’t happen any time soon”. The chancellor described national insurance as a “tax on work” and said it he believed it was “unfair that we tax work twice” when other forms of income are only taxed once. Mr Hunt

Labour is demanding the Tories spell out how they will pay for a “reckless” plan to abolish national insurance contributions. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said in his budget it was his long-term ambition to “end this unfairness”, while an email sent to Tory members said “we’ll be able to make progress towards that goal in the

“Die Tory scum” has been daubed on Jeremy Hunt’s constituency office. Police are investigating and believe the incident took place between 8pm and 9pm on Monday. Mr Hunt represents the South West Surrey constituency, but will be standing in the newly named Godalming and Ash seat at the next election following boundary changes. Budget 2024

Jeremy Hunt has promised to help families with “permanent cuts” in tax on the eve of the budget on Wednesday. The chancellor, who is expected to announce a 2p reduction to national insurance (NI) in what could be the last major fiscal event before the next election, said “lower tax means higher growth”. While he

Britain’s electoral map could look dramatically different after voters go to the polls this year. Labour is on course for a majority but in parts of the North of England and the Midlands, the battle is by no means straightforward. Galloway met with silence in Commons – politics latest Here, there are a number of

Rishi Sunak has suffered a number of sizeable defeats in the House of Lords over his controversial bill to rescue the stalled Rwanda plan. Peers have voted through five amendments which, if enacted in law, would make it harder for parliament to declare the African nation ‘safe’ and would require the government to comply with

Peers are to begin voting on proposed amendments to the government’s Safety of Rwanda Bill – with ministers once again calling on parliament’s unelected upper house to not block a bill which was approved by MPs. On Monday afternoon the House of Lords will begin its report stage, where votes will take place on changes

Jeremy Hunt is considering a last minute further cut to public spending to boost the tax giveaway in Wednesday’s budget. The Politics At Jack And Sam’s podcast, out now, set out how Number 10 and 11 have spent recent days finding as many different ways of raising future revenue as possible to increase the size

The chancellor has played down expectations of tax cuts in Wednesday’s budget, telling Sky News his spending plans will be “prudent and responsible”. Speaking to Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, the cabinet minister it would be “deeply unconservative” to take decisions that were unfunded and increased borrowing. Jeremy Hunt is under pressure to deliver tax

There is a “concerted attempt” to “humiliate minorities for political gain”, London’s mayor has said. Referencing the “level of debate in public life”, Sadiq Khan also claimed the prime minister had failed properly to condemn remarks made about him by Tory MP Lee Anderson. The former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party claimed just over

Rishi Sunak has railed against “extremist forces trying to tear us apart” during a Downing Street address to the nation. The prime minister said there has been a “shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality” and added that “now our democracy itself is a target”. He described the Rochdale by-election result on Thursday night as

A reduction in national insurance would be a “union tax cut”, the prime minister has said ahead of the budget next week. Rishi Sunak told journalists at the Scottish Conservative conference in Aberdeen on Friday that while he could not comment on what the chancellor Jeremy Hunt will announce on 6 March, he could see

He’s back! The left-wing firebrand and Celtic FC fanatic George Galloway has now scored a hat-trick of election victories over Labour, the party he represented in parliament for 16 years. After ousting Oona King in Bethnal Green and Bow in 2005 and a winning spectacular by-election victory in Bradford West in 2012, he has now

Voters in Rochdale will today choose their new MP as polling stations open across the constituency. The by-election was called after the death of Labour stalwart Sir Tony Lloyd last month, who had been suffering from an aggressive and untreatable form of leukaemia. There are now 11 candidates vying to replace him and represent the

Police are “assessing” a report of hate speech made against Lee Anderson following his claim “Islamists” had taken control of London and its mayor, Sadiq Khan, Sky News understands. The Ashfield MP was suspended from the Conservative Party last weekend after he refused to apologise for the remarks, which have been branded as racist by

Polls have now closed in the Rochdale by-election as political parties wait to see who has taken the Greater Manchester seat. The campaign to replace Labour stalwart Sir Tony Lloyd – who died last month from leukaemia – has been fractious, with the Labour Party withdrawing support for its candidate, Azhar Ali, over allegedly antisemitic