Thank you for joining us on the Politics Hub for another busy day in Westminster.

Here's what happened today:

• Paymaster general John Glen set out details of the compensation scheme for victims of the infected blood scandal, and said the expectation is that final payments will start before the end of the year;
• Rishi Sunak travelled to Austria for a flying visit - but scored a victory as his Austrian counterpart Karl Nehammer heaped prise on his plans to tackle illegal migration, such as the Rwanda scheme;
• Michael Gove, the communities secretary, accused organisers of pro-Palestinian marches of not doing enough to stop some demonstrators spreading anti-Jewish rhetoric;
• He backed recommendations by Lord Walney, the government's political violence adviser, who said even more powers should be granted to the police to crack down on protests that seem to veer into political violence;
• It came on the same day that the High Court ruled that regulations which lowered the threshold for police intervening in protests were unlawful;
• Elsewhere, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) criticised Jeremy Hunt's national insurance cuts, but upgraded the UK's growth faster;
• It emerged that Rishi Sunak bowed to pressure from some of his senior cabinet colleagues over proposed changes to the graduate visa scheme, with him set to keep the two-year period students can stay in the country after completing their studies;
• And Tory MP Craig Mackinlay is set to return to parliament tomorrow for the first time since almost losing his life to sepsis and having multiple amputations.

Join us again from 6am for the very latest political news - and live coverage of PMQs from 12pm.

As we've reported this evening, Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay has revealed he has had both his hands and feet amputated after contracting sepsis last year.

The MP for South Thanet is due to return to parliament on Wednesday, eight months after he was rushed to hospital (read more here).

MPs of all parties have shared their praise for Mr Mackinlay's "courage" and "resilience" as he arrives back in Westminster.

Labour MP for Westminster North, Karen Buck, tweeted that Mr Mackinlay and his family have "gone through an unimaginable nightmare".

"The courage he is displaying is remarkable and we wish him the very best for his recovery."

Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns shared a personal story, writing: "My Mum died of sepsis, you surviving this shows your bravery and that you have much more work to do on this earth. Keep fighting on."

Chris Bryant, Labour MP for the Rhondda, said: "His stoicism (his word) and determination are inspirational. So glad he'll be back in the Commons tomorrow."

Former cabinet minister and Tory MP Sir Alok Sharma described Mr Mackinlay as an "extraodinarily brave man".

Veteran Labour MP Harriet Harman wrote on X: "So brave! I’m full of admiration. And sending full support to Craig for further progress."

Tory MP and transport secretary, Mark Harper, tweeted: "Incredible resilience - proud to call @cmackinlay a colleague".

And his Labour opponent in the upcoming general election - that he has said he intends to fight - described him as a "battler", and said he had "proved it by his survival of this awful ordeal".

Polly Billington added: "His family have gone through an awful ordeal and my heart goes out to his wife Kati and their young daughter.

By Alexandra Rogers, political reporter

Families of offenders serving an "inhumane" prison sentence abolished more than a decade ago have said they are "bitterly disappointed" after a proposal to change the parole process was dropped due to a lack of Labour support.

Peers in the House of Lords are due to vote on a series of amendments relating to imprisonment for public protection sentences (IPP) - a type of open-ended jail term that has previously been denounced as "inhumane" and a form of "psychological torture" by UN torture expert Alice Jill Edwards.

Ms Edwards had urged both main parties to back an amendment by Tory peer Lord Moylan that would reverse the burden of proof, so the Parole Board would have to prove an IPP offender is too dangerous to be released - rather than the prisoners themselves having to demonstrate they no longer pose a risk to the public.

Ms Edwards told Sky News the burden of proof "has been one of the greatest obstacles to ensuring prisoners can secure release" and she welcomed Lord Moylan's amendment.

She urged the Tories and Labour "not to miss this chance to improve a desperate human rights situation for so many prisoners in England and Wales".

However, Lord Moylan later confirmed in the Lords debate that he would no longer push his amendment - citing the Labour Party's decision to abstain.

Lord Moylan said he was "disappointed" by the decision, which campaigners also branded a "gut punch to IPP prisoners and their families".

Read the full story here:

Labour has accused the Tories of having "mismanaged the criminal justice system" amid reports that police chiefs have been told to make fewer arrests due to a lack of prison spaces.

The Times newspaper is reporting tonight on an internal document from the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) advising chief constables to consider pausing "non-priority arrests" and "operations where large numbers of arrests may take place".

This is due, the paper reports, due to lack of space in the criminal justice system, which has been well-documented.

Shabana Mahmood MP, Labour's shadow justice secretary, said in a statement that it "beggars belief that police are being told to sit on their hands and ignore crime because the Conservatives have mismanaged the criminal justice system so badly".

"Rishi Sunak's rap sheet now reads: the rushed early release of domestic abusers onto our streets, deliberate delays to trials, and victims waiting years for justice.

"The public will be absolutely dumbfounded. This cannot go on."

Sky News has not independently verified the memo from the NPCC.

A government spokesperson said in a statement: "Public safety will always be our first priority. That is why we have backed our police with the officers and resources they need to keep our streets safe and are introducing new laws to lock up the most dangerous offenders for longer while delivering the biggest prison expansion programme in 100 years.

"We continue to see pressure on our jails following the impact of the pandemic and barristers’ strike, and have initiated a previously used operational measure to securely transfer prisoners between courts and custody."

The infected blood scandal was "not an accident" and its failures lie with "successive governments, the NHS, and blood services", a public inquiry has found.

More than 30,000 people were infected with HIV and hepatitis C from 1970 to 1991 after being given contaminated blood products and transfusions - about 3,000 of whom have since died.

Sir Brian Langstaff, who chaired the inquiry, said the scale of what happened was "horrifying".

On the Sky News Daily, Matt Barbet talks to Sky's health correspondent Ashish Joshi about the report and Rosamund Cooper who was given blood products contaminated with Hepatitis C.

In January 2023, Rishi Sunak made five promises.

Since then, he and his ministers have rarely missed an opportunity to list them. In case you haven't heard, he promised to:

• Halve inflation
• Grow the economy
• Reduce debt
• Cut NHS waiting lists and times
• Stop the boats

See below how he is doing on these goals:

Two of Westminster's best-connected journalists, Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Jack Blanchard, guide you through their top predictions for the next seven days in British politics.   

This week the government will be hoping to see the rate of inflation hit the Bank of England's 2% target as Rishi Sunak aims to claim a victory for some of his decisions in No 10.   

 👉 Listen above then tap here to follow Politics At Jack And Sam's wherever you get your podcasts 👈 

Email with your thoughts and rate how their predictions play out: jackandsam@sky.uk or jackandsam@politico.co.uk         

Tory MP Craig Mackinlay is set to return to parliament tomorrow for the first time since almost losing his life to sepsis and having multiple amputations.

In September last year, the MP for Thanet was "rushed to hospital" after feeling unwell.

He told his constituents in December that he was "diagnosed with Sepsis and placed into an induced coma with multiple organ failures shortly after".

As a result of the illness, he has also had to have his hands and feet amputated.

Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that occurs when the immune system overreacts and starts to damage the body's own tissues and organs.

Mr Mackinlay will return to parliament for the first time tomorrow since his illness, and is set to enter the Commons chamber minutes before PMQs where he is sure to greeted by rapturous cheers from Tory colleagues.

Afterward his return to the Commons chamber, he will meet with the prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

One senior Tory MP told Sky News tonight: "What a man!"

Mr Mackinlay has been an MP since 2015 and is also a chartered accountant.

He beat Nigel Farage to win his seat in Kent, where he currently has a majority of around 10,000.

In 2019, he was cleared of breaking electoral spending laws in his defeat of the former UKIP leader and used his acquittal to call for reform of "sketchy" electoral law.

On the right of the Tory party, Mr Mackinlay's political career began as a member for UKIP, which he briefly led in 1999.

But claiming he was concerned about "the direction" it was going in, he left in 2005 and joined the Conservative Party.

By Tomos Evans, Wales reporter

Wales's first minister Vaughan Gething has said it has been a "very difficult time for members across the government".

The Labour leader faced further questions on Tuesday over a controversial £200k donation to his leadership campaign.

Critics have argued that he should not have accepted the money from a man convicted of environmental offences. Mr Gething has said the donation was within the rules.

It was the first time Senedd members had the chance to question the first minister since Hannah Blythyn was sacked from the government last week for allegedly leaking messages to the media.

Ms Blythyn denied any wrongdoing and said she was "deeply shocked and saddened" by her dismissal.

Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said there was a "discrepancy" between the accounts of the first minister and the former minister.

"One of them is right and one of them is wrong," he said.

Read the full story here:

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has bowed to pressure from some of his senior cabinet colleagues over proposed changes to the graduate visa scheme.

Reports had suggested he planned on either shortening or scrapping the two-year period students could stay in the country after completing their studies, as he faced increasing pressure from the right of his party to lower record-high legal migration.

However, Sky News understands the period will remain in place after appeals from Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan and Home Secretary James Cleverly, who are all said to have raised concerns on the impact on universities and the economy if the rules were changed.

There will be some additional measures announced by the government this week to coincide with the latest net migration figures being published, Sky News also understands.

They will include the tightening of restrictions on agents that market British degree courses overseas and subjecting some international students to mandatory English tests.

But Mr Sunak is still likely to face a backlash from former home secretary Suella Braverman, who today called for the whole graduate visa route to be scrapped, and ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who has called it "a backdoor for foreign students to do low-wage work".

A government source told Sky News the decision was "a sign of good government", showing each secretary of state had reviewed the impact of policy plans and communicated them to the leader.

Read more here: