Politics

Deepfake audio of Sadiq Khan that has circulated on social media “does not constitute a criminal offence”, the Metropolitan Police has said. The digitally generated audio, using the London mayor’s voice and mannerisms, purports to be a recording of him playing down the importance of Remembrance weekend commemorations. A spokesman for the mayor said the

Digitally generated audio of Sadiq Khan seemingly calling for Armistice Day to be delayed is being investigated by police. Clips have been circulating on social media, using the London mayor’s voice and mannerisms, where he can be heard playing down the importance of Remembrance weekend commemorations. In one clip, a voice similar to Mr Khan

Suella Braverman and Tory critics of the police are undermining public confidence in law enforcement and eroding trust in Britain’s system of democracy, according to heated WhatsApp exchanges among Tory MPs leaked to Sky News. The true scale of the civil war between Tory MPs over the policing of pro-Palestinian marches and behaviour of the

Comments by Suella Braverman show the UK government is “at sea and ignorant” on Irish affairs and the Middle East, Sinn Fein’s president has said. Mary Lou McDonald has accused the Tories of “gratuitous insult” after the home secretary said pro-Palestinian “hate marches” were of the type “we are more used to seeing in Northern

In the end, Thursday’s drama involving Suella Braverman is – at its heart – not about the rights and wrongs of marches, the judgement of the police or potential breaches of the ministerial code, although each and all have been subplots at various points. Actually, the story about the home secretary boils down to a

And another one bites the dust. Suella Braverman – one of the most divisive politicians of the age – has been sacked as home secretary. It marks the fourth dramatic exit from Rishi Sunak’s cabinet in just over a year – after the departures of Dominic Raab, Nadhim Zahawi and Gavin Williamson. It’s not exactly

Rishi Sunak has essentially told Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley that if there’s violence at the pro-Palestine march in London on Saturday, it’s his fault. But it’s a petulant response to Sir Mark’s defiance in the face of the enormous pressure from the PM and other ministers for the Armistice Day march to be

A former top civil servant has apologised for suggestions he made early in the COVID pandemic that so-called “chicken pox parties” could help people build immunity to the virus. Lord Mark Sedwill was cabinet secretary when the pandemic started, which means he was also in charge of the Civil Service. He has been highly criticised

Shadow minister Imran Hussain has quit Labour’s frontbench in protest at Sir Keir Starmer’s position on the Israel-Hamas war. Mr Hussain’s decision will be a blow for the Labour leader, who has been attempting to hold his party together in an increasingly fractious debate over whether the leadership should back a ceasefire in Gaza. In

Sir Keir Starmer has launched a scathing attack on Suella Braverman over her recent controversial remarks on homelessness – warning Rishi Sunak that “without a serious home secretary… he cannot be a serious prime minister”. Speaking during a debate on Tuesday’s King’s Speech, the Labour leader slammed her claims that living on the street was

The government has announced plans to reinstate EU equality laws before they expire at the end of the year – admitting the move is required to avoid a “clear gap in protections” for workers. Ministers will today lay a statutory instrument intended to “enshrine” key rights and principles derived from the European Union into British

Rishi Sunak has responded for the first time to allegations that a Tory MP committed a series of rapes, saying the claims were “very serious”. The prime minister urged anyone with evidence of criminal acts to talk to the police, as he faced questions about the accusations while on a visit to Norfolk. “These are

The leader of Burnley Council and 10 other councillors have resigned from the Labour Party this evening over Sir Keir Starmer’s decision not to push for a ceasefire in Gaza, Sky News understands. Afrasiab Anwar, who has been in the party for 10 years, was among those calling for the leader to step down on

The deputy prime minister has said he fears there has not been the “moral clarity” that “Jewish lives matter” after the Hamas attack on Israel. Oliver Dowden warned the Jewish community in the UK was “fearful” after a number of pro-Palestinian marches. Rishi Sunak’s deputy drew comparisons with the Black Lives Matter protests after the

The home secretary has said anyone vandalising the Cenotaph on Armistice Day “must be put into a jail cell faster than their feet can touch the ground”. Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Suella Braverman said she doesn’t want to “undermine” the police process by banning pro-Palestinian protests planned for Armistice Day next weekend, but that

Tory MP Bob Stewart has surrendered the Conservative whip while he considers an appeal against his conviction for a racially-aggravated public order offence. The Beckenham MP informed chief whip Simon Hart, according to a government source. Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats had called for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to take action over the “totally

Suella Braverman wants to restrict the use of tents by homeless people in built-up areas, according to a report. The home secretary’s proposals are said to include allowing charities to be fined if they give out tents that become a nuisance. Ms Braverman wants the plans included in two clauses of a new criminal justice

Tory MP Bob Stewart showed “racial hostility” towards a protester by telling him to “go back to Bahrain” during a demonstration outside a Foreign Office building, a court has been told. The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into the incident after a complaint was made by activist Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, who has said he was

Boris Johnson has claimed he was forced to plunge the UK into lockdown because of NHS “bed blocking”. In a section of his witness statement shared with the official COVID inquiry, the former prime minister said the “extreme measures” announced on 23 March 2020 were introduced because the health service had “failed to grip” the

The COVID inquiry took a political turn this week when a number of key figures who served in Downing Street during the pandemic faced questioning from the probe’s lawyers. Hours of evidence were presented to the inquiry’s chair, and there were a raft of revelations uncovered – from the attitudes shown by senior ministers to

Only one in 10 voters who supported the Tories in 2019 have switched to Labour, according to a major new poll for Sky News.   The exclusive YouGov survey of 5,621 voters found 11% of 2019 Tory voters would now vote for Labour while slightly more – 12% – have switched to Reform UK, a

The government has cancelled rail industry plans for the mass closure of ticket offices in England, saying they failed to reach the “high threshold of serving passengers”. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) announced over the summer that it planned to shut almost all of the nation’s 1,007 train station outlets in an effort to reduce

There was no shielding plan early in the pandemic and vulnerable groups were “appallingly neglected” as a “fatalistic” approach took hold in Downing Street, Dominic Cummings has claimed. The former chief aide to Boris Johnson, who described Downing Street as being in “complete chaos”, was asked to what degree decision-makers considered ethnic minority groups, domestic

WhatsApp messages sent at the height of COVID paint a picture of how senior officials really felt about the government’s handling of the pandemic. The exchanges have been shared as part of the COVID inquiry amid criticism that major decision-making may have happened over WhatsApp rather than through normal processes. But not all the messages

The number of people who died from COVID-19 in the UK has been projected onto the walls of Barnard Castle – the evening before Dominic Cummings was set to give evidence to the official inquiry into the virus and how the UK government handled it. A message saying “231,332 COVID deaths – is that clear

A senior civil servant during the pandemic admitted setting WhatsApp messages to “disappear” as calls for a COVID inquiry grew – but said he can’t remember why. Martin Reynolds, who was Boris Johnson’s principal private secretary, turned on a “disappearing message function” on a group chat titled “PM Updates” on 15 April 2021, the COVID

The COVID public inquiry is set to become explosive this week, with former Boris Johnson aide Dominic Cummings expected to dish the dirt on the former prime minister. The maverick former No 10 adviser, once Mr Johnson‘s closest ally but now his sworn enemy, heads a list of top former Downing Street insiders giving evidence

The Met Police chief has said there is scope for “sharper” laws in dealing with extremism amid a surge of protests in the capital over the Israel-Hamas war. Sir Mark Rowley told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that his officers are working “ruthlessly” to arrest anyone who “steps over the line” by committing a hate

Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf has said he is “desperately worried” about whether his family who are trapped in Gaza are alive or dead after losing contact with them. The first minister said he last spoke to the parents of his wife Nadia El-Nakla at around 7.30am on Friday before communications were cut off as

Former leadership candidate for the SNP, Ash Regan, has quit the party to join the Alba Party – becoming its first MSP. Ms Regan, who got just over 11% of the vote in the race to succeed Nicola Sturgeon earlier this year, said the SNP has “lost its focus on independence”. Ms Regan said she

Humza Yousaf has said he has lost contact with his family who are trapped in Gaza as Israel expands its ground operations overnight. Scotland’s first minister has previously spoken to Sky News about how his wife’s parents are “trapped” in Gaza. The Israeli Defence Forces said tonight that it had “significantly expanded” its ground operations,

There is no wider cultural problem among Conservative MPs, a minister insisted, after Crispin Blunt was arrested on suspicion of rape and the possession of controlled substances. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the allegation against the former minister related to an “individual incident” and was not a sign of a wider problem in the party.

The Labour Party has promised to set up a COBRA-style taskforce that would meet every winter to assess the flood risk to communities as parts of the UK continue to be battered by heavy rain after Storm Babet. The party said it would create a flood resilience taskforce that would co-ordinate preparation between the government, local