Politics

The frustration and despair of Tory MPs felt towards Rishi Sunak’s top team is revealed in leaked WhatsApp messages obtained by Sky News. One MP called the parliamentary operation a “shitshow” and “crazy”, while another said they were “at a loss” at the handling of a crunch Monday night vote on excluding MPs arrested on

The Royal Navy will get 25 new warships – and could get three more – as the government indicates where its planned rise in defence spending will go. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News there are 28 new ships and submarines in the design or construction stage at the moment for the UK’s armed

The House of Commons has approved plans to exclude MPs from the parliamentary estate if they have been arrested on suspicion of a serious offence. The move came despite the government putting forward a motion to recommend that a ban kicks in at the point of charge – a higher bar. MPs voted to reverse

Rishi Sunak will give a speech on Monday setting out “bold ideas to change society” – as he seeks to regain momentum following the defection of one of his MPs to Labour and a hammering at the local elections. In what is being billed by Downing Street as a “major speech” in central London, the

Rishi Sunak is “absolutely right” to hold off calling an election because it gives voters time to see “the plan is working”, the foreign secretary has said.  Lord Cameron told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that the prime minister is a “good man, doing a great job at a difficult time” after a bruising set

Accusations MP Natalie Elphicke lobbied the justice secretary in 2020 to interfere in her then-husband’s sex offences trial are “nonsense”, her spokesperson has said. It is claimed the Dover MP, who recently defected from Conservative to Labour, approached Sir Robert Buckland when he was lord chancellor and justice secretary before the hearing of Charlie Elphicke’s

A cut in VAT and a new levy on arena and stadium tickets are urgently needed to stop grassroots music venues from closing, MPs have said. A report by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee said artists are facing a “cost-of-touring crisis”, with venues stopping live music or closing entirely at a rate of two

No deportation flights to Rwanda will take off under a Labour government, Sir Keir Starmer has told Sky News. The Labour leader told Sky News political editor Beth Rigby “there’ll be no flights” as he wants to “scrap the scheme”, which aims to send asylum seekers entering the UK illegally from a safe country, such

“I am ruthless”. That was Sir Keir Starmer’s account of himself and his decision to let Natalie Elphicke into the Labour Party on our trip to Dover on Friday to unveil his plan to stop the small boats. Because for all the controversy her arrival on the Labour benches caused this week, for Sir Keir it

Jess Phillips has revealed that seeing Natalie Elphicke cross the floor to join the Labour Party felt “a bit like being punched in the gut” given the former Conservative MP’s “victim blaming” after her ex-husband and former MP Charlie Elphike was convicted of sexual assault. The former shadow minister for domestic violence told our Electoral

The MP who defected from the Tories to Labour yesterday has apologised for comments she made supporting her ex-husband after he was convicted of sexual assault. After former Tory MP Charlie Elphicke was jailed for two years in 2020 for assaulting two women, Natalie Elphicke told the Sun the fact he was “attractive” and “attracted

Former COVID vaccines minister and chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has announced he will not be standing at the next general election. The Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon since 2010 quoted his “most famous constituent” as he wrote: “Go to your bosom; knock there and ask your heart what it doth know.” He said: “The time is right

Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke has defected to the Labour Party. The Dover MP said the change in the Tory Party since she entered parliament in 2019 “has been dramatic and cannot be ignored”. She hit out at the “broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government”, adding that Labour “looks to the future –

Former Tory immigration minister Robert Jenrick has called for the Home Office to be split in two as part of a 30-point plan to curb migration. Mr Jenrick, who is seen as a potential Conservative leadership contender, has been ramping up pressure on Rishi Sunak over the issue after quitting his government post last year.

John Swinney will become Scotland’s new first minister after being backed by a majority of MSPs. Following his victory in the SNP leadership race on Monday, the 60-year-old faced a vote at Holyrood to confirm him as Humza Yousaf’s successor. The Scottish Greens abstained from the vote, with Mr Swinney able to fend off challenges

The Chinese state has hacked the Ministry of Defence, Sky News understands. MPs will be told on Tuesday of a massive data breach involving the MoD, targeting service personnel. It is understood investigations have not shown any data has been taken. The government will not name the country involved, but Sky News understands this to

The results of the next general election are not a “foregone conclusion” according to Rishi Sunak, after his party’s slate of defeats in the local elections. The prime minister was speaking off the back of analysis of the results conducted by Sky News which indicated the country was heading towards a hung parliament. This forecast,

The government at one point considered using Iraq to process asylum seekers – like the Rwanda scheme – according to documents seen by Sky News. This could have seen people sent from the UK to a country the government advises against all travel to. The two countries already have a returns agreement – but only

SNP leadership hopeful John Swinney has warned rivals against entering the contest, saying it would “delay the ability for the [party] to start its rebuilding”. The former deputy leader is currently the only candidate in the running to replace Humza Yousaf, who announced last week he would be stepping down as first minister after his

It was a wafer-thin victory, but a huge win. The symbolism of Labour taking the West Midlands mayor, a jewel in the Tory crown, could be felt in the room as Labour activists gathered in Birmingham to celebrate the win with their new mayor Richard Parker and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. There are moments