Politics

Rishi Sunak is preparing to block laws in Scotland that make it easier for people to change gender, Sky News understands. The move would be an unprecedented intervention in 25 years of devolution and is likely to spark a new constitutional row with Holyrood. The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed by a majority

Scotland is to gain two new freeports in Cromarty Firth and the Forth, which Downing Street says will help to create over 75,000 new, high-skilled jobs. The UK and Scottish governments have jointly confirmed that Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport and Forth Green Freeport have been successful in their bids to establish new green

Boris Johnson has become the number one most donated to MP this parliament after receiving a single donation of one million pounds. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had previously been the most donated to MP with £740,000 in multiple donations, Sky News’ Westminster Accounts tool showed. But the money from Brexiteer and crypto investor Christopher

Two dozen MPs since 2016 have been paid for second jobs through personal service companies they have set up, a Sky News investigation has found. It means these MPs can exploit the fact that tax rates on companies differ from those on employment, enabling them to reduce their tax bills on second jobs. This practice

The “scandal” of MPs’ earnings from second jobs and donations exposed by Sky News’ Westminster Accounts project “needs to end” through “root-and-branch” reform, the SNP has said. The party’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn told Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates that the findings of the investigation should “ring alarm bells for everyone” and demonstrate

Prominent backbencher Andrew Bridgen is no longer a Conservative MP after he compared the COVID vaccine to the Holocaust. Mr Bridgen claimed COVID vaccines “are causing serious harms” and said the programme was “the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust”. Tory Chief Whip Simon Hart said: “Andrew Bridgen has crossed a line, causing great

All-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) have received over £20m worth of funding from external organisations since the 2019 general election, with registered lobbying agencies dominating the ranks of biggest benefactors. Companies are required by law to sign the consultant lobbyist register if they engage in direct communications with ministers in relation to government policy or legislation

Ambulance unions placed people’s lives at risk when they refused to introduce countrywide minimum levels of service during strikes last month, the business secretary has said. Grant Shapps hit out at ambulance workers for only agreeing on a local level to minimum service levels after he earlier told Sky News it was a “regional or

Sir Keir Starmer and Labour have accepted hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations from a wealthy climate activist who has also been funnelling money to Just Stop Oil – a group condemned by the party. Ecotricity, a company founded by Dale Vince, gave more than £20,000 to Sir Keir Starmer during Labour’s 2020 leadership

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

Thousands of junior doctors will start voting on Monday on whether to strike over pay in the latest outbreak of industrial unrest. About 45,000 British Medical Association (BMA) members in England are being balloted, with a result set for the end of February. If they reach the 50% ‘yes’ threshold, junior doctors – any doctor

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

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

The chair of the Public Accounts Committee has told Sky News she “could weep for the five years” lost by the decision to abolish the organisation set up to managed the long-term renovation of parliament. Dame Meg Hillier MP says there is an “unacceptable cloak of secrecy” around the restoration programme which she says was

Ministers, health leaders and clinical experts will meet in Downing Street on Saturday 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

Junior doctors will go on strike for the second time ever in March – if they vote for industrial action in a ballot beginning next week. The British Medical Association (BMA) has today set the potential strike action for March ahead of a ballot starting on Monday. Junior doctors – any doctor below consultant level