Politics

Dealing with David Cameron’s multiple texts, WhatsApp messages, emails and phone calls “did not take up a very significant part” of the Treasury’s time, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has told MPs investigating the Greensill lobbying scandal. Earlier this year, ex-prime minister Mr Cameron was revealed to have bombarded government ministers and officials – as well as

Boris Johnson has admitted to being “taken aback” by France’s angry reaction to a new security pact between the UK, US and Australia. The prime minister has told French President Emmanuel Macron to “prenez un grip” and give him a “break” in the diplomatic row over the new AUKUS initiative. But he has also spoken

Foreign secretary Liz Truss will travel to Mexico to push for the country’s support for the UK to join an international trade pact. It comes as the Prime Minister conceded an agreement was not about to be struck with the USA following meetings with President Joe Biden. Boris Johnson played down the prospect of an

Boris Johnson has said France should get over its anger at a partnership between the UK, US and Australia that saw the latter pull out of a major contract with Paris for submarines. “What I want to say about that is I just think it’s time for some of our dearest friends around the world

The prime minister has described Britain’s energy crisis as a “short-term problem” and said he does not think there will be disruption to food supplies at Christmas. Speaking to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby in New York, Boris Johnson said: “There is a short term problem caused by the hydrocarbon price spike, the gas

The Ministry of Defence has launched an investigation into a data breach involving the details of 250 Afghan interpreters. It is not yet clear if the interpreters concerned are in the UK or Afghanistan after dozens were left behind following the withdrawal of UK troops from Afghanistan last month after the Taliban took the country.

Boris Johnson has admitted he is facing an uphill battle to convince world leaders to put up hard cash and hard commitments to reduce carbon emissions. Speaking on his way to New York for the UN General Assembly Summit, the prime minister conceded he had a 40% chance of failure in securing the $100bn he

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has challenged his party to “tear down” the Conservatives’ “blue wall” in order to help oust Boris Johnson from Downing Street. In his keynote address at the Liberal Democrat conference on Sunday, Sir Ed said the Tories would only lose power at the next election if his party took

New Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has defended the UK’s “hard-headed” security pact with the US and Australia, amid a deepening diplomatic row with France. The AUKUS deal saw the UK, Australia and the US form a security pact to develop and deploy a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, adding to the Western military presence in

The bonds of friendship between France and the UK, US and Australia have been “tarnished” by the AUKUS pact, and it is now “more difficult than before” for France to trust those countries, the president of the French National Assembly has told Sky News. Richard Ferrand is attending the G7 Speakers’ Conference in Chorley, Lancashire, hosted

Michael Gove’s new levelling up department is being warned not to expect a large injection of new cash in the spending review hours after Boris Johnson called levelling up “our fundamental project”, Sky News understands. Mr Gove‘s department, which covers housing, the Union, local government and elections, will be expected to negotiate its three-year budget

Boris Johnson will gather his cabinet later for the first meeting of his top team since the prime minister’s reshuffle. It comes after the PM completed a shake-up of his cabinet that saw a number of high-profile casualties. Dominic Raab was replaced as foreign secretary by Liz Truss and moved to the roles of justice

Dominic Raab will keep playing an “important senior role” in the government despite being moved in Boris Johnson’s cabinet reshuffle, Downing Street has said. Mr Raab was replaced as foreign secretary by Liz Truss and shifted to the justice brief, a move widely seen as a demotion. Live updates as government reshuffle continues Please use

The military could be called in to help Scotland’s ambulance service which is facing “acute pressure”, Nicola Sturgeon has announced. Scotland’s first minister apologised “unreservedly” for long waiting times and confirmed that targeted military assistance to help deal with “short-term pressure points” is under consideration. The announcement came as Ms Sturgeon was questioned about the

Penny Mordaunt has been appointed as minister of state at the Department for International Trade after Boris Johnson reshuffled the main cabinet positions yesterday. Michael Ellis will take on Ms Mordaunt’s former role as paymaster general at the Cabinet Office. One of the top changes saw Liz Truss getting the foreign secretary brief, bumping out

Lockdowns, mandatory face masks, vaccine certificates, and work from home orders could return this winter as part of a “plan B” to deal with the pandemic, the health secretary has announced. Sajid Javid said if the data shows the NHS is likely to come under “unsustainable pressure” from the COVID-19 pandemic again, the government has

The government has accepted the recommendation from the UK’s chief medical officers that children aged 12 to 15 should be offered a first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine and invitations will start being sent out next week. Making the announcement in the Commons, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “We will now move with the

Boris Johnson has said the government wants to avoid the introduction of COVID vaccine passports in England “if we possibly can”, but added they would be an option to be kept “in reserve”. The prime minister, who will on Tuesday set out his plan to deal with coronavirus during the upcoming autumn and winter months,

A cabinet colleague has rallied to the defence of the home secretary as she faced fresh claims of breaking ministerial rules over a meeting with a billionaire Tory donor and British Airways. Health Secretary Sajid Javid gave his backing to Priti Patel, saying she was doing “incredibly well”, as Labour demanded an investigation into her

Sajid Javid has told Sky News he wants to remove the PCR test requirement for travellers returning from some foreign countries “as soon as I possibly can”. The health secretary said he was aware of the cost for families holidaying abroad and that the measure should not be in place “for a second longer than