Ali Fortescue

2 weeks ago | news.sky.com | Beth Rigby |Ed Conway |Ali Fortescue

If you sat through the entire spending review speech delivered by Rachel Reeves in the House of Commons, you might have been lulled into a sense that the UK was awash with a wealth of riches as the chancellor sprinkled billions across the land. There were billions for social housing, nuclear power stations, rail lines and research and development to power the economy.

3 weeks ago | news.sky.com | Ali Fortescue

About 15 minutes before Zia Yusuf's shock resignation, a few senior Reform figures were warned something was due to happen. "It was a surprise, but we knew something was up," a senior party source tells me. Alongside Nigel Farage and Richard Tice, Mr Yusuf has been an increasingly recognisable face in Reform UK. That was no accident: he was being put forward for more media interviews and was seen by some, including Mr Farage, as the future of the party. So what went wrong?

3 weeks ago | news.sky.com | Ali Fortescue

A suspected criminal gang accused of helping more than 200 migrants from Botswana enter the UK illegally over a two-year period has been targeted in a series of raids. Six people were arrested across England on Tuesday morning, with the lead suspect, a 37-year-old Botswana national, detained in Cheltenham. Four other men and one woman, aged between 33 and 50, were also arrested in Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Bradford.

3 weeks ago | manxradio.com | Daniel Dunford |Ali Fortescue

However, analysis by the Sky News data team shows that there has also been a big rise in crossings on days when the weather has been poor. A record 11,074 people arrived in small boats before May this year, a rise of almost 50% compared with the same period last year. According to the Home Office figures, 60 of those days this year were classed as "red days" - where Channel crossings are more likely because of good weather - compared with just 27 last year.

3 weeks ago | news.sky.com | Daniel Dunford |Ali Fortescue

Good weather in the first half of the year may help to explain an increase in small boat arrivals to the UK, according to the government. But our analysis shows that there has also been a big rise in crossings on days when the weather has been poor. A record 11,074 people arrived in small boats before May this year, a rise of almost 50% compared with the same period last year.