This Is Why

It was Labour’s turn to launch their election manifesto today. It was a restatement of the party’s main policies with no surprise announcements in the 133-page document.       Sir Keir Starmer reiterated his key pledges including no new taxes on “working people” and a promise of “economic stability”.     Niall Paterson digs into Labour’s promise of economic growth with Ed Conway, Sky’s economics a...

While the Conservatives and Labour battle it out for No10, recent polling reflects a changing mood from the electorate towards the smaller parties.      The latest YouGov poll suggests Reform UK have climbed within one point of the Conservatives, the Lib Dems are up four points, and Labour are dropping below 40%. In 2017, the two big parties got 82% of the vote. Now, the combined Labour-Tory vote...

Rishi Sunak has launched the Conservative's election manifesto, promising to slash taxes in a bid to revive the party's floundering campaign.       In his address at the home of the British Grand Prix, the prime minister pledged £17bn in tax cuts including lowering national insurance by 2p, scrapping it entirely for the self-employed and stopping state pensions being taxed with "triple lock plus"...

Far-right parties have made gains in Germany, France and Italy - the EU's biggest member states. Their success has already led to a fall in the value of the euro as markets anticipate turbulent times ahead. President Macron's high-risk response to his Renaissance party losing to Marine Le Pen's National Rally was to call a snap election for the French parliament.    Niall Paterson talks to Sky's E...

The prime minister has faced criticism for leaving the 80th anniversary D-Day commemorations early to record a TV interview that's due to go out next week.      Rishi Sunak has since apologised - saying that "on reflection" leaving early "was a mistake", but also that it shouldn't be politicised.     Niall Paterson looks at how damaging this misstep is for Mr Sunak with Claire Pearsall, former Con...

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings which were a turning point in the Second World War and ultimately led to the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.   On this episode, Niall Paterson sits down with historian and security analyst Professor Michael Clarke to talk about why the beachheads in Normandy were so critical, his father's experience there, what happened next in the war and w...

Manchester City – a Premier League club with deep pockets thanks to its Abu Dhabi owners – is taking the league to court.    It’s over the current Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules which determine whether sponsorship deals are financially ‘fair’ and require independent valuation for such deals. The rules aim to prevent clubs from inflating sponsorship deals with companies linked to their ow...

This week marks 80 years since the D-Day landings, a key turning point of World War II.  Sky News has spoken to some of the few remaining veterans who were involved in the Normandy landings about their memories of that day.     Host Niall Paterson explores the stories of radio operator Marie Scott, Ken Hay who served in the 43rd Essex regiment and landed on the beaches, and Bill Gladden of the 6th...

Sir Keir Starmer could be heading to Downing Street with a majority of 194 seats, bigger than what Tony Blair achieved in 1997, according to the first polling projection by YouGov of the campaign.  The projection shows a historic Labour landslide, with the party getting the highest number of seats of any party at an election in history.  At the same time, the Tories are trying to boost ratings by...

Donald Trump has become the first-ever former American president to be convicted of a crime.       A New York jury found him guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money he paid to bury a sex scandal ahead of the 2016 presidential election.     On this Sky News Daily, Tom Cheshire speaks to Sky's US correspondent James Matthews about how the trial unfolded and what...

Labour's Angela Rayner speaks to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby in an extended interview for the Daily podcast. The party’s deputy leader says that she believes Diane Abbott should be able to stand as an MP - and she denied leader Sir Keir Starmer was acting "in a factional way". On the first official day of campaigning, she also spoke about the investigations into her living arrangements -...

It's been 30 years since Nelson Mandela led the African National Congress (ANC) to power, ending apartheid in South Africa.       But as voters head to the polls, the party is on the verge of losing dominance, after coming under fire over corruption, high levels of crime and economic woes. Even in the birthplace of the late human rights fighter, communities are suffering from poverty, hunger and n...

In her first major campaign speech, Rachel Reeves has pitched herself as the UK's next chancellor to an audience of company bosses, promising the "most pro-growth Treasury in our country's history" if Labour wins the election.  But after pledging not to announce any new tax hikes and that Labour policies would be fully funded and costed, how she intends to pay for Labour's plan for the UK remains ...

After avoiding public scrutiny for nearly a decade, Paula Vennells, the former Post Office boss, finally faced questions about her role in the most widespread miscarriage of justice that Britain has ever seen. She has been giving evidence at the Post Office Horizon Inquiry for the last three days – and today she was accused by lawyers of talking "rubbish" and being in "la la land". Sky's Jonathan...

The political parties have been setting out their election campaigns, with voters going to the polls exactly six weeks from today.      On the Sky News Daily Niall Paterson speaks to deputy political editor Sam Coates who is following the prime minister on his campaign trail around the UK, visiting four nations in two days. He also chats with chief political correspondent Jon Craig about the launc...

The prime minister has called a general election for 4 July. It means parliament only has a few days to pass any bills still waiting to become law before MPs leave Westminster to begin campaigning.     On the Sky News Daily Niall Paterson gets the very latest from our deputy political editor Sam Coates and political correspondent Tamara Cohen on why the election was announced today, and what the n...

The former Post Office boss, Paula Vennells, has been testifying at the Inquiry examining the Horizon IT scandal. It's the first time Paula Vennells has spoken publicly in nearly ten years. The hundreds of wronged Post Office workers, and their families, have been keenly anticipating her evidence, as, on her watch, prosecutions continued, despite mounting evidence that there was something wrong wi...

How do we help people keep their jobs and livelihoods alongside the pressure to move to an environmentally friendly and sustainable future?   It's been estimated that 1.3 million jobs in the UK could be affected by the drive to get to net zero emissions - many in traditional industries such as steelmaking.    Sophy Ridge presents this episode with Sky News' people and politics correspondent Nick M...

The infected blood scandal was "not an accident" and its failures lie with "successive governments, the NHS, and blood services", a public inquiry has found.  More than 30,000 people were infected with HIV and hepatitis C from 1970 to 1991 after being given contaminated blood products and transfusions - about 3,000 of whom have since died. Sir Brian Langstaff, who chaired the inquiry, said the sca...

Thousands of people died after being given infected blood transfusions by the NHS.     They were people with haemophilia, women giving birth, and cancer patients who died after contracting HIV or Hepatitis C from infected blood.     An inquiry has been studying millions of pages of evidence from hundreds of sources and witnesses for six years.     From its source in the early 1970s via warnings, m...

China's Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin have met in Beijing – promoting their alliance and their new ‘world order’ away from the West.   On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson is joined by Sky’s Asia correspondent Nicole Johnston in Beijing and Sky’s Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett to discuss the highlights of the summit so far. Plus, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer made a key speech to lay...

Hundreds of young men have died trying to use boats to get from Senegal to the Canary Islands.      On this episode of the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson hears about what's been called the "deadliest and busiest migrant passage in the world".      Niall is joined by our Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir who has been to the fishing town of Mbour on the Senegalese coast to see the scale of the pro...

Anti-obesity jabs like Ozempic could reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes or heart failure in obese people regardless of the amount of weight they lose while on the drug.       Researchers found after three years of treatment participants had a 20% lower risk of obesity and its associated health impacts, which currently cost the NHS over £6bn per year.      On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paters...

A landmark parliamentary inquiry into traumatic childbirths has called for an overhaul of the UK's maternity services after finding poor care is "all-too-frequently tolerated as normal".   The report calls for a new maternity commissioner who will report to the prime minister, better staffing levels on maternity wards, and for mothers to be listened to more.  On the Sky News Daily, Matt Barbet spe...

Across the UK anger is brewing among farmers.   Protests have already been held in London, Dover and Wales, with more on the way - mirroring similar tensions seen across Europe in the last six months.      Their anger is focused on cheap foreign imports and changes to subsidies forcing farmers to give up land in favour of environmental schemes.     But what does this mean for the food on our table...