UK

The home secretary is set to travel to Rwanda this weekend as the government’s deal to send asylum seekers to the country remains mired in legal challenges. It is 11 months since the UK agreed the deal, which would see people who claimed asylum in Britain deported to the central African nation to have their

The government needs to find £4bn in spare cash to fund NHS pay rises, with some of it coming from “areas of underspend”. The one-off payment offered to frontline workers on Thursday will cost £2.7bn, Downing Street has said, while the 5% pay rise will cost £1.3bn. A 3.5% pay increase had already been factored

NHS unions have reached a pay deal with the government in a major breakthrough that could herald the end of strikes by frontline staff in England. The offer consists of a one-off payment of 2% of their salary plus a COVID recovery bonus of 4% for the current financial year 2022/23, and a 5% pay

NHS unions have received a new pay offer and an announcement is expected this afternoon, Sky News understands. The offer is believed to centre around a one-off payment this financial year and a revised pay offer for 2023-24. It follows progress in talks involving unions representing nurses and ambulance staff, after mass strikes across the

Labour has said it will oppose plans to abolish the lifetime pensions allowance, calling it a “tax cut for the rich”. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the party will force a vote on the policy next week, predicting it could “unravel as quickly as it began”. Ms Reeves compared it to Liz Truss’s doomed attempt

Jeremy Hunt said the British economy is “proving the doubters wrong” and will avoid recession, as he delivered his first full budget speech to Parliament. The chancellor said the government’s plan for the economy was “working” as he announced what he called a “budget for growth”. He said forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility

The chancellor will promise to provide 30 hours of childcare a week to parents of one and two-year-olds, Sky News has learned. The multi-billion pound announcement is set to be made in today’s “back to work” budget. Families with children aged one and two do not currently receive support after parental leave ends and before

A 22-year-old woman, whose lies caused a storm of anger and protests after she falsely claimed she was the victim of an Asian grooming gang, has been jailed for eight and a half years. Eleanor Williams was today sentenced for perverting the course of justice. She fabricated evidence to make it look like she was

The ability of police to tackle violence against women and girls has again been cast into doubt by new figures that show only 1% of more than 1,500 police officers or staff facing complaints about their treatment of women in a six-month period were sacked.  Data from the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) shows there

Gary Lineker will return to Match Of The Day on Saturday after he was taken off air over his tweets criticising the government’s migration policy. The BBC has also apologised for the episode and announced an independent review into its social media usage guidelines. Sky Sports News understands that the BBC also apologised privately to

Sources close to Gary Lineker are increasingly confident the row with the BBC will be resolved to his satisfaction in the next 24 hours. Sky News also understands there could be a statement on the Lineker issue as early as this morning. The BBC is also expected to announce it is reviewing its social media

Match of the Day 2 coverage is expected to be “much-reduced” as the fallout from the Gary Lineker BBC row continues. On BBC Two, the Women’s Super League Chelsea v Manchester United match kicked off with no pre-match presentation and no pundits – it is aired live using world feed commentary. Lineker, who has not

The BBC’s director general says the damage done to football programming following Gary Lineker’s suspension is a “real blow” but he will not be resigning. Tim Davie said he was “sorry audiences have been affected and they haven’t got the programming” after presenters and pundits pulled out in support of Lineker, whose social media criticism

A number of BBC football shows across TV and radio have been taken off air as presenters, pundits and commentators walk out after Gary Lineker was suspended by the broadcaster. Final Score and Football Focus were pulled from BBC One on Saturday after their respective hosts, Jason Mohammad and Alex Scott, said they would not

Gary Lineker has been forced off his Match of the Day duties by the BBC because he won’t apologise for his comments on social media, Sky News understands. The BBC said in a statement that the presenter will “step back” from hosting the weekly football highlights programme. But, it’s understood that Lineker has not agreed

“Hundreds and hundreds” of stranded drivers have been stuck in “never-ending” miles-long tailbacks overnight in heavy snow – and forecasters say blizzards are on the way and will cause “treacherous conditions”. Travellers have been warned of train and flight cancellations, while the Met Office says the cold snap is moving south, as Storm Larisa continues

“I don’t want to attend the Home Office to proceed with my claim. I don’t want to risk it,” says Dravid, 28, who arrived in the UK from India on fake documents last year. “They may detain me and send me to Rwanda. At the moment I don’t have any choice.” In the week the

Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker has told reporters outside his London home that he stands by his criticism of the government’s asylum seeker policy and does not fear suspension by the BBC. The former England striker, 62, has faced criticism from members of the Conservative Party after comparing the language used to launch

The UK cold snap is expected to worsen for many on Thursday, with more snow predicted across large parts, bringing the threat of power cuts and travel delays. The heaviest snowfall is expected in northern and central England, where up to 40cm (15 inches) could hit an area stretching from Durham down to Stoke-on-Trent. It

Gary Lineker has said it is “great to see the freedom of speech champions come out in force” after the home secretary branded his comments about the government’s new asylum policy as “irresponsible”. Suella Braverman told ITV’s Good Morning Britain she was “very disappointed” after Lineker said the “immeasurably cruel policy” had been directed at