Diane Abbott has been readmitted as a Labour MP, the BBC understands, but it is unclear whether she will stand for the party at the general election. The former shadow home secretary was suspended in April 2023 after saying Jewish, Irish and Traveller people do not face racism “all their lives”. Her suspension meant she...
14 minutes ago Joe Pike,Political Investigations Correspondent PA A white Labour candidate who publicly apologised after saying he had the “worst tan possible for a black man” at a Black History Month event privately dismissed criticism as being “part of a smear campaign” against him. Despite apologising for what he called “extremely stupid and embarrassing”...
Angela Rayner will face no police action after an investigation into the Labour deputy leader’s previous living arrangements. Greater Manchester Police has been investigating after a row involving the sale of her house in Stockport in 2015. She had faced questions over whether she owed tax on the sale and had registered to pay council...
19 minutes ago Sam Francis,Political Reporter Going, going, gone: Ed Davey takes a dip in Lake Windermere The Liberal Democrats have pledged to put environmental experts on water company boards to ensure sewage spills are taken seriously. Party leader Sir Ed Davey accused the Conservatives of “sitting on their hands” as water companies released record...
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said Labour is the party of growth and of enterprise, and “a natural party of business”. Speaking at a Rolls-Royce factory near Derby, Reeves added she wants to lead the most pro-business Treasury the UK has ever seen, after 121 business figures signed a letter endorsing Labour’s economic plans. Source...
Nigel Farage has said Reform UK is becoming a “brand new Conservative movement”. Making a speech in Kent, Mr Farage said there was a “lack of debate” between the two main parties and that the election had got off to the “dullest start” he could remember. The party’s honorary president acknowledged Reform UK was “not...
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer gave a 30-minute speech that did not have a “single new idea” and that he was taking the country for granted. Speaking in Staffordshire on the campaign trail, Mr Sunak said he was going to “fight very hard every single day” to earn people’s trust. Live...
Sir Ed Davey fell into the water three times while paddleboarding on Lake Windermere. The Liberal Democrats leader was on a visit to Lake District with local candidate and former party leader Tim Farron, as part of a general election campaign trail. Earlier in May United Utilities was engulfed in a scandal over news of...
Reform UK’s honorary president has questioned if there was a Conservative Party today, claiming the party has destroyed itself. Nigel Farage said Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer were “not all that far apart”, when asked by BBC political editor Chris Mason if he was trying to join the Conservatives or destroy the party. Mr...
Two more of London’s Labour MPs have announced their plans to stand down at the general election. John Cryer, the MP for Leyton and Wanstead and chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party since 2015, said he wanted to spend more time with his young children ahead of an “extremely busy and demanding” future for the...