Politics

Sir Tony Blair was warned the Horizon IT system could be flawed before it was rolled out across the Post Office, a document shows. A letter sent to the then-Labour prime minister on 9 December 1998 by a Downing Street special adviser said pressing ahead with the project was a risk because of spiralling costs

Lord David Cameron has not ruled out the possibility of further strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, arguing the UK must do “what is necessary” to protect its ships. Speaking to NBC, Sky News’s sister outlet in the United States, the foreign secretary said “warnings” issued to the rebels – who had been attacking UK

Rishi Sunak is due to hold a full cabinet call this evening which is thought to be about UK and US military strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The meeting is due to start at 7.45pm tonight. Attacks by Houthi fighters – both on Israel and on commercial ships in the Red Sea – have stoked

Brexit has cost the UK £140bn so far, according to new analysis, and could see the nation £311bn worse off by the middle of the next decade, according to a new report. Economists and analysts at Cambridge Econometrics – commissioned by London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan – have modelled how the UK’s economy would have acted

Post Office investigators were offered monetary bonuses for successful prosecutions and confiscation of money from sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses impacted by the faulty Horizon software, the inquiry was told. Evidence from Sir Wyn Williams’ inquiry into the scandal shows there was an incentive to those making cases against innocent employees. The faulty Horizon software, developed by

The prime minister has said a new law will be introduced so people wrongly convicted in the Horizon scandal are “swiftly exonerated and compensated”. In the first Prime Minister’s Questions of the year, Rishi Sunak said he will make sure those convicted as part of the Post Office scandal will be “swiftly exonerated and compensated”.

More than 30 Tory MPs are poised to back amendments aimed at “toughening” Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill when it returns to the Commons next week. The prime minister is braced for yet another showdown with the right-wing faction of his party, which believes the legislation in its current form will not stop further legal challenges

Israel “might have taken action” in breach of international law in Gaza, the foreign secretary has said during a tense exchange with MPs on the conflict in the Middle East. Lord Cameron also confirmed two British nationals are still being held hostage by Hamas, as he made his first appearance before the Foreign Affairs Committee

The justice secretary is meeting with senior judges today to discuss ways to accelerate the appeals of those convicted in the Horizon scandal, with cabinet minister Mel Stride saying an announcement could come this week. The government is facing fresh calls to act following the airing of the ITV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post

Rishi Sunak began 2023 hounded by the contamination of the Johnson and Truss premierships, and kicks off 2024 weighed down by what happened on David Cameron’s watch, as the hundreds of Post Office managers wrongly criminalised and convicted comes back to haunt his new year.  Travelling to Accrington in the marginal seat of Hynburn on

Labour says it will introduce additional mental health counsellors to secondary schools as part of its plans to tackle rising pupil absences. The party says the UK is facing a “generational challenge”, as more than 88,000 secondary school students missed at least half of their education last year. Labour’s education pledge comes as a poll

Simon Case, the head of the civil service, has returned to work after more than two months on sick leave. The cabinet secretary, who has not publicly disclosed his illness, has been attending meetings in the last few days, the Politics At Jack And Sam’s Podcast revealed today. Mr Case was originally due to be

Rishi Sunak had doubts the government’s Rwanda asylum scheme would stop small boat crossings while he was chancellor, according to documents seen by Sky News. The Number 10 papers, prepared in March 2022 shortly before the Rwanda plan was first announced, also suggest the prime minister wanted to scale back the plans. A government source

In its long and venerable history dating back 192 years, the British Medical Association used to shy away from being called a “trades union”. Collective bargaining was for “trades people”; the doctors were independent professionals. Their association was there to campaign for best practice and to offer advice to the politicians regulating health treatment. That

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is unsure if the government can afford further tax cuts – as a National Insurance (NI) reduction comes into force today. The pre-election cut to NI, from 12% to 10%, will impact around 27 million payroll employees across the UK. A person earning the UK’s average salary of £35,000 will save £450

A former energy minister has said he will quit as a Conservative MP over new legislation “that promotes the production of new oil and gas”. Chris Skidmore has said he will resign when parliament returns next week over the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill. The senior Tory had already announced his intention to stand down at

It’s a sign of the times that the big political event to kick off 2024 was not an election-year framing speech by the current prime minister, but rather the address given by the man who, for now, is expected to be the next. Sir Keir Starmer, speaking from the marginal seat of Filton and Bradley

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to commit to unfreezing tax thresholds if Labour wins the next general election, saying he won’t make promises he can’t keep. However, the Labour leader was firmer in his position on inheritance tax, telling Sky News if the Tories reduce it, he will reverse that change because he does not

Sir Keir Starmer is launching his election campaign on Thursday – and will promise the “character of politics will change” if Labour enters power. The government has until December this year to call an election – although if it decides to go to the polls so late, the vote itself will not happen until January

Nigel Farage is still “assessing” what role he will play in the upcoming general election, the leader of Reform UK has said. Holding a news conference to kick off the long campaign for the general election expected this year, Reform UK leader Richard Tice revealed he had been talking to Mr Farage over the festive