UK

England manager Gareth Southgate has encouraged players to reassess their social media usage and ensure it doesn’t affect their happiness and mood at the World Cup. It comes after black players were targeted with racist abuse after England’s defeat on penalties in last year’s European Championship final. Now Southgate’s side is about to leave for

The UK economy contracted by 0.2% in the third quarter, early official figures show – prompting the chancellor to warn that the “tough road ahead” will require “extremely difficult decisions”. The figure marked the first step towards recession. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a dip in output for September, leaving gross domestic product

A man has been sentenced to a further 15 years in prison – in addition to the 18 he has already served – for setting his partner on fire and causing her death 21 years later. Steven Craig, 58, covered Jacqueline Kirk in petrol and set her alight in a car park in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset

Boy George has revealed his mother was in hospital during the pandemic and said if she had not survived he would have quit I’m A Celebrity when Matt Hancock entered the jungle. The Culture Club singer was in tears after the former health secretary, who was booted out of the Conservative Party over his decision

A nursing union representing hundreds of thousands of nurses in the UK has voted to hold the first nationwide strike in its 106-year history. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the strike will affect the majority of NHS employers in the UK as nurses take action against pay levels and patient safety concerns. The

Rishi Sunak will face PMQs this afternoon – hours after his ally Sir Gavin Williamson quit over bullying claims. The prime minister’s judgement is being questioned after he emerged that he appointed Sir Gavin to a senior role despite being aware of an investigation related to his behaviour. Sir Gavin’s departure as Cabinet Office minister

Labour has called on Rishi Sunak to block Boris Johnson’s “conveyer belt of cronies” resignation peerages. Scotland Secretary Alister Jack, former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, former minister Nigel Adams and the outgoing COP26 President Alok Sharma are among those expected to be nominated by the former prime minister to be elevated to the House of

A contentious plan to build a new royal yacht has been scrapped, the defence secretary has confirmed. The successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was expected to cost around £200m, was announced by Boris Johnson in May 2021. Mr Johnson, the prime minister at the time, said it would reflect “the UK’s burgeoning status

Millions of Britons on low incomes will start receiving £324 into their bank accounts today to help them through the cost of living crisis. The payments are the second part of a £650 sum being paid out to people receiving benefits such as Universal Credit, income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), income-related employment and support allowance (ESA),

Rishi Sunak will call for a “global mission for new jobs and clean growth” as he joins world leaders for the first day of COP27 in Egypt. The PM, who only announced he would be attending the climate change talks in a U-turn last week, will tell attendees today it is essential countries stick to

English and Welsh football leaders insist they will continue to campaign on human rights issues and compensation for migrant workers in Qatar after FIFA told World Cup teams to keep politics and lectures on morality out of the tournament. The FIFA leadership issued the plea to “focus on the football” in a letter revealed exclusively

The former chairman of the Conservative Party has said he told Rishi Sunak a bullying complaint had been made against Cabinet Office minister Sir Gavin Williamson days before he appointed him to the job. Sir Jake Berry says he informed the incoming PM about the allegations a day before he entered Number 10. Politics Hub:

A group of people at an immigration removal centre in west London caused a “disturbance” on Friday night following a power outage, the Home Office has said. No one was injured during the incident at Harmondsworth detention centre near Heathrow Airport, but the power was still out just before 9am on Saturday, the department said.

Two men who stabbed a teenager and left him effectively dead for nearly an hour have been sentenced to life in prison. James Bascoe-Smith was 17 when he was assaulted last year, leaving him using a wheelchair and struggling to communicate. James was surrounded by family and friends at the Old Bailey as his two

Boat passengers, including British tourists, are being held by a community group in the Peruvian Amazon, local media has said. The group, thought to be from an indigenous community, said they had detained them in protest over a lack of government action to tackle oil spills in a river, according to RPP Noticias. Seventy passengers,

Children as young as nine are getting sucked into drug dealing and violence – with thousands of young people in England “groomed, harmed and even killed”, a new report warns. The Commission on Young Lives is calling for urgent action and investment to tackle the “national threat to our country’s prosperity and security” – and

The Bank of England has raised the base rate of interest by 0.75 percentage points to 3% – the single biggest increase in more than three decades – and said that the UK is already in recession. The Bank warned that the UK could face a protracted contraction in the coming years, with high inflation

The Bank of England is expected to unveil the biggest interest rate rise since the 1980s today. A hike of 0.75 percentage points is anticipated – pushing the base rate to 3%, levels that have not been seen since 2008. If confirmed, this could push up mortgage bills for millions of people in the coming

A Metropolitan Police officer and his former colleague have been jailed for 12 weeks for sharing grossly offensive messages in a WhatsApp group with Sarah Everard’s killer – and then bailed ahead of an appeal against their convictions. Met constable Jonathon Cobban, 35, and former PC Joel Borders, 45, were were found guilty of the

Hundreds – if not thousands – of police officers who should have failed vetting checks may be serving in England and Wales, a watchdog has warned. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services looked at 11,277 police officers and staff across eight forces, examined 725 vetting files, considered 264 complaint and misconduct investigations,

Counter Terrorism Police are now leading the investigation into the death of a suspect after petrol bombs were thrown at the Border Force immigration centre in Dover. The incident, which happened at around 11.20am on Sunday, saw devices thrown outside and into the premises by 66-year-old Andrew Leak from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, who arrived at

British spies have been playing a key role in defending Ukraine from widespread Russian cyber attacks since the start of the invasion, it has been confirmed. The damage caused by Russian hackers would have been “very significant” without the British assistance, Leo Docherty, a junior foreign office minister, said. He told Sky News the UK

Suella Braverman has admitted sending official documents from her government email to her personal email address on six separate occasions. In a letter to the Home Affairs Select Committee, she apologised again for breaching security rules and set out her version of the events leading to her resignation under former prime minister Liz Truss. A

Two men have been killed after a shooting in south London. Police were called to reports of gunshots in Railton Road, Brixton, at about 7.50pm on Sunday. Armed officers attended the scene, along with ambulance crews, and found two men injured. They were both pronounced dead at the scene. The Metropolitan Police have said no

Petrol bombs have been thrown at a Border Force migrant centre in Dover. Kent Fire and Rescue Service were called to The Viaduct in Dover at 11:22am after Reuters news agency – who had a photographer at the scene – reported a man threw petrol bombs attached with fireworks at the centre. The photographer captured

Labour is urging the government to publish its assessments of Suella Braverman’s security breach following her controversial reappointment as home secretary just six days after she was forced out. New Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under growing pressure over reinstating Ms Braverman as home secretary after a former party chair claimed she had committed “multiple

Britain has denied Russian claims that Royal Navy personnel blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month, saying the story is “invented”. A Ministry of Defence tweet said: “To detract from their disastrous handling of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defence is resorting to peddling false claims of an epic

The head of the Royal Navy has ordered an investigation into “abhorrent” claim of “sexual bullying” in the submarine service. Admiral Sir Ben Key, the First Sea Lord, said sexual assault and harassment has no place in the Royal Navy and that anyone who is found culpable will be held accountable. Responding to the allegations

A woman has been sentenced to 34 years for murdering and decapitating her friend in a row over money. Jemma Mitchell, 38, became the first woman in England and Wales to be sentenced live on television for killing Mee Kuen Chong, 67, also known as Deborah, and dumping her headless body in some woodland more

Northern Ireland is set to have a pre-Christmas Assembly election as the deadline to restore devolved government at Stormont has expired. The region has been in a political crisis for months with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refusing to return to power-sharing since losing its status as the nation’s largest party to Sinn Fein in

A woman has been found guilty of murdering and decapitating her friend in a row over money. Jemma Mitchell, 38, had been accused of killing pensioner Mee Kuen Chong and dumping her headless body more than 200 miles away in Devon in order to inherit hundreds of thousands of pounds. Mitchell, an alternative therapist, hit

Britain’s year of political turmoil could cost the taxpayer up to £726,000 in severance payments to former ministers and whips, Sky News analysis of House of Commons library data has found. Since the beginning of the year, 79 government ministers and whips have either been sacked or have resigned. And 71 of them are likely

Two members of a Rochdale sex grooming gang have lost their long-running appeal against being deported to Pakistan. Adil Khan, 51, and Qari Abdul Rauf, 52, had fought the deportation on human rights grounds but an immigration tribunal said they should be removed from the UK. Judges said Khan had shown a “breathtaking lack of