Politics latest: PM prepares for grilling from parliament's most powerful backbench MPs (2025)

The government has just announced that hospices will receive a £100m boost in funding - including £26m in revenue funding for2025/26 through what until recently was known as the Children's Hospice Grant.

The government describes this as "thebiggest investment in a generation for hospices", and it will "help hospices this year and next to provide the best end of life care to patients and their families".

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said in a statement: "Hospices provide the care and support for patients and families at the most difficult time so it is only right they are given the financial support to provide these services.

"This package will ensure they will be able to continue to deliver the compassionate care everyone deserves as they come to the end of their life in the best possible environment."

The funding will help improve the hospices themselves, and will in particular improve the IT systems and deliver digital upgrades.

There are around 170 hospices that provide end of life care for adults, and around 40 provide hospice care for children and young people in England, with some hospices providing care to both.

Toby Porter, CEO of Hospice UK, said in a statement: "Today's announcement will be hugely welcomed by hospices, and those who rely on their services. Hospices not only provide vital care for patients and families, but also relieve pressure on the NHS.

"This funding will allow hospices to continue to reach hundreds of thousands of people every year with high-quality, compassionate care.

"We look forward to working with the government to make sure everyone approaching the end of life gets the care and support they need, when and where they need it."

A health minister is set to respond to an urgent question on hospice funding in the House of Commons in the next few moments. We'll bring you their comments right here.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed has been taking questions from MPs in the House of Commons, and he was asked about the ongoing fury from farmers about the changes to inheritance tax that they say could force them to close down.

Mr Reed told the House: "The shadow secretary of state, as well as the former prime minister, keep telling farmers they're not in it for the money.

"We know that they are. They're businesses that need to make a profit, and our new deal for farmers, including increasing supply chain fairness is intended to make farms profitable and successful for the future, in a way that they were not under the previous government."

In response to a later question, the environment secretary insisted that the "vast majority" of farmers will "not pay anything".

"This government, unlike the previous government that thought farmers were not in it for the money, wants them to succeed.

"So we're embarking on a farming roadmap and a new deal for farming that will look at supply chain fairness, stopping farmers being undercut in trade deals like the one they agreed with Australia and New Zealand.

"Our intention is to make farming profitable for the future, their record is 12,000 farming businesses that went bust."

We spoke a little while ago to government ministerMiatta Fahnbulleh, and we asked about the decision not to compensate the Waspi women - women born in the 1950s who were hit by the rise in the state pension age.

The minister said many are "going to be angry" and "upset" about this, but added that the PM and chancellor "have an absolutely impossible job against the financial context that we're operating [in], where things are really, really tight".

Investment is needed across the board in the public sector, she said, and so there are choices to be made about where the limited available money goes.

MsFahnbulleh also refuted that these women are less valuable than train drivers, for example, who were given pay rises by the government earlier this year.

She went on: "There are 101 things I would love us to do as a government. I would love us to do it today.

"And in the end, the reality of governing is it's hard."

The minister also rejected accusations of hypocrisy, with ministers including the chancellor having campaigned while in opposition for compensation for Waspi women.

"We can't do everything straight away, but what we will do is deliver the mandate for change," she said.

The government has confirmed that the four shipyards owned by strickenTitanic shipbuilder Harland & Wolff (H&W) are being bought by Navantia, the Spanish shipbuilder, after months of negotiations.

The deal secures the future ofHarland & Wolff's shipyards in Northern Ireland (Belfast), Scotland (Arnish and Methil) and Devon (Appledore).

It also saves 1,000 UK jobs, the government says, and ensures thedelivery of the Ministry of Defence's contract with Navantia to build three Royal Navy ships.

The rescue deal was first reported by Sky's city editor Mark Kleinman on Tuesday.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement that the deal is "a major vote of confidence in the UK from Navantia".

"National security is the foundation of our Plan for Change – without it we can't deliver on our milestones to raise living standards across the UK – with good skilled productive jobs.

"That is why we are steadfast in supporting the future of UK shipbuilding.

"This deal will guarantee our sovereign shipbuilding capability to bolster our Navy and ensure the industry can continue to deliver economic growth and boost coastal communities right across the UK."

Defence Secretary John Healey added: "This agreement keeps vital defence manufacturing in the UK and protects skilled jobs at historic shipyards across our nations."

The PM is meeting another foreign leader today - but this time, he's in Downing Street rather than travelling abroad.

He has welcomed the sultan of Brunei to Downing Street for talks this morning.

Sir Keir Starmer greeted Haji Hassanal Bolkiah at the door of No 10, and the pair then held a meeting in the White Room.

The PM praised the "strong relationship" between the two countries.

He said he and the sultan would talk about the renewal of the garrison agreement between the two nations, and wider issues of trade and security.

The policing minister has said she wants forces "to do far more" to tackle shoplifting after figures obtained by Sky News showed fewer than one in four incidents were attended to by officers in 2023.

Dame Diana Johnson blamed declining officer numbers under the previous government but also said she wanted to "see shop theft treated seriously... and the police need to play their part".

She was reacting to figures obtained by Sky News under the Freedom of Information Act that reveal officers turning up to fewer and fewer incidents over the last decade.

Just 22% of shoplifting incidents were attended to immediately by police in 2023, based on responses from 22 of England's 39 police forces.

In 2016, data from 17 forces gave an attendance rate of 52% - more than twice the 2023 figure.

While in 2013, figures from 11 forces suggested an attendance rate of 72% - more than three times higher than a decade later.

Looking at just the 2013 and 2016 data sets, a clear trend of declining attendance rates is seen.

Some of the police forces who responded to our request said this was because of modern more remote investigation techniques.

Others said that while officers may not always attend crime scenes immediately, they will often follow up at a later date if there are credible lines of enquiry.

However, store owners and workers have complained that a lack of police attention towards retail crime has created an atmosphere where criminals believe they can steal with few repercussions.

Sky News revealed last month that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, was planning a trip to China in the New Year.

That was a scoop from our city editor, Mark Kleinman, and he has a bit more detail as the planning is being finalised.

He reports that Ms Reeves will make the trip on January 12 and 13 for the first UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue in more than five years.

It was intended to be an annual event, but that was scuppered by both the COVID pandemic and the souring of bilateral relations.

She is expected to be accompanied by what Kleinman describes as a "modestly sized delegation of industry officials".

But the trip has been made much trickier after the spying scandal involving Prince Andrew exploded onto the front pages.

While both China and the man alleged to be a spy, Yang Tengbo, have forcefully denied the claims, it is yet another wedge in bilateral relations.

We've had some reaction from the government to the water regulator's announcement that averagewater bills in England and Wales will increase by 36% over the next five years (see previous post).

Environment Secretary Steve Reed did not pull his punches, directly blames the Tories for the need for this hike.

He said in a statement: "Under the Conservatives, our sewage system crumbled. They irresponsibly let water companies divert customers' money to line the pockets of their bosses and shareholders.

"The public are right to be angry after they have been left to pay the price of Conservative failure."

He added that the government will "ringfence money earmarked for investment so it can never be diverted for bonuses and shareholder payouts".

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

Average water bills in England and Wales will increase by 36% over the next five years, water regulator Ofwat has said.

The rise is equivalent to an average extra of £31 per year.

Water companies had asked for an average rise of 40%.

The regulator's draft determinations issued in July said the bills wouldrise by an average of 21%up to 2030.

It comes as almost60,000 homes across Hampshire are without waterbecause of a "technical issue" at a Southern Water supply works.

These Southern Water customers will experience the biggest bill rise of all eleven water and wastewater companies, a 53% hike. The company had sought an increase of 83%.

Customers of Wessex Water will have the lowest, 21%, bill rise.

The 16 million customers of the UK's biggest water companyThames Waterwill see bills become 35% more expensive. It's below the 53% requested by the utility.

By 2030 a typical annual bill will be £588.

Paying the most every year in five years' time will be Dwr Cymru customers with an average annual bill of £645.

Bills are going up as the utilities face higher borrowing costs on large levels of debt, creaking infrastructure andrecord sewage outflowsinto waterways.

Ofwat chief executive David Black said, "We recognise it is a difficult time for many, and we are acutely aware of the impact that bill increases will have for some customers. That is why it is vital that companies are stepping up their support for customers who struggle to pay.

"We have robustly examined all funding requests to make sure they provide value for money and deliver real improvements while ensuring the sector can attract the levels of investment it needs to meet environmental requirements."

Sky News' deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico's Jack Blanchard share their daily guide to the day ahead in politics in under 20 minutes.

As parliament winds down for recess, Jack and Sam have also reached the final day of the term. They discuss the challenges facing Sir Keir Starmer before his debut at the liaison committee - will his own party give him a tougher time than the Tories?

And following a lacklustre PMQs on Wednesday, Jack and Sam look at Labour's plans for NHS reform, housing, and the economy. Are they holding up under scrutiny?

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