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

People caught fly-tipping will get points on their driving licences if the Conservatives win the next general election. Rishi Sunak will make the announcement on Friday as part of his party’s election campaign, promising to crackdown on anti-social behaviour. Other measures will include a new “three strikes and you’re out” system for nuisance social housing

Angela Rayner has said Diane Abbott should be able to stand as a Labour candidate – as she denied the party’s leadership is acting in a “factional way”. The deputy Labour leader told political editor Beth Rigby on the Sky News Daily Podcast that she can’t see any reason why the veteran Corbyn ally “can’t

Labour will promise to “get police back out in the community” as they focus their campaigning on tackling crime. Speaking on Thursday, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper will reiterate the party’s pledge to put 13,000 neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs “back on the beat in communities across the country”, saying there will be “guaranteed neighbourhood

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

If the Conservatives win the general election, teenagers will be expected to take part in national service when they turn 18.  Exactly how the scheme would work has not yet been hammered out. The Tories have said they would set up a royal commission – a type of public inquiry – to come up with

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

Nobody would go to jail for refusing to comply with National Service under a Conservative government, the home secretary has said. In the Conservatives’ first policy announcement of the general election campaign, Rishi Sunak said on Saturday he would introduce a new form of mandatory National Service for 18-year-olds if his party wins the vote

Rishi Sunak has said he will introduce a new form of mandatory National Service for young people if the Conservatives win the general election. In the first new policy announcement of the campaign, the prime minister has unveiled a plan that would see 18-year-olds given the choice of a full-time military placement for 12 months

The prime minister has joked he avoided catching pneumonia after making his election announcement speech outside Number 10 in the pouring rain. Speaking during a breakfast meeting with ex-servicemen in his constituency of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Rishi Sunak assured concerned local Vicky Rudd of his health, but couldn’t guarantee his suit survived the wet weather.

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 and senior Tories have sparked the first major row of the election campaign by accusing “spineless” Sir Keir Starmer of “chickening out” of weekly TV debates. The prime minister has challenged the Labour leader to take part in six TV clashes during the campaign debating issues like tax, the cost of living and

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

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

Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader, took his opportunity at PMQs to ask the question which seems to be on everyone’s lips in Westminster – is an election about to be called? Mr Flynn used the first of his two questions to Rishi Sunak to say: “Mr Speaker, speculation is rife, so I think the

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