Politics

On 12 June, Sky News will be hosting an election leaders event in Grimsby – a key marginal seat and one of our Target Towns this election year. The Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and the Conservative leader Rishi Sunak have been invited to attend, and we are looking for a live audience to join

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will go head-to-head in their first televised debate of the general election on 4 June. The two leaders will appear on ITV at 9pm for an hour, the channel has announced. “Sunak v Starmer: The ITV Debate” will be moderated by journalist Julie Etchingham and will take place live

The Conservatives will promise to replace “rip-off degrees” with 100,000 apprenticeships each year by the end of the next parliament if they win the general election. The Tories will outline their plans on Wednesday to replace the “worst performing” courses with high-skilled apprenticeships, which they say will provide “more opportunities and greater financial security”. Politics

Police will take no further action against Labour’s Angela Rayner after accusations surrounding her living arrangements in 2010. Officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) launched an investigation into the party’s deputy leader earlier this year, after reports suggested she may have lived primarily at her then-husband’s address in Stockport, despite registering to vote under her

The Conservatives have promised to cut taxes for pensioners by creating a new “age-related” tax-free allowance – dubbed “triple lock plus”. Currently, people can receive £12,570 a year of their pensions before they start paying income tax on them – the same figure as the personal allowance for those who work. But if the party

Rishi Sunak is expected to continue championing his controversial plans to revive National Service by urging employers to prioritise job applicants who have served time in the military. The prime minister said all 18-year-olds would be made to undertake a form of “mandatory” National Service if the Conservatives are re-elected on 4 July. Despite growing

Suddenly, at election time, political predictions become so much harder and riskier. Everything changes in a campaign, not least the news cycle. That’s my excuse, at any rate, for failing to foresee the announcement of a general election in last week’s Politics at Jack and Sam’s. There were a few clues – and one magisterial

Nigel Farage has argued on Sky News that a “growing number” of young Muslims in the UK do not subscribe to British values. The Reform UK honourary president told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “We have a growing number of young people in this country who do not subscribe to British values. “In

Whether you heard the wet outdoor version of Rishi Sunak’s election campaign launch or the dry indoor one, his message on national security was the same.  “The world is more dangerous than it has been at any point since the end of the Cold War,” he told the small banner-waving crowd bussed in to the

Sir Keir Starmer has defended Labour’s decision to rebrand its package of workers’ rights after a union said the plans had “more holes than Swiss cheese”. Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite union, accused the party of watering down its policies after it rebranded “Labour’s new deal for working people” as “Labour’s plan to

Rishi Sunak is set to battle it out with Sir Keir Starmer over the economy after a bruising day for the Conservative leader which saw two senior party figures quit as MPs. Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom both announced on Friday they would not stand in the 4 July general election, bringing the total number

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Rishi Sunak of “sounding a bit desperate” after he accused him of chickening out of TV debates. The Labour leader told Sky News that “of course there are going to be TV debates” and they are “part and parcel of the election cycle now”. “I obviously want to spend as

Rishi Sunak is presenting himself as the underdog in this campaign. In many ways it’s remarkable that a prime minister can position like this, but the 20-point poll deficit means he feels he has no alternative. But can he pull it off? He knows the job of the next six weeks is to change minds

Rishi Sunak has admitted Rwanda flights will not take off before the general election – as he denied calling a summer vote because inflation is expected to rise. The prime minister has said for the past few months the first flights removing asylum seekers to the African nation will happen in July. But after calling

The race for Number 10 begins in earnest today following Rishi Sunak’s decision to call a snap summer general election in a high stakes move that could bring to an end his party’s 14 years in government. The prime minister took the gamble of his political life when he announced that he will go to

Rishi Sunak will call a general election for 4 July, Sky News understands. The surprise move comes after days of rumours the prime minister could go to the country earlier than previously thought. Follow the latest politics news live – general election to be confirmed Mr Sunak has been saying for months an election would

People infected with deadly viruses due to the tainted blood scandal could receive more than £2m in compensation, according to government documents. “Illustrative figures” have been published on the Infected Blood Compensation Authority section of the government website, which show “the compensation award that an infected person living with a single infection or co-infection may

Victims of the infected blood scandal will get £210,000 as an interim compensation payment from as early as this summer, the government has announced. Cabinet minister John Glen told parliament the initial payment will be given to people living with the effects of contaminated blood “within 90 days, starting in the summer”. Infected people who

After decades of denial, gaslighting and a chilling cover-up of the plight that befell thousands of victims of the infected blood scandal, finally an apology that sought to begin to make amends on this “day of shame” for the British state. “I want to speak directly to victims and their families,” said Rishi Sunak. “I

The Downing Street diary has an enormous red ring circled around Wednesday morning when the Office for National Statistics releases its monthly inflation data. The Politics at Jack and Sam’s podcast discuss whether the prime minister can use this week to create an economic turning point. Spreaker This content is provided by Spreaker, which may