Politics

After receiving a slap down from Tory HQ, Douglas Ross has stood by his controversial statements about tactical voting by essentially saying his comments were taken out of context. Earlier, he urged people to do “what’s best for the country” and support the candidate most likely to beat the SNP in their constituency. That could,

The mother of murdered nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel is backing voices pushing for a change in the law that would force criminals to attend their sentencing. It comes after Thomas Cashman, 34, refused to appear in the dock when he was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Monday after a jury found him guilty of murdering

Rishi Sunak will welcome President Joe Biden when he arrives in Belfast this week, pledging to fulfil the promise of the Good Friday Agreement as they mark its 25th anniversary and talking of a “better future” for Northern Ireland. The US president’s visit comes amid a heightened terror threat in Northern Ireland, and with power-sharing

Nicola Sturgeon has said she will “fully cooperate” with police after the arrest this week of her husband Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party (SNP). The former Scottish first minister broke her silence after Mr Murrell’s arrest on Wednesday as part of an investigation into the SNP’s finances. She said

More brothers and sisters could now be spared the upheaval of being separated when placed into care thanks to increased tax relief for foster parents. The change, announced in the Budget, increases the amount foster carers can earn from £10,000 to £18,140 without needing to pay any tax or National Insurance contributions. After fostering 120

The Labour Party have released a second advert attacking Rishi Sunak just hours after being accused of “gutter politics” for targeting the prime minister personally. Yesterday, the party’s Twitter account released an advert claiming Mr Sunak does not think child sex abusers should go to prison. The tweet on Friday afternoon suggests the prime minister

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to apologise over a Labour social media post which claimed Rishi Sunak doesn’t think child sex abusers should go to prison. The party has been accused of “gutter politics” and criticised by its own MPs after posting a message on its official Twitter account vowing to “lock up dangerous

Rishi Sunak has said no further action will be taken against minister Mark Spencer after an investigation cleared him of breaching the rules over the sacking of Tory colleague Nusrat Ghani. In his investigation into alleged Islamophobia, Sir Laurie Magnus said it was not possible to determine what the then chief whip said to Ms

A Conservative MP has been caught indicating he would be willing to break parliamentary lobbying rules for money in an undercover sting operation by The Times. Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, met undercover reporters posing as employees of TAHR Partners, a fake company lobbying to influence government policy, at a central London hotel

Ex-SNP chief executive Peter Murrell – the husband of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon – has been arrested following an investigation into the party’s finances. Police Scotland announced on Wednesday that a 58-year-old man was in custody and being questioned by detectives as part of an ongoing probe. Officers are also carrying out searches at

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has been disqualified from driving for six months after travelling at almost 30mph over a temporary speed limit on the M1. The MP for Newark, Nottinghamshire, was also fined a total of £1,639 at a court hearing on Tuesday. Mr Jenrick admitted to travelling at 68mph in a temporary 40mph zone

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has said convicted criminals should be forced to attend their sentencing in court, after Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s murderer Thomas Cashman refused to face his punishment. New videos of Olivia were released by her family the day after Cashman was sentenced to a minimum of 42 years in prison before parole is considered.

Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has been criticised for missing the conference of a major teaching union as its members prepare for a fresh round of strike action. Members of the National Education Union (NEU), the largest teaching union in the UK, have been on strike since February and are set to strike again

A new grooming gangs taskforce will be launched to stop the exploitation of children and young women, the government has announced. Specialist officers will help police forces with child sexual exploitation and abuse investigations “to bring more of these despicable criminals to justice”, Downing Street said. The new taskforce will be made up of officers

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has refused to confirm if deportation flights to Rwanda will begin this summer. The policy to deport migrants arriving in the UK on small boats to Rwanda is one of the home secretary’s key pledges. But since the scheme was introduced in April 2022, no flights have taken off due to

The Home Secretary has announced people working with children in England will have a new legal duty to report “signs or suspicions” of child sex abuse. Suella Braverman will announce new measures to beef up child protection on Sunday. Writing for the Mail on Sunday in an article published this evening, Ms Braverman set out

Conservative MPs defending slim majorities have accused colleagues of “gaming the system” to try and move to safer seats and maximise their chances of keeping their jobs. There is “fury” at the “ultra-confidential” process which will allow some Tories to switch constituencies ahead of the next election. Around 15 parliamentarians have applied to be declared

The UK has been accepted into an Indo-Pacific trade bloc in what the government says is its biggest trade deal since Brexit. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a free trade agreement between 11 countries across the Indo-Pacific, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and

Sir Keir Starmer says he is “prepared to be ruthless” to ensure Labour wins the next election, including when it comes to his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn. Earlier this week, Sir Keir put forward a motion to Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), to block Mr Corbyn from running for the party at the

An MP who travelled by train with COVID in the early stages of the pandemic is facing a 30-day suspension from the House of Commons – raising the possibility of a by-election. Margaret Ferrier admitted she broke COVID rules in September 2020 by travelling on a train between Scotland and London despite having tested positive

Voters across much of England will head to the ballot box for local and mayoral elections on 4 May. It will be the first time people in England will have to show photographic identification at voting stations before they can cast their ballot. Sky News takes you through all you need to know about the

Local Tory councils have threatened to take legal action against the government over its plans to house asylum seekers in disused military bases in their areas. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick confirmed the scheme today, saying “thousands” would be accommodated at former RAF sites in Essex and Lincolnshire. But Braintree District Council said it was planning

Humza Yousaf has been legally sworn in as Scotland’s sixth first minister. The 37-year-old is now Keeper of the Scottish Seal after taking the oath of office and pledging his allegiance to the King. The seal allows the monarch to authorise official documents without having to sign each one. As Keeper of the Scottish Seal,

Kate Forbes has rejected a job offer from Scotland’s new first minister Humza Yousaf and will return to the backbenches after serving in government for almost five years. A senior source told Sky News that Ms Forbes, who narrowly lost the SNP leadership race to Mr Yousaf on Monday, was asked to take on the

Humza Yousaf is expected to be declared Scotland’s new first minister later today. The 37-year-old has replaced Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader, triumphing over Kate Forbes and Ash Regan in the contest for the party’s top job. Mr Humza is now set to face a vote at Holyrood before being formally confirmed as the country’s

Humza Yousaf has won the SNP leadership contest and is set to be named as Scotland’s new first minister, replacing Nicola Sturgeon. The explosive leadership contest was sparked following Ms Sturgeon’s shock resignation last month. Lorna Finn, the SNP’s national secretary, stated that the total turnout in the leadership election was 70% with 50,490 of

The gruelling contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon as the leader of Scotland’s biggest political party reaches its crescendo later when the winner is announced. Humza Yousaf, Ash Regan and Kate Forbes have spent weeks battling to become the new SNP leader and, ultimately, the next first minister. The party will reveal the results of the

Former Conservative cabinet ministers Matt Hancock and Kwasi Kwarteng told a fake overseas company looking for MP advisers that their daily rate for consultancy would be £10,000. In a sting operation set up by campaign group Led By Donkeys, Mr Hancock and Mr Kwarteng both set out five-figure sums for what they would expect to

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, has been fined and given six penalty points for speeding on the M62. The Labour politician, tipped as a future party leadership candidate, was driving at 78mph on part of the motorway where the limit had been reduced to 40mph. Mr Burnham said a closure of junction 10,

People convicted of anti-social behaviour will be ordered to repair the damage they have caused within two days of being told their punishment, under new plans. Making justice “immediate” and ensuring that communities can visibly see efforts to clean up vandalism and graffiti will be a key plank of the measures. The scheme will be

Plans to start moving migrants out of hotels and into military bases or even disused ferries are expected to be announced by the government within weeks. Ministers have already signalled that they want to end the use of hotels as asylum seeker accommodation. Previous suggestions of using holiday camps and student halls are less likely

Sir Patrick Vallance has said COVID restrictions were “for everybody” after Boris Johnson said lockdown leaving dos were “absolutely essential” and that he relied on incorrect advice from Number 10 advisers. The UK’s chief scientific adviser became a household name during the pandemic as he stood beside the then-prime minister during daily COVID briefings. This

UK and EU officials will sign off on a new Brexit deal in London today, despite ongoing opposition from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The Windsor Framework – designed to address problems with the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol – was agreed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last