Category Archives: Scottish National party (SNP)

Almost half Tory members want merger with Reform UK, poll suggests, as leadership infighting escalates – UK politics live

Posted on by

Shadow home secretary James Cleverly has urged the party to avoid descending into ‘bitter infighting and finger pointing’

Former education recovery commissioner Sir Kevan Collins, who resigned after Boris Johnson rejected his £15bn Covid catch-up plans, is to advise the new government on driving up school standards and finding solutions to teacher shortages and high absence rates.

The Department for Education confirmed on Tuesday that Collins, a widely respected figure in the sector, has been appointed a non-executive board member at the DfE. As such his role will be to support and challenge the department in its efforts to raise standards in England’s schools.

I’m delighted to be returning to the Department for Education. There are real challenges facing our schools and I am looking forward to being part of a renewed drive to ensure that we tackle these with bold and fresh new ideas, to deliver high and rising standards in every corner of the country.

Sir Kevan has been an outstanding force for good in schools, especially his work advocating for our teachers and children during the pandemic and he will play a crucial role in advising the department.

Continue reading...

Voter turnout at general election was lowest since 2001 – politics live as it happened

Posted on by

Keir Starmer ‘restless for change’ as he vows to take action on prisons on first full day as PM

Education spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, Munira Wilson, acknowledged the party benefited from voters wanting to turf out a Conservative government.

According to the PA news agency, the Twickenham MP told Sky News:

We were very clear that after the previous Conservative government, which was frankly full of chaos and incompetence and had broken the trust of the British people and broken our economy, time was up for them and in many of those seats where we won we made it very clear to voters that if they wanted to turf out the Tories they had to vote Liberal Democrat and they did.

So obviously in every election it’s a combination of the two, but I am also confident that our messages around cost-of-living, sewage, health and care did really resonate with voters.”

It’s really important for the British people that there are opposition MPs asking tough questions and scrutinising the legislation that Labour are going to bring forward, and I can assure you that every Liberal Democrat MP in the House of Commons will be doing that and will be focused on the job and not worried about where the party’s going.”

Continue reading...

‘Change begins immediately,’ says Keir Starmer after Labour’s landslide election win – live

Posted on by

Labour leader said he wanted to restore service and respect in politics and ‘end the era of noisy performance’

Clive Myrie is opening the BBC’s election night coverage. He is co-presenting with Laura Kuenssberg.

No 10 has also announced knightoods for four Tories in the dissolution honours – Oliver Dowden, the deputy PM; Julian Smith, the former chief whip and Northern Ireland secretary; Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary; and Alister Jack, the outgoing Scottish secretary – and one damehood, for Thérèse Coffey, the former deputy PM.

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer hails ‘new age of hope’ as Rishi Sunak fears losing seat

Posted on by

Final polls predict unprecedented Labour victory, with Starmer declaring Britain a ‘great nation, with boundless potential’

Keir Starmer has hailed a “new age of hope and opportunity” as millions of people prepare to vote in a general election that could deliver the biggest shake-up of British politics in a generation.

The Labour leader said he was “ready for government” and that his intended cabinet would “hit the ground running” if it wins Thursday’s election.

Continue reading...

General election live: Party leaders battle for votes on eve of election as Tory minister predicts Labour landslide

Posted on by

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer out campaigning after Mel Stride says Labour likely to win a large majority

It has just gone 7am: let’s look at today’s stop stories. With 24 hours to go until polls open, the Guardian leads with Keir Starmer accusing the Conservatives of desperate tactics amid claims that Tory criticism of his defence of family time was insensitive and had antisemitic undertones.

The Times has Boris Johnson saying a Labour landslide would be “pregnant with horrors”:

Continue reading...

Oliver Dowden reportedly reveals preferred choice for next Tory leader – UK general election live

Posted on by

Deputy PM says Victoria Atkins is ‘star’ and is one of only people he could see leading Tory party

Meanwhile Rishi Sunak is expected to tell voters today that “If just 130,000 people switch their vote and lend us their support, we can deny Starmer that supermajority,” PA reports.

Keir Starmer has said a big majority would be “better for the country”, as the Tories continue to urge voters to proceed with caution and not hand Labour a “blank cheque”.

Continue reading...

From conflict to the climate – what are the UK parties’ international plans?

Posted on by

As the election nears, we scrutinise how each of the main contenders would deal with problems around the world

Conflicts and environmental disasters are stretching humanitarian resources, and a new UK government will have to decide what role it will play on the world stage in dealing with global problems, especially after budget cuts and closure of the Department for International Development by the Conservatives, and with priorities so focused on Ukraine. We’ve talked to the main parties and looked at their manifestos to see what their plans are.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak hints he might not quit as Tory leader immediately if he loses election – as it happened

Posted on by

PM says he ‘loves this party dearly’ and would always put himself at the service of it’

Rishi Sunak is speaking at a campaign event in Staffordshire. As the advance briefing predicted, he has just told his audience.

I tell you this: once you have handed Keir Starmer and Labour a blank cheque, you won’t be able to get it back.

We’ve had a strategy in place and we’ll try to keep to it, which is to carve out really protected time for the kids, so on a Friday – I’ve been doing this for years – I will not do a work-related thing after six o’clock, pretty well come what may.

There are a few exceptions, but that’s what we do.

[In politics] some people think, if you fill your diary 24/7 and don’t do anything else, that makes you a much better decision maker. I don’t agree with that, I think you’ve got to make space, so we do it …

Actually, it helps me, it takes me away from the pressure, it relaxes me, and I think, actually, not only is it what I want to do as a dad, it is better.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak speaks of ‘hurt and anger’ at daughters having to hear Reform activist’s racist slur about him – UK general election live

Posted on by

PM responds to comments by Reform activists, who were filmed by Channel 4 reporter while canvassing in Clacton

Here’s the latest in the Guardian’s series on The broken years: Tory Britain 2010-24:

Unless the polls are wildly inaccurate, the Conservative party is heading towards a catastrophic defeat in the coming election.

Continue reading...

Sunak cites ‘confidential’ inquiry as he refuses to answer questions over aide and election date bet – live

Posted on by

PM again declines to say whether he told Craig Williams in advance about his decision to hold the election in July

Rishi Sunak is returning to the campaign trail on Thursday, PA reports, after a two-day hiatus for the Emperor and Empress of Japan’s state visit and preparations for the final head-to-head debate with Sir Keir Starmer.

With one week to go until polling day, the deepening gambling scandal is still likely to feature heavily when he faces the media during a tour of the East Midlands and Yorkshire.

He is expected to visit a factory in Derbyshire and hold an evening campaign event in Leeds.

Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of using transgender issues “as a political football to divide people” during their head-to-head debate on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Nigel Farage outperforms all other UK parties and candidates on TikTok

Posted on by

Exclusive: Videos on Reform leader’s account show more engagement and average views than any other candidate

Nigel Farage is outperforming all other parties and candidates on TikTok throughout the general election campaign, analysis shows, eclipsing politicians considered most popular among young people.

Since the election was called, videos posted to the Reform leader’s personal account had more engagement and views on average than any other candidate – as well as the main channels of other parties.

Continue reading...

UK general election live: Labour suspends candidate Kevin Craig over Gambling Commission probe

Posted on by

Party says it acted after being contacted by the regulator about the candidate for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich

All along the course of the Thames, turning north, meandering south, passing through locks, historic landmarks, Richmond and Kew, swelling beneath the House of Commons with the turning tide, and on to Docklands and beyond – concern for the health of the Thames has led many other ordinary people, who live, work or play on the water, to take up the fight for the health of the river.

The last 15 years of decline in rivers suggests they have much to do. In 2009, a year before the Conservatives first took power in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, a quarter of English rivers were judged as being of good ecological standard, a marker which examines the flow, habitat and biological quality; by 2022 not one river was in a healthy state.

Continue reading...

Sunak defends decision not to take immediate action against Tories in betting scandal – as it happened

Posted on by

Prime minister faces claim Tories are ‘stealing the candlesticks’ on the way out of government

After a passage in his speech attack Labour on familiar grounds, Rishi Sunak also hit out at Reform UK.

[Reform UK] are not on the side of who you think they are.

Reform are standing candidates here in Scotland that are pro independence and anti monarchy.

Continue reading...

‘Scunnered with the Tories, frustrated by the SNP’: Labour in bid to be Scotland’s biggest party

Posted on by

Candidates in key central belt hope to scoop up voters who have become disillusioned with their election rivals

Not for the first time, Blair McDougall, Labour’s candidate in East Renfrewshire on the outskirts of Glasgow, is telling a wavering voter that the election here is “so, so close”.

If predictions of a knife-edge outcome weren’t enough to motivate him, many people – including some in Barrhead, which he is visiting today – have just received their postal ballots. Their votes will be cast in the next few days.

Continue reading...

Starmer says he would not let SNP hold new independence referendum or lift veto on gender recognition bill – as it happened

Posted on by

Labour leader says he would refuse to participate in negotiations for another independence referendum if he is elected PM

Speaking of Nigel Farage: the Reform UK leader has praised the misogynist influencer Andrew Tate for being an “important voice” for the emasculated and giving boys “perhaps a bit of confidence at school” in online interviews that appear to be aimed at young men over the past year.

The Guardian’s Rowena Mason and Ben Quinn report:

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak says he is ‘incredibly angry’ about betting allegations in BBC Question Time election special – as it happened

Posted on by

Prime minister says suspects must face ‘full force of law’ if found guilty; Labour, SNP and Lib Dem leaders speak during programme

The next question comes from Linda, who says Davey’s antics during the election campaigns (fun photo opportunities, often involving him getting wet) haven’t looked prime-ministerial.

Davey says he has been trying to grab attention.

It was very difficult governing with the Conservatives. We couldn’t get everything we wanted …

You either had to stay in and fight inside the government or leave. I think the easy choice for me would be to leave, vote against it, and tour the media studios and complain. The hard choice was to stay in, roll up my sleeves and really fight.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak floats sanctions on young people for refusing national service

Posted on by

PM suggests curbs on finance or driving licences for 18-year-olds who refuse service during challenging Question Time leaders’ special

Rishi Sunak has indicated that young people might face restrictions on access to finance or driving licences if they refuse to do national service, as he faced a TV quizzing from voters.

Asked during a BBC Question Time special what sanctions people could face for declining to take part in the Conservative policy of compulsory national service for all 18-year-olds, the prime minister pointed to “driving licences, or the access to finance, all sorts of other things”.

Continue reading...

Gambling regulator looking into second Tory candidate over bet on general election timing – live

Posted on by

BBC names candidate as Laura Saunders and says she is married to party’s director of campaigns

In case you missed this late yesterday: Conservatives are projected to slump to their “lowest seat tally in the party’s almost 200-year history” at the General Election, according to the latest YouGov poll.

YouGov said its latest study projects Labour to secure 425 seats, the Tories 108, the Liberal Democrats 67, SNP 20, Reform UK five, Plaid Cymru four and the Green Party two. It noted such a scenario would hand Keir Starmer a 200-seat majority while it added Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is “likely” to win in Clacton.

The findings are similar to those from the Guardian’s Ipsos MRP poll on Tuesday, which showed the Conservatives winning just 115 seats, with Labour on 453.

YouGov used a technique known as multi-level regression and post-stratification (MRP) to model the outcome of the election in every constituency across Britain, PA reports.

It said the estimated seat projections were based on modelled responses from 36,161 adults in England and Wales, and 3,818 in Scotland, between June 11 and 18. Several high-profile Conservatives, including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, would lose out if the projection played out at the ballot box on 4 July.

YouGov wrote:

Our new MRP has the Conservatives on their lowest seat tally in the party’s almost 200-year history.

Our latest model has 109 seats as toss ups – meaning that the winning party’s lead is less than five points. Sixty five marginal seats are contests between the Conservatives and Labour.”

Continue reading...

Tory government ‘worst in postwar era’, claims expert study – as it happened

Posted on by

Sir Anthony Seldon leads analysis that concludes that equality, growth and the UK’s standing in the world have all declined since 2010

• Sign up to our Election Edition daily newsletter

And here are some of the best pictures from yesterday’s campaigning. As more voting people than ever appear poised to turn away from the Tories, Sunak appeared in several photographs with sheep and lobsters as he visited North Devon, held by the Tories since 2015. The Guardian’s Archie bland named the sheep the “Dubious photo opportunity of the day”, after the sheep ran away:

Starmer, meanwhile, appeared on LBC where he clarified that Premier League Football Clubs would not be subject to a 10% transfer tax to fund clubs lower down the pyramid. “Let me just kill it dead, we’re not looking at that,” Starmer said. He also visited a tennis club and a pub in Reading West and mid Berkshire.

Continue reading...

Nigel Farage claims young people have had their minds ‘poisoned’ with negative views about Britain – UK general election live

Posted on by

Farage launches party manifesto in traditional Labour stronghold of Merthyr Tydfil

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have been campaigning in Hampshire this morning. Stefan Rousseau from PA Media took this picture of them on the train.

The SNP has called for a social tariff that would guarantee cheap energy bills for people who are poor, disabled or elderly.

We believe that there are certain things that every citizen should have access to as a right. Healthcare free at the point of need, a social security safety net, pensions for older people, and free education including free university tuition.

But it is time that we recognised that these rights need to go further, to reflect the realities of the modern world.

Connectivity – fast broadband and good mobile phone connections – are critical to modern life. In fact, in rural Scotland and the Isles, it is critical to the whole future of the economy.
As more and more people work from home at least part of the week, often you literally cannot do your job without a decent internet connection. That’s why, to help people get jobs, keep jobs and keep more of their hard-earned cash, there should be a social tariff for broadband and mobile charges too.

Continue reading...