Politics latest: PM warns of 'disaster' if Reform and Tories form coalition (2025)

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

Use the key points above to see the main stories of the day, and scroll down for full coverage.

And if you missed tonight's edition of Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge, fear not - you can watch it in full below.

Join us again tomorrow for the very latest as parties frantically campaign ahead of the local elections on Thursday.

By Amanda Akass, political correspondent

Migrants convicted of sex offences in the UK or overseas will be unable to claim asylum under government plans to change the law to improve border security.

The Home Office announcement means foreign nationals who are added to the sex offenders register will forfeit their rights to protection under the Refugee Convention.

As part of the 1951 UN treaty, countries are allowed to refuse asylum to terrorists, war criminals and individuals convicted of a "particularly serious crime" - which is currently defined in UK law as an offence carrying a sentence of 12 months or more.

The government now plans to extend that definition to include all individuals added to the Sex Offenders' Register, regardless of the length of sentence, in an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which is currently going through parliament. It's understood they also hope to include those convicted of equivalent crimes overseas.

Those affected will still be able to appeal their removal from the UK in the courts under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

It is unclear how many asylum seekers will be affected, as the government has been unable to provide any projections or past data on the number of asylum seekers added to the Sex Offenders' Register.

The government's flagship Football Governance Bill has passed its first stage in the House of Commons.

The legislation would establish an independent regulator for English football, allow for the licensing of football club, make decisions around revenue sharing from competitions, and much more.

The bill started in the House of Lords, and has passed all required stages there.

It has now been given a second reading in the House of Commons, which means MPs agree to the bill in principle, and will now examine line-by-line, and potentially propose amendments.

The vote in the Commons was:

• 342 ayes
• 70 noes

An earlier amendment tabled by the Tories in a bid to kill the bill was voted down by the Commons, with just 73 voting in favour of it and 227 voting against.

What exactly will the UK look like at the end of this week?

It's less than seven days until millions of people will go to the polls to vote in the local elections.

Can Reform UK turn votes into seats - and from there into power? How far do the Tories have to fall? How unpopular is Labour now that it's in government?

Our deputy political editor Sam Coatesexamines those questions below...

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.

On Thursday, voters will be heading to the polls for a round of local elections.

On 1 May, there are 1,600 council seats up for grabs across England, as well as six mayoral elections.

What's at stake

Reform are hoping to make significant gains, while Labour will be hoping to avoid being punished for tough decisions at the national level.

Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch will be looking to prove her own party's potential for a return to government after a bumpy time in opposition so far.

Labour are also expecting a tight-run race with Reform in the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby, triggered by the resignation of Mike Amesbury following his conviction for assaulting a constituent.

How to stay up to date

Join Sky News live on the night for our Vote 2025 special coverage, looking at the results as they come in, as well as bringing you all the best analysis and reaction as soon as the polls close.

There will be continuous coverage on the Sky News app - including here in the Politics Hub.

Our special coverage will include:

• An overnight special from midnight on 1 May into 2 May as results come in, with presenter Jonathan Samuels and deputy political editor Sam Coates;
  
• An election special programme throughout the day on 2 May, with a special edition of the Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge showing from 7pm-9pm that evening. Economics and data editor Ed Conway and political correspondent Tamara Cohen will join Ridge during the day's coverage, with political editor Beth Rigby travelling across the country;
• Alongside that, we'll be running two podcast specials on Electoral Dysfunction, available on Saturday 3 May, and Politics At Sam And Anne's, available on Friday 2 May.

"It's been quote-tweeted because he's criticising Nigel Farage."

A fine summation of modern political discourse from Kemi Badenoch, who was asked about the possibility of former Reform MP Rupert Lowe being allowed to join the Tory party.

She didn't seem keen on the idea, describing people who switch sides to "spite" their former colleagues as having a case of "negative defection".

Sounds painful.

Having said that, LBC then asked her why it was that the Tory party's X account had been reposting Lowe.

"It's been quote-tweeted because he's criticising Nigel Farage, and we agree with him on that," she replied.

All clear? Maybe David Cameron was right all those years ago when he suggested Twitter was more trouble than it's worth.

We had a viral moment on the Politics Hub last week, when we were discussing the impact of the Supreme Court ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex.

We were talking about the implications with Dawn Butler, the Labour MP, and Simon Clarke, the former Conservative minister.

That clip has since been viewed millions of times.

I always know when something from the show has taken off on social media because my friends from outside Westminster start texting me about it – obviously it would be nice if they watched the actual show rather than scrolling TikTok and Instagram, but it keeps you grounded.

But there is one thing that I would like to say about the moment you can rewatch above: silence is really unusual on TV.

There's been some mickey-taking online, but I would like to speak in favour of silence.

Silence often means someone is thinking, someone is listening - which we don't always get a lot of here in Westminster.

A place where people are often very good at talking, but not always so great at listening to what someone else is saying.

Public sector pay is back on the agenda, and Downing Street has said there will be no funding for any pay increases above 2.8%.

But it's been reported that the independent pay review body has recommended a 4% rise - and this could mean yet more public sector strikes.

The next guest on tonight's edition ofPolitics Hub With Sophy Ridgeis National Education Union boss Daniel Kebede, and she asks him directly if strikes are on the table.

He says it's "really important" to get "an above inflation pay award that is fully funded, that takes steps to address the crisis in recruitment and retention".

Refusing to rule strikes out, he says it would be "highly inflammatory" if the government was to reject a recommendation from the pay review body if it's above 2.8%.

'These are choices'

He goes on to say Labour was "elected on the promise of change", as well as recruiting 6,500 new teachers, and they need to be "paid fairly".

Sophy puts to him that the public finances are tight, and he replies: "I certainly accept that the government has some difficult choices to make, but these are choices.

"We believe that there is the wealth in this country to ensure that teachers and support staff, and, of course, doctors and nurses, can get the pay award that is necessary to ensure that our public services thrive."

He argues one option would be a 2% wealth tax on people with assets over £10m, which he says would raise "around £24bn".

Turning to the issue of immigration now, as it's been revealed that 10,000 people have now crossed the English Channel so far this year - a record high for this far in any year on record.

Responding to the figures, Peter Kyle blames "a set of climatic conditions, which has made it much easier to cross".

A little earlier today, the shadow home secretary said blaming increased crossings on the weather is "a pretty lame excuse".

The Conservatives accuse the government of removing a deterrent to crossings by scrapping their Rwanda plan.

Cabinet minister Kyle says the Tories didn't send a single migrant to Rwanda, and Labour are returning a third more people with no right to be here than the previous government was.

"We are making sure that the [asylum] application system is dealt with much, much swifter," he says.

Pushed on the issue, he adds: "We need agreement[s] with other countries and their criminal justice systems.

"The home secretary has been absolutely fulsome in her work with the French, with other countries, to make sure that we can have these cooperation agreements and they will deliver.

"But right now because of the climatic conditions, it's making it easier to travel across the Channel."