UK

Royal Mail has announced it will begin a process to make 5,000 to 6,000 roles redundant by August next year. The announcement, made in a trading update by the postal service’s parent company, has been blamed on industrial action taken by Royal Mail workers, delays in improving productivity and falling parcel volumes. A process of

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

Billions of pounds awarded as part of COVID-19 employment support schemes went to people whose incomes increased or “were not significantly impacted by the pandemic”, a public spending watchdog has warned. The National Audit Office (NAO) has criticised the government for not doing more to prevent mistakes and fraudulent claims when rolling out the furlough

A neonatal nurse killed two out of three triplet boys and smiled after killing another premature baby girl on the fourth attempt, a court has heard. Lucy Letby is charged with 22 counts of murder and attempted murder, involving 17 babies, and is alleged to have gone on a year-long killing spree at the Countess

The coronation of King Charles III will take place next year on Saturday 6 May, Buckingham Palace has confirmed. The religious ceremony will be held at London’s Westminster Abbey, and conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. The King will be crowned alongside his wife, Camilla, the Queen Consort. It is thought the coronation

The economy unexpectedly shrank in August, contracting by 0.3% on the previous month. The growth in July has also been revised downwards, from the previously recorded 0.2% to 0.1%. The Office for National Statistics released its latest reading on the UK’s performance as the government frets over the prospect of recession ahead, given the toll

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

A hospital nurse accused of the murder of seven babies – and attempted murder of 10 more – was a “poisoner at work”, a jury has heard. Lucy Letby, who had specialist training in care for the sickest babies at the neonatal unit in the Countess of Chester, is alleged to have gone on a

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

Liz Truss is expected to make a decision on whether to uprate benefits in line with inflation in November, a department for work and pensions minister has said. Victoria Prentis told Sky News that “no decision has been taken about the uprating of benefits” but that she is sure that the government will “make that

Power blackouts this winter are “extremely unlikely” this winter, Cabinet Office Minister Nadhim Zahawi has told Sky News. The Tory frontbencher also insisted there was no need for the government to spend £14m on an energy-saving public information campaign, given the advice already available. Mr Zahawi’s comments come amid concerns of power cuts with the

A 22-year-old woman has been killed in a hit-and-run incident after a car mounted a kerb outside a takeaway in Shropshire. The car struck the woman and another person in front of the Grill Out restaurant in Oswestry at around 2.50am on Sunday, police said. She was rushed to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital but died shortly

Serial killer Peter Tobin has died after falling ill in prison where he was serving three life sentences. He was taken from HMP Edinburgh to hospital, thought to be the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, on Wednesday and subsequently died, sources said. He was serving a life sentence for raping and murdering Polish student Angelika Kluk,

Rail passengers are in for more travel chaos as only around one in five trains are set to run today due to another strike. More than 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and 15 train operating companies are staging a walkout over jobs, pay and conditions. Around half

A man with a knife has been shot dead by armed officers after being spotted in the car park of a police station in Derby. Police have said the man was white but they are still trying to identify him following the shooting at 10.03am this morning. Deputy Chief Constable Kate Meynell said the incident

A government minister has failed to rule out energy rationing across the UK this winter after warnings three-hour power blackouts could be imposed. Asked on Sky News whether the measure – not seen in the UK since the 1970s – would be brought in, climate minister Graham Stuart said the government did not “expect that

The country has been put on notice that the chances of gas shortages this winter have risen markedly, prompting a contingency plan to prioritise heating. National Grid’s Electricity System Operator (ESO) warned that planned three-hour power blackouts could be imposed in some areas, in the “unlikely” event supplies of gas fall short of demand. It

The National Grid’s electricity system operator and gas system operator will release one of their regular winter outlook reports later. They are designed to set out supply and demand scenarios as the weather gets colder and energy consumption tends to peak. Amid an energy security and price crisis, this year’s outlook report has taken on

Three British rockets streaked into the sky towards Russian forces under attack in a key frontline town in eastern Ukraine. The target was a mobile Russian command post. A Ukrainian artillery officer said it would have been hit because his soldiers never miss. Sky News is the first to be granted permission to film a

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has urged his ministerial colleagues to keep their views on government policy “around the Cabinet table” as Liz Truss faces an open split within her top team over the 45p tax rate U-turn. The senior Cabinet member warned his peers that it is “always better to feed straight into the boss”