Politics

Parents have been assured that the Online Safety Bill will not just hold social media companies responsible for illegal content on their platforms, but any material which can “cause serious trauma” to children. In an open letter, Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan sought to assuage fears that the long-delayed legislation had been watered down after finally

A deal between train companies and rail unions is “achievable”, Mick Lynch, the head of the RMT union, has said as the biggest day of transport strikes causes travel misery for commuters. A meeting, convened by Huw Merriman, the rail minister, was held on Thursday to try and resolve the bitter dispute over pay, jobs

Former health secretary Sajid Javid has warned that the NHS “won’t survive many more years” without “fundamental reforms”, urging the country to have an “honest debate” about the service. In his only broadcast interview since announcing he would stand down at the next general election, the MP told the Beth Rigby Interviews programme that tackling

Nurses will continue to strike in January if the government does not negotiate with them on pay, union leader Pat Cullen has told Sky News. Ms Cullen, of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said it was “absolutely not true” that pay is a “tiny element” in the dispute as she hit out at “disparaging”

A backbench Conservative MP has failed in an attempt to override international human rights rulings and get the Rwanda deportation scheme up and running again. Jonathan Gullis was said to have the backing of former prime minister Boris Johnson and former home secretary Priti Patel – but the bill he proposed was voted down by

Trade unions, Qatar and a little-known Hertfordshire business are among the biggest donors to individual MPs since the last general election. As part of the Westminster Accounts, Sky News and Tortoise Media have compiled a leaderboard showing how much money external organisations and individuals have donated to MPs since the end of 2019. These donations

Labour has asked the government whether disgraced former minister Chris Pincher made any attempts to stop American Anne Sacoolas going to the US after she killed Harry Dunn in a road accident. Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy has written to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly about the “series of failures” in the Foreign Office after Sacoolas

Boris Johnson and Priti Patel are among the senior Tory MPs backing a bid to ignore the European Court of Human Rights and start deportation flights to Rwanda immediately. Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis will present a bill to parliament on Wednesday aimed at circumventing the Strasbourg court, which has blocked the controversial scheme from taking

Kwasi Kwarteng brushed aside warnings his disastrous mini-budget could trigger a backlash on the financial markets, Treasury officials have told MPs. James Bowler, permanent secretary at the Treasury, insisted on Monday that Mr Kwarteng was told about the potential damaging impact of his £45bn package of unfunded tax cuts, but could not be persuaded to

Talks to avert the nursing strike on Thursday have failed after the union leader behind the action accused the health secretary of refusing to discuss pay. Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said on Monday night: “I needed to come out of this meeting with something serious to show nurses why

The government’s top responsibility is to tackle inflation, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has told Sky News as thousands of public sector workers go on strike. Mr Hunt said the strikes, which are taking place every day until the end of the year, are a “symptom of the fact that people are very worried that their pay

Conservative MPs have called for lower taxes and a new Tory campaign group has been launched in a fresh double headache for Rishi Sunak. On Sunday morning, a letter from 40 Tory MPs was sent to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt saying taxes are too high and offering suggestions of how to lower them by £7bn. At

The government is “dangerous, reprehensible and irresponsible” for failing to sit down with nurses to try and avert a strike, Labour has said. NHS nurses are due to strike next Thursday and on 20 December in a dispute over pay and patient safety. It is the first time the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has

A formal request for troops to drive ambulances during strike action could be made within days, Sky News understands. After a formal request known as a MACA – or Military Assistance to the Civil Authorities – is made to the Ministry of Defence (MOD), training to drive ambulances would begin. A decision from the Department

She is no stranger to the spotlight. A book deal, regular television appearances and a prolific presence on Instagram, all part of a carefully crafted public image that helped Michelle Mone secure a peerage in 2015. Yet, Baroness Mone – or “Lady M” as she often refers to herself – has been keeping a low

Troops have been training at Heathrow and Gatwick airports for passport checking roles ahead of Border Force staff going on strike over Christmas. The Ministry of Defence confirmed to Sky News armed forces personnel arrived at London’s two main airports earlier this week. The PCS union announced on Wednesday that Border Force officers will go

He’s done it! It was a low bar to jump over but at least Rishi Sunak has lasted longer as prime minister than Liz Truss. The nation can be reassured that there will not be a fourth prime minister this year, or even a general election before Christmas, as Boris Johnson subjected the country to

The boss of the rail union has accused the government of “sabotaging” negotiations aimed at stopping a wave of strikes over the Christmas period. Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the RMT, told Sky News that ministers have “torpedoed” talks between train operating companies and workers taking industrial action over pay and conditions. He said

People should “think carefully” about going on holiday over the Christmas period after Border Force workers became the latest to announce they would go on strike, the home secretary has said. Suella Braverman has urged people to rethink flying around the festive period as she warned of “undeniable, serious disruption for the many thousands who

Tory MP Julian Knight has had the whip removed after a complaint about him was made to the Metropolitan Police. A spokesperson for the Conservative chief whip, Simon Hart, said the complaint was made to the force on Wednesday evening and he removed the whip “with immediate effect”. It means Mr Knight, who is also