Politics

The SNP’s chief executive will face a vote of no confidence unless he announces a plan to resign today, a senior member of the party’s ruling governing body has told Sky News. Peter Murrell, who is also Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, is accused of undermining the current leadership contest, according to the NEC member. Yesterday the

The government needs to find £4bn in spare cash to fund NHS pay rises, with some of it coming from “areas of underspend”. The one-off payment offered to frontline workers on Thursday will cost £2.7bn, Downing Street has said, while the 5% pay rise will cost £1.3bn. A 3.5% pay increase had already been factored

Teacher strikes will be paused for two weeks while education unions and the government hold “intensive” talks over pay, workload and conditions. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan will meet with representatives today – with discussions to continue over the weekend until Sunday. The National Education Union (NEU), National Association of Headteachers (NAHT), NASUWT The Teachers’ Union,

The SNP have lost around 30,000 party members since 2021. The SNP reported a membership of 125,534 in December 2018. According to data published by the Electoral Commission, that dropped to around 104,000 by the end of December 2021. On Thursday, the SNP admitted just 72,186 members were eligible to vote in the party leadership

TikTok is expected to be banned from UK government phones later today, Sky News understands. Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden will make a statement to Parliament this afternoon on “the security of government devices”, where it is understood he will confirm the ban. The Chinese-owned video-sharing app has been under increasing scrutiny over its security

Jeremy Hunt said the British economy is “proving the doubters wrong” and will avoid recession, as he delivered his first full budget speech to Parliament. The chancellor said the government’s plan for the economy was “working” as he announced what he called a “budget for growth”. He said forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility

Flat owners say more needs to be done to “save them from ruin” after developers who have not yet agreed to fix post-Grenfell safety defects were named and shamed in the Commons. Housing Secretary Michael Gove called out 11 housebuilding companies who missed a March 13 deadline to sign up to an agreement aimed at

After the debacle of Liz Truss’s September mini-budget, with all its mega ramifications, and an autumn statement eight weeks later that performed an about-turn so big that the country’s tax burden hit a 70-year-high, Wednesday’s budget will be all about stability and sticking to the plan. “No big bangs in this budget,” is how one

UK security minister Tom Tugendhat has asked the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to look into TikTok after governments around the world have begun banning it from their work phones. The Chinese-owned video sharing app is increasingly under the European and US microscope over security and data privacy, with concerns it could be used to

The UK, US and Australia will work together “keeping our oceans free” with a new generation of nuclear-powered attack submarines, Rishi Sunak has said. Mr Sunak met US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in San Diego to announce the next stage of the Aukus partnership plan. The plan will deliver nuclear-powered

Rishi Sunak has declined to offer his backing to the chairman of the BBC and stressed his appointment was made by his predecessor Boris Johnson. Richard Sharp has been dragged into the BBC row over Gary Lineker because of his close ties to government and the role he played when Boris Johnson was considering taking

There’s a run on a bank, meltdown at the BBC about its proximity to government and Rishi Sunak needs to prove on Wednesday’s Budget that he has not abandoned growth. Yet on Sunday the prime minister flew 5,000 miles to the US west coast to deal with a threat that may one day eclipse them

Households on prepayment meters will no longer pay more for their energy than those on direct debits, the chancellor is expected to announce this week. The “prepayment meter penalty” will end in July, saving more than four million households around £45 a year at a cost of £200m. It will be managed through changes to

Britain’s prime minister may not – according to some sources – be particularly interested in defence, but the defence community will be very focused on him this week. Rishi Sunak is due to unveil an update of the UK’s defence and foreign policy on Monday – the same day as he meets with the US

The first UK-France summit in five years has concluded, resulting in “unprecedented measures” to tackle illegal migration, as well as joint pledges on Ukraine and energy security. Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron have given the clearest demonstration yet of what has become dubbed “Le Bromance”, as the pair sought to draw a line under post-Brexit

Britain will payout £480m over the next three years in a deal struck between Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron to tackle small boat Channel crossings, with measures including funding for a new detention centre in France. The fresh package agreed between the prime minister and the French president to deal with the migrant crisis will

Rishi Sunak will use talks with President Emmanuel Macron to urge his French counterpart to “go further” in joint efforts to stop asylum seekers crossing the English Channel in small boats. Ahead of the summit in Paris, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly signalled more funding will be provided to the French authorities to step up beach

Matt Hancock was told by the Cabinet Office to tone down claims in his book that a Wuhan lab leak started the pandemic over fears it would “cause problems” with China. The former health secretary wanted to include in his Pandemic Diaries book that the Chinese government’s explanation “just doesn’t fly”, the latest messages leaked

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has suggested “thousands” of refugees could be sent to Rwanda under the government’s new plan to stop Channel crossings – despite no-one having been deported there since the beginning of the scheme last April The Conservative MP told Sky News’ The Take with Sophy Ridge that the partnership with the east

Boris Johnson earned 85% of all the outside pay generated by MPs this year, Sky News can reveal. The former prime minister has declared earnings of £4.8m, mostly since stepping down from Downing Street in speeches and book deals, the latest update to the Westminster Accounts by Sky News can reveal. Some £3.7m of this