Politics

Two of Westminster’s best-connected journalists – Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard – provide the essential guide to politics in the week ahead. They look to what’s in store at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool – including how Sir Keir Starmer will lay out his priorities ahead of a general election –

Labour has been warned against being “too timid” and “limping into Number 10” by the head of its biggest donor on the eve of the party’s conference in Liverpool. Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said she wanted the party to resemble the reforming Labour government of 1945 led by Clement Attlee in the

When Labour last met in Liverpool for its annual conference, Liz Truss had just delivered her mini-Budget, sterling had fallen to a 37-year low and the markets were about to be plunged into turmoil. With her government imploding and weeks after the Johnson collapse, Labour were on a high. Sir Keir Starmer had clocked up

This Labour Party conference will feel different. Unlike the Conservatives, they don’t need a big comeback moment to save them from dire polling, nor are there peacocking leadership hopefuls waiting in the wings (or at least, there is no looming vacancy). Instead, particularly after the massive win in the Rutherglen by-election, this is a party

Labour rallies in Scotland have been far from headline news for a very long time.  Their political sparkle fizzled out in the wake of the independence referendum in 2014 as an electoral punishment for teaming up with the Conservatives in a bitterly bruising campaign. Opponents have repeatedly poked fun at Labour’s failures at the polls,

Scottish Labour has won the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election. Michael Shanks replaces shamed MP Margaret Ferrier, who was ousted from her seat in August following a successful recall petition for breaching COVID restrictions during lockdown in 2020. Voters took to the polls between 7am and 10pm on Thursday and out of the 82,104 electorate,

Sir Keir Starmer has criticised Rishi Sunak for failing to address the rising cost of living in his party conference speech after Sky News revealed how families are struggling to afford baby formula. The Labour leader was asked if he would commit to more support for struggling families after the report, which found that formula

There are fresh calls to clean up politics with stronger rules around lying after senior Tories made false statements around meat taxes and 15-minute cities at their annual party conference. Green MP Caroline Lucas told Sky News a “dishonesty epidemic is infecting the Tory party” as she called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to acquaint

He may have been prime minister for a year, but his speech to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester felt almost like the moment Rishi Sunak introduced himself for the first time. A speech rich in announcements and packed with messages about Rishi the man and his values. He and his team knew the speech

Rishi Sunak will try and convince the public he is the person to “fundamentally change the country” and fix Westminster’s “broken system” – despite the fact his party has been in government for 13 years. The prime minister will try to present himself as a reformer who is prepared to take difficult decisions, unlike opponents,

HS2 will start at Euston rather than Old Oak Common – but between Birmingham and Manchester it will not be high speed, Sky News understands. The rail line will stop in Manchester, but from Birmingham it will switch to use existing West Coast Mainline track. It will therefore not be high speed after Birmingham –

Transgender women will be banned from being treated in female hospital wards, under new proposals suggested by the health secretary. In his conference speech, Steve Barclay will reportedly announce plans to push back against what he calls “wokery” in the NHS, which he says has led to women’s rights being increasingly sidelined. Speaking to the

The northern leg of the HS2 line is set to be scrapped, Sky News understands. Rumours had been circling for weeks that the high-speed rail line between Birmingham and Manchester was going to be axed by the prime minister and chancellor due to soaring costs. Even the reports – which have been denied by Number

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has refused to commit to tax cuts ahead of the next election, despite growing calls from inside his party. His cabinet colleague Michael Gove told Sky News on Sunday that he wanted to see “the tax burden reduced” by the time the public goes to the polls. But speaking to Kay Burley

Michael Gove has called for a tax cut before the next general election – putting him at odds with the chancellor on the first day of Conservative Party conference. Jeremy Hunt told The Times newspaper on Saturday the government was “not in a position to talk about tax cuts at all”, and needed to focus

Top Tories are setting out their policies as the Conservative Party conference kicks off in Manchester – with levelling up, immigration, Ukraine and the next general election on the agenda. Rishi Sunak has announced that more than 50 “overlooked” British towns will be given £20m each over the next 10 years to regenerate high streets,

Grassroots Conservative supporters are saying they want to oust Rishi Sunak and “go to war” with the liberal wing of the party in leaked WhatsApp messages obtained by Sky News. We have obtained the discussions amongst members of the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO), founded in December 2022 by donor and Johnson-backer Lord Peter Cruddas after

Rishi Sunak has said he is “slamming the brakes on the war on motorists” – with the government confirming that councils will be stopped from enforcing blanket 20mph speed limits. Low-traffic neighbourhoods are also in the prime minister’s crosshairs and will only be permitted where there is local consent. The Department for Transport added that

Rishi Sunak is considering removing the winter fuel allowance from all but the poorest pensioners as a way of clawing back some taxpayer funds from the elderly as he prepares to fight the next election on a pledge to keep the pension triple lock despite its spiralling costs. Government figures told Sky News the prime

Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson have overseen the largest set of tax rises since the Second World War, according to economic analysis. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimates that – by the time of the next general election – the tax burden will have risen to around 37% of national income. This equates to