Politics

The government is “not attacking the hospitality industry” with proposed plans to ban smoking in pub gardens, a cabinet minister has insisted. Lucy Powell told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that Labour wants to create a “smoke-free country” and measures to achieve this will be done “in consultation” with businesses that could be

As the photos of Angela Rayner raving in an Ibiza nightclub confirm, the deputy prime minister enjoys her time off. But hey, it was August. And, to be fair, hours earlier she chaired a meeting in Whitehall on building safety, before jetting off to the Spanish holiday isle. But while “Angela Raver” was enjoying the

A Labour politician has defended himself as a “renters champion” despite flats he rents out reportedly found to be in poor condition. Jas Athwal, the newly-elected MP for Ilford South, owns 15 rental flats, but some tenants have claimed they regularly have to clean their bathroom ceilings to remove mould. In an investigation first reported

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey calls it “the first big mistake this government has made”. The decision by the new Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves to axe the £300 Winter Fuel Payment for 10 million pensioners forever is probably the biggest domestic headache for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as MPs return to Westminster from

Employers will have to offer flexible working hours – including a four-day week – to all workers under government plans. To receive their full pay, employees would still have to work their full hours but compressed into a shorter working week – something some workplaces already do. Currently, employees can request flexible hours as soon

Labour heavyweight Harriet Harman is joining Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast as a permanent member of the team. The former acting leader of the party and mother of the House will now sit alongside Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby and Conservative peer Ruth Davidson as the three women bring the news – and their

Is it last orders for puffing with a pint? Almost certainly. With Labour’s massive 172-seat majority in the Commons, smoking in pub gardens and outside football stadiums, nightclubs and restaurants looks certain to be stubbed out. Politics live: Tories and Farage attack talk of outdoor smoking ban During his visit to Gauloises-loving Paris, Sir Keir

“Woeful budgeting” by the Home Office has led to years of overspend on asylum, a watchdog has claimed. For the past three years, the department has set £110m aside for asylum operations. But a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the actual spend had averaged £2.6bn a year in that time.

Sir Keir Starmer has said his government wants a reset with the EU – “but that doesn’t mean reversing Brexit or re-entering the single market”. Following a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, the prime minister said plans for a new treaty with Germany are about a “reset” with the EU. He said

Sir Keir Starmer is heading to Germany to hold talks on a new bilateral treaty with the country as he hopes to “move beyond Brexit to rebuild relationships” with the EU. The prime minister will meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday to discuss the deal, which will aim to “boost business and trade, deepen

A Labour donor who contributed more than £500,000 to the party did have a pass to Number 10 for a short time, the government has told Sky News. The Sunday Times reported Lord Waheed Alli, a television executive who has donated to Labour over the last 20 years, had been given a pass granting him

The August bank holiday has arrived – the cue for millions to get back to work after whatever holidays they have managed to enjoy. Over this weekend many Britons will be coming home from Europe through ports, airports and the Channel Tunnel. Their trips may have included frustrating delays and border checks but there won’t

The Metropolitan Police has ended its investigation into the general election betting scandal without bringing any charges. A number of Conservative politicians and officials, as well as police officers based around parliament, got into hot water over allegations they had placed bets on the timing of July’s vote before it had been publicly announced by

A Scottish Tory leadership candidate has said he still does not support gay marriage because of his religious beliefs, 10 years after voting against it. However, Murdo Fraser told Sky News that he is now “quite relaxed” about same-sex adoption, having previously voiced opposition to it. Politics live: Rising energy costs ‘deeply worrying’ for families

Magistrates have been told to consider pushing back the sentencing of criminals because of concerns about overcrowding in prisons. Sky News has seen an internal direction sent to courts in England and Wales saying hearings due in the next two weeks should be reviewed if the defendant is currently on bail – and potentially postponed

Let’s start with one claim that’s been causing a bit of confusion today. Contrary to what the Home Office press release today suggests, small boat crossings to the UK have not fallen since last year – at least not in any sense that any normal person would understand it. Actually, the cumulative number of people

It is “laughable” for Rachel Reeves to claim she didn’t know the full state of the public finances until she took office, Ruth Davidson has said. Speaking on Beth Rigby’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives accused the new chancellor of trying to “build a political narrative” in order to justify

Almost all small boat arrivals who claimed asylum in the UK over the last year are still waiting for a decision from the Home Office, figures show. In the year ending June 2024, the Home Office said 99% of all the people arriving in small boats had an asylum claim recorded either as a main

Labour’s plan to increase detention capacity is unlikely to stop small boat crossings and the “only real solution” is a deal with the EU, the former head of the UK’s Border Force has said. Tony Smith told Sky News while the new government’s announcements – including reopening removal centres and staffing up the National Crime

Official data shows government borrowing in July was above expectations and at its highest since the pandemic. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expected borrowing to be £46.6bn – instead it reached £51.3bn. Our economics and data editor Ed Conway joins Niall Paterson to talk about the unexpected rise in government borrowing and Chancellor Rachel