Politics

The Church of England has said the government slashing funding available for listed places of worship repairs will only provide “temporary relief” and is concerned about a cap affecting larger projects. Heritage minister Sir Chris Bryant, a former Anglican priest, announced the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme will receive £23m for 2025/26 compared with

It presented Sir Keir Starmer with his first big challenge in office, and the Southport stabbings – followed by riots – look set to colour the early stages of his premiership. He dealt with the immediate aftermath by successfully mobilising the justice system and fast-tracking offenders through it – a throwback to his days as

👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈 After “going dark” for most of the week, Beth pops up in Poland to talk world politics with Ruth and Harriet. Top security, a slow train and Russian drones are all part of the inside story of the prime minister’s visit to

The UK has laid out a new economic relationship with China, and to use one of China’s favourite phrases, both countries are selling it as a “win-win” situation. It’s a significant development in restoring ties between the countries. The relationship has been beset by years of tension and suspicion. Both sides want to get it

Teachers have been told it is “not the right time to strike” after the largest education union said it will ask its members to reject the government’s pay rise offer. The National Education Union (NEU) will launch an indicative ballot of its members from 1 March until 11 April over the government recommendation of a

The treatment of Jess Phillips over recent days tells me all I need to know about the epidemic of misogyny, abuse and violence against women and girls that still plagues our culture. The domestic violence campaigner-turned politician, who has spent her career fighting for victims, has found herself the subject of abuse on an industrial

👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈 As winter sickness hits the NHS, Sir Keir Starmer has unveiled the government’s plans to support the service with a new partnership with the private sector. Labour want to get waiting times for non-urgent care back down to the target of 18 weeks over

The prime minister has rarely seemed so passionate as when he answered a question from Sky’s Beth Rigby on Elon Musk’s vitriolic comments about safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, who Musk described as a “witch” who should go to prison. Sir Keir Starmer was speaking at a press conference following a big new year speech on the government’s

Elon Musk has said Reform UK needs a “new leader” because Nigel Farage “doesn’t have what it takes”. The X owner posted the tweet on Sunday following days of headlines over his comments about the historic grooming scandal that took place across UK towns and cities more than a decade ago. Mr Musk, who has

Elon Musk has made “misinformed” and “misjudged” comments about the government’s response to grooming gangs in the UK, the health secretary has said. Wes Streeting also urged the tech billionaire and owner of X to “roll his sleeves up” and help the government tackle child sex abuse and exploitation online. Mr Streeting was asked about

Donald Trump’s second stint as president will be like a “24/7 bar-room brawl”, according to the UK’s former ambassador to Washington. Lord Darroch was the representative for the UK to the US between 2016 and 2019 – when Mr Trump was last in power – until cables he sent to London were leaked and showed

Government plans to boost prison capacity could cost billions more than estimated and fall short by thousands of cell spaces, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has warned. The National Audit Office (NAO) said current plans to expand prisons are “insufficient to meet future demand”, with a projected shortage of 12,400 prison places by the end of 2027.

The Home Office spent a record £5.38bn over the last year on asylum – more than a third higher than the previous year. Figures released on Thursday showed spending on asylum rose by £1.43bn in the 2023/24 financial year to £5.38bn – 36% higher than in 2022/24 when £3.95bn was spent. The latest figure, covering

Instagram is releasing a feature that will let users easily reset their algorithms, as the government strengthens its regulation of online safety. With the new reset feature, users can clear their recommended content from Explore, Reels and their feed, potentially reducing the amount of harmful content they are exposed to. It’s all part of Meta’s

Non-crime hate incidents guidance needs to be urgently changed because officers are “not the thought police”, the shadow home secretary has said. Chris Philp told a major policing conference that the police should “apply common sense and not waste time and resources” investigating incidents unless there is “an imminent risk of criminality”. He said forces

Climate change, the crisis in the Middle East, the continuing war in Ukraine, combating global poverty. All of these are critical issues for Britain and beyond; all of them up for discussions at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro this week, and all of them very much in limbo as the world awaits the

👉 Listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app👈 Beth, Ruth and Harriet work out what Donald Trump’s second presidency will mean for the UK as they debrief after the American election. They heard from one of Theresa May’s advisers who had to deal with Trump when he was last in the White House and

UK and European leaders will collectively react to Donald Trump’s win as they meet to discuss security today – and it casts a very long shadow. As the enormity of the US result sinks in, Sir Keir Starmer will join a summit in Budapest hosted by the president-elect’s biggest cheerleader on the continent, Hungarian Prime

Reform MP Lee Anderson has been told to apologise in the House of Commons for “swearing twice at a security officer after his pass did not work” as he tried to enter parliament. A report by the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) now requires Mr Anderson to “make an apology in the House of Commons for

We’ve been here before. Yvette Cooper is the third home secretary to promise to reform procedure for armed police officers after the shooting of Chris Kaba. But then we have had three home secretaries in the past year: Tories Suella Braverman and James Cleverly and now Labour’s Ms Cooper. It was when dozens of officers