Politics At Sam and Anne's

Sky News
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Jun 18, 2025 • 22min

How much does Starmer know about Trump’s Iran plan?

Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics.  They start by picking over what Keir Starmer had to say about the potential for an American attack on Iran – which sounded rather different from the line his German counterpart was taking. So what was going on there then?  Back in Westminster, the details of benefit cuts which will impact millions get published – the government needs to convince dozens of Labour MPs to back the plan.   And HS2 slows down – we’ll hear today that the new line will be delayed beyond 2033. 
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Jun 17, 2025 • 19min

G7 - Trump walks out, Starmer holds his breath

Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics.  President Donald Trump's made a hasty exit from the G7 conference in Canada leaving questions about collective diplomacy and his promise to bring peace to an increasingly violent Middle East.  The White House insists his return is to deal with "important matters", while Mr Trump himself has hinted his swift exit is for something “big”.  How will Keir Starmer and allies navigate talks following the US president's departure? Progress has been made on car tariffs and aerospace, but where does this leave the rest of the US-UK trade deal?
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Jun 16, 2025 • 21min

Can Starmer contain Trump on Iran?

Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. The prime minister is in Canada at the G7 as conflict escalates in the Middle East. Can Sir Keir Starmer contain any further flare-ups between Donald Trump and other allies and attempt to bring some calm to the region?The prime minister is also set to authorise a national inquiry into grooming gangs, six months after he said people calling for one were "jumping on the bandwagon". It comes after a national inquiry was recommended by Baroness Louise Casey in her 200-page report, which is due to be published today. How will Sir Keir respond to the rapid review?
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Jun 12, 2025 • 24min

Economy shock overshadows Reeves' big day

Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. Rachel Reeves has said this morning that the latest GDP figures showing the UK economy has shrunk by more than expected are "disappointing".How much will this overshadow yesterday's major spending announcement?Reeves has now planted Labour's fiscal flag in the sand - and spending mistakes from here on in certainly cannot be blamed on their predecessors. How will Labour react to a potential internal revolt over disability benefit cuts? And how will the party manage the politics around expected tax rises in the autumn?
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Jun 11, 2025 • 20min

Who'll win and lose in the spending review

Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics.After weeks of haggling between government ministers, Labour announce today how they plan to apportion cash around departments for the foreseeable future.Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Labour say this comes as the government has "fixed the foundations" and introduced stability to the economy. They say the economy is "turning a corner". But is that totally true? And which sectors are the big winners and losers from this major statement of intent from Labour?
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Jun 10, 2025 • 21min

Meltdown? Labour goes nuclear

Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. Negotiations for the spending review are complete - with reports Chancellor Rachel Reeves has refused to meet Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's demand for extra police funding.We won't have heard the end of this. Reform UK hold (another!) news conference, and the government announces its intentions to go nuclear - "ushering in a new golden age of nuclear [power]".
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Jun 9, 2025 • 21min

Can you trust Rachel Reeves' spending review numbers?

Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics.The Home Office is the last department to finalise their budget with Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of Wednesday's spending review. All eyes are on Yvette Cooper and the noise that comes out of Westminster today and tomorrow that will indicate how much cash the home secretary has secured for things like policing.And, with Nigel Farage due to make a speech today, Sam and Anne catch up on a wild weekend for Reform - at the start of which party chairman Zia Yusuf resigned over a proposed ban on burkas - only for him to reverse his decision and return 48 hours later.
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Jun 6, 2025 • 3min

Introducing... The Wargame

A bunker. A scenario. A group of former senior ministers, military chiefs and other experts. Russia knows our weaknesses – but do you?    Sky News' security and defence editor Deborah Haynes presents The Wargame – a major new five-part series from Sky News and Tortoise, set in the near future.  Launching 10th June.
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Jun 5, 2025 • 21min

How risky is Rachel Reeves' winter fuel U-turn?

Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. More details of Chancellor Rachel Reeves' spending squeeze next week are trickling out - including a U-turn on the winter fuel allowance which we now know is happening in the spending review.The political implications of the U-turn, rather than the broader spending review itself, threatens to dominate the political narrative for the next week and more. How much pressure will that pile on Sir Keir Starmer and his chancellor?
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Jun 4, 2025 • 20min

Has Trump betrayed Starmer steel deal?

Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics. The UK steel industry – which was on the verge of collapse just weeks ago – will no longer face the heaviest of Donald Trump's tariffs, the US announced overnight. We're the only country spared the doubling of tariffs on steel imports to the US to 50% – ours instead capped at 25%.This sounds great – until you remember last month's UK-US agreement – when the PM negotiated President Trump’s 25% tariff down to zero – a deal that is yet to come into force.What's happened? And how big a win is this for Sir Keir Starmer and for Labour in any case? Is this ensuring the revival of British steel, or merely another stay of execution?

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