Politics

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

Firearms officers on trial over police shootings will not be named during criminal proceedings, the home secretary has announced. Yvette Cooper made the announcement after police marksman Martyn Blake was cleared by a jury on Monday of the murder of Chris Kaba in Streatham, south London, in September 2022. Mr Blake, 40, fired a single

If Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in November this could be rather awkward. The Trump-Vance campaign have accused the Labour Party of “blatant foreign interference” in the US election and are demanding a formal investigation into Labour members’ campaigning for their Democratic rival Kamala Harris. But is this anything new, or just a

The world “will not tolerate any more excuses on humanitarian assistance” from Israel on the situation in Gaza, the prime minister has said. Speaking following a meeting with US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, Sir Keir Starmer sought to make the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar a

The world “will not tolerate any more excuses on humanitarian assistance” from Israel on the situation in Gaza, the prime minister has said. Speaking following a meeting with US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, Sir Keir Starmer sought to make the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar a

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper attended Taylor Swift’s concert in London for free using tickets provided to her husband by the megastar’s music label Universal, Sky News can reveal. Ms Cooper went as a guest of her husband, former Labour minister Ed Balls, who was given four tickets on 4 August, before Ms Swift’s shows in

A student who heckled Sir Keir Starmer during his speech at the Labour Party conference has told Sky News the prime minister would “not lift a finger” to help the people of Gaza amid the conflict with Israel. Daniel Riley, who is 18 and from Jersey, interrupted Sir Keir’s speech in Liverpool to shout about

Nurses have rejected the government’s offer of a 5.5% pay rise, the Royal College of Nursing has said. Two thirds of nursing staff voted against the current year’s pay award, with a record high 145,000 members of the union casting a vote. In a letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting MP, RCN general secretary Professor

Climate action will be central to “all” foreign policy, David Lammy will say on Tuesday, as the new government seeks to rebrand the UK’s international image. On Tuesday, the foreign secretary will use his first major speech in his new role to address the climate and nature crises and how they intersect with geopolitics, conflict

The Criminal Bar Association has warned the government against increasing sentencing powers for magistrates, saying the “knee-jerk reaction” would “simply make things worse” for overcrowded prisons. Reports over the weekend claimed the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) was looking at doubling the sentences that magistrates were allowed to impose from six months to a year, enabling

Former Labour MP Harriet Harman has called for the police to act “quicker” when it comes to their investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire. The public inquiry into the west London blaze that saw 72 killed in 2017 delivered its final report on Wednesday. Politics live: MPs to get vote on winter fuel payment cuts

The Metropolitan Police has ended its investigation into the general election betting scandal without bringing any charges. A number of Conservative politicians and officials, as well as police officers based around parliament, got into hot water over allegations they had placed bets on the timing of July’s vote before it had been publicly announced by

The government will not be able to end the “8am scramble” for GP appointments without a significant increase in funding, doctors have warned. During the election campaign, Labour promised to “end the 8am scramble by allowing patients to easily book appointments to see the doctor they want, in the manner they choose”. But the Doctors’

Conservative leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat has called Elon Musk’s claim civil war was inevitable in the UK “delusional”. In his first major speech since declaring his bid for the Conservative leadership, the former security minister hit out at the billionaire X owner who has been criticising Sir Keir Starmer’s response to the week of riots

Sir Keir Starmer has spoken with the Iranian president as part of international efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, Sky News understands. The 30-minute phone conversation with Masoud Pezeshkian followed a joint statement on Monday issued with France, the US and Germany calling on Iran and its allies not to “jeopardise the opportunity

Elon Musk has branded Sir Keir Starmer a “hypocrite” over his approach to policing – while also goading the prime minister over a Labour MP’s historical tweets. Musk has been sparring with Sir Keir since last week after the prime minister blamed social media companies for allowing the spread of false claims that the Southport

Sir Keir Starmer has told police chiefs to remain “on high alert” after anticipation of more disorder largely failing to materialise on Wednesday. The prime minister is understood to have told an emergency COBRA meeting that the levels of policing and swift justice in response to the past week’s unrest has “undoubtedly” worked as a

A sharp rise in families living in temporary accommodation has prompted calls from English councils for the government to deal with the homelessness crisis. The total number of people living in temporary accommodation across England rose by 12.3% to a record 117,450 households in the year up to March 2024, the latest government data shows.

Billionaire media baron Elon Musk is engaged in a war of words with Sir Keir Starmer over the role social media has played in riots around the UK. The X owner began to retweet posts a few days after the Southport stabbings and after the prime minister fired a warning shot to social media companies

The home secretary has said prison places “are ready” for the “thuggish minority of criminals” rioting across the UK, ahead of an emergency COBRA meeting today. Yvette Cooper will hold the emergency meeting this morning following nearly a week of rioting in cities and towns across the UK. More than 140 people have been arrested