Ashley Dalton retains constituency for Labour after resignation of Rosie Cooper last autumn
Labour has retained the West Lancashire constituency in a byelection called after its MP, Rosie Cooper, resigned last autumn.
Ashley Dalton, a part-time charity worker, won with 14,068 votes. Her comfortable win, securing a 10.2% swing from the Tories, marks Labour’s third byelection victory since Rishi Sunak became prime minister.
Continue reading...Labour candidate Ashley Dalton odds-on favourite to hold seat after resignation of Rosie Cooper
Polls have closed in the West Lancashire byelection, with Labour confident of retaining the seat it has held since 1992.
The bookies have the party at 1/25 to keep hold of the seat where it had a majority of 8,336 in the last election. A result is expected between 2am and 4am.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Children as young as three in emergency departments for mental health problems, data obtained by Labour reveals
‘We are letting young people down’: the secret psychiatrist on NHS delays
Children suffering mental health crises spent more than 900,000 hours in A&E in England last year seeking urgent and potentially life-saving help, NHS figures reveal.
Experts said the huge amount of time under-18s with mental health issues were spending in A&E was “simply astounding” and showed that NHS services for that vulnerable age group were inadequate.
Continue reading...Party wants to shift MoD procurement to ‘urgent operational footing’ with stockpiles depleted by gifts of military aid to Ukraine
Labour will seek to shift defence procurement to an “urgent operational footing” to help buy fresh arms for Ukraine and replenish stockpiles depleted by previous gifts of military aid if it wins the next election.
The opposition party believes it has taken too long for the Ministry of Defence to buy fresh munitions, citing a near year-long wait to agree a contract to replace the 4,000-plus Nlaw anti-tank bazookas sent to Kyiv before and in the early stages of the war.
Continue reading...Three years on, the reality of the split with the EU has changed minds. But dashed hopes could come to haunt Labour, too
Brexit is three years old and less popular than ever. More people are unhappy with Brexit outcomes to date, and pessimistic about the gains to come today than at any point in the Brexit process so far. “Rejoin” has opened up a double-digit lead over staying out in polls asking voters how they would choose in a second referendum on EU membership.
While voters have swung against Brexit before, the current shift is different. Earlier remain gains were driven by abstainers and those too young to vote in 2016 breaking against Brexit and by demographic changes which have slowly pulled the electorate in a pro-EU direction. The vast majority of leave and remain voters have hitherto stood by the choices they made in June 2016. That is now changing, and it is Brexiters who are reconsidering. One in five leave voters now say they would vote to rejoin the EU, while remain switching has stayed much lower. The scales of opinion are being tipped against Brexit by growing doubts among its original supporters.
Continue reading...As it happened: Prime minister speaks in interview on TalkTV to mark his 100th day in office
On the subject of Rishi Sunak reaching his 100th day in office, my colleague Jessica Elgot has a great assessment of how it’s going. Here is an extract.
After Liz Truss left office, polls suggested that voters wanted to keep an open mind about Sunak and rated him significantly higher than his party.
That is now beginning to turn. According to senior Labour figures, their most recent focus groups, with swing voters in Southampton, Dewsbury and Bury last week, were described as being “utterly brutal for Sunak”, with participants engaging in “open mockery” of the prime minister. Even the most pessimistic members of Keir Starmer’s team say they have seen a decisive shift.
In the coming weeks, our new stop the boats bill will change the law to send a message loud and clear.
If you come here illegally, you will be detained and removed.
Continue reading...Dominic Raab under increasing pressure as civil servants’ union calls for him to be suspended until bullying inquiry concludes
MPs have been told that paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland have coerced young people with drug debts to take part in rioting, PA Media reports. PA says:
A community worker gave an example of a user’s debt being reduced by £80 for doing so.
Megan Phair, coordinator of the Journey to Empowerment Programme and member of the Stop Attacks Forum, said both loyalist and dissident republican groups use the tactic to force people on to the streets.
It’s time for the prime minister to come out of hiding and face the music. The public deserves to know the truth about what he knew and when, including the full disclosure of any advice given to him by the Cabinet Office.
Continue reading...PM not aware of formal complaints at time of appointment, says spokesperson, as Starmer attacks ‘addiction to sleaze and scandal’
Downing Street has repeatedly refused to say whether Rishi Sunak knew of any informal complaints about Dominic Raab’s behaviour before making him a minister, after Keir Starmer attacked the government’s “addiction to sleaze and scandal”.
Speaking after a session of prime minister’s questions in which the Labour leader tackled Sunak over a series of ethical and conduct issues, the prime minister’s press secretary refused to be drawn on possible complaints about Raab before he was made justice secretary and deputy prime minister.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Domestic abuse charges authorised by CPS declined from 82,158 to 43,836 in 2021-2022, Labour party reveals
The number of charges related to domestic abuse has halved since 2015, figures for England and Wales uncovered by the Labour party have revealed, while similar offences recorded by police have more than doubled.
Domestic abuse charges authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have steadily declined from 82,158 in 2015-2016 to 43,836 in 2021-2022, the data shows. Over the same period, the total number of domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police has soared by 116% from 421,185 in 2015-2016 to 910,980 in 2021-2022.
Continue reading...‘Never again will Labour allow hate to spread unchallenged,’ Labour leader will say at annual conference in London
Never again will Labour be the party of protest not public service, and never again will it allow hate to spread unchallenged, Keir Starmer will say, as he reiterates his promise to make it the party of “sound money”.
The Labour leader will address approximately 600 people at London Labour’s annual conference on Saturday, and outline how his government will “give people a sense of possibility again”, while focusing on the changes he has made since the party lost the 2019 general election.
Continue reading...Unison general secretary says chancellor ‘completely ignoring vital public services’ after he gives speech on plans
Hunt says Brexit is an opportunity to work with regulators to create an economic environment which is “more innovation-friendly, and more growth-focused”.
He says he wants to create an “enterprise culture built on low taxes, reward for risk, access to capital and smarter regulation”.
Nor will we fix our productivity puzzle unless everyone who can participate does. So to those who retired early after the pandemic, or haven’t found the right role after furlough, I say: Britain needs you.
High taxes directly affect the incentives which determine decisions by entrepreneurs, investors or larger companies, about whether to pursue their ambitions in Britain
Sound money must come first but our ambition must be nothing less than to have the most competitive tax regime of any major country.
In case anyone is in any doubt about who will actually deliver that restraint to make a low tax economy possible, I gently point out that in the three weeks since Labour promised no big government chequebook they have made £45bn of unfunded spending commitments.
Continue reading...Singer said the situation in UK was ‘so bad’ and it was time to ‘change the bloody government’
Rod Stewart called a phone-in segment on Sky News to offer to pay for people to have hospital scans, amid the rising number of people on NHS waiting lists.
The 78-year-old rock star, who has previously backed the Conservatives, said he had never seen the situation in the UK “so bad” and called for Labour to be given a chance to run the country, adding: “Change the bloody government.”
Continue reading...Cabinet told about bleak outlook for governing party at next general elections at Chequers awayday
The Conservatives must “relentlessly focus” on inflation and the NHS if they are to have a chance at the next election, cabinet ministers have been told.
Rishi Sunak gathered ministers at his country retreat Chequers on Thursday for a midday political cabinet – where a number of ministers gave presentations on the government’s key priorities and took a fresh look at the strategy for the next election.
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Rishi Sunak has welcomed Germany’s decision to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
There is more coverage of the German decision on our Ukraine live blog.
Continue reading...In a focus group, residents of Stoke-on-Trent describe the health service as an ‘absolute mess’ and say the PM has just disappeared
Rishi Sunak should pour money and staff into the “crippled” NHS, and reward striking nurses with better pay, Conservative 2019 voters from a “red wall” constituency have said.
Stoke-on-Trent residents in a focus group organised by More in Common for the Guardian described the health service as “struggling”, being in an “absolute mess” and “on its backside”, with all members able to describe just how difficult it is to get an appointment. On top of this, the locals expressed a huge amount of sympathy for striking health workers, who are “worked to the bone”.
Continue reading...Shadow foreign secretary to mark out diplomatic mission of a future Labour government in landmark speech
Labour will make closer cooperation with Europe across security, trade and foreign policy a central plank of a plan to reconnect “a tarnished UK” with its closest allies, David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, will say in a landmark speech designed to mark out the diplomatic mission of a future Labour government.
Addressing the thinktank Chatham House on Tuesday, he will say the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not been given a clear set of goals post-Brexit. “Ideological leadership and reckless choices have left Britain increasingly disconnected from its closest allies, an economy in crisis, and a tarnished international reputation.”
Continue reading...Labour MP asks whether Zahawi statement in the summer was untrue, with Cabinet Office minister saying he does not know the answer
Nadhim Zahawi, the Conservative party chair, has welcomed the decision by Rishi Sunak to ask the No 10 ethics adviser to investigate his case. “I am confident I acted properly throughout,” Zahawi said.
Zahawi seems to be using a narrow definition of “properly”. In the statement he issued yesterday, he accepted that his original decision not to pay the tax that HM Revenue and Customs subsequently concluded he should have paid was down to a careless error. He said:
Following discussions with HMRC, they agreed that my father was entitled to founder shares in YouGov, though they disagreed about the exact allocation. They concluded that this was a ‘careless and not deliberate’ error.
Integrity and accountability is really important to me and clearly in this case there are questions that need answering …
That’s why the independent adviser has been asked to fully investigate this matter and provide advice to me on Nadhim Zahawi’s compliance with the ministerial code, and on the basis of that we’ll decide on the appropriate next steps.
Continue reading...Angela Rayner says Rishi Sunak should come clean about any concerns raised with No 10 about ex-chancellor and HMRC penalty
Nadhim Zahawi’s political future appeared under increasing threat on Sunday night, after Labour pushed hard for answers about his tax issues and government colleagues offered little support for his plight.
After a weekend dominated by questions over the Conservative party chair’s tax position, Labour signalled its intention to pin the controversy on to Rishi Sunak, demanding the prime minister explain if he knew about the issue when he appointed Zahawi to his cabinet.
Continue reading...Reports Richard Sharp helped ex-PM arrange guarantee on £800,000 loan before he was recommended for job
Labour is calling for an investigation after claims that the BBC chair helped Boris Johnson arrange a guarantee on a loan of up to £800,000 weeks before he was recommended for the job by the then prime minister.
The party has written to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg, after a report in the Sunday Times that Tory donor Richard Sharp was involved in talks about financing Johnson when he found himself in financial difficulty in late 2020.
Continue reading...Angela Rayner calls for explanation after it emerged former chancellor paid 30% penalty to settle tax bill
Nadhim Zahawi’s position as Conservative party chair is “untenable” after reports he paid a penalty as part of a seven-figure tax settlement, Labour has said.
The former chancellor, who attends cabinet meetings, has faced pressure in parliament and the media after it emerged he agreed to pay millions to HMRC in December after a settlement with the tax agency.
Continue reading...