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Pollsters say early results suggest Tories could lose half of council seats contested, putting party on course for as many as 500 lossesLocal and mayoral election results – live updatesKeir Starmer has hailed Labour’s “seismic” win in Blackpool South in a night of local elections that provided further evidence that the party is heading for a large majority at this year’s general election.The Labour...

Civil servant Josie Stewart spoke to media after government presented ‘dishonest account’, tribunal toldA Foreign Office civil servant felt “morally compelled” to speak to the media about the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after the government presented a “dishonest account” of what happened, an employment tribunal has heard.Josie Stewart was sacked by the Foreign Office (FCDO) after blowing the whistle on the failures of the...

PM backs action in case of disorder on campuses after claims that pro-Palestinian protests create hostile atmosphereThe prime minister has backed a police crackdown on any outbreak of disorder on university campuses after Jewish students said pro-Palestinian encampments were creating a “hostile and toxic atmosphere”.In recent days, new encampments have been set up at the universities of Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol and Newcastle, among others,...

Polls open in last big elections before general elections as John Swinney expected to announce run for SNP leader and Scotland’s first ministerAccording to ITV’s Harry Horton, the Conservative MP Tom Hunt told colleagues last night that he would have difficulty voting today because he does not possess the right photo ID.It was this government, of course, that introduced the legislation saying photo ID...

Dozens of demonstrators in Peckham surround coach before it can take people to barge in DorsetA coach sent to collect asylum seekers and take them to the Bibby Stockholm barge has been surrounded by protesters in south London.Dozens of demonstrators in Peckham have blocked a coach before it was able to pick up passengers by surrounding it on all sides. Continue reading...

Met Office says storms may cause travel disruption and flooding, leading to difficult driving conditionsHeavy thunderstorms could give way to the warmest day of the year so far in Britain.The same storm caused mudslides in northern France, which started around midnight and killed at least one person, a 57-year-old woman, and injured her partner. Continue reading...

Ex-chancellor and Truss were close political allies and friends before he was sacked over a crisis stoked by the mini-budgetKwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor of the exchequer for 43 of Liz Truss’s 49 days as British prime minister, has said Truss “essentially” sacked him “on Twitter”, a dismissal he called “kind of Trumpian” in its swiftness and brutality as Britain fell into crisis.Kwarteng said: “One...

Ahmed Alhashimi’s seven-year-old daughter Sara was crushed to death after group of men rushed on to dinghyThe father of a seven-year-old girl crushed to death on a small boat has said they tried to cross the Channel after being informed his young family would be deported to Iraq after spending years in Europe.Ahmed Alhashimi, 41, lost grasp of his daughter, Sara, on an inflatable...

Shocked people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria herded on to coaches as 200 tents removed and streets cleanedThe convoy arrived just after sunrise: a stream of police vehicles, council trucks, mounted cranes and coaches, ready to dismantle a tent city of migrants and refugees in the heart of Dublin that had become too big, too visible, too political.They fenced off streets and herded shocked, sleepy...

Business secretary defends move, saying it ‘puts to bed myth that Rwanda is not a safe place’Kemi Badenoch, who is minister for women and equalities as well as business and trade secretary, is launching a move to root out “bad guidance” on access to single-sex spaces. The initiative seems intended to restrict the extent to which trans women use these facilities.She said:Single-sex spaces are...

Susan Hall became member a day after an exposé about its contents – much of which is directed at Sadiq KhanTory staff running network of anti-Ulez Facebook groups riddled with racism and abuseSusan Hall, the Tory candidate for London mayor, has joined a Facebook group which contains Islamophobic hate speech and abusive comments about her opponent Sadiq Khan, the day after an exposé about...

Timeline for scheme comes after government accused of trying to ‘wriggle out’ of move to speed up payouts to victimsUK politics – latest updatesMinisters in the UK have agreed to a three-month deadline to establish a compensation scheme for victims of the infected blood scandal but warned it could be “unavoidably” delayed if parliament was not sitting.While making no mention of an election, the...

Met chief says one officer sustained hand injuries and another had surgery for ‘horrifically serious’ wounds to her armA police officer came close to losing her hand in the sword attack in Hainault, north-east London, the Metropolitan police commissioner, Mark Rowley, has said.A 14-year-old boy was killed and four other people were injured during the incident on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Interim role will include overseeing compensation payments as result of Horizon IT scandalBusiness live – latest updatesThe ex-chief executive of the former national lottery operator Camelot has been named as the new interim chair of the Post Office.The government said on Wednesday that the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, had appointed Nigel Railton to the role, replacing Henry Staunton, who was sacked in January. Continue...

Met Police say incident does not appear to be terror-related after reports of vehicle being driven into house in Thurlow Gardens areaTell us: how have you been affected by the incident in Hainault?The home secretary, James Cleverly, said he is being regularly updated about the incident in Hainault and thanked emergency responders for responding to the attack.“I would urge people not to speculate or...

Polling puts Ben Houchen on course to win in Tees Valley with Andy Street just ahead of Labour’s Richard Parker in West MidlandsKeir Starmer said his views on gender issues “start with biology” as he backed blocking trans women from female-only hospital wards and prisons in an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, PA Media reports. PA says:The Labour leader was speaking as the...

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza says her banning shows Rwandan government does not adhere to international lawA Rwandan opposition leader who has been banned from standing for election has cast doubt on whether her government will stick to the terms of the deportation deal agreed with Rishi Sunak.Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza told the Guardian that the Rwandan government’s refusal to allow her to stand or leave the...

Two men to appear in Manchester crown court charged with murder of 67-year-old Stuart EverettPolice have named a man whose body parts were found in a Salford nature reserve this month as 67-year-old Stuart Everett.Two men are to appear in court on Tuesday charged with murdering Everett, whose dismembered abdomen was found on 4 April in Kersal wetlands, a popular walking spot, causing “shock...

Bank says it has started search for a successor as it reports quarterly profits beat forecastsBusiness live – latest coverageThe chief executive of HSBC, Noel Quinn, is unexpectedly stepping down after an “intense” five years in the role, as the bank reported better-than-expected profits.Europe’s largest bank has kicked off a search for a successor and said Quinn, 62, will stay in the post until...

Moves come despite hospitality group reporting record profits and increasing returns to shareholdersBusiness live – latest coverageThe Premier Inn owner Whitbread is to cut 1,500 jobs in the UK and shut more than 100 struggling restaurants despite announcing a significant rise in returns to shareholders.Whitbread, which runs 850 hotels in the UK and has the sector’s biggest brand, Premier Inn, said it was starting...

Met police confirm ‘serious incident’ after reports of vehicle driven into house and people stabbedHainault attack – live updatesA man with a sword has been arrested after an attack on members of the public and police officers in Hainault, north-east London, police have said.In a statement, the Metropolitan police said: “Police and other emergency services are in Hainault, east London, at a serious incident...

Minister says ‘officers are used to this’, as figures suggest Home Office is in contact with only 38% of people it wants to removeThe Home Office is “used to” losing contact with asylum seekers, a UK government minister has said, after official figures suggested thousands of people it hoped to deport to Rwanda had stopped reporting.The impact assessment on the Home Office’s website on...

Doctor Who star will play Algernon in the ‘hilariously subversive’ comedy, said artistic director Rufus NorrisDoctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa is to make his debut at the National Theatre in London in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.Gatwa will play hedonistic bachelor Algernon Moncrieff in Wilde’s “trivial comedy for serious people” this winter. It marks his first major role in a theatre production...

Scotland’s first minister set to resign after failing to muster enough votes to survive a no confidence vote this weekHumza Yousaf is holding a press conference at noon, Sky News and the BBC are reporting.Mandy Rhodes, editor of the Holyrood magazine, says she was due to interview Humza Yousaf this afternoon, but he’s cancelled. Continue reading...