Politics

The Labour MP for Rotherham has called for a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal, adding more pressure on Sir Keir Starmer. Sarah Champion said child sexual abuse was “endemic” in Britain and “needs to be recognised as a national priority”. She is the latest Labour politician to call for a national inquiry into

Tulip Siddiq has sought to distance herself from her aunt, deposed Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina, claiming they never spoke about politics. But Sky News can reveal that in a blog written by the now City minister she boasted about how close they were politically and published photos of them together. In posts written in late

There comes a point in the arc of most political scandals after which a resignation risks prompting more questions than it answers. The danger for Tulip Siddiq – and by extension Sir Keir Starmer – is that threshold may about to be passed, if it hasn’t been already. In other words, if she goes now,

Half the public think Elon Musk is having a negative impact on British politics following his rants on X about Labour and Sir Keir Starmer, according to a new survey. The South African-born billionaire has spent much of the past week attacking the prime minister over his opposition to another national inquiry into grooming gangs.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has called on Sir Keir Starmer to sack Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq over allegations she lived in properties linked to allies of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, the deposed prime minister of Bangladesh. It comes after the current Bangladeshi leader, Muhammad Yunus, said London properties used by Ms Siddiq should be

Nigel Farage has said 10 Reform councillors who quit in protest over his “autocratic” leadership were put forward by a “rogue branch” of the party. The Derbyshire group made the announcement after billionaire X owner Elon Musk said Mr Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead the party. The Clacton MP told Sky News

From Essex County Council chamber to Nigel Farage’s speech at Reform UK’s Surrey conference, two very different events today tell you everything you need to know about why the government’s devolution overhaul matters. Let’s start with the substance. Councils in Essex have today decided to apply to turn 15 local authorities into two to five

Harriet Harman has suggested a “mini inquiry” into issues raised by the grooming gangs scandal and called on Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch to discuss “terms of reference”. The Labour peer told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that there should “openness” to a future probe as long it does

Liz Truss’ lawyers have sent a cease and desist letter to Sir Keir Starmer over his claims she “crashed the economy”. The letter says Sir Keir’s continued claim the former Conservative prime minister crashed the economy with the September 2022 mini budget is defamatory and will “likely continue to cause serious harm to her reputation”.

There are grooming gangs “in every single part of our country”, Jess Phillips has told Sky News. The safeguarding minister told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast she was issuing an “open invitation” to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch to meet victims with her. Ms Badenoch’s spokesperson said she has not met

So can you stop people smugglers by lumbering them with sanctions? That is the government’s latest idea, and it is bold and innovative. It will certainly get attention, even if that doesn’t mean it will work. But it is another effort by this government to differentiate itself from the leaders who came before. In a

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has accused the Conservatives of being “bandwagon jumpers” who “don’t care about children” as they try to force a national grooming gangs inquiry. The Tories have tabled an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, being debated on Wednesday, to require a statutory inquiry into grooming gangs after safeguarding minister

Jess Phillips has said she has “more important things to be thinking about” than Elon Musk after he accused her of being a “rape genocide apologist”. The safeguarding minister has hit back at the billionaire’s criticism of her for the first time, telling Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that his

For days, the attacks had been raining down from Elon Musk and his supporters on Keir Starmer, safeguarding minister Jess Philips and the wider government, over handling of the historical sex abuse cases.  The consensus in Number 10, as voiced by another leader subject to Mr Musk’s ire – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz – was

Professionals who work with children will face criminal sanctions if they fail to report claims of sexual abuse, the home secretary has announced. Yvette Cooper promised to implement the key recommendation from Professor Alexis Jay’s child sexual abuse inquiry after Sir Keir Starmer faced down calls from Elon Musk, the Tories and Reform UK for

For British politicians, the question of the moment is how do you handle Elon Musk? The billionaire owner of X and Tesla, soon to take up a role as efficiency tsar in the Trump administration, has been throwing grenades almost every hour about British politics on his social media platform and dominating the headlines. Much

Sir Keir Starmer will launch his plan to deliver millions more appointments across the NHS and to reduce waiting times to 18 weeks over the next five years. The prime minister will lay out how greater access to community diagnostic centres (CDCs) will help deliver up to half a million more appointments, alongside 14 new

Reform UK is a party that’s vying for attention and is not ashamed of how it gets it. With political support from Elon Musk this week amplifying Reform UK talking points on his platform X, the party has been able to make a splash in the new year ahead of the government. Already this month

MPs and peers could be forced to submit to criminal record checks under proposals submitted by a new Labour MP. In a letter seen by Sky News, Jo White urged the leader of the Commons to examine whether a new committee set up to modernise parliament should force all new members to have checks due

Nigel Farage has said Tommy Robinson “won’t be” joining Reform UK after Elon Musk showed support for the jailed far-right activist on social media. The billionaire owner of X, who has spoken positively about Reform UK and is reportedly considering making a donation to the party, has been critical of the government’s handling of child