Politics

The Tories “squandered a golden inheritance” on the NHS, the health secretary has said – as he laid out three “fundamental shifts” to fix it. Wes Streeting told Sky News Tony Blair’s Labour government left the health service with the lowest waiting times and highest patient satisfaction “in the history of the NHS”. “What’s criminal

Rishi Sunak has accused Sir Keir Starmer of “hiding” an impact assessment on the winter fuel payment cut for 10 million pensioners. Mr Sunak asked Sir Keir twice if he would publish an impact assessment on the policy after Labour MPs voted on Tuesday to push the cut through. However, Sir Keir responded by saying

Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard are back with their daily guide to the day ahead in politics in under 20 minutes. 👉 Tap here to follow Politics at Jack and Sam’s wherever you get your podcasts 👈 As Westminster wakes up after the first debate between Donald Trump and

Presenter and author Carol Vorderman has called on the prime minister to apologise over cutting winter fuel payments for pensioners. The controversial policy was approved by parliament today, despite a number of Labour MPs abstaining from the vote, with ministers saying “tough decisions” were needed to fix the public finances. But it was widely criticised

Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard are back with their daily guide to the day ahead in politics in under 20 minutes. On the day of a big Commons vote on the future of winter fuel payments, Jack and Sam discuss whether this is really the first big test of

Ministers are not looking to soften the blow for 10 million pensioners who will no longer receive winter fuel payments, the prime minister’s spokesman has said. Ahead of a vote on Tuesday on the controversial decision to limit winter fuel payments to those on pension credit, the government is remaining steadfast despite growing opposition from

Labour’s post-election honeymoon looks to be over as it faces pressure this week over winter fuel payments, releasing prisoners early, and the state of the NHS. Two months after winning a historic majority, Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers have a busy week as they face pressure not just from other parties, but their own

The health secretary has said NHS waiting lists need to be “millions lower” by the next general election in 2029. Wes Streeting told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips he is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure waiting lists are brought down, including using the private sector. He said the “NHS waiting

Children’s health is facing a deadly crisis, with life-threatening illnesses, obesity, eating disorders, and infectious diseases soaring, a shock new government report reveals. Sir Keir Starmer is blaming the Conservatives for a “broken NHS” and claims the Tories’ NHS reforms are “unforgivable and “hopelessly misconceived”. The shocking findings on the deteriorating health of the nation’s

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “determined” to make tough decisions ahead of a vote on whether to cut winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners. MPs are set to vote on Tuesday on the decision to change the payment, designed to help the elderly with higher heating bills, so just those claiming pension

Sir Keir Starmer is visiting the Republic of Ireland as part of a “reset” of relations following the change of government. The prime minister will meet with his Irish counterpart, Simon Harris, as part of the visit to Dublin. At the same time, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn will be committing the UK government to

The Green Party will demand the government introduces a wealth tax when Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers her first budget next month. Giving a speech at his party’s annual conference in Manchester, co-leader Adrian Ramsay said the UK “needs to invest in defending public services and protecting our environment – and we can do that with

The government is not ruling out sending offenders to Estonia as a means of alleviating severe overcrowding on the UK prison estate. Sky News understands that having offenders serve out their sentence in the Baltic state is one of many options being considered to address over-capacity on the prison estate – where there are thought

Sir Tony Blair has warned that tragedies such as the Grenfell Tower fire cannot be completely avoided. The former prime minister, who left office in 2007, said it was a “difficult thing to say”, but that even when systems work well and are “well intentioned”, people are “going to make mistakes”. In an exclusive interview

Tory leadership candidate Dame Priti Patel has been kicked out of the race after the first vote by party MPs. The former home secretary was running to replace Rishi Sunak against five other candidates, but fell at the first hurdle by coming in last place in the ballot. Politics live: Starmer accused of ‘choosing train

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “deeply sorry” for the actions of the British government after a damning report into the Grenfell Tower blaze said ministers “failed to act”, despite knowing the risk of building materials. A landmark report into the disaster that claimed 72 lives in June 2017 was published earlier on Wednesday,