Politics

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

George Galloway told Sky News he “despises” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when asked about the prime minister’s speech condemning extremism. The Workers Party of Britain leader won the Rochdale by-election with 12,335 votes – more than 5,000 votes over second placed independent David Tully – and focused much of his campaign on the plight of

Rishi Sunak has railed against “extremist forces trying to tear us apart” during a Downing Street address to the nation. The prime minister said there has been a “shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality” and added that “now our democracy itself is a target”. He described the Rochdale by-election result on Thursday night as

Controversial left-wing firebrand George Galloway has won the Rochdale by-election. The former Labour MP and Celebrity Big Brother contestant, who was standing for the Workers Party of Britain, won 12,335 votes. Labour had been expected to win the seat until its campaign was thrown into disarray by leaked recordings of their candidate Azhar Ali making

Michael Gove has been placed under investigation by parliament’s standards watchdog. It relates to the housing secretary’s register of financial interests. Further details will remain confidential until the inquiry is concluded – and those under investigation are barred from discussing the allegations. Although the cause of investigation has not been published, last week the Guardian