This Is Why

Netflix’s hit drama series Adolescence has shone a light on the pressures faced by boys growing up today, and the rise in misogynistic violence that frequently hits the headlines.   It tells the story of what happens to the Miller family after 13-year-old Jamie is arrested in a dawn raid for killing a girl in his class.  Sky News' political correspondent Tamara Cohen and Labour MP for Darlington L...

Sky News' special correspondent Alex Crawford joins Niall Paterson to discuss her recent trip to northeast Syria, where she gained extremely rare access to one of the main ISIS prisons under Kurdish control. It's a time of particular upheaval in the country - since the new regime took over in Damascus, ISIS attacks have doubled. Alex tells us about the British ISIS fighter she met in the prison -...

The government is due on Tuesday to set out its plans to make cuts to the welfare system. One of the benefits targeted for £5bn worth of savings is the key disability benefit - Personal Independence Payments (PIP).     Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told Sky News 1,000 people a day apply for PIP, but pressure from Labour's backbenchers could see plans to reform the benefit watered down.     On...

Sir Keir Starmer appointed Jonathan Powell to be his national security adviser at one of the most critical points in European security since the Cold War.    He has spent years at the heart of government, helping to broker the peace deal in Northern Ireland and more recently the controversial Chagos deal. Now he is being credited with being the architect of the peace deal plan between Ukraine and...

Reform UK has consolidated its gains at the general election, with recent polling suggesting that it is neck and neck with Labour and ahead of the Conservatives. But now a huge row has erupted between Nigel Farage and his fellow MP Rupert Lowe. Mr Lowe is currently suspended from the party after being reported to the police over alleged threats towards Reform's chairman. He has called the allegati...

The Red House was a children’s home in Norfolk which took in hundreds of students in care from across the UK between 1984 and 1998.    It was run by a controversial Danish group called Tvind, operating an unconventional education system - most students from the Red House left without any qualifications. Now, over 40 former pupils have come forward with allegations of physical and sexual abuse they...

More than 30 people have been rescued, and one remains missing, after a cargo ship struck an oil tanker in the North Sea on Monday.      As one ship continues to burn, Niall Paterson is joined by our science and medical correspondent Thomas Moore to look at how the crash happened.     Plus, David Craven, from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, tells us about the environmental impact the fire, and the l...

He's guided Canada through financial crisis and the UK through Brexit, but has no government experience. So how will Canada's new prime minister, Mark Carney, tackle what could be the biggest challenge of his career, defending Canada from Donald Trump?      On today's podcast, Niall Paterson talks to our data and economics editor Ed Conway, who interviewed Mr Carney during his time as governor of...

Sky News political editor Beth Rigby has been to 11 Downing Street to talk to the Chancellor for Electoral Dysfunction.   Rachel Reeves reflects on her first few months in the job, and hints on what might come in her Spring Statement with some strong words on the need for welfare reform.    You can listen to the full interview on Electoral Dysfunction here . 

After just eight months in his role, Defence Secretary John Healey is dealing with one of the most challenging in-trays in the cabinet.  He is meeting US counterpart Pete Hegseth in Washington on Thursday, as he works to bridge the gap on how to reach a Ukraine peace deal.  On today’s podcast, Niall Paterson talks to ex-armed forces minister James Heappey who worked with Healey when he was in oppo...

"If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we're ready to fight till the end," wrote a statement by China's ministry of foreign affairs in Beijing yesterday, then shared by the Chinese US embassy on X.     With the messy diplomacy of Trump's America and his impending tariffs on China, how will President Xi Jinping navigate the tit-for-tat on trade? More...

The Duchess of Sussex’s new lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan is out now.  It is part of the deal, reportedly worth $100m, Meghan and Harry signed with Netflix five years ago when they left the UK for California.   The most recent YouGov polling suggests that neither Meghan nor Harry are popular in the UK, doing only better than Prince Andrew.  Though it’s a very different story among young people...

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is back in Kyiv after three frantic days, during which he was ordered to leave the White House after a tense showdown with Donald Trump and his vice president JD Vance.    He did, however, find a warmer welcome in London where he received a strong show of support from European leaders at a summit on Sunday.    After the London summit, Sir Keir Starmer sug...

At the height of lockdown, 19-year-old Ellie Williams claimed on social media she'd been abused and trafficked by an Asian grooming gang across the North of England. The rumours lead to attacks on Asian men and businesses in her hometown of Barrow-in-Furness. But then she was jailed for perverting the course of justice.   It was a story Sky News’ home editor Jason Farrell, and specialist producer...

Government figures released today showed that the number of asylum applications was at a 20-year record high but, for the first time since 2020, more applications were refused than granted.    The data also reveals that the number of asylum seekers in hotels has gone up, but that the asylum backlog has gone down. Small boat crossings were up on last year but down on 2022.   On the Sky News Daily,...

Four in five cars should be electric and half of homes should have heat pumps within 15 years. That's according to the government's independent climate advisers, the Climate Change Committee. It says to reach the legally required "net zero" target by 2050 we will need to change how we drive, what we eat and how we heat our homes.     Niall Paterson talks to Sky's science and technology editor Tom...

Donald Trump wants to do a deal with Ukraine which would see the United States get access to the country’s mineral wealth, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hoping for continued American military support in return.     Kyiv estimates that about 5% of the world's "critical raw materials" are in Ukraine. It also has significant deposits of rare earth metals which are used to produce weapons, wind t...

Germany is set to have a new chancellor, Friedrich Merz. From the conservative Christian Democrat party (CDU), Merz will now look to form a coalition government.      The leader-in-waiting has made striking remarks in a post-victory speech, saying Donald Trump is indifferent to Europe's fate, putting the US president's America on a par with Russia.      What does Merz’s tone mean for Europe? Niall...

This time on the Sky News Daily, we're handing over to another Sky News podcast - Trump 100. Mark Stone, Martha Kelner and James Matthews are dropping episodes at 6am (UK) every day to chart what President Trump is saying and doing in his first 100 days in office. They examine what the administration's approach means for the US and the world. On this episode, you'll also hear from former Trump adv...

The far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) is expected to have its best election results since it was formed 12 years ago. It's currently in second place in opinion polls with one in five Germans expected to back it at this weekend's general election.      It will not, though, be part of any coalition government as the other parties will refuse to work with a far-right party.      In today'...

Sophy Ridge guest hosts this episode with a look ahead to Keir Starmer's meeting with Donald Trump next week. He was already going to have a tightrope to walk as the potential bridge between the new White House administration and an out-of-favour Europe - but how will the PM handle the President's comments about Volodymyr Zelenskyy?    Joining Sophy is Gabriel Pogrund, Whitehall editor of the Sund...

Russia's foreign minister and the US secretary of state have met in Saudi Arabia for the first time since the war in Ukraine began three years ago, to discuss a Ukrainian peace deal. Why is it such a significant moment?      With the meeting taking place in Saudi, and given their diplomacy in arranging the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, how has the kingdom under Mohammed bin Salman become a global power...

As the US and Russia negotiate an end to what President Donald Trump calls a “ridiculous war” in Ukraine, Europe faces a critical question.  Can it still depend on Trump’s America for protection, or is this the moment to have a massive rethink on defence – and can the UK afford it?  Mark Austin guest hosts this episode of the Sky News Daily and is joined by former NATO deputy supreme allied comman...

Donald Trump promised throughout his election campaign that he would end the war in Ukraine, now following a 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, is the conflict closer to ending than ever before?    On the Sky News Daily, Niall is joined by Sky's International Affairs Editor Dominic Waghorn to discuss the fear among European allies about what the costs of peace in Ukraine c...

Latest figures show 73% of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&E last month - up from 71.1% in December - but still well below the NHS target of 95%.     Doctors have told Sky News the winter crisis in the health service is being made worse by patients who are demanding urgent and immediate care when it is not always what they need.    On the Sky News Daily, Niall is joined by...