Politics

A minister has refused to say if the Conservatives should return money to one of its biggest donors, after reports Frank Hester said former Labour MP Diane Abbott made him “want to hate all black women”. The allegations about the chief executive of The Phoenix Partnership – who donated £10m to the Tories last year

Former Conservative deputy chair Lee Anderson has defected to Reform UK, becoming the party’s first MP in the Commons. Mr Anderson, who took the seat of Ashfield in 2019, was kicked out of the parliamentary Conservative Party for refusing to apologise after alleging that London mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by “Islamists”. And while some

Michael Gove is poised to unveil a new definition of extremism amid jitters in government at his plan. The Politics at Jack and Sam’s podcast discusses the big announcement by Rishi Sunak‘s government this week – designed to update and increase the number of organisations that are classed as “extremist” and put new limits on

Labour will not bail out bankrupt councils, the shadow chancellor has said. “I’m not going to be able to fix all the problems straightaway,” Rachel Reeves said during an interview on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips. Her comments follow Birmingham City Council effectively declaring bankruptcy after being hit with a £760m bill to

Michael Gove has urged pro-Palestinian protesters to question whether extremist groups are behind some of the demonstrations – days ahead of publishing a new official definition of extremism. The housing secretary said “good-hearted people” attending the marches should be aware they could be “lending credence” to extremists. Tens of thousands of people participated in a

Politicians have condemned a “moronic act of vandalism” after pro-Palestine activists damaged a portrait of Lord Balfour. Palestine Action shared a video on social media of a demonstrator defacing and slashing the historic painting, which hangs at the University of Cambridge’s Trinity College. In the clip, a woman can be seen spraying red paint before

Two serving ministers have broken cover to urge Rishi Sunak’s government to “lead the way” and increase defence spending to at least 2.5% at a time of growing threats. In a highly unusual intervention, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, a foreign office minister and former defence minister, and Tom Tugendhat, the security minister and an experienced soldier, published

It started with a pledge on the steps of Downing Street to tackle “burning injustices”, but Brexit sapped her energy and her time in office ended with an emotional goodbye. As Theresa May announces she is stepping down as an MP at the next election, we take a look back at the highs and lows

Former Prime Minister Theresa May has announced she will stand down as an MP at the next general election, it has been reported. In an exclusive statement to her local paper, Mrs May said she had taken the “difficult decision” to quit the Commons after 27 years representing her Maidenhead constituency. The 67-year-old also pledged

Rishi Sunak has appeared to quash lingering speculation of a May general election – saying “nothing has changed” since he last indicated it will happen in the autumn. The prime minister told reporters in January that his “working assumption” is that voters will go to the polls in “the second half of this year”. Politics

Jeremy Hunt’s budget is unlikely to win back many Tory supporters from the last election, the Sky News Voters Panel suggests.   We have spent the last fortnight interrogating the views of our YouGov-run online community of more than 50 voters who backed the Tories in the 2019 general election. Today they deliver their verdict on

The chancellor has said that the current tax system for non-doms will be abolished – and confirmed a 2p cut to national insurance. In the budget, Jeremy Hunt said “permanent cuts in taxation” were possible because of the progress made in bringing down inflation – with forecasts suggesting it will fall to the target level

Jeremy Hunt has promised to help families with “permanent cuts” in tax on the eve of the budget on Wednesday. The chancellor, who is expected to announce a 2p reduction to national insurance (NI) in what could be the last major fiscal event before the next election, said “lower tax means higher growth”. While he

Britain’s electoral map could look dramatically different after voters go to the polls this year. Labour is on course for a majority but in parts of the North of England and the Midlands, the battle is by no means straightforward. Galloway met with silence in Commons – politics latest Here, there are a number of

Rishi Sunak has suffered a number of sizeable defeats in the House of Lords over his controversial bill to rescue the stalled Rwanda plan. Peers have voted through five amendments which, if enacted in law, would make it harder for parliament to declare the African nation ‘safe’ and would require the government to comply with

George Galloway has been sworn in as an MP, following his successful election last week. He will represent Rochdale following a by-election, triggered by the death of Labour’s Sir Tony Lloyd. Mr Galloway romped to victory with a majority, with independent runner David Tully finishing in second place, the Conservatives in third and Labour in

Jeremy Hunt is considering a last minute further cut to public spending to boost the tax giveaway in Wednesday’s budget. The Politics At Jack And Sam’s podcast, out now, set out how Number 10 and 11 have spent recent days finding as many different ways of raising future revenue as possible to increase the size

The chancellor has played down expectations of tax cuts in Wednesday’s budget, telling Sky News his spending plans will be “prudent and responsible”. Speaking to Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, the cabinet minister it would be “deeply unconservative” to take decisions that were unfunded and increased borrowing. Jeremy Hunt is under pressure to deliver tax

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has tempered expectations of tax cuts in Wednesday’s budget as he announced an £800m package of technology reforms designed to free up time for frontline public sector workers. As part of Treasury reforms, police will use drones to assess incidents such as traffic collisions and artificial intelligence will be deployed to cut

A reduction in national insurance would be a “union tax cut”, the prime minister has said ahead of the budget next week. Rishi Sunak told journalists at the Scottish Conservative conference in Aberdeen on Friday that while he could not comment on what the chancellor Jeremy Hunt will announce on 6 March, he could see