Starmer: 'no decision' taken to bar 'trailblazer' Diane Abbott
Labour leader Keir Starmer has again told broadcasters that no decision has been taken over the selection of Diane Abbott as a candidate, and denied that left-wing candidates were being blocked by the party.
Denying claims that a purge was taking place, Starmer said “No. I’ve said repeatedly over the last two years as we’ve selected our candidates that I want the highest-quality candidates. That’s been the position for a very long time.”
Speaking to broadcasters in Monmouthshire, PA Media report he said:
The situation in relation to Diane Abbott is that no decision has been taken to bar her and you have to remember that she was a trailblazer as an MP, she overcame incredible challenges to achieve what she achieved in her political career.
She carved out a path for others to come into politics and she did all that while also being one of the most abused MPs across all political parties.
But I’ve always had the aspiration that we will have the best quality candidates as we go into this election.
Diane Abbott has accused Labour of carrying out a “cull of leftwingers” after she and others were blocked or dissuaded from standing for the party. The veteran Labour MP vowed on Wednesday to stay on for “as long as it is possible” after a deal for her to retire from parliament broke down. Labour leader Keir Starmer has again told broadcasters that no decision has been taken over her selection, and he described her as “a trailblazer as an MP”. He said Labour’s selection policy had been clear for a long time, that it wanted “the best quality candidates”
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner has said Abbott has not been treated “fairly or appropriately” by some Labour colleagues and should be allowed to stand again. In an interview with the Guardian, she also suggested it was up to Abbott to decide whether she retired at this election, although she indicated there was an expectation she would do so. “I want to see her be able to retire with her 37 years of service being respected and being celebrated,” she said.
Faiza Shaheen, the candidate blocked by Labour from standing in Chingford and Woodford Green, has announced she will challenge the decision in the courts, claiming she has faced “a systematic campaign of racism, Islamophobia and bullying”. Citing a series of recent issues, including having a local organiser removed from her team and being blocked from producing videos blaming inflation on “corporate greed,” Shaheen claimed Starmer’s party had “a problem with black and brown people”
Rishi Sunak has been questioned over his role in partygate at an event in Milton Keynes by someone who said their mother had died during the pandemic while Conservatives were partying in Downing Street
NEW: Rishi Sunak is confronted about Partygate by a worker who lost his mother during the Covid pandemic.
“How can anyone trust you, or the party, after things like this?”
Keri Starmer appeared with first minister Vaughan Gething and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy among others at a campaign launch event in Wales. While in Wales Starmer has said it was “absolutely clear” that Gething had broken no rules in accepting a £200,000 donation from a company owned by a convicted criminal. Gething faces a vote of confidence in the Senedd next week tabled by the Welsh Conservative party
Darren Jones, Labour’s shadow Treasury minister, has said that Rachel Reeves has “consistently pointing to the fact that we want taxes to come down” and ruled out rises to income tax, national insurance or VAT
Jeremy Hunt was making a similar pledge on behalf of the Tories during the morning media round, but said his party would be keeping the income tax threshold freezes that will bring more 4 million people into paying income tax for the first time between 2024 and 2028.
The Green party of England and Wales launched their campaign in Bristol, saying they aimed to win a minimum of four seats in the election. Outgoing MP Caroline Lucas said she hoped Green MPs would be able to push a future Labour government “to be bolder and braver on everything from housing to the NHS to the accelerating climate crisis”
Green party of England and Wales election launch. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt/The Guardian
Plaid Cymru launch their campaign Bangor. Ahead of the launch, leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said that a vote for them is the only way to guarantee fair funding for Wales
Office of Rail and Road (ORR) statistics published on Thursday show the equivalent of 3.8% of services on Britain’s railways were cancelled in the year to the end of March. That is the joint worst performance for that period – matching the figure from the previous 12 months – in records dating back to 2014
The SNP has deleted an election video on TikTok after it emerged it featured a sexually-explicit song by American rap artist Big Boss Vette, which also uses the N-word. The SNP video reportedly promoted party policies calling for a full ceasefire in Gaza and its baby-boxes policy, free bus travel and featured party leader John Swinney
Scotland’s first minister Swinney has apologised to patients on NHS waiting lists in the country after news the number has risen to more than 840,000
Nigel Farage has backtracked on his offer of an electoral deal with Rishi Sunak, claiming that he was being sarcastic and denying that it had led to sharp words with the Reform leader, Richard Tice. Farage was speaking at an event in London where Tice announced a policy of increasing employer national insurance contributions for workers without British passports, which he claimed would raise £20bn over the next parliament
Liberal Democrats announced they would triple the Digital Services tax to fund mental health services for schools in England. Leader Ed Davey staged another photo stunt, this time down a large water slide in Frome in Somerset
Ed Davey’s 2024 general election camapaign. Photograph: Rod Minchin/PA
Thank you so much for reading and all your comments today. I will be back tomorrow. Take care and have a good evening.
Here is the clip of Rishi Sunak being questioned about how anybody could trust him after he was fined for being at a Downing Street party during the pandemic.
NEW: Rishi Sunak is confronted about Partygate by a worker who lost his mother during the Covid pandemic.
“How can anyone trust you, or the party, after things like this?”
My colleague David Batty has put together this profile of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, the men vying to be PM in the UK general election. It is chiefly aimed at international readers who may not be quite so familiar with them as regular readers of this live blog are, but I always find these things interesting as a useful reminder of some of the basic facts, and there is always something you have forgotten.
A little detail here that suggests the Conservatives are running more of a defensive campaign than one intended to strike out into new territory. PA Media note that every constituency visited by Rishi Sunak so far this week has been one that the Tories won – or notionally won – at the last general election in 2019. Today he was in the new constituency of Milton Keynes Central which Labour need a swing of 4.7 points to turn into a gain.
Luke Tryl reports for the Guardian on a focus group of undecided voters in Hitchin who blame Liz Truss for their financial woes, are split on Rishi Sunak, and still unsure about Keir Starmer.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak takes part in a Q&A with members of staff during a visit to Niftylift in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA
Rishi Sunak has been asked about the country’s manufacturing base, and is now taking a final question about national service and whether it could help with the “postcode wars” between kids and knife crimes.
Sunak says that regardless of where you live or what your parents do, you will all be doing something together, and that parents have told him they are excited at the prospect of their children having “something to do”. Sunak says national service will give children a more positive sense of purpose than the sense of identity they might get by being in a gang.
The next question is about net zero. Rishi Sunak says he believes in climate change and he wants to get net zero in place, citing his children as one reason, but says it has begun clear to him that we have to get there a different way to that originally planned. He says he doesn’t want to force people to prematurely rip things out and incur costs of thousands. He says Labour don’t believe in supporting British oil and gas energy from the North Sea.
He is now asked about national service. Rishi Sunak says he’s been thinking for a long time about how to strengthen the country’s cohesion and resilience. He says it will be like a new “rite of passage” and that young people going through it will end up with a greater sense of pride in the nation.
Rishi Sunak said he did everything he could to protect people and their families during Covid, “because that’s who I am”. He tells the audience that they probably first got to know him when he “popped up” behind a lectern and announced the furlough plans.
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