Politics

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is “right to ask for answers”, a leading MP said as he launched a select committee inquiry into the government’s handling of her six-year Iran hostage ordeal. Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, and fellow British-Iranian national Anoosheh Ashoori, 67, were released last month after the UK agreed to settle a £400m debt with Tehran dating

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has urged Rishi Sunak to “come clean” over whether his wife benefits from investments in Russia. The chancellor has come under pressure over his wife, Akshata Murthy, having a 0.91% stake in Infosys, a company founded by her father, which continues to operate in Russia. Mr Sunak has described the

The government has dropped plans to introduce a new law to ban conversion therapy. Theresa May had initially promised in 2018 the practice, which attempts to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, would be outlawed – and her successor Boris Johnson also said it would be. But on Thursday, a government spokesman told

A second Cabinet minister has admitted that lockdown laws were broken during the partygate scandal – even after Boris Johnson refused to do so. International trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan conceded that people who have been referred for fines by police investigating events in Downing Street and Whitehall had “broken the regulations”. Ms Trevelyan’s comments on

The Foreign Secretary is heading to India to urge its government to work with other democracies to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There is growing concern in the West over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reluctance to publicly denounce the actions of Russia, an ally of India since the Cold War. India relies heavily on Moscow

Sir Keir Starmer has clashed with the prime minister and asked why he is yet to resign, after police announced 20 fines over partygate – saying the investigation had found “widespread criminality”. The Labour leader took Boris Johnson to task over his initial response to the affair, when he denied that rules had been broken.

Russian-born newspaper mogul Evgeny Lebedev has said he supports Labour’s call for information on the decision to give him a peerage to be made public as he has “nothing to hide”. Boris Johnson has denied that advice was overruled to award the Russian businessman and owner of the Independent and Evening Standard newspapers a seat

The Metropolitan Police is to issue 20 fines to people who attended lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street and Whitehall. But the force has not named the individuals facing the penalties or revealed which events they attended. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was among 100 people who were sent formal legal questionnaires relating to the investigation –

Twenty fines could be issued to 20 people in the coming hours over events held in Downing Street and Whitehall during lockdown, Sky News understands. The fines will be issued by detectives investigating the “partygate” scandal. It is believed these punishments are only the first, and more are expected as more than 100 people were

Pupils falling behind in English and maths will be given extra support under new plans set out by the education secretary – but the move was criticised as a “damp squib” by a teachers’ union. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News that the strategy would help those who did not have the “wherewithal” to

The government plans to take a 20% stake in a new nuclear plant in Suffolk in a move to bolster the country’s energy security against a backdrop of global instability and a cost of living crisis. The French power giant EDF is also to take a 20% share in the delayed £20bn Sizewell C project.

Vladimir Putin and his henchmen face a “day of reckoning” with evidence of war crimes having been committed in Ukraine, a cabinet minister has said. It was also “absolutely right” that strict sanctions against Russia should remain in place until the Kremlin withdraws its forces following the “illegal invasion”, Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News. Russia

The High Court has found that the Home Office acted unlawfully in a programme known as Project Sunshine in which data was extracted from mobile phones seized off migrants who arrived on small boats. Immigration officers practiced a “secret and blanket policy” of seizing the phones, which was unlawfully carried out using immigration powers, the

An alleged terrorist said that Sir David Amess suspected a Brass Eye-style “sting” before he launched a fatal knife attack on the MP, a court has heard. Ali Harbi Ali stabbed the veteran Conservative politician more than 20 times at his constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, in October last year, a jury has been told.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is preparing to welcome a family of Ukrainian refugees into his home – along with their pet dog. The cabinet minister has said he wanted to “make a meaningful difference” by taking in the household, forced to flee the country’s war-torn capital Kyiv, following the invasion by Russia. The family includes

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said the boss of P&O Ferries should quit for his “brazen, breathtaking arrogance” in admitting “breaking the law” in sacking staff. The cabinet minister also said he would change the law to force a U-turn and prevent the ferry operator paying below minimum wage to its crews. It comes after

Rishi Sunak has admitted he goes to bed “every night” knowing that he “can’t solve all the problems that people want me to” following criticism of his spring statement. Speaking on this week’s Beth Rigby Interviews programme, the chancellor said that “no matter how many hours” he works, he knows that “I can’t ever in

The chief executive of P&O Ferries will face questions from MPs later after the controversial sacking of nearly 800 workers last week. Peter Hebblethwaite will appear before a joint hearing of the transport and business committees and is expected to be questioned about the legality of the dismissals. Mr Hebblethwaite has apologised for the impact

For all the eye-catching measures from Rishi Sunak in his mini-budget on Wednesday, what most stood out was the strength of the economic headwinds coming our way. For millions of families already feeling the cost of living squeeze, the news was unrelentingly grim. Inflation is set to hit a 40-year high of 8.7% later in

As he faces yet another mini budget on Wednesday, Rishi Sunak now suffers from having set expectations unsustainably high during his two years as chancellor.  At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, he pledged to do “whatever it takes” to support the economy. He subsequently received credit amongst the public and his colleagues for doing