Politics

The new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said the partygate scandal was “overblown” and the government should not have fined people for “everyday activities” during lockdown. Ms Badenoch, who won the battle to replace Rishi Sunak on Saturday, said the public was “not wrong to be upset about partygate” – when those working in Downing

Rachel Reeves has admitted she was “wrong” to say higher taxes were not needed during the election campaign – but businesses will have to make less money or pay staff less to cover the tax increase. A month before Labour won the July election, the chancellor said “we don’t need higher taxes, what we need

The first black woman to be elected leader of the Conservatives and the fourth female leader of the party, Kemi Badenoch’s no-nonsense style of politics in the end won out. Party members and MPs took the calculation that Badenoch cut through in a way rival Robert Jenrick could not and be best place to take

The Crown Prosecution Service’s special crime division is considering whether to charge MP Mike Amesbury after CCTV showed the politician punching a man in the street. While the police are responsible for collecting evidence, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is responsible for whether someone should be charged with a crime. Cheshire Police has now handed

A Treasury minister has conceded the measures in the budget do hit “working people” – but insisted Labour had not broken their manifesto promises. Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, argued the government had “honoured” its commitment in its election-winning manifesto by not raising the tax rates on working people – specifically, income

The pound has fallen sharply after the chancellor announced the biggest tax rises in a generation. Over the last three days, sterling has dropped by 1.2% (in trade weighted terms) – the biggest fall in 18 months. Between around 1.30pm and 5.30pm today, versus the dollar, it dropped from about 129.9c to the pound to

GB News has been fined £100,000 for breaking impartiality rules over a programme featuring Rishi Sunak, Ofcom has said. The regulator announced in May that the show called People’s Forum: The Prime Minister was found to have broken broadcasting rules. GB News chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos said the fine was a “direct attack on free

One hundred and eighteen days into the Labour government, and finally we get to see what the slogan on the front of the manifesto – Change – really means. And you might be forgiven for feeling rather blindsided. Because the tax and spending plans outlined today by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the first Labour budget

👉 Listen to Politics At Jack And Sam’s on your podcast app👈 Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard share their daily guide to the day ahead in politics in under 20 minutes. Today, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers the first Labour budget in 15 years. She’s looking to close a £40bn

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will promise to “invest, invest, invest” in Labour’s first budget for 15 years. Ms Reeves – who is set to stand up in the Commons just after 12.30pm on Wednesday – will also give a pledge that “working people won’t face higher taxes in their payslips”. However, she will clarify that Labour’s

Kemi Badenoch has suggested she will offer all six candidates in the Tory leadership race a job in her shadow cabinet if she is elected leader. The Tory leadership hopeful, who is competing against Robert Jenrick to become the next head of the Tory party, said she “did not know” if they would like the

The budget will deliver billions of pounds of new funding for the NHS to unlock two million extra appointments a year, the government has announced. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is expected to unveil £1.5bn for new surgical hubs and scanners alongside £70m for radiotherapy machines. An additional £1.8bn will also be put towards elective appointments

The Labour government’s first budget will embrace the “harsh light of fiscal reality” but “better days are ahead”, Sir Keir Starmer will say in a speech on Monday. Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver the budget on Wednesday and setting the tone for the announcement, the prime minister will warn of “unprecedented” economic circumstances and the

People will not face higher taxes on their payslips after the budget, a cabinet minister said, as she refused to be drawn on what measures could be in the £40bn revenue raiser. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson repeatedly said she could not speculate on how Chancellor Rachel Reeves intends to fill the black hole in the

Mayors are set to be one of the big winners in the budget after Sir Keir Starmer personally intervened to ensure they have more freedom to spend cash and boost growth, Sky News understands. England’s dozen metro mayors have been working together to push the prime minister, Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner for more powers

A Labour MP has said he was involved in an incident where he “felt threatened” and is cooperating with police. Mike Amesbury, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, said he felt “threatened on the street following an evening out with friends” on Friday night in Cheshire. “This morning, I contacted Cheshire Police myself to report

Sir Keir Starmer has downplayed the prominence of reparations for slavery being addressed at a Commonwealth summit, saying “none of the discussions have been about money”. The prime minister, who is in Samoa for the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm), has been facing mounting pressure from leaders of Caribbean nations who want the UK

“Working people.” It’s a fairly broad phrase that’s been banded around a lot this week in light of the budget. Labour actually mentioned the term working people 21 times in their manifesto, so you’d think they would have a pretty concrete idea of who they have in their mind’s eye when pushed on their definition.

Who counts as a working person will matter a lot next week when the new Labour government unveils what is being billed as a historic budget. Sir Keir Starmer used the phrase “working people” repeatedly in the general election as he sought to reassure voters he wasn’t going to raise their taxes. But as this

Commonwealth leaders will agree plans to look at reparations for the slave trade, in defiance of Sir Keir Starmer. The UK prime minister called the transatlantic slave trade “abhorrent” but ruled out reparations as he said countries affected would rather the UK help them with current issues, such as the impact of climate change. His