Cabinet minister Pat McFadden asked if there could be government resignations over the plans to slash the welfare budget. He tells Sky News: “I don’t see why there should be. As the party of work, the party of labour, we want to do everything we can to support people who could work get into work.”

Government doubling down on the moral and economic case for cutting the welfare bill. Treasury minister Emma Reynolds tells Sky News that Labour “must reform the system according to our values”. She insists “there is dignity in work” and that “something has gone seriously wrong” under the Tories

UK govt response to US steel and aluminium tariffs is to keep calm and carry on. Treasury minister James Murray tells Sky News tariffs “have landed in the middle of negotiations” on trade deal with US and those negotiations are ongoing. He insists a trade agreement would eliminate tariffs for the UK

As clarification on Abu Wadee case - he is due to appear at Manchester magistrates court 10am today. The suggestion has been he cannot be deported as he is from Palestine - a live conflict zone. However Govt sources tell me they don’t know where Abu Wadee is from, so can’t rule out deporting him.

NEW: Interestingly both Labour AND the Conservatives appear to be blaming the civil service for waving through the Sentencing Council’s guidelines saying it’s necessary to give minorities, pregnant women, trans people and young people pre-sentence reports.

Justice row rumbling on this morning- here’s lay of the land so far👇🏽 Sentencing Council is advising it is necessary that judges do pre-sentence reports (PSR) on the following people: - ethnic, cultural and faith minorities - transgender people - adults age 18-25 - pregnant women - mothers of babies

Despite a shiny announcement from Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood this morning on increasing the number of days crown court judges are sitting, she told Sky News this morning it wouldn’t be enough to bring down the courts backlog, and that she expects the backlog to increase even further.

Govt position remains unchanged regarding brokering peace in Ukraine. This is the Government response to US pausing aid to Ukraine:

Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko calls US pausing aid to Ukraine a “catastrophe” - “This means thousands of people will die.” He goes on to say: “Zelenskyy should do everything he can to get out of this”, including apologising, saying Zelenskyy should “think about not running again for president.”

NEW: UK Defence minister Luke Pollard has just told Sky News: “That’s not government policy”, in response to UK Ambassador Peter Mandelson saying Ukraine should be the first to commit to a ceasefire 👀

NEW: Defence Secretary John Healey tells Sky News: • Spending 2.5% of GDP on Defence is “ironclad” but wouldn’t give a specific year the uk would get to 3% if Labour wins the next election. He said it was to send “a signal to the US that Europe will do more of the heavy lifting”.

Conservatives win German election - as far-right AfD makes historic gains and Olaf Scholz's SPD collapses, projections show

Morning all… today marks three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Zelenskyy has said he would be willing to step down as leader if that is the price of lasting peace for his country.

PM response to Trump calling Zelenskyy a dictator and accusing Ukraine of starting war:“The Prime Minister expressed his support for Zelenskyy as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader and said that it was perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during war time as the UK did during World War II.”

Extraordinary interview conducted by Wilfred Frost on @news.sky.com with Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge👇🏽 Cartlidge urges Labour to increase defence spending and “get on with it” - but appears to be in denial about who’s been setting the defence budget for the past 14 years…

This is a fantastic chat with @mhariaurora.bsky.social from Sky News. We tackle all the big questions. What can the 'mainstream media' learn from Joe Rogan? How should they cover Donald Trump? How do you deal with angry taxi drivers? podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

A pleasure chatting to @matt-forde.bsky.social for this week’s episode of The Political Party podcast. We talk Westminster news broadcasting and the challenges of covering politics in 2025, Donald Trump, not fitting in, and my backup career if it all goes to pot! 🤪 open.spotify.com/episode/2aDe...

It has been an honour and a privilege to work with you @kayburley.bsky.social and to learn from the best in the business. From singing Tina Turner live on air, to eating sausage rolls and drinking champagne at 9am - mornings really won’t be the same without you 🤍 (I’m not crying, I promise!🥺😭)

NEW: Chancellor Rachel Reeves tells me on @news.sky.com she wants to see “shovels in the ground in this parliament” to build Heathrow airport’s third runway

What we know so far: • The plane was carrying at least 60 passengers and 4 crew members and departed from Wichita, Kansas. • Reagan National Airport is closed until 5 a.m. Thursday. • The Army helicopter involved in the crash was a UH-60 Black Hawk on a training flight, military officials said.

Vice President JD Vance reacts to the awful news coming out of DC, he posts on X: “Please say a prayer for everyone involved in the mid-air collision near Reagan airport this evening. We're monitoring the situation, but for now let's hope for the best.”

BREAKING: An American Airlines passenger plane carrying 60 passengers and 4 crew has collided with a US army helicopter carrying 3 crew over Washington DC. Both aircrafts are in the Potomac River as a search and rescue operation is underway. President Trump calls it a “terrible accident”.

Vice President JD Vance reacts to the awful news coming out of DC, he posts on X: “Please say a prayer for everyone involved in the mid-air collision near Reagan airport this evening. We're monitoring the situation, but for now let's hope for the best.”

BREAKING: An American Airlines passenger plane carrying 60 passengers and 4 crew has collided with a US army helicopter carrying 3 crew over Washington DC. Both aircrafts are in the Potomac River as a search and rescue operation is underway. President Trump calls it a “terrible accident”.

POLITICS HUB CHRISTMAS QUIZ ALERT 🚨 2pm & 7pm today And 9pm Christmas Day The most fun I’ve had filming all year

Hello from the Sky News Westminster office on Christmas Eve! Join us for some festive cheer with a light dusting of politics for good measure 🎄🤶🏽

NEW: Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride tells lobby journalists the Tory party has a “long way to go to get back into political contention”. He says it must become credible, focused on what matters to people, and to have some big offers for younger voters - unlike at the 2024 election 🗳️

NEW: Newly appointed Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander tells Sky News that govt needs to have a mature relationship with trade unions and that a reset is required. She tells @kayburley.bsky.social unions must be respected but that “robust discussions” will be had, especially on productivity 🚂

So I learned something awful about Gareth today… Who else is in favour of me sending a Christmas tree to Gareth’s house on December 1st??🎄🎁

Energy Price Cap to rise again! What it means for you, how you beat it, will standing charges be cut? My quick video briefing. Feel free to share. youtu.be/18NyHNd3dko

Reform MP James McMurdock was jailed for repeatedly kicking his girlfriend. He had told the media he was jailed for "pushing" his former partner in 2006. Court records obtained by The Times say the sentence was given because of "the serious nature of the offence”. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

💡Energy price cap up 1.2% from January (0.36p on a unit of electricity & 0.1p on gas). a marginal change consumers may barely notice. What's unignorable is that these prices are the new normal, up around 50% on the last pre-war winter & staying there without structural change

John Prescott’s death has sent shockwaves through British politics and his career will go down in history as a consequential contribution to the Labour movement. A key member of Blair’s New Labour government, Prescott brought working class authenticity to Blair’s pitch to British voters 👇🏽

Prime Minister Keir Starmer responds to the death of John Prescott

BREAKING: Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has died. Stay tuned to Sky News all morning for any updates and response from Britain’s political class

Please watch this powerful clip. This is why sexual abuse is such an abhorrent crime. It is the victims who so often - utterly wrongly - live with shame. Thank you to Nadine Dorries for speaking to me about being abused, age 9, by a vicar

Despite US choosing to temporarily close its embassy in Kyiv after intelligence of a “significant attack”, UK Foreign Office says: “The UK Embassy in Kyiv remains open. However, the safety of our staff in Ukraine is paramount and we keep our embassy posture and Travel Advice under constant review.”

Does superstar Jason Derulo worry about the impact of AI in the music industry? Have a listen! 👇🏽

BREAKING: CPI inflation rises from 1.7% in September to 2.3% in October This is higher than the expectation of 2.2%

With farmers protesting in London over inheritance tax, our survey last week found that Britons would support farmers in a proposed strike on the issue by 52% to 28% yougov.co.uk/topics/polit...

My Mum’s house in Birmingham this morning! 🌨️ ❄️ ☃️ Anyone else got snow?? (Nothing but rain here in London of course 😩)

To Westminster for the farmers’ protest, which I’m pretty sure won’t be deterred by a bit of sleet. Written about the background and detail of changes to inheritance tax that have stirred a rural revolt, here with Aoife Yourell news.sky.com/story/whats-...

EXCLUSIVE: Britain's biggest retailers warn Rachel Reeves NI rise will lead to shop closures, job losses, pay restraint and higher prices 79 retailers including Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Ldi, Lidl, Boots, JD Sports, Next have signed letter www.thetimes.com/article/6e6c...

Good morning! ❄️ As an arctic blast affects much of the nation, Environment Secretary Steve Reed will be given an icy welcome today as farmers descend on Westminster protesting new inheritance tax rules in Labour’s Budget 🚜 Govt insists it will only affect a quarter of farms, NFU says 2/3 affected

It’s official… the Sky News Christmas tree has arrived in Westminster! Too soon??🎄

A politician and a close protection guard are among those the Gambling Commission is looking to prosecute over bets placed on the date of the election A source has told Sky's Jon Craig at least three - and as many as five - people may be charged

Bridget Philipson also becomes the latest cabinet minister to confirm she will vote AGAINST the assisted dying bill in parliament at the end of this month. She said she voted against it in 2015 and she has not changed her mind #skynews

As we wait to find out if the UK will follow the US in allowing Ukraine to use UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles against Russia, Education Secretary Bridget Philipson tells Sky News the PM and Defence Secretary will keep under review what the Ukrainian govt asks for but stops short of confirming it