Politics

Jess Phillips has said “there is no place” where violence against women and girls “doesn’t happen” – as a new law is set to make spiking a criminal offence. Earlier on Friday, the government said spiking will now be its own offence with a possible 10-year prison sentence as part of the Crime and Policing

The first domestic violence specialists have been placed in 999 control rooms in memory of a woman who was murdered by her ex-husband despite ringing police on the night she died. Raneem’s Law has been launched in five pilot areas – West Midlands, Northumbria, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Humberside. The legislation – promised in Labour’s manifesto

Parents who are entitled to hours of free childcare should not have to pay mandatory extra charges to secure their nursery place, the government has said. Updated guidance from the Department for Education states that while nurseries are entitled to ask parents to pay for extras – including meals, snacks, nappies or sun cream –

Sir Keir Starmer has held private calls with European leaders to ensure the Western alliance does not fracture, a minister has said, after Donald Trump claimed Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a “dictator”. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Wilfred Frost on Sky News Breakfast the prime minister has spent a “quite considerable amount of time” over the

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has spoken with Volodymyr Zelenskyy to give the Ukrainian president his backing after Donald Trump called him a “dictator”. A Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir called Mr Zelenskyy this evening and shared his support for him “as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader”. The prime minister “said that it was perfectly

Some government departments have been asked to make savings which would amount to a 11% cut in spending – as the prime minister faces calls to raise defence spending. Sky News has been told that departments which do not have their spending protected have been asked to model two options – “flat” spending, which, adjusted

A former Australian prime minister has said his country should be “prepared to make a contribution” to protect the freedom of Ukraine. Tony Abbott told Sky News’ Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge that no country “will be safe against a bully” if Vladimir Putin wins the war. He called on Britain to take the lead

London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan is to tell EU diplomats “Brexit was a mistake” and argue stronger ties with the bloc would help fight Donald Trump’s tariff threats. He will say the UK’s withdrawal from the EU “continues to have a negative impact” and will promise to make the case for “being bold” to seek

Sir Keir Starmer was the first leader to arrive at this meeting in Paris, strolling down the road from the British Embassy. When he emerged, after three hours of discussion, he looked sombre. Sir Keir, like the other political heavyweights who came to the Elysee Palace, knows that Europe has been battered and marginalised over

Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to quickly lift defence spending to 2.5% of GDP or face new military cuts this year – even as he considers deploying troops to Ukraine, Sky News understands. Defence sources said such an increase – which would amount to about an extra £5bn annually – is still far short

The whole government recognises the need to spend more on defence, including Chancellor Rachel Reeves, a cabinet minister has said. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that he “disagrees” with claims the prime minister is preparing to overrule the chancellor on the amount of cash being spent on the

Rachel Reeves says “no one ever raised any concerns” about her expenses when she worked at HBOS, as she responds to reports she was investigated while working for the bank. The chancellor was accused by former employees of being involved in an “expenses scandal” while working at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) from 2006 to

A waiting game on tariffs is beginning to play out between the UK and the United States on tariffs, amid warnings that Donald Trump’s latest strategy could hit the UK especially hard. The US president on Thursday revealed he has asked his government to consider what tariffs should be applied to other nations – and

People who believe the things posted in a controversial Labour WhatsApp group shouldn’t have been MPs in the first place, according to Harriet Harman. Speaking on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the veteran Labour parliamentarian said the scandal was “very serious” as the public already thinks MPs are “contemptuous of their voters”. Politics live: Follow the

👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈 Do MPs say one thing in public, and another in private? This week, Beth Rigby, Harriet Harman and Ruth Davidson ask what’s been going on with the two MPs suspended from the Labour Party over WhatsApp messages containing offensive comments. Andrew Gwynne

Farmers forced the prime minister to cut short a visit to a housing development as they drove tractors to the site in a protest against changes to inheritance tax. Sir Keir Starmer was in Buckinghamshire to announce more than 100 new towns could be built under the government’s plans for the “largest house building programme

A “loophole” that allowed a Palestinian family to be granted the right to come to the UK under a Ukrainian resettlement scheme was the subject of a lot of debate in the House of Commons today. Both the prime minister and leader of the opposition criticised a decision by a judge to allow the family

A leak inquiry will take place following reports that economic growth forecasts have been reduced by the government’s financial watchdog. Bloomberg reported that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had reduced its growth forecasts in data sent to Chancellor Rachel Reeves last week. Reduced growth could force the government to cut further spending or increase

Angela Rayner has insisted the government can meet its target to build 1.5m homes over the next five years as ministers pledged an extra £350m for housebuilding. An extra £300m has been injected to the affordable homes programme, a move ministers believe will allow 2,800 additional homes to be built. More than half of these

👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈 It is 50 years ago this week that Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservative Party, and it’s a testament to her legacy that she’s being invoked by both Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch. When she became prime minister in 1979, she drove