Politics

A mosque in South Wales that hosted Sir Keir Starmer has apologised for the “hurt and confusion” caused by the visit after a backlash from some within the Muslim community. The South Wales Islamic Centre issued a statement late on Tuesday evening in which it sought to “clarify our stance” following the Labour leader’s visit

Boris Johnson’s chief adviser during the coronavirus pandemic, Dominic Cummings, has said he will give evidence to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry later this month. Mr Cummings used his latest Substack post to reveal he had been going through his statement with inquiry lawyers, describing the process as “painful”. “I finally sent it in on Thursday.

The UK could have had fewer coronavirus-related deaths if the country had gone into lockdown two weeks earlier, a government scientist has said. Professor Steven Riley, who worked for Imperial College London at the time of the pandemic, told the UK COVID-19 Inquiry that the government should have called the lockdown on 9 March 2020

A bout of COVID, getting a speeding fine and a young man behind me – unbeknown to me – baring his backside at the camera while I was broadcasting live. These are just some of the perils I’ve encountered covering by-election counts in more than 20 years at Sky News. Mid Bedfordshire, on Thursday, will

Suella Braverman will use her Conservative conference speech to address “failings” by the party, “particularly on immigration”. Ms Braverman’s team told Sky News she will be “honest about the failings in recent years, particularly on immigration, but will say that under Rishi the Conservatives are raising their game”. The source added it will be “Suella

The government is set to issue new guidance across England to ban mobile phones from schools, Sky News understands. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan will make the announcement later today during the Conservative Party conference, which is being held in Manchester this week. Politics live: Election question momentarily throws Hunt She will recommend the devices are

Boris Johnson has said delaying or scrapping the northern leg of HS2 would be “betraying the north of the country and the whole agenda of levelling up”. The ex-prime minister’s intervention on the eve of the party’s conference comes as Sky News understands the government is set to scrap or delay the Birmingham to Manchester

Elon Musk has announced his social media company X, formally known as Twitter, has removed the team monitoring election misinformation. The tool to report misinformation has been taken away – except for in the European Union – prompting concern from thinktank Reset Australia ahead of the country’s aboriginal rights referendum next month. In a post

The Home Office has been ordered to stop work converting a former military base into an accommodation site for asylum seekers, over concerns planning conditions have been breached. West Lindsey District Council has issued the government with an enforcement notice and stop notice in regards to RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. It means work must cease

GB News breached impartiality rules after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was interviewed by fellow Tory MPs Esther McVey and Philip Davies, Ofcom has found. An episode of Saturday Morning With Esther And Phil featured a pre-recorded interview that focused on the government’s approach to economic and fiscal policies ahead of the budget, which was announced four

China should not be described as a “foe” or a “threat” but it should be regarded as a “challenge”, a cabinet minister has said – following allegations a Chinese spy infiltrated parliament. Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said the claims were an “extremely serious concern” but we “shouldn’t be using language that makes people scared”. It

As a PR exercise, the G20 summit in New Delhi was a masterclass by Narendra Modi. At times, the Indian prime minister looked like he’d been anointed, rather than simply the latest rotating host. He is the leader du jour, the much-needed strategic counterweight in a divided world. Image: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his

Russian mercenary group Wagner will be declared a terrorist organisation, the Home Office has said.  A draft proscription order will be laid in parliament on Wednesday, which will make it illegal to be a member of, or support the Russian group in the UK. Certain proscription offences can be punishable by up to 14 years

The home secretary has ordered a review into how “political activism” among officers, including actions like taking the knee, is impacting policing. Suella Braverman has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to look into impartiality and written to police chiefs to remind them their “focus should be on tackling crime”. In the letter, she highlighted

The Home Office is eyeing an expansion of the use of facial recognition software – including potentially within police forces and the security agencies. The department put out a call asking for companies to make suggestions of how they could improve the way in which facial recognition is used by the government. And the market

Police officers who are found guilty of gross misconduct will face automatic dismissal under reforms designed to toughen up the disciplinary process following a series of scandals. Chief constables and other senior officers will be given greater powers to sack rogue staff while those who fail vetting checks can also be fired. Under the new

The expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone has led to a number of claims about the controversial charging scheme in the capital. The ULEZ expansion has created a political dividing line, with Conservatives using it as a stick with which to beat Labour and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. Sky News has had a

Suella Braverman has been urged to “stand up” to France as reports emerged the country is intercepting fewer migrants in the Channel despite a £480m funding deal. The call from Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis came as The Telegraph claimed just 45.2% of migrants have been stopped by French patrols since January, down from 45.8% in

The UK and Turkey will work together to “disrupt and dismantle” people smuggling gangs under a new deal announced today. A new operational “centre of excellence” will be established by the Turkish National Police as part of the agreement and both countries will also share intelligence. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said he was unable to

The government will fail to meet its asylum backlog target without a drastic increase in the processing of applications, a Sky News analysis has found. At present, there are more than 136,000 asylum applications waiting for an initial decision, including 62,000 that were made before 28 June 2022 – the so-called “legacy backlog”. In December