UK

Inflation has hit its highest level in 40 years amid the deteriorating cost of living crisis. The rate shot up to 9% last month – its highest level since comparable readings in 1982. Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a broad-based hike in prices for everyday goods and services during April

A man has been found guilty of the murder of police community support officer Julia James. Callum Wheeler, 22, beat the mother-of-two to death as she walked her dog in fields and woodland near the back of her home in Snowdown, Kent. Mrs James was off duty on the afternoon of 27 April last year

More than four in five people in Britain are concerned about the rising cost of living in the coming months, according to an Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Sky News. Rising bills have meant that one in four people have resorted to skipping meals, according to the survey of more than 2,000 Britons. Data also

The home secretary is permanently lifting restrictions placed on police in the use of stop and search powers. Priti Patel announced the changes in a letter to police forces on Monday, under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, saying they are part of the government’s strategy to tackle violent crime. The

A woman who died after being hit by a car while walking her three dogs in London has been named. Police have identified her as Olivia Riley from Suffolk and said her family are being supported by specialist officers. The 41-year-old had been walking her golden retrievers along Cheyne Walk in Chelsea on Saturday morning

Business leaders in the fish and chip industry are calling on the government to offer a “long-term strategy” to their food shortages crisis – or face a third of chippies closing. The National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) has warned the four key ingredients that make up a traditional fish and chip meal are deeply

Cancer campaigner Deborah James has said she’s had the “most surreal, mind-blowing, humbling five days” of her life after being made a dame and her fundraiser reaching more than £5.7m. The podcast host, who is receiving hospice-at-home care to treat her terminal bowel cancer, thanked the public for their “generosity” and the Duke of Cambridge

Prince William has personally given bowel cancer awareness champion Deborah James her damehood. The Duke of Cambridge visited her family home in Surrey to hand over the honour, and was seen beaming with the podcaster, who is also known as Bowel Babe. Ms James said she was “utterly honoured” that Prince William had joined her

A 12-year-old boy who suffered “catastrophic” brain damage should undergo a test so doctors can try to establish whether he is dead, a High Court judge has ruled Archie Battersbee, of Southend, Essex, has not regained consciousness after suffering brain damage in an incident at home more than a month ago. Mrs Justice Arbuthnot concluded

Jacob Rees-Mogg has said that plans to cut more than 90,000 civil service jobs in order to free up billions of pounds for measures to ease the cost of living crisis does not amount to the return of austerity. During an away-day with cabinet ministers in Stoke-on-Trent on Thursday, the prime minister asked cabinet ministers

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of child abduction after a missing 15-year-old girl was found by police in Bristol. Maddie Thomas disappeared on 26 April after leaving her foster parents’ home in Southmead, saying she was going to the shops. She has now been found by police and her foster parents and family

Tax cuts could now be announced before the summer recess, Sky News understands. Ministers have been forced to rethink plans after grim forecasts from the Bank of England suggested the economy was now at risk of recession. Inflation is also likely to be higher than expected just six to eight weeks ago, putting pressure on

A teenage girl in Bristol who has been missing since April is now believed to have been abducted, according to police. Maddie Thomas, 15, disappeared in the Southmead area on 26 April. Avon and Somerset Police said they are “no longer investigating Maddie’s disappearance as a missing person case but as a child abduction”. Officers

Households are being urged to get their finances in the best shape possible amid increasing evidence of increased stress over the growing cost of living crisis – now said to be the main concern for people across the UK. A debt advice charity told Sky News it was helping thousands of new clients navigate problem

Boris Johnson has promised to “grow and strengthen the economy and help ease the cost of living for families” through new measures in the Queen’s Speech. The address, which outlines the government’s legislative agenda for the year ahead, focused heavily on the economy as the PM aims to get the country “back on track” after

New laws to outlaw guerrilla-style climate protests that have caused misery for the public are being unveiled in a bumper Queen’s Speech. A new offence of “locking-on”, targeting activists who lock or glue themselves together or to buildings, is planned by Home Secretary Priti Patel. Her crackdown comes in one of 38 new bills, which

The Queen will not be attending tomorrow’s State Opening of Parliament for the first time in 59 years, Buckingham Palace has said. The Prince of Wales will read the Queen’s Speech on her behalf, with the Duke of Cambridge also in attendance. In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “The Queen continues to experience episodic mobility

The royals will visit all parts of the UK over the bank holiday Jubilee weekend, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Wales, Buckingham Palace has announced. The Earl and Countess of Wessex will visit Northern Ireland and the Princess Royal will be in Scotland. All will attend public events marking the platinum anniversary.

Labour’s Lisa Nandy has defended “Mr Rules” Sir Keir Starmer and said it was “not illegal to eat” after latest claims about alleged COVID rule breaking by the party leader. Sir Keir has said he was working and stopped to eat when he was filmed having a beer in a room in Durham in April

Sinn Fein has become the first nationalist party to win the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly in its 101-year history. Voters flocked to the polls to elect 90 new members of the Legislative Assembly, with Sinn Fein winning a lion’s share of the seats. As counting concluded in the early hours of Sunday