Politics

Rishi Sunak is planning to delay energy efficiency targets for rented homes following pressure from landlords about the cost of the improvements. The overhaul is part of a wider review of the government’s environmental policies, which some Tory MPs fear are too expensive and will hurt the party’s chances at the next general election. Politics

As a record breaking heatwave ravages southern Europe, back in a drizzly United Kingdom another debate has fired up – the future of the government’s green agenda. Sparked by its narrow win in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election last week – a battle fought and won by the Conservatives’ opposition to London’s Ultra Low

Cabinet minister Michael Gove says he is going on holiday to a Greek island which is experiencing wildfires – as he insisted the region is “safe”. The housing secretary told Sky News he was heading to Evia – a large island just off the coast of Athens – in “just over a week”. It has

The head of the most senior ethics watchdog has called for some form of limit on MPs’ second jobs, telling Sky News it is “hard to argue” some politicians are putting parliament first. MPs should be given an “indicative” ceiling on how much time to spend on their extra-parliamentary roles, according to an interview with

Michael Gove and Rishi Sunak have pledged to see off Conservative rebellions over housebuilding as they lay out their plans to increase homes in the UK. Mr Gove, the housing secretary, was delivering a speech on his plans to increase the number of homes being built in the UK, with the government having previously missed

Developers have accused the government of not doing enough to tackle falling levels of house building, as Michael Gove prepares to unveil plans that he says will boost construction – without spoiling the countryside. In a speech expected on Monday, the levelling up and housing secretary will set out measures aimed at “unblocking the planning

Sadiq Khan is still committed to expanding the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) but is happy to look at new ideas for ways to mitigate the financial impact on Londoners, Sky News understands. The London mayor is understood to be willing to consider measures as long as they do not reduce the policy’s effectiveness at

Labour’s big beasts descended on Nottingham on Saturday for the party’s National Policy Forum (NPF). Alongside the unions and other party representatives, they will hash out what will become the main thrust of their manifesto. The problem is they are doing it in the wake of a by-election that was lost on the back of

Labour’s failure to take Boris Johnson’s former seat is a reminder that “policy matters”, Sir Keir Starmer has said – after the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) by London mayor Sadiq Khan was blamed for the narrow loss. The opposition leader told activists that the Conservatives hanging on to Uxbridge and South

All three leading political parties are turning their attention to next year’s general election after a mixed bag of results from Thursday’s ballot box contests. The Conservatives managed to hold former prime minister Boris Johnson’s seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip overnight, with Rishi Sunak saying the victory showed the next national vote was “not

Last night’s triple by-election didn’t just produce three new MPs – but also a new “Baby of the House”. At the age of 25, Labour’s Keir Mather becomes the youngest person in the House of Commons. But within hours of his victory, he faced criticism over his age, with veterans minister Johnny Mercer comparing his

Rishi Sunak has criticised the EU for a “regrettable choice of words” after it appeared to endorse the Argentine name for the Falkland Islands. The prime minister’s official spokesman said his view was that it would have been “entirely unacceptable for the EU to question the Falkland Islanders’ right to decide their own future”. A

Polls will open today at 7am for three by-elections across the country, as voters decide who they want to represent them in parliament. The seats of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London, Selby and Ainsty in North Yorkshire, and Somerton and Frome in Somerset, will all be up for grabs, with polls closing at

The Conservatives have lost the Somerton and Frome by-election to the Liberal Democrats. The Lib Dem victory comes roughly a year after a similar result in the nearby Tiverton and Honiton by-election. David Warburton stood down as the constituency’s MP last month, but shortly after it was found that an investigation into claims he sexually

Susan Hall has been selected as the Conservative candidate for London mayor. She will face the current mayor, Sadiq Khan, when the next election is held in May 2024. Ms Hall, who has served on the London Assembly since 2017, won the race with 57% of the vote, compared with 43% for her opponent, Mozammel

Selby in Yorkshire, Somerton in the south west and Uxbridge in the London suburbs: from rural to town, from north to south – the three by-elections up this Thursday will tell a bigger story of the state of our politics, with records up for grabs. In these three seats – and the prospect of at

Two giant cruise ships set to house 1,000 asylum seekers were unable to find anywhere to dock and have been returned to their owners, a senior source has told Sky News. In June, Rishi Sunak announced the government acquired two more vessels, alongside the Bibby Stockholm barge – which arrived in Dorset today – as

A Tory MP has demanded to see safety reports for a barge that the government plans to use to house asylum seekers. The Bibby Stockholm – which will accommodate 500 people waiting for decisions on their applications – departed from Cornwall today to head to its new dock at Portland Port in Dorset. But Chris

A barge which will house 500 asylum seekers is on the move, with the first residents expected to board later this month. The barge – named the Bibby Stockholm – departed from Falmouth, Cornwall, to head to Portland Port in Dorset on Monday morning as Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman faced fresh criticism

The government is set to finish only 32 of its promised new 40 hospitals by 2030 as part of an over-budget and hard-to-deliver scheme, that might result in medical facilities that are “too small”, according to a “damning” report. The National Audit Office (NAO) has completed an investigation into the programme, initiated by the 2019