Politics

Magistrates have been told to consider pushing back the sentencing of criminals because of concerns about overcrowding in prisons. Sky News has seen an internal direction sent to courts in England and Wales saying hearings due in the next two weeks should be reviewed if the defendant is currently on bail – and potentially postponed

Let’s start with one claim that’s been causing a bit of confusion today. Contrary to what the Home Office press release today suggests, small boat crossings to the UK have not fallen since last year – at least not in any sense that any normal person would understand it. Actually, the cumulative number of people

It is “laughable” for Rachel Reeves to claim she didn’t know the full state of the public finances until she took office, Ruth Davidson has said. Speaking on Beth Rigby’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives accused the new chancellor of trying to “build a political narrative” in order to justify

Almost all small boat arrivals who claimed asylum in the UK over the last year are still waiting for a decision from the Home Office, figures show. In the year ending June 2024, the Home Office said 99% of all the people arriving in small boats had an asylum claim recorded either as a main

Labour’s plan to increase detention capacity is unlikely to stop small boat crossings and the “only real solution” is a deal with the EU, the former head of the UK’s Border Force has said. Tony Smith told Sky News while the new government’s announcements – including reopening removal centres and staffing up the National Crime

Official data shows government borrowing in July was above expectations and at its highest since the pandemic. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expected borrowing to be £46.6bn – instead it reached £51.3bn. Our economics and data editor Ed Conway joins Niall Paterson to talk about the unexpected rise in government borrowing and Chancellor Rachel

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed his government will do “everything we can” to preserve jobs at the steelworks in Port Talbot. The prime minister was visiting South Wales, the region where the site is based, to walk around Alltwalis wind farm with the new First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan. The pair have been showcasing

Pensioners are being urged to check if they are eligible for the winter fuel allowance after universal payments were scrapped. Last month Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that the tax free benefit, to help older people with higher heating costs during the colder months, would be limited to those on pension credit. The surprise move was

The Scottish government has announced it will no longer hold meetings with Israeli ambassadors until “real progress has been made towards peace” in the Gaza conflict. The move comes after the SNP administration faced criticism over a meeting earlier this month between External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson and Daniela Grudsky, Israel’s deputy ambassador to the

An emergency plan to avoid overcrowding in jails could be triggered in the coming days as more rioters are sentenced, according to the Prison Officers’ Association. Operation Early Dawn is a long-standing plan that allows defendants waiting for a court appearance to be kept in police cells until prison space is available. However, it could

An emergency plan to avoid overcrowding in jails is expected to be triggered on Monday as more rioters are sentenced, Sky News understands. Operation Early Dawn is a long-standing plan that allows defendants waiting for a court appearance to be kept in police cells until prison space is available. Sky News understands that the operation

SNP MSP John Mason been stripped of the party whip following an “utterly abhorrent” social media post about the Israel-Hamas conflict. Mr Mason has been effectively expelled from the party after posting on X: “If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed ten times as many.” The Glasgow Shettleston MSP made the comment

ASLEF’s lead negotiator has denied the union sees the new government as a “soft touch” after announcing fresh strikes two days after train drivers were offered a pay deal. Drivers working for London North Eastern Railway (LNER) – which runs the passenger service on the East Coast main line between London and Edinburgh – will

Nigel Farage’s presenting job on GB News earned him nearly £98,000 a month – more than an MP’s annual salary. The Reform UK leader was earning £97,900 a month as a presenter on the news channel – meaning he received more a month than an MP’s annual salary, which currently stands at £91,346, plus expenses. According

Thousands of prisoners languishing in prison indefinitely deserve “justice” and should be resentenced as a priority, the UN’s leading torture expert has said. Speaking to Sky News, Alice Jill Edwards described sentences of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) as a “horrific indictment of the British justice system”. PM suffers post-election poll slump – politics latest

Infected blood campaigners have criticised a “derisory and insulting” offer from the government as part of the compensation scheme. The row centres around former pupils at the Lord Mayor’s Treloar’s College, where children with haemophilia were experimented on without their knowledge. Under the recently announced compensation package, victims of the scandal could receive as much

Ruth and Beth are back from their holidays to catch up on the big political stories. This time, they’re joined by the former Labour MP and ex-shadow culture secretary, Thangam Debbonaire. They talk about the riots across England in the last couple of weeks with Thangam, and question whether Sir Keir Starmer should have labelled

The education secretary has said private schools have themselves to blame for closures – not the government’s VAT policy. Bridget Phillipson said some private schools have failed to balance their books over a number of years as she denied they had closed because the government is making them pay 20% VAT on fees from January.

A funding injection of £13.5m will be given to businesses and workers affected by job losses at Tata Steel, the government will announce. Up to 2,800 jobs at Tata Steel are expected to be axed at the country’s biggest steelworks in Port Talbot as the company moves over to a greener form of steel production

People living in areas at the highest risk of flooding face cuts to key services due to a sharp rise in flood defence costs, councils have warned. The government is being urged to overhaul funding for the bodies overseeing flood alleviation as soaring costs have seen an average rise of 28% over the past two