Politics

The sacking of Azhar Ali as Labour’s candidate in the Rochdale by-election is the biggest disaster for Sir Keir Starmer in his nearly four years as leader of the party. There will now be an almighty inquest into how a candidate who had made such comments about Israel and Gaza was selected for such a

Labour’s candidate in Rochdale “fell for an online conspiracy” that led to his remarks over the 7 October attacks in Israel, a shadow minister has said. Councillor Azhar Ali told a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party in the wake of the atrocity that Israel deliberately allowed the massacre to go ahead to give it

Labour’s by-election candidate in Rochdale was “completely wrong” to say Israel deliberately allowed the 7 October massacre to give it the “green light” to invade Gaza, the party’s UK campaign coordinator has said. But senior shadow frontbencher Pat McFadden told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips confirmed Azhar Ali will still stand for the

The defence secretary is said to be “furious” after it was reported the British Army wants to relax security clearance vetting for overseas recruits to boost diversity and inclusion. The UK’s armed forces are looking overseas to boost ethnic minority representation because they have consistently failed to hit recruitment targets, according to The Sunday Telegraph.

Fujitsu is set to have received more than £3.4bn through contracts from Treasury-linked organisations since 2019, despite its role in the Post Office scandal, MPs have found. The international tech firm, which is under intense scrutiny, was awarded around £1.4bn worth of deals since a 2019 High Court ruling concluding there had been numerous bugs

Rishi Sunak has promised to reward hard work with tax cuts as he struck an optimistic note over the UK’s economic prospects. Official figures next week may show the UK slipped into a technical recession at the end of last year, while the prime minister is facing a heavy opinion poll deficit against Labour and

Sir Keir Starmer’s first conversation with his future wife ended with her snapping “Who the f*** does he think he is?” The Labour leader told British Vogue that he didn’t have the “best of starts” with his now spouse, Victoria. The pair first spoke over the phone when Sir Keir called the former solicitor to

Rishi Sunak has published his personal tax return, showing he paid more than half a million pounds in UK tax last year. The document shows he paid a tax bill of £508,308 in the financial year 2022-23. His income included £1.8m in capital gains, as well as his £150,000 prime minister’s salary. The prime minister

The dentist Rishi Sunak visited in Cornwall to promote his “recovery plan” is not accepting new NHS patients, it has emerged. The prime minister met staff and patients at Gentle Dental in Newquay on Thursday. Politics Live: Starmer ditches his ‘biggest dividing line’ with Tories He told broadcasters that “it hasn’t been easy enough for

Rishi Sunak should apologise for his transgender jibe which was made while Brianna Ghey’s mother was in parliament, Gordon Brown has told Sky News. The former PM was speaking to the Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge a day after the current occupier of Number 10 joked during Prime Minister’s Questions about Sir Keir Starmer’s record

The father of murdered transgender teenager Brianna Ghey has demanded an apology from Rishi Sunak, saying he was “disgusted” with the prime minister’s comments in the Commons today. Speaking to Sky News, Peter Spooner said Mr Sunak’s remarks during PMQs, which the schoolgirl’s mother Esther attended, were “degrading” and “absolutely dehumanising”. He said: “As the

The debate surrounding trans rights – and how far governments should go in promoting and advancing them – is at the bitter heart of the culture wars. The Conservatives know it’s an issue which concerns many of their voters, and it’s long been a central part of Rishi Sunak’s regular attack on Sir Keir Starmer

Shortly after Liz Truss and co took to the stage to launch the new Popular Conservatism – or “PopCon” – movement, pitching itself as an anti-woke, anti-green, anti-elite, anti-immigration voice of the voter, my phone buzzed with a message from a very disgruntled MP. “What everyone is privately thinking is that the rules must change

Nigel Farage believes it’s possible to replace the Conservative Party with his own Reform Party as he predicts an “extinction event” for the government at the next election. Mr Farage was speaking to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby at the launch of the Popular Conservatism (PopCon) group in Westminster. Headlined by former prime minister

Rishi Sunak has wished the King a “speedy recovery” after Buckingham Palace announced he was diagnosed with a form of cancer. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on X: “Wishing His Majesty a full and speedy recovery. “I have no doubt he’ll be back to full strength in no time and I know the whole country

Rishi Sunak has insisted the priority in Northern Ireland is “day-to-day” governing rather than “constitutional change”. The prime minister was in Northern Ireland to celebrate the restoration of power-sharing in the nation. This came after changes were made to the post-Brexit settlement, reducing the checks on goods travelling between Northern Ireland and the rest of

Rishi Sunak is visiting Northern Ireland to celebrate the restoration of power-sharing at Stormont, where he will meet the country’s first nationalist first minister. Over the weekend, an executive was finally re-established after almost two years without one in the region. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which had been holding up the process, allowed a

The Clapham chemical attack is “not really about asylum”, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has claimed. A manhunt is still under way for Abdul Ezedi following the attack on Wednesday 31 January in which a mother, 31, and her two children, three and eight, were hospitalised. After two failed attempts, the 35-year-old suspect’s asylum claim to

The UK armed forces are losing personnel faster than they can recruit, leaving their “warfighting readiness” in doubt, according to a new report by the Defence Committee. The report also found the military has “key capability and stockpile shortages” that would hamper its ability to engage in “all-out, prolonged war”. The report comes amid intensifying

It was dubbed “a Protestant parliament for a Protestant people” but 90 years later, there is a Catholic in the office of the first minister. When Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill accepted the nomination, in the Irish language, a nationalist held the highest title in devolved government for the first time. The sense of history was