Politics

After the detonation of global diplomacy we saw in the White House on Friday, all eyes are now on Downing Street. Following his early exit from the Oval Office, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has left Washington and flown directly to the UK for an urgent meeting with Sir Keir Starmer ahead of Sunday’s summit with European leaders.

The resignation of Anneliese Dodds as international development minister “won’t make a difference” to Sir Keir Starmer, Harriet Harman has said.  The Labour peer told Beth Rigby on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast that there is “such coherence” in the rest of the cabinet that her decision to quit will do little damage. Politics Live:

Anneliese Dodds has quit as international development minister over Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to slash the overseas aid budget to pay for an increase in defence spending.  Ms Dodds, who is also women and equalities minister and attends cabinet, said she was resigning from both posts “with great sadness” but would continue to support the

“Relieved is an understatement”. That’s how one senior government figure described their mood as the prime minister, his foreign secretary and the Number 10 team left the White House having cemented Sir Keir and President Trump’s personal relationship; secured a commitment to NATO; the prospect of a trade deal that could spare the UK from

The prime minister has refused to say whether further tax rises will be imposed in the spring statement. Sir Keir Starmer said the government was in the “early stages” of looking at whether tax rises or spending cuts were needed to meet Labour’s self-imposed fiscal rules. He would not say if Ms Reeves is looking

I’ve been on quite a few trips now to the White House with successive prime ministers, but I can’t remember one that mattered as much as this.  As Keir Starmer himself puts it, “everything has changed” and the prime minister finds himself negotiating with an old ally that is looking at the post-war world order

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of failing to guarantee the recently announced uplift in defence spending will not be spent on the contentious Chagos Islands deal. After initially refusing to set out a timeline to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, the prime minister confirmed on Tuesday the threshold would be met by

Sir Keir Starmer has admitted his decision to increase defence spending was “accelerated” by Donald Trump taking office. The prime minister said today’s announcement was “three years in the making” after Russia invaded Ukraine – but a “very changed context” pushed him forward. Politics Live: PM warns ‘everything has changed’ after announcing defence spending boost

Kemi Badenoch has said the US is acting in its national interest and the UK also needs to, ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s meeting with Donald Trump. The Conservative leader, giving a foreign policy speech in London on Tuesday, told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby the US is “not an authoritarian regime” and shares

People who have tracked the location of their stolen mobile phones, laptops or bikes can expect swifter police action under new measures to be introduced to parliament today. In a drive to tackle street crimes, officers will no longer need a warrant to enter a premises where stolen items have been electronically located, such as through

MP Mike Amesbury has been jailed for 10 weeks after punching a man in the street – and has been kicked out of the Labour Party. The Runcorn and Helsby MP pleaded guilty in January to assault by beating of 45-year-old Paul Fellows in Main Street, Frodsham, Cheshire, in the early hours of 26 October.

The prime minister has announced £200m for Grangemouth ahead of the closure of Scotland’s last oil refinery. Sir Keir Starmer, speaking at the Scottish Labour conference on Sunday, said the cash would come from the National Wealth Fund for an “investment in Scotland’s industrial future”. Grangemouth oil refinery, on the banks of the Firth of

Sir Keir Starmer has said the United States “is right” about the UK and Europe needing to take more responsibility for defence and security. The prime minister, speaking at the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow on Sunday, said he is clear Britain “will take a leading responsibility” in protecting the continent. “Instability in Europe always

Sir Keir Starmer has urged Donald Trump to stand by Ukraine with a security guarantee as he warned a bad peace deal would be a “disaster for everyone”. The prime minister is due to meet the US president for talks in Washington DC next week amid fragile relations between America and Europe after Mr Trump

Being a politician is not always easy – and neither is it straightforward if you are in a relationship with one. Jen Wilson joins her partner Baroness Davidson on Beth Rigby‘s Electoral Dysfunction podcast where she describes how her life became “quite intense” when Ruth led the Scottish Conservatives. A caller tells the podcast that

Child criminal exploitation (CCE) and “cuckooing” will be made new offences under a new law, the home secretary has said. Set to be introduced to Parliament next week, the Crime and Policing Bill would explicitly make the two acts illegal and introduce restriction orders on those thought to be using children for criminal means. Home

The solicitors’ watchdog has said it will now investigate claims business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has made about his legal career. The Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) initially said there was “no need to take any action” after Mr Reynolds was accused of misrepresenting his past work as a lawyer. The business secretary worked for Addleshaw Goddard

Nigel Farage has said Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not a dictator and everything Donald Trump says should be taken “truthfully not literally”. Speaking to Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews, the Reform UK leader also said he did not think Ukraine started the war with Russia and claimed Mr Trump was talking about “causal factors” when

Sir Keir Starmer has held private calls with European leaders to ensure the Western alliance does not fracture, a minister has said, after Donald Trump claimed Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a “dictator”. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told Wilfred Frost on Sky News Breakfast the prime minister has spent a “quite considerable amount of time” over the

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has spoken with Volodymyr Zelenskyy to give the Ukrainian president his backing after Donald Trump called him a “dictator”. A Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir called Mr Zelenskyy this evening and shared his support for him “as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader”. The prime minister “said that it was perfectly