Politics

Striking rail staff should want to stand in solidarity with fellow Ukrainian workers rather than “cynically target” the Eurovision Song Contest, which the UK is hosting on behalf of the war-torn nation, the transport secretary has said. Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, Mark Harper argued the stricken country’s train network has

A senior MP has accused police of giving the “green light” to internet trolls after a vexatious complaint saw her subjected to a social services investigation. Stella Creasy was told her harasser would not face criminal sanctions because he was “entitled” to his view her children should be taken into care because of her “extreme”

Sir Keir Starmer has denied that a Labour attack advert aimed at Rishi Sunak is racist. A series of recent ads, which have been described as “gutter politics” and criticised by some of Labour’s own MPs, have targeted the prime minister personally. In an interview with Sky News, Sophy Ridge questioned the party leader about

Labour will perform strongest in the Midlands and north of England next week, according to an exclusive new local election projection for Sky News, which suggests the “Red wall” is starting to abandon the Conservatives. The Tories are also likely to struggle in key bellwether seats elsewhere in England – although the pollster did not

The “bonfire” of EU legislation by the government is to scrap less than a quarter of the estimated European laws on statute books, MPs have been told. Sky News understands Eurosceptic Tory MPs were told by Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch just 800 of roughly 4,000 laws are expected to be ditched by the

Labour insiders have expressed concern about Tory plans to ramp up attacks on Sir Keir Starmer’s tenure as director of public prosecutions, Sky News can reveal. The Labour leader has repeatedly referenced his time leading the Crown Prosecution Service between 2008 and 2013 as a core part of his political pitch to voters. At PMQs

Strike action planned by the nurses’ union on 2 May has been deemed unlawful, the High Court has ruled. The court ruled the industrial action was not covered by the current mandate, with unions needing to hold a ballot every six months to legally hold strikes. The upcoming walkout was challenged by Health Secretary Steve

A new tax on gambling firms and maximum stakes for online slot machines are being considered under government plans to crack down on online addiction. The government is due to publish its highly anticipated gambling review on Thursday following a number of delays. Among the measures expected to be confirmed in the report is a

The behaviour of people arriving in the UK on small boats is “at odds with British values”, the home secretary has claimed. Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Suella Braverman said people making the dangerous Channel crossing – who include asylum seekers – were “behaving unacceptably” by “breaking our rules” and “abusing the generosity of the

The government is confident it is “on track” to meet its manifesto pledge of recruiting 20,000 new police officers, the home secretary has said. The promise was made as part of the government’s 2019 manifesto – but critics have pointed out that it has already missed the deadline, which was set for March this year.

Rishi Sunak must stand up for the civil service after Dominic Raab’s resignation over bullying complaints from his staff, a former Foreign Office chief has said. Mr Raab quit his roles in government last week after two complaints were upheld against him for acting in an “intimidating way” and being “unreasonably and persistently aggressive” in

Spiking someone’s drink or injecting them with drugs or alcohol will be made a specific offence under Labour, Sir Keir Starmer has announced.  Labour would bring in the measure if it wins power as part of its plan to clamp down on violence against women and girls. Sir Keir said that in a roundtable with

The government will take a nursing union to court next week in an attempt to stop its latest strike action. Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) are due to walk-out for 48 hours from 8pm on Sunday night until 8pm on Tuesday 2 May after rejecting the latest pay offer from the government.

The deputy prime minister has said police will “take all necessary steps” to prevent any disruption to the King’s coronation by anti-monarchist campaigners. Activists are planning to disrupt the ceremony by setting off rape alarms and throwing them at horses taking part in the procession, according to a report in The Mail on Sunday. The

Labour MP Diane Abbott has apologised for remarks in which she suggested Jewish people do not face racism but instead face prejudice similar to “redheads”. In a letter to the Observer in response to an article which had the headline “Racism in Britain is not a black and white issue. It’s far more complicated,” Ms

Dominic Raab says he left office with his “head held high” after resigning over a report which found he had bullied staff. The former deputy PM believes he was forced out by civil servants who were opposed to Brexit and his attempts to reform human rights legislation. A report conducted by Adam Tolley KC upheld

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has appointed MP Stuart McDonald as its new treasurer following the resignation of Colin Beattie on Wednesday. Mr Beattie stepped down after he was arrested in connection with an investigation into the party’s finances. He was subsequently released without charge pending further enquiries. His arrest came after the party’s former

A senior MP who was cleared of serious sexual assault will step down at the next election as he said “no job or political career” is worth the stress of the investigation – and further claims. Julian Knight, 51, was suspended from the Conservative Party in December last year after an allegation was made against

Viewers of Sky News might have noticed the tone of the coverage of Dominic Raab’s resignation evolve as the morning went on. At the point of the announcement of his departure, all we had was Mr Raab’s resignation letter. Bluntly, it appeared about as graceless as possible by the standards of most resignation letters. The

Dominic Raab says in his resignation letter as deputy prime minister it is “important to keep my word”, but adds the inquiry into bullying claims against him sets a “dangerous precedent”. In the lengthy two-page letter to Rishi Sunak, he reveals that senior lawyer Adam Tolley upheld two of the eight allegations against him. Mr