Politics latest: Starmer in Washington to discuss war with Biden - as his ratings plunge at home (2024)

Six British diplomats have been expelled from Russia after being accused of "spying and sabotage".

The country's FSB security service said they worked in the "political department" of the British embassy in Moscow.

A Whitehall source told Sky News the diplomats were kicked out in August as part of a wave of tit-for-tat expulsions.

The source strongly denied the individuals had been involved in spying.

The FSB claimed the Eastern Europe and Central Asia branch of the Foreign Office was now a "special service whose main task is to inflict a strategic defeat on our country".

News of the latest expulsion comes as President Vladimir Putin warned against Ukraine getting approval to use Western-supplied long-range missiles against Russia.

He said it would "significantly change the very essence, the very nature of the conflict" and "mean that NATO countries, US, European countries are at war with Russia".

By Sadiya Chowdhury, news correspondent

Assisted dying should be legalised in England, according to a panel made up of members of the public.

The so-called "citizens' jury" - a randomly selected group brought together to discuss the topic by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) - deliberated for eight weeks.

It concluded that if a person has a terminal illness and capacity to make their own decision about an assisted death, they should be able to legally access both physician-assisted suicide (where healthcare professionals prescribe lethal drugs to eligible patients to take themselves) and voluntary euthanasia (where healthcare professionals administer lethal drugs to patients with the intention of ending their life).

"This is a significant finding that will be valuable for policy makers who are considering whether and how to take forward legislative change," said Professor Anne Kerr, chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics' Assisted Dying Advisory Board.

Twenty-eight members of the public made up the jury, participating in an eight-week process designed to explore the complexity of assisted dying.

The Renters Reform Bill is back in the Commons, five years and four prime ministers after it was first promised.

This time it's Labour's version - with the new party of government vowing to improve and complete the set of proposals the Tories pledged, then watered down, and then abandoned altogether before the general election.

Now, it is being called the Renters Rights Bill, and it aims to "decisively level the playing field between landlords and tenants", according to housing minister Matthew Pennycook.

Below, Sky's Sophy Ridgetakes a look at what will be in the legislation - and you can read more from our politics reporter Faye Brownhere.

Tens of millions of mobile phone users could end up paying more if the merger between Vodafone and Three goes ahead, the competition watchdog has warned.

The deal would create the UK's biggest mobile network and could also improve network quality, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said.

The proposed £15bn merger, announced last year, would bring 27 million customers together under a single provider.

But claims of providing a faster 5G network are "overstated", the CMA added, and the new combined network would not "necessarily have the incentive" to follow through on its investment and improvement plan.

Customers may have to pay more for services they don't value, the regulator also said.

Dame Esther Rantzen has made direct a plea to Prime Minister Keir Starmer to remember a conversation the pair had about allowing time for a debate in parliament on assisted dying.

She said the issue "really is a matter of life and death".

Dame Esther told Sky News: "He did say to me, rather sweetly - I had a phone call conversation with him - that he hoped I'd be alive to see the debate. So, I just want to remind him, just gently, you know, nothing bossy, just quietly.

"Dear Sir Keir, whom I've met and have worked with, could you possibly recall your kind words to me and make it come true?"

Without a change in the law, the broadcaster said she and others who are terminally ill could face "a bad death" or their families could face police questioning should she decide to go to Dignitas.

She said: "What we're hoping for is proper time to discuss the issues, have the free vote and change this cruel law.

"I call it cruel, because not only at the moment does it mean that I've got to have a bad death, if that's what the cancer creates for me, but my family can't be with me if I decide to go to Dignitas.

"Because otherwise they are liable to being accused of killing me and they get investigated by the police, so that's just messy and wrong and not what we want.

"So, please Sir Keir, remember our conversation and let's make time for this. It really is a matter of life and death."

With the winter fuel allowance vote passing in the House of Commons, Beth, Harrietand Ruth discuss the row and government’s approach to dealing with the unpopular policy.

They also look at MPs who have second jobs presenting TV shows (or podcasts) and what sort of extra work or broadcast appearances they should, orshouldn’t, be paid for.

Plus, with both Harriet and Ruth now in the House of Lords, they discuss howthe unelected chambercould be modernised, and if itshould even exist.

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For more information on dates and tickets for our tour, go to: www.aegpresents.co.uk/event/electoral-dysfunction-live/

Email us at electoraldysfunction@sky.uk, post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.

Tory grandee Michael Gove said he had to "smile" and "hope for the best" when Rishi Sunak revealed his decision to call the general election.

Speaking on stage in London at the first live show of Sky News' Electoral Dysfunction tour, the former cabinet minister described how he was called into the then prime minister's office half an hour before the full cabinet to be told the news.

But despite his own reservations, only defence secretary Grant Shapps told Mr Sunak: "I don't think this is a good idea."

Telling the story to Sky News' political editor Beth Rigby, Labour peer Harriet Harman and Conservative peer Ruth Davidson, Mr Gove said: "There were mounting rumours the day before, various meetings had been cancelled.

"I couldn't quite believe it would be because we were going to call a general election. There were suggestions that there might be another reshuffle."

The prison population in England and Wales has fallen by more than 2,000 people in just one week, after the start of a government plan to reduce overcrowding.

A temporary early release scheme came into effect on Tuesday 10 September, which sees around 1,750 prisoners released after serving 40 per cent of their sentence, rather than the usual 50 per cent.

Tuesday's cohort of early leaverswere those serving sentences of less than five years.

On 22 October it will be the turn of those with sentences of five years or more - but the government insists it won't apply to most serious offenders such as killers, rapists and terrorists.

Last Friday, the prison population was 88, 521.

But today the figure has fallen by 2,188, to 86,333.

It is "unthinkable" that the government did not carry out an impact assessment on means testing the winter fuel payment, the Liberal Democrats have said.

Last night, Sir Keir Starmer confirmed there was no impact assessment into the change, which would strip millions of pensioners of the benefit.

The prime minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves decided to means-test the payments, worth up to £300, to help fill a £22bn "black hole" in the public finances.

Pressed on whether an impact assessment would be published, Sir Keir told reporters travelling with him to Washington DC: "There isn't a report on my desk which somehow we're not showing, that I'm not showing, as simple as that."

The Liberal Democrats have condemned this decision, describing it as "unthinkable".

Wendy Chamberlain, the party's work and pensions spokeswoman, said: "We know this will have massive knock-on effects for pensioners and potentially our NHS this winter as people are forced to choose between heating and eating.

"It's not too late for ministers to change course.

" Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to tax the big banks rather than punish pensioners to make up for the years of Conservative Party failure."

Sir Keir Starmer has said the NHS must "reform or die" following Lord Darzi's damning report, which paints a grim picture of the state of the health service.

On the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson speaks to health correspondent Ashish Joshi about what the prime minister has promised to do to save it.

Among the promises is moving from an "analogue to a digital NHS". Niall speaks to medical tech entrepreneur Dr Ben Maruthappu about how the NHS can better use technology and AI to become more efficient and future-proof.

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