Politics

Rishi Sunak’s new Safety of Rwanda Bill should stop 99.5% of legal claims made by migrants to block their deportation, a minister has said. The prime minister is trying to convince his own backbenchers to support the legislation – with both the right of the Conservatives and separately the One Nation caucus set to announce

The Metropolitan Police has closed its investigation into whether COVID rules were broken during a gathering in parliament on 8 December 2020. The event was reportedly hosted by the deputy speaker of the Commons, Eleanor Laing, to mark the birthdays of Conservative MP Virginia Crosby and peer Baroness Jenkin – the wife of fellow Tory

“End of days”. “A death spiral”. “They’ve lost the plot”. “I feel sorry for Rishi”. These are just some of the comments from former cabinet and ex-senior ministers mulling over the current state of the Conservative Party and what the prime minister does next. Politics live: Partygate coverage ‘absolutely absurd’, claims Johnson The battle over

Rishi Sunak has dodged questions over whether he will call a general election if he loses a crunch vote on his Rwanda bill – which he insisted was not a vote of confidence in his leadership. The prime minister repeatedly defended the bill from its critics at a press conference on Thursday as questions mount

A vote on Rishi Sunak’s emergency Rwanda bill should not be seen as a matter of confidence in his leadership, a government minister has said. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris told Sky News he believed “all Conservatives” would vote for the bill when it is put to the Commons next week – despite it not

Rwanda has not received any additional funding for the new treaty it has signed to revive the UK government’s asylum plan, the home secretary has said. James Cleverly told a press conference in the Rwandan capital of Kigali: “Let me make it clear. The Rwandan government has not asked for and we have not provided

Police are hunting a man accused of spraying antisemitic graffiti on an MP’s office building. Feryal Clark’s constituency office in Hertford Road, Enfield, north London, was vandalised just after 11pm on 21 November, the Metropolitan Police said. A CCTV image of the suspect, with his hood up and wearing a blue face mask, was published

Rwanda may be getting more than the £140m it has already been paid under the controversial deportation deal, despite no flights taking off, MPs have been told. Sir Matthew Rycroft, the top civil servant at the Home Office, hinted more money would be spent but repeatedly refused to disclose the sum – saying ministers had

The UK’s largest nursing union is calling for the government to reopen pay negotiations after an offer was made to consultant doctors, in a move that has angered other health unions. The Royal College of Nursing – RCN – has suggested new strikes are “more likely in the future” as a result of yesterday’s announcement.

James Cleverly will announce he is still reviewing measures to reduce legal migration on Monday, as the government fights to convince its own backbenchers it can exercise control over UK borders. Next month Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will then set out the results of the review alongside details of the new treaty with Rwanda and

Boris Johnson has heaped further pressure on Rishi Sunak over the UK’s “all-time high” net migration figures, as he suggested “demographic change” had led to “race riots” in Dublin. The former prime minister criticised net migration numbers released this week as “way too big” and suggested imposing a minimum income of £40,000 for those who

The UK achieving herd immunity from COVID was a “clearly ridiculous goal of policy” and “very dangerous”, England’s chief medical officer has told the public inquiry into the pandemic. Giving evidence for a second day on Wednesday, Professor Sir Chris Whitty said 80% of the population would have had to have contracted coronavirus to achieve

The government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda is “probably dead” after it was ruled unlawful this week by the Supreme Court, one of its former justices has said. The court confirmed its “unanimous” decision on Wednesday after 18 months of legal battles, saying those sent to the country would be at “real risk”

The government’s Rwanda plan, devised to tackle illegal migration, has been dismissed by the Supreme Court, ending over 18 months of legal battles in the UK. Lord Reed announced the “unanimous” judgment from the court’s justices on Wednesday, saying those sent to the country would be at “real risk” of being returned home, whether their

There have been 16 housing ministers in the last 13 years of Conservative rule – seven of those in the last two years alone. With Lee Rowley taking over the housing brief after the prime minister’s latest reshuffle, on the Sky News Daily we’ll be exploring why there has been so many, and if any

Monday brought us the marmalade dropper reshuffle with the return of former prime minister David Cameron. But when it comes to the fate of Rishi Sunak’s government with voters, Wednesday could well prove a much more consequential moment. Politics Hub: Braverman launches scathing attack on PM Because tomorrow the Supreme Court will rule on whether

Highly-confusing and complex coronavirus laws were difficult to understand for the police and the public, Dame Priti Patel has told the COVID inquiry. The former home secretary said the creation of such laws during the pandemic was “suboptimal”, and the inquiry into the crisis also heard officers were given as little as 16 minutes’ warning

The former head of the civil service, Lord Mark Sedwill, will give evidence to the COVID Inquiry today, after claims surfaced that he wanted people to hold “chicken pox parties” to promote herd immunity at the start of the pandemic. The ex-cabinet secretary made a surprise exit from Whitehall in September 2020 amid reports of

Boris Johnson said he would rather “let the bodies pile high” than impose another lockdown in September 2020, according to one of his most veteran aides – despite the former prime minister denying making the remark several times. Edward Udny-Lister made the revelation to the COVID inquiry today. It backs up reports in The Daily

Tougher sentences for the country’s most serious offenders and a crackdown on grooming have taken centre stage in the first King’s Speech in decades. The King struck a personal note when he began his speech – the first by a king in over 70 years – by acknowledging the “legacy of service and devotion to