UK

Here are all the main announcements from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement to MPs: • Energy bill aid for households extended beyond April for a further year through energy price guarantee, but average annual bill will be £3,000 from current £2,500. Amounts to around £500 support for households. • Additional cost of living payments next

Jeremy Hunt will promise to weather an economic “storm” by raising taxes, cutting public spending and scaling back energy support to fill a £54bn black hole in the nation’s finances. The chancellor will insist to MPs on Thursday that his autumn statement puts the UK on a “balanced path to stability” as he tackles the

Iran has made at least 10 threats this year to kidnap or kill people in the UK deemed as “enemies of the regime”, the head of MI5 has revealed. Ken McCallum also warned the UK must be ready for more aggression from Russia, saying that over 100 suspected Russian spies have been refused entry to

There has been a higher than expected leap in the rate of inflation, to a 41-year high of 11.1% last month, led by the latest rise in energy bills. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed the increase, from 10.1% in September, as the cost of light and heating for homes rose further despite help

A two-year-old boy’s death was caused by “extensive” mould in his family’s flat, a coroner has concluded in a case that should be “a defining moment” for the housing sector. Awaab Ishak died shortly after his second birthday in December 2020. Joanne Kearsley, the coroner, found that he “died as a result of a severe

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will announce a rise in the national living wage this week, Sky News understands. Mr Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will accept an official recommendation to increase the living wage from £9.50 an hour to about £10.40 an hour, according to news first reported in The Times. The rise of nearly

A gang of armed robbers have been jailed for a total of 141 years after a wave of violent attacks on security guards refilling cash machines. They used guns, knives, hammers and crowbars to terrorise staff before fleeing in a fleet of stolen vehicles and leaving few clues behind them. When banknotes got stained by

Home Secretary Suella Braverman will travel to Paris to sign a new joint declaration with French officials to ramp up efforts to stop migrant crossings in the Channel. The home secretary will sign the agreement with French interior minister Gerald Darmanin on Monday morning. According to the Financial Times, the agreement will significantly increase the

As it was revealed a total of 40,885 migrants have reached UK shores in 2022, Sky’s Europe news editor Sophie Garratt and her team headed to Calais, where they discovered people traffickers are adapting to new methods to evade getting caught. Below is her harrowing account of migrants using a dangerous taxi boat service to

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has warned there will be no rabbits in the upcoming budget, describing himself as “Scrooge who is going to do things that make sure Christmas is never cancelled”. Mr Hunt spoke to The Sunday Times ahead of Thursday’s autumn statement, which is likely to see a number of tough measures taken to

Thousands of migrants passing through the Manston processing centre will be vaccinated against diphtheria after dozens of cases of the highly contagious disease were confirmed in England, health authorities have said. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it is moving with the Home Office to vaccinate migrants at the centre after it revealed on

Five days after being smuggled into the UK in a lorry, Albanian Iva Memaj dialled the Home Office’s freephone number to claim asylum. “I feel very excited for my future,” she told us. “I feel safe here.” Iva said she ran from the lorry when it got to England, hid and was then picked up

England manager Gareth Southgate has encouraged players to reassess their social media usage and ensure it doesn’t affect their happiness and mood at the World Cup. It comes after black players were targeted with racist abuse after England’s defeat on penalties in last year’s European Championship final. Now Southgate’s side is about to leave for

The UK economy contracted by 0.2% in the third quarter, early official figures show – prompting the chancellor to warn that the “tough road ahead” will require “extremely difficult decisions”. The figure marked the first step towards recession. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a dip in output for September, leaving gross domestic product

A man has been sentenced to a further 15 years in prison – in addition to the 18 he has already served – for setting his partner on fire and causing her death 21 years later. Steven Craig, 58, covered Jacqueline Kirk in petrol and set her alight in a car park in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset

Boy George has revealed his mother was in hospital during the pandemic and said if she had not survived he would have quit I’m A Celebrity when Matt Hancock entered the jungle. The Culture Club singer was in tears after the former health secretary, who was booted out of the Conservative Party over his decision

A nursing union representing hundreds of thousands of nurses has voted to hold the first nationwide strike in its 106-year history. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the strike will affect the majority of NHS employers in the UK as nurses take action against pay levels and patient safety concerns. The union said that

Rishi Sunak will face PMQs this afternoon – hours after his ally Sir Gavin Williamson quit over bullying claims. The prime minister’s judgement is being questioned after he emerged that he appointed Sir Gavin to a senior role despite being aware of an investigation related to his behaviour. Sir Gavin’s departure as Cabinet Office minister

Labour has called on Rishi Sunak to block Boris Johnson’s “conveyer belt of cronies” resignation peerages. Scotland Secretary Alister Jack, former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, former minister Nigel Adams and the outgoing COP26 President Alok Sharma are among those expected to be nominated by the former prime minister to be elevated to the House of

A contentious plan to build a new royal yacht has been scrapped, the defence secretary has confirmed. The successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was expected to cost around £200m, was announced by Boris Johnson in May 2021. Mr Johnson, the prime minister at the time, said it would reflect “the UK’s burgeoning status