UK

Liz Truss’s premiership is hanging by a thread after an extraordinary day in Westminster that saw a cabinet minister resign and a Commons motion descend into chaos with allegations of “manhandling and bullying”. The unprecedented events have led to some Tory MPs declaring the Conservative party is “finished”, with one hitting out at the “talentless

A Labour motion that would have forced a vote on a bill to ban fracking has been defeated in the Commons. The vote was overshadowed by reports of chaos in the voting lobby. Conservative MPs were told they need to vote with the government to oppose a ban, counter to what their manifesto said in

The rate of inflation rose to 10.1% in September, according to official figures, as the economy reels from the effects of rising prices and the fallout from the mini-budget. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the consumer prices index (CPI) measure rose from an annual rate of 9.9% in August to match the recent

The NHS is setting up data-driven “war rooms” as it prepares for what could be England’s “toughest winter on record”, new plans have revealed. Under the government’s winter preparation plan, which aims to help the NHS cope during the colder months, the 24/7 “care traffic control centres” are expected to be created in every local

Liz Truss has apologised for the “mistakes” she has made in her first few volatile weeks as prime minister – but insisted she will lead the Tories into the next general election. Speaking for the first time after almost all the tax cuts announced in last month’s mini-budget were scrapped, Ms Truss said: “I recognise

Jeremy Hunt has revealed he is reversing “almost all” of the tax cuts announced in his predecessor’s mini-budget and is scaling back support for energy bills. In an emergency statement, the chancellor said a 1p cut to income tax will be delayed “indefinitely” until the UK’s finances improve instead of being introduced in April 2023

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will deliver parts of his medium-term fiscal plan later today, the Treasury has said. In a statement the Treasury said the chancellor was fast-tracking the plans, which will be released in full on 31 October. It said it followed conversations with Prime Minister Liz Truss over the weekend and a meeting with

Conservative MPs have started to publicly call for Liz Truss to go as they do not believe she can survive the current political and economic crisis. Crispin Blunt, former chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, was the first Tory MP to put his head above the parapet since Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked as chancellor

Jeremy Hunt has admitted the government went “too far, too fast” and that he will have to take some “very difficult decisions” on spending and tax to get the economy back up and running. Earlier, the new chancellor admitted there “were mistakes” in Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget in an interview with Sky News.

Manchester United footballer Mason Greenwood has been charged with attempted rape. Greenwood, 21, is accused of trying to rape a woman on 22 October last year. He is also alleged to have engaged in controlling or coercive behaviour over an almost three-year period from 1 November 2018 to 15 October this year. The footballer is

The prime minister is fighting for her political survival after ditching a major chunk of the mini-budget and sacking her chancellor and close ally Kwasi Kwarteng. But it is unclear whether Liz Truss’s gamble to stay in power will pay off, with financial markets remaining jittery and reports of a number of Tory MPs plotting to

Liz Truss has said “I want to be honest, this is difficult” after sacking her chancellor and reversing key policies of her government’s growth plan. In a news conference shortly after dismissing Kwasi Kwarteng, Ms Truss said: “The way we deliver our mission has to change.” But she said the “mission remains” to deliver a

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has cut short his trip to the International Monetary Fund in Washington and is returning to the UK earlier than planned, as another major mini-budget U-turn is expected. Mr Kwarteng was due to attend a final day of meetings at the IMF’s annual gathering today. Instead, after a hasty briefing with journalists

As Liz Truss faces open revolt in her own party over her tax cut plans, her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will today try and reassure the IMF that everything is under control. Ministers continue to be under pressure for the market chaos that erupted after the government announced its £45bn package of unfunded tax cuts last

A neonatal nurse accused of murdering seven babies left a handwritten note that read “I am evil. I did this”. On day four of Lucy Letby’s trial at Manchester crown court, the prosecutor Nick Johnson KC told jurors about a series of notes that the police found. On one green Post-it note, which was shown

UK government borrowing costs have hit a 20-year high after the Bank of England confirmed its emergency bond-buying programme will end on Friday as planned. On Wednesday morning, it said all temporary and targeted purchases of UK government bonds, known as gilts, would stop. This has been the position throughout and has been “made absolutely

A hospital nurse accused of murdering seven babies was interrupted by one of her victim’s mothers as she was fatally attacking her newborn son, prosecutors say. Lucy Letby allegedly killed Child E by an injection of air into the bloodstream while working at the neo-natal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Manchester Crown Court

The Bank of England’s governor has ruled out extending its bond-buying support for pension funds beyond Friday’s deadline, prompting a dramatic fall in the value of the pound. Andrew Bailey told an event in Washington that funds had “three days left… to get this done” after a series of interventions to support the “dysfunctional” market

The government’s mini-budget has left it facing such a large black hole in the public finances that the most credible way of filling it is severe spending cuts similar to the kinds imposed during the austerity years a decade ago, according to an authoritative new report. The “Green Budget”, from the Institute for Fiscal Studies

The mother of murdered student Libby Squire has revealed that the “sexual predator” who raped and killed the 21-year-old has agreed to meet her.  Lisa Squire told Sky News she is determined to find out what exactly happened to her daughter after she was abducted by Pawel Relowicz – and hopes to get answers by