Politics

The home secretary has said the UK will continue to be one of the “safest countries in the world” despite being locked out of a key crime database from next year. Priti Patel said the EU and UK have “effective tools to tackle serious crime” going forwards. From July next year, the UK will start

Boris Johnson has appealed to hardline Eurosceptic Tory MPs to back his post-Brexit trade agreement in next week’s 11th-hour vote. The prime minister admitted “the devil is in the detail” of the more than 1,000-page treaty due to come into force from 1 January, but insisted it is “the right deal for the UK and

Plans are under way for the new post-Brexit trade deal to be implemented, as EU ambassadors praised the bloc’s “resilience” during negotiations. Brussels’ chief negotiator Michel Barnier updated representatives of all the 27 countries on Christmas Day after yesterday’s last-minute breakthrough. He arrived at the event in Brussels in a mask, carrying a hefty blue

Boris Johnson has said the Brexit trade agreement is his Christmas present to the country – serving as “the feast” after he promised an “oven ready deal”. The prime minister also used his Christmas message to say he believes the agreement will be the basis of a “happy and successful” relationship with the EU. Speaking

A long-awaited trade deal between the UK and the EU has been struck just days before the deadline. The treaty will apply from 1 January 2021 and take over from the existing arrangements under the transition period, which has seen the UK continue to follow most EU rules since Brexit day to limit disruption to

Brexit talks have continued through the night as hopes were raised that a trade deal could finally be on the brink of being agreed. Sources in London and Brussels told Sky News on Wednesday evening that an agreement could be close. Eric Mamer, the chief spokesman for the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen,

Talks between the UK and EU on a post-Brexit trade deal are in the “end phase”, an EU official has told Sky News. With both sides trying to reach an agreement before the end of the transition period next week, sources in London and Brussels have told Sky News that a Brexit deal could be

More areas could be moved into Tier 4 after Christmas given the “very worrying” new coronavirus variant, a cabinet minister has told Sky News. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said the mutation “is very concentrated in London and the South East”, where full lockdown measures are already imposed. “We’ve now had time to think again about

More areas in England could be placed into Tier 4 restrictions – equivalent to a lockdown – as the variant COVID strain spreads across the country, the government’s chief scientific adviser has suggested. London and vast swathes of southeast England have already been put into tightened measures due to the high presence of the new

The post-Brexit transition period will not be extended, Downing Street says, despite growing calls for the deadline to be pushed back so the government can deal with spiking coronavirus cases and travel chaos. A growing list of countries are banning travel from the UK because of a new COVID-19 strain and France has gone one

Delivery of the coronavirus vaccine will not be disrupted as a result of France’s ban on freight and travel from the UK, the transport secretary has told Sky News. Grant Shapps said containers unaccompanied by hauliers are still allowed through the port of Dover, which is how most of the jabs arrive from Belgium, so

England has been put on notice for a New Year lockdown after the government’s chief scientific adviser demanded a massive extension of Tier 4 restrictions. With the new variant now surging across the UK, an announcement that large areas of England will join London and parts of southeast England in Tier 4 is expected on

The new strain of coronavirus has changed everything. If you took away anything else from from today’s low-key business-as-normal prime ministerial press conference, you shouldn’t have done. Expectations which were being set just a week ago have been upended, plans everywhere from the Treasury to the Department for Education are being rewritten and the start

Sophy Ridge looks back over the most extraordinary year in an end of year episode with her team, and a special guest. They discuss coronavirus, Boris Johnson, and much more. Plus they hand out some end of year awards, as well as a few Christmas presents. :: Listen to Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Apple

Boris Johnson is facing calls to overhaul the way peerages are awarded, after he handed more out more places in the House of Lords and overrode the appointments watchdog. The prime minister nominated seven Conservative figures to get law-making privileges, including old party Treasurer and donor Peter Cruddas, ex-minister Richard Benyon, and former MEPs Daniel

Signs have emerged a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU is still possible – with just nine days to go until the deadline. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held a secret call on Monday evening, according to Reuters. The news agency cited sources who said the two leaders

The government has made ”good progress” in talks with France over reopening the country’s UK border, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced. More than 2,800 lorries have been left trapped in Kent after France shut its border to UK travellers on Sunday night, following fears over the spread of a new coronavirus variant. France’s transport minister, Jean-Baptiste