Politics

A little under four weeks as prime minister and it couldn’t really have gone worse for Liz Truss. A mini-budget that precipitated a run on the pound (it has rallied a bit since), a £65bn emergency intervention by the Bank of England to prop up pension funds, and the withdrawal of nearly 1,000 mortgage deals

Kwasi Kwarteng is facing calls for an official inquiry following a report that he attended a private champagne reception with hedge fund managers following his mini-budget. The Sunday Times newspaper reported that the chancellor joined the gathering in Chelsea on 23 September and was said to have been “egged on” to pursue his plan of

Liz Truss is set to face a wretched week at the Tory Party conference after the disastrous reaction to Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax-cutting mini-budget. The prime minister arrived in Birmingham on Saturday looking buoyant just hours before yet another injurious poll was released. Hopes to be greeted by an adoring host of members have likely been

Three-and-a-half weeks ago, Liz Truss was beaming as she was announced as the new leader of the Conservative Party. She did not embrace her husband or console her defeated opponent – reaching instead for her victory speech and marching onto the stage. The contrast as she heads to her party’s annual conference in Birmingham is

Consumers are being warned they may be targeted by scammers as the government’s energy price guarantee comes into effect. Messages asking for people to provide personal or financial details to receive support should be treated as fraudulent activity, as no applications are required, the business secretary has said. The £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme will

You have to go back to Tony Blair’s honeymoon period after his 1997 landslide general election victory to find a Labour opinion poll lead as massive as 33 points. All those critics of Sir Keir Starmer – mostly on the Corbynista left-wing of the party, who’ve claimed with the Tories in turmoil, Labour should be

Labour has surged to record leads in multiple polls in the wake of the economic turmoil after the government’s mini-budget. A YouGov/Times poll placed Labour 33 points ahead of the Conservatives, believed to be the largest lead for Labour in any recorded poll since 1998, when the-then PM Tony Blair was enjoying his “honeymoon period”.

Liz Truss has insisted “decisive action” by the government over its economic policies will help the UK going forward. Speaking to reporters, the prime minister said: “We have to look at what situation this country would be in if we hadn’t acted – people were facing fuel bills of up to £6,000, we had very

The government has ruled out a U-turn on the costly tax-cutting mini-budget and the chancellor will not resign despite mounting pressure. It comes after a day in which the Bank of England was forced to launch a temporary bond-buying programme as it took emergency action to prevent “material risk” to UK financial stability. Bank’s ‘nearly

Sir Keir Starmer has condemned a Labour MP for “racist” comments she made about Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng. Rupa Huq was administratively suspended pending an investigation after she claimed that Mr Kwarteng was “superficially” black. The MP for Ealing Central and Acton made the remarks about the UK’s first black chancellor at a Labour conference fringe

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has criticised the UK government’s mini-budget, saying the plans for tax cuts and spending will increase inequality and counteract the Bank of England’s monetary policy. The conflicting government and currency policies, of seeking to ramp up growth via tax cuts and rein in inflation through interest rate rises, attracted sharp

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said “the cavalry is coming with Labour” as he sought to portray the party as a government in waiting. Mr Streeting was speaking with Sky News’ Kay Burley ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s keynote speech at the Labour conference in Liverpool. He said Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget last Friday had

Sir Keir Starmer will claim a “changed” Labour can turn the UK into a “growth superpower” in his keynote conference speech – as a new poll gave the party its largest lead over the Conservatives in more than two decades. The Labour leader will tell party delegates in Liverpool on Tuesday that Labour’s Green Prosperity

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she’s never felt so optimistic about the future of the Labour party in her more than 12 years as an MP. Speaking to Sky News’ Kay Burley, Ms Reeves called Sir Keir Starmer a “brilliant man” and said that under his leadership, the party is finally “winning the battle

Labour will pledge to “build British industry” through the use of a state-owned investment fund during the second day of the party’s conference in Liverpool on Monday. In her speech tomorrow, Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, will set out the party’s industrial strategy, which includes promises to invest in national projects from battery factories to

A union boss has said Sir Keir Starmer must “cosy up to working class people” to be effective in Opposition against the Conservative government. Speaking to Sky News’ chief political correspondent Jon Craig ahead of Labour’s party conference, RMT chief Mick Lynch said Sir Keir must “show a way that he identifies with the struggles

The Labour Party’s annual conference begins today – and policies on neighbourhood policing and clean energy are among those on the agenda. The Labour leader is seeking to set out the dividing lines between his party and the new Tory government during the four-day event. Speaking at a London Labour reception on Friday evening, Sir

Labour will attempt to fight back against the chancellor’s Trussonomics tax giveaways by unveiling rival plans to boost economic growth at its conference in Liverpool. The four-day conference will begin with a tribute to the Queen by party leader Sir Keir Starmer and the national anthem, a move that will be criticised by left-wingers. Deputy

It may have been billed a mini-budget, but what Kwasi Kwarteng announced on Friday was massive. A package of tax cuts on a scale not seen for half a century, paid for through borrowing at increasingly expensive rates in the hope that it will deliver better growth. This is an administration that promised “shock and

Income tax will be cut by one penny Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has announced, as part of a raft of measures aimed at boosting economic growth. The reduction in the basic rate from 20% to 19% will be introduced in in April 2023 – one year earlier than planned. At the same time, the 45% top