UK

The crew behind a historic rocket launch from UK soil have vowed to bounce back after their highly anticipated space mission ended in failure. LauncherOne suffered an “anomaly” in its bid to reach orbit on Monday night, after being carried skyward from Spaceport Cornwall by a converted jumbo jet named Cosmic Girl. There was raucous

The UK is considering supplying Ukraine with British tanks for the first time to fight Russia’s invading forces, Sky News understands. Discussions have been taking place “for a few weeks” about delivering a number of the British Army’s Challenger 2 main battle tank to the Ukrainian armed forces, a Western source with knowledge of the

MPs have been accused of failing to provide “sufficient” transparency after a Sky News investigation struggled to uncover basic details about who is behind major donations. Among the top donors to individual politicians are companies where little detail was provided in the MPs’ declarations about who they are, who is in charge and where they

MPs have earned £17.1m on top of their salaries in this parliament, with around two-thirds of the money going to just 20 MPs. As part of Westminster Accounts, a joint project between Sky News and Tortoise Media to shine a light on how money works in politics, we found the majority of the extra earnings

Without greater transparency, money risks influencing our politics in the dark, it’s time to check who is paying our politicians and to ask why. More than £183m has flowed into the British political system during this Parliament, straight from wealthy individuals or companies, and into the bank accounts of political parties, all-party parliamentary groups, and

The prime minister found talks on the NHS crisis “highly valuable”, his spokesperson has said, as the health secretary tweeted two possible “solutions” that may help solve challenges in the sector. It came after a day in which ministers, health leaders and clinical experts met at Number 10 in an attempt to solve short and

Ministers, health leaders and clinical experts will meet in Downing Street today in an attempt to solve the short and long-term issues facing the health service. Rishi Sunak will host the NHS recovery forum in Number 10 as the winter crisis rolls on, with discussions focusing on social care and delayed discharge, urgent and emergency

A senior Taliban leader has told Prince Harry that the militants he killed in Afghanistan were “not chess pieces, they were humans”. Responding to revelations in Harry’s new memoir that he killed 25 Taliban fighters, Anas Haqqani, a senior aide to the interior minister, tweeted: “Mr Harry! The ones you killed were not chess pieces,

Prince Harry has said he saw a “red mist” in Prince William during an argument between them, claiming his brother “wanted me to hit him back, but I chose not to”. In a new trailer for ITV’s forthcoming interview with the Duke of Sussex, he recounts an altercation with his brother. “What was different here

Prince Harry has written about the moment he found out that his mother, Princess Diana, had been in a car accident. Other revelations in the book include:• The duke admits he took cocaine• He says he killed 25 people in Afghanistan• He says he asked his father not to marry Camilla• He says his father

Prince Harry reportedly claims he was physically attacked by his brother William during a row over his marriage to Meghan Markle. The Guardian has obtained a copy of Spare – the Duke of Sussex’s highly anticipated book – days before it was due to hit the shelves. In a leaked extract, it is alleged that

Rishi Sunak has pledged to boost the economy, cut hospital waiting lists and stop migrant crossings in the Channel in his first speech of 2023. Speaking in Stratford, the prime minister laid out his priorities for 2023 and asked the public to judge his premiership on five promises. These pledges are: to halve inflation; to

Pupils in England will study maths up until the age of 18 under plans to be unveiled by Rishi Sunak. The prime minister will say there is a need to “reimagine our approach to numeracy” in his first speech of the year today, adding: “Letting our children out into the world without those skills is

The health secretary has blamed high cases of flu, COVID and fears about Strep A for the “massive pressure” the NHS faced over the festive period. Several trusts have announced critical incidents in recent days, and ambulances have waited hours outside hospitals to transfer their patients, as the government faces growing questions over what it

There is “not a bottomless pit of money” to be spent on increasing workers’ pay, Transport Secretary Mark Harper has warned the RMT union – as rail staff undertake further strike action today. Mr Harper told Sky News “there is a fair and reasonable pay offer on the table” and said it is “deeply unhelpful”

Prince Harry has said “I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back” in the release of a trailer for an upcoming TV interview. The Duke of Sussex also says “I want a family, not an institution” and “they’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile”. In a series

Pressure on the NHS is worse now than it was at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a leading doctor has said. Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said “urgent action” is required to bring the NHS back from the brink. Speaking to Sky News, he said the National Health Service

Police searching for a teenage arsonist who has escaped from a mental health facility have warned the public: “Do not approach him under any circumstance”. Johnny Brady, a 19-year-old who is serving a hospital order for serious assault and arson, escaped St Andrew’s Healthcare facility in Northampton at about 3.30pm on New Year’s Eve. Brady

A tribute to the late Queen and a show of support for Ukraine were among the features of London’s New Year fireworks, as more than 100,000 people gathered on the banks of the Thames to mark the beginning of 2023. Some 12,000 fireworks streaked across the sky in the sold-out show, which was created with

At lunchtime on New Year’s Eve, Sky News counted 24 ambulances parked outside the A&E department at the Royal Stoke University Hospital. A nurse from inside the hospital was coming out to check on patients who were waiting in the ambulances receiving treatment from paramedics. A member of ambulance staff told Sky News that their