Politics latest: 'Disaster for Britain' if Reform and Tories do a deal, warns PM (2025)

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Also, will the upcoming Canadian elections be a referendum on Trump from its biggest neighbours? Sam and Anne discuss what the global ramifications of that result might be.

And back in Blighty, local elections are nearing and Sam explains how they might shine a light on tensions in Labour between Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Will their briefs demand they push in opposite directions?

Of all the rows in all the places, the prime minister probably didn't expect to end up being asked to comment on a Northern Irish hip-hop trio.

And before you ask, no, it's not because he's a fan.

The group, called Kneecap, have made headlines for two reasons.

Firstly, because of alleged comments they've made - including backing multiple groups the government has designated as terrorist organisations, and apparently telling their fans to "kill your local MP".

To make matters worse, the second reason is the group is government-funded, having received thousands of pounds of public money via an arts scheme overseen by the business and culture departments.

What have Kneecap allegedly done?

Footage of the group at a gig in November 2023 appears to show one member saying: "The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP."

The Metropolitan Police are now investigating and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for them to be prosecuted.

But in another video, this one from a gig in north London in November 2024, a band member appears to shout: "Up Hamas, up Hezbollah."

These are two prescribed terrorist groups based in the Middle East, the latter responsible for the 7 October terror attack on Israel.

The subsequent conflict has killed many thousands more.

The police are also investigating this video.

What has Downing Street said?

Downing Street was asked for the PM's reaction to the two videos of the band, the latest of which was only revealed today.

A spokesperson for the prime minister said: "Clearly, the PM rejects the views expressed [and] does not shy away from condemning them."

They added: "We do not think individuals expressing those views should be receiving government funding."

Badenoch blocked Kneecap from receiving the £14,250 gran while she was the business secretary last year. But in November 2024, the group won a discrimination decision against the challenge.

Sir Keir Starmer has said he "doesn't want to see" strike action taken by the NHS and has pledged to work with staff to avoid them walking out.

The prime minister also criticised the previous government for going "into battle with" the NHS and said his strategy gets "better results".

Starmer has been visiting a hospital in the northwest of England this morning, where he announced prescription charges will be frozen for the first time in three years.

He was asked about public sector pay rises and said these could be possible. But he ruled out any further funding beyond what has already been set out in the budget.

Watch: PM grilled by Sky News political editor Beth Rigby

Asked about what he will do if there are strikes, Starmer said his government has a "better way of doing business".

He also said going on strike is "the last thing" NHS staff want to do.

Pointing to the government ending junior doctors strikes last year, Starmer added: "We solved disputes, we are working with the NHS.

"It's because of the way that we are working with the NHS that we are able to bring waiting lists down and make other announcements today."

Labour have got 'better results'

Doubling down on his government's strategy, he added: "What I think we are proving here – what I hope we are proving – is if you work with the NHS staff, you get better results than the last government, which just went into battle with them.

"We have got our doctors and nurses on the front line, not the picket line, and I think everybody appreciates that's a much better way of doing business."

The PM faced some criticism of the way he handled public sector strikes in his first few months in office, where the Conservatives accused Starmer of handing over large amounts of money to the unions, rather than holding out against them.

The prime minister has said a coalition between the Conservatives and Reform UK would see voters "conned" and would be a "disaster" for Britain.

Sir Keir Starmer told our political editor Beth Rigbya Tory-Reform deal would not satisfy supporters of either party.

Asked about what a coalition would look like, the PM said: "The Tories have got a terrible record, 14 years of failure. Reform moan about everything, but have got no answers.

"If you're a Tory voter who doesn't want a pro-Russia foreign policy, how does a merger with Reform work for you?

"If you're a Reform voter that thinks the Tories have failed for 14 years, how's a merger or coalition with the Tories work for you?"

Local elections loom

He added: "Both sets of voters are being conned, because behind the scenes and behind the leader of the opposition, other people are looking for a coalition of these two parties.

"It would be a disaster for Britain."

The PM was speaking to Sky News for the first time in the week of the local elections, which will take place on Thursday.

It's part of a series of election previews, and all the major parties have been invited to take part.

Thank you for joining us for live coverage of this morning's events in politics, just days before voters go to the polls for the first time since the general election.

On Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, we heard from:

• Kemi Badenoch, Conservative Party leader;
• Pat McFadden, Cabinet Office minister;
• Ben Rhodes, former Obama national security staffer;
• Peter Kellner, journalist and pollster.

Scroll down to read what they had to say.

If you missed the show and want to catch up in full, you can watch it below.

We'll be back from 6am with the very latest from Westminster as the local elections campaign enters the final days.

By Liz Bates, political correspondent

The Greens have denied a split at the top of the party over trans rights, as they appeal to voters ahead of next week's local elections.

Carla Denyer defended fellow co-leader Adrian Ramsay after he failed to say whether he still believed "trans women are women".

This cast doubt over the stance of the defiantly pro-trans party and raised questions over whether the two leaders were at odds.

But as she joined activists on the campaign trail in Kent on Friday, Ms Denyer claimed she and her fellow Green MP were still unified but couldn't say whether they had spoken about the contentious issue.

She told Sky News: "Green Party policy is clear that trans women are women, trans men are men, and non-binary identities exist and are valid.

"I support that policy and I know that Adrian and I are united in standing up for trans rights and for women's rights.

"I don't see those in conflict, I understand some people will express themselves slightly differently, and I absolutely understand why a man, a cis-man, might feel slightly uncomfortable defining womanhood from the outside."

It may have caused some tricky conversations this week, but the issue is unlikely to have a huge impact on next Thursday's elections.

A little earlier on Sky News, we heard from journalist and pollster Peter Kellner about what is at stake at the local elections on Thursday.

First is control of councils up and down England, with the Tories "expected to lose most of" the councils they won in 2021.

Second is how the parties perform in terms of the national picture. He explains to Trevor Phillips that the big parties tend do to "abit worse than their poll rating, and the smaller parties do better than their poll ratings".

It could be that smaller parties get the majority of the vote, which would be "really new in British politics".

"It takes us into a new space, slightly concealed by the fact that we have a voting system which pushes back against multi-party politics," he said.

Kellner went on to say that he expects many more councils than normal to be 'no overall control', meaning no party has a majority on them.

"I suspect [in] a lot of these traditional Tory counties, there will be a majority for Conservative and Reform, but not for either of them individually," he said, adding that the "Tory-Reform drama after next Thursday will move to a lot of county halls".

More broadly, Kellner argued that politics has changed in recent years as there is much less party loyalty, while the economy and identities have changed.

"I think we are into a long period of multi-party politics," he said.

Asked finally who has the most to worry about on Thursday, Kellner replies: "The Conservatives because - I'm not saying it will happen - it's perfectly possible not only do they lose most or even all of their councils, but when we get a projection of the national vote, they could come out fourth."

By Mark Kleinman, City editor

The bosses of four of Britain's biggest banks are secretly urging the chancellor to ditch the most significant regulatory change imposed after the 2008 financial crisis, warning her its continued imposition is inhibiting UK economic growth.

Sky News has obtained an explosive letter sent this week by the chief executives of HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group and Santander UK in which they argue bank ring-fencing "is not only a drag on banks' ability to support business and the economy, but is now redundant".

The CEOs' letter represents an unprecedented intervention by most of the UK's major lenders to abolish a reform which cost them billions of pounds to implement and which was designed to make the banking system safer by separating groups' high street retail operations from their riskier wholesale and investment banking activities.

Their request to Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, to abandon ring-fencing 15 years after it was conceived will be seen as a direct challenge to the government to take drastic action to support the economy during a period when it is forcing economic regulators to scrap red tape.

It will, however, ignite controversy among those who believe that ditching the UK's most radical post-crisis reform risks exacerbating the consequences of any future banking industry meltdown.

Beth Rigby, Harriet Harman and Ruth Davidson discuss the UK Supreme Court's judgment on how a woman should be defined in law.

They also hear from Ellie, a trans woman who says she's now afraid for her safety and her future.

Harriet literally wrote the law in question, the Equality Act 2010 - she and the team dig into what the judgement means for individuals and institutions across the country.

And on 1 May, there are local and mayoral elections in England and the Runcorn and Helsby by-election. The polling group More in Common has helped us hear what's on the minds of voters in Doncaster.

👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈

Find all the candidates in Doncaster and in your area at the Electoral Commission:https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/your-election-information

Come and join us LIVE on Tuesday 20th May at Cadogan Hall in London, tickets available now:https://www.aegpresents.co.uk/event/electoral-dysfunction-live/

Remember you can also watch us onYouTube!

A major donor to the Conservative Party, Bassim Haidar, has announced that he has defected to Reform UK, and has pledged £1 million to help the party win.

But Kemi Badenoch tells Trevor Phillips: "I'm not worried."

She says the Tories are raising money, noting that they raised "more than the Lib Dems, Reform and Labour combined" in the last few months.

"Obviously, we don't want to lose our donors, but we need to make sure that what we are doing is about the public - it's not just about winning elections."

Trevor next puts to the Tory leader the exclusive Sky News audio of Robert Jenrick vowing to"bring this coalition together" to ensure that Conservatives and Reform UK are no longer fighting each other for votes by the time of the next election (listen below).

Badenoch rejects Trevor's suggestion that what Jenrick is saying is that two parties on the right of British politics cannot co-exist and win, pointing to the multiple parties on the left.

"What he's talking about, and which I do agree with, is that we need to bring back all those people who left the Conservative Party to go to Reform.

"We do need to bring that coalition back, just as I want to see the people who left us to go to the Lib Dems, or to go to Labour coming back.

"That doesn't mean I want a coalition with Labour and the Lib Dems."