Politics

Rishi Sunak will hit the airwaves to sell his budget later, after it was warned that the chancellor’s economic set piece will leave the poorest families “far worse off”. Having vowed to build “a stronger economy for the British people” after the coronavirus crisis in his address on Wednesday, Mr Sunak will face questions about

A Treasury minister has not joined the traditional pre-budget photo in Downing Street due to his agoraphobia, he has revealed. Simon Clarke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is a senior member of Chancellor Rishi Sunak‘s team and has helped prepare Wednesday’s budget and spending review. He would have been expected to line up outside

This is, technically speaking, Rishi Sunak’s third budget. But it might better be thought of as his first. After all, the first two of them, in March of 2020 and 2021, were so embroiled in all things COVID that they might be better thought of as emergency budgets. Neither gave much thought to the longer-term

Millions of nurses, teachers and members of the armed forces will receive a pay rise next April as Rishi Sunak unfreezes public sector pay in the budget. In his second pay giveaway in 24 hours, after announcing a rise in the national living wage, the chancellor confirmed he is ending a one-year COVID freeze imposed

Ministers should resign for briefing out details of the budget in advance of the chancellor’s address to MPs on Wednesday, the Speaker has suggested. Sir Lindsay Hoyle made his feelings known in the Commons after a weekend of announcements revealing the contents of Rishi Sunak‘s budget. “At one time, ministers did the right thing if

The chancellor is set to increase the national living wage to £9.50 in Wednesday’s budget, Sky News has been told. It will rise from the current living wage of £8.91 per hour for those aged 23 and over, which the government says will give full-time workers an extra £1,000 a year. The national living wage

When Rishi Sunak stands up to deliver his budget and three-year spending review on Wednesday it will be his first real opportunity to set the tenor of his chancellorship unencumbered from the immediate crisis of COVID – although the fall-out of this pandemic will undoubtedly loom large. It will make a change for a chancellor

The chancellor has announced a series of spending pledges ahead of the autumn budget this week, which include £5bn for health research and innovation and £3bn for education. Rishi Sunak has promised to do “whatever it takes” to support families with the cost of living, as he pre-empts Wednesday’s address in the House of Commons.

England’s regional mayors have welcomed a £6.9bn spending boost for local transport – but they are also being warned of a “massive sting in the tail” to come from Chancellor Rishi Sunak. At next week’s budget and spending review, Mr Sunak is expected to announce £5.7bn will be put into transport settlements for city regions,

The man accused of murdering Conservative MP Sir David Amess has appeared at the Old Bailey. Ali Harbi Ali, 25, appeared in the Central Criminal Court for the first time on Friday by video-link from high security Belmarsh prison. Ali is accused of stabbing to death the Conservative MP for Southend West during a constituency

A former British spy who wrote a dossier on Donald Trump said he once spent hours with then home secretary Theresa May, briefing her on the Russia threat. Christopher Steele also revealed he had been asked by a UK official to review sensitive government documents on Russia just days before his dossier, which alleged collusion

The government will not change the six-month gap between second doses of the coronavirus vaccine and the booster jab unless the UK’s vaccine advisory body recommends it, a health minister has said. Care minister Gillian Keegan told Kay Burley on Sky News that ministers will “do whatever” the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)

Conservative Party fundraising bosses are embroiled in a row over claims they offered dinner with the housing secretary to property developers for £4,000, Sky News can reveal. Michael Gove refused to be sat with developers at an event at the party’s conference in Manchester earlier this month following a furious behind the scenes row. He

A health minister has denied there is a “plan C” to control COVID-19 by restricting household gatherings in England at Christmas if hospital admissions get worse. Edward Argar told Sky News it is “not something I’m aware of” after reports claimed Whitehall officials are considering not allowing members of different households to meet in each

COVID cases could hit 100,000 a day, Health Secretary Sajid Javid has warned – but he confirmed England will not yet move to the government’s plan B for dealing with pressures on hospitals this winter. Speaking at a Downing Street news conference on Wednesday, Mr Javid cautioned that the coronavirus pandemic “is not over”. “Thanks

“Plan B” coronavirus restrictions must be enforced immediately to prevent the UK “stumbling to a winter crisis”, an NHS leader has warned. NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor has urged the government to bring back certain measures, including mandatory face coverings in public places. His remarks came as the UK recorded 223 COVID-related deaths on