Politics

A man running to be the Conservative candidate for London mayor has denied allegations that he groped a woman “in the strongest possible terms”. Daniel Korski is one of three people hoping to run against Sadiq Khan in next year’s election. In an article for The Times, TV producer Daisy Goodwin alleged she was “groped”

Rishi Sunak has hinted he will ignore recommendations for public sector pay rises, saying workers “need to recognise the economic context we are in”. Reports surfaced over the weekend that the prime minister planned to block upcoming proposals from public sector pay bodies in an attempt to tackle soaring inflation in the country. And health

A health minister has refused to commit to accepting the recommendations of public sector pay review bodies (PRBs) for next year, saying the government has to “look overall at what is affordable”. Speaking to Sky News, Helen Whately said she would not “pre-empt” the next steps in the process, as the prime minister “needs to

Labour frontbencher Lisa Nandy has criticised her own party for selecting five white male candidates for a string of forthcoming by-elections. The shadow communities secretary told Sky News that “of course” she was bothered Labour had gone for an all-white male list to contest the Westminster seats. Female opposition MPs are reported to be angered

Reports that Rishi Sunak could block 6% pay rises for public sector workers have been criticised by unions. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) accused the government of “blaming workers who can’t afford to put food on the table” after the Times reported that the prime minister could overrule recommendations from pay review bodies. Government sources

A snap Ofsted inspection should be conducted at a school where a pupil was reported to have identified as a cat, a senior minister has said. A teacher is said to have been recorded telling another classmate at Rye College secondary school in East Sussex that she was “despicable” for refusing to accept the pupil

Junior doctors in England will strike for five consecutive days in July, in what is thought to be the longest single period of industrial action in the history of the health service. The British Medical Association (BMA) said the five-day walkout would be between 7am on Thursday 13 July and 7am on Tuesday 18 July.

Sky News political editor Beth Rigby analyses the week’s big stories, including the pressure piling on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to get inflation under control. Rigby speaks to Sir Elton John’s husband, filmmaker David Furnish – who chairs the musician’s AIDS foundation – about the work the organisation is doing in Ukraine, and the irony

In leafy South West Surrey, traditional Tory ground, we are taking the public temperature. “It’s very hard to vote Conservative at the moment”, 49-year-old Penny tells us. “You just can’t ignore the last two years”. This is the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s seat (8,800 majority). Voters here are affluent, home-owning, traditional Conservatives, the sort of people

Halving inflation by the end of year is “hard but not impossible”, the prime minister has said, in a comment on his pledge earlier in the year to do so. The prime minister was speaking to the Times CEO summit shortly after the surprise hiking of interest rates by the Bank of England on Thursday

Labour has unveiled a five-point plan to tackle the mortgage crisis – but Rishi Sunak is insisting that “beating inflation has to be the priority”. The Opposition and the prime minister were speaking ahead of the Bank of England preparing to hike interests rate yet again after inflation in the UK defied expectations and failed

Another of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s five key priorities for 2023 is in doubt as national debt reached 100% of GDP. The third of the government’s five targets is to reduce the national debt but official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed it increased in May to the highest in more than

Rishi Sunak is facing a by-election triple threat after the Somerton and Frome vote was scheduled for 20 July. The announcement comes after David Warburton formally left the House of Commons on Monday. The election will take place on the same day as Boris Johnson’s vacated Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat, and Nigel Adams’ Selby

To the very end, Boris Johnson and his dwindling band of supporters – and Rishi Sunak and the Tory high command – were outwitted by the Labour Party in the parliamentary battle over partygate. At the beginning of the Privileges Committee process, back in April 2022, the Tories failed to spot the trap being laid

David Cameron was heckled with shouts of “shame on you” as he left the COVID inquiry after giving evidence. The former prime minister was questioned for more than two hours on Monday on how prepared the government was for a pandemic during his time in office. But as he left the hearing in London and

MPs will today decide whether to sanction Boris Johnson after the privileges committee found he repeatedly misled the House of Commons. The committee’s damning report found the breaches were serious enough to recommend a suspension of 90 days – a sanction long enough to trigger a potential by-election. However, Mr Johnson’s decision to stand down

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has called a new leaked partygate video “terrible” – and says the fact the event went ahead is “indefensible”. The footage appears to show Tory staff drinking, dancing and joking about “bending” COVID lockdown rules in December 2020. On this week’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday podcast, hear Mr Gove’s reaction

A video showing Conservative Party workers at a Christmas party during lockdown in 2020 is “terrible” and “completely out of order”, Michael Gove has said. The Levelling Up Secretary was reacting to the video, obtained by the Mirror, which showed people dancing and drinking at a gathering – ignoring strict social distancing rules imposed by

Jeremy Corbyn’s wife is part of a group set up to unseat Sir Keir Starmer at the next general election that is also discussing standing independent candidates against Labour in coming by-elections. Screenshots leaked to Sky News show an account belonging to Laura Alvarez is a member of the Organise Corbyn Inspired Socialist Alliance (OCISA)

Boris Johnson has dramatically made a double retreat from all-out verbal war with Rishi Sunak over the damning report which concluded he lied to MPs over partygate. First, he has ordered his closest allies in the Commons not to vote against the privileges committee report that proposed a 90-day suspension if he had still been