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First minister cancels event as Strathclyde University as he faces no confidence voteStephen Flynn is viewed by some people as the most talented politician in the SNP and, in his interview on the Today programme, he was asked if he would stand for the leadership if Humza Yousaf were to resign. He replied:I have been asked this question previously the last time there was...

Co-leader of party says Humza Yousaf can ‘no longer be trusted’ as first minister reportedly plans to run minority administrationHumza Yousaf, the SNP leader and Scottish first minister, is holding a press conference now.He says he has been in the post for little more than a year.We are investing record [sums in the NHS], ensuring it can employ record numbers of staff delivering the...

Tributes paid to former Labour minister and welfare campaigner Frank Field, who has died at the age of 81Keir Starmer has said the death of Frank Field is “a profound loss to politics and to our nation”. In a tribute to the former minister, Starmer went on:Frank dedicated his life to being a voice for the most vulnerable and marginalised people in the country.Frank...

International concern over new law increases as UN high commissioner for refugees says it marks ‘step away from UK’s tradition of providing refuge’Three men, a woman and a child were killed attempting to cross the Channel in the early hours of this morning, according to a French coastguard statement.Enver Solomon, the Refugee Council’s chief executive, said this was “another devastating human tragedy” that should...

PM to publicly warn peers to back down but treatment of Afghans remains a concern for the LordsSky News has broadcast a clip of Rishi Sunak addressing a meeting of the government’s illegal migration operations committee in the cabinet room at No 10 this morning. It is almost certainly a preview of what he will say at the press conference, which is due to...

There are signs Labour’s polling lead is a bit soft. But with the Tories trailing in leadership and economy, experts aren’t sure it will matterUK general election opinion polls tracker: Labour leading as election loomsUK politics – latest updatesAs 2014 came to a close, it seemed Ed Miliband would be the next prime minister, with the Labour party leading David Cameron’s Conservatives as the...

Rating of -59 is record low for a prime minister in modern times – matching John Major’s score in August 1994, according to IpsosRishi Sunak’s approval rating is at a record low for a prime minister in modern times, according to the polling company Ipsos.In its latest Political Monitor report it says net satisfaction with Sunak (% satisfied with how he is doing his...

PM’s plan to prevent those under 16 ever being able to buy tobacco should pass due to Labour support, but many of his own MPs could abstain or vote againstIn another interview this morning, Laura Farris, minister for victims, told GB News that she thought Liz Truss, the former PM, was wrong to call for the supreme court to be abolished. Asked about the...

Foreign secretary talks up party’s prospects – and his ‘very good boss’ Rishi Sunak – on morning broadcast round Conservative party members are more dissatisfied than ever with Rishi Sunak, a survey for ConservativeHome suggests. In its latest monthly survey, ConHome found that Sunak had a net satisfaction rating of -27.7 (total satisfied with how he’s doing minus total dissatisfied). Only Michael Tomlinson, the...

Alan Cook, former managing director, says he ‘regrets’ that he ‘didn’t pick up earlier’ that Post Office could initiate prosecutionsAll our UK politics newsAlan Cook, who was the managing director of Post Office, has just told the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry that he was not aware until late in his tenure that the Post Office was the prosecuting authority in many of these...

Speaking on LBC this morning the prime minister also defended his handling of William Wragg sexting scandalAll our UK politics newsPushed on LBC this morning about the timing of the next general election, prime minister Rishi Sunak refused to be drawn, and suggested the country should have its focus on the “substance” of issues instead.He told listeners:When I got this job we’d been through...

Former subpostmaster and subject of ITV drama arrives to speak to inquiry in LondonAll our UK politics newsShadow chancellor Rachel Reeves also repeatedly attacked Conservative plans over non-dom tax status. Having defended the status against calls for abolition for years, in March Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt announced it would adopt Labour’s policy and scrap the status. However, the way they are planning to...

Kevin Hollinrake has said in his view ‘people should be prosecuted’All our UK politics newsI mentioned in the introduction that Reform UK are giving a press briefing that they have billed as being about “Labour’s betrayal of the working class”. That will be starting in a few minutes and I will bring you any key lines that emerge …John Harris writes for us today,...

Treasury minister Gareth Davies says William Wragg will remain Tory MP while there is an investigationAll our UK politics newsLabour in Scotland have also been on the attack over taxes, with an ad taking a swipe at the SNP and Conservatives.In comments release to the media, Labour’s leader in Scotland Anas Sarwar criticised what he said was “SNP and Tory mismanagement”, saying:[First minister] Humza...

National Education Union leader says morale among teachers is at ‘an all time low’ in radio interview There is widespread agreement in the UK and the US that Israel has “gone too far” in its war against Hamas, Darren Jones, a Labour Treasury spokesperson, said this morning.In an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Jones said:I think what we’ve seen from President Biden, from...

In today’s newsletter: Inside the buildup to the 2 May vote, and what the result might mean for Labour at the general election• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning.The streets of London are riddled with “crime and desperation”. “Ulez enforcers dressed in black faces covered with masks” terrorise the city “at the beck and call of their Labour mayor master”....

Footage of people panicking, designed to attack the London mayor’s record on crime, was filmed in a New York subway stationThe Conservatives have deleted an online video that used scenes of a panicked crowd at a New York subway station to criticise Sadiq Khan’s record on crime in London.The attack ad, posted on X in support of Susan Hall – Khan’s rival for the...

Minister says ‘labelling ups and downs of life as medical conditions holds people back and drives up benefit bill’ as report comes out into women’s pensionsQ; Are you feeling sorry for the Princess of Wales at the moment?Yes, says Starmer. We should leave her alone. Continue reading...

Shadow chancellor to deliver prestigious Mais lecture and will announce plans to rewire the TreasuryTribune, the long-established paper (now a magazine and website) for the Labour left, is not impressed by Rachel Reeves’ suggestion that Margaret Thatcher delivered a decade of renewal.Rachel Reeves’ claim that Margaret Thatcher ‘delivered a decade of national renewal’ is the latest attempt to justify the suffering caused by her...

The average time the Commons spends sitting every working day is now at lowest level for quarter of a centuryGood morning. Rishi Sunak has ruled out calling a general election on 2 May. This is no great surprise to anyone working in Westminster (despite what the Labour party claims), but worth knowing anyway, particularly for journalists with holiday plans for April. Here is the...

Shadow cabinet talk with Whitehall officials after Keir Starmer meets head of civil service All members of Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet are to meet top civil servants in Whitehall departments before Easter as Labour steps up preparations to form the next government, according to senior party sources.The Observer has been told that Starmer recently held a first round of so-called “access talks” with the...

Former PM says she remains committed to supporting Sunak as she decides to ‘pass the baton on’ after 27 yearsTreasury minister Gareth Davies has denied the number of Conservative MPs stepping down signifies a lack of confidence in the party’s electoral prospects.He told Sky News he was “personally sad” to see Theresa May step down after “a pretty good innings” of “27 years of...

Losing party says ‘Galloway only won because Labour did not stand’ and calls him ‘a damaging force in our public life’Full story: George Galloway wins Rochdale byelectionLabour says George Galloway is “only interested in stoking fear and division”.In a statement issued about the byelection result, the party apologised to the people of Rochdale for the fact that it did not have a proper candidate....

Galloway claimed his victory signalled a ‘shifting of tectonic plates’. The reality is perhaps less apocalypticUK politics live – latest updatesWhile George Galloway’s portentous declaration of “a shifting of the tectonic plates” was the sort of hyperbole he specialises in, his sweeping victory in the Rochdale byelection does carry some lessons for other parties, and not reassuring ones.It is not the first or even...