Sunak calls on Starmer to be transparent about Diane Abbott situation â UK general election live | Politics
Sunak calls on Starmer to be transparent about Diane Abbott situation
Rishi Sunak is campaigning in Cornwall today, and has spoken to the media about the reports that Labour has restored the whip to Diane Abbott after a lengthy suspension, but she is being barred from stand for re-election.
The prime minister told the media:
The Labour party has been telling everybody this investigation into Diane Abbott is ongoing, it now appears it concluded months ago. So really itâs a question for them to clear this all up, what happened when, be transparent about it.
Key events
Peter Walker
Our senior political correspondent Peter Walker reports:
Jess Phillips has demanded that Liz Truss be removed as a Conservative candidate after it emerged that the former prime minister will appear on a podcast co-run by a hard right YouTuber who was investigated by police for speculating about whether or not he would rape the Labour MP.
Phillips has written to Rishi Sunak to seek action over Trussâs billed appearance on The Lotus Eaters, a podcast set up by Carl Benjamin, who has expressed misogynist views, and formerly ran an organisation with Tommy Robinson, the far right anti-Muslim activist.
In 2019, when Benjamin stood for the European parliament for Ukip, police investigated comments he made in a YouTube video in which he discussed âwhether I would or wouldnât rape Jess Phillipsâ.
The Labour MP said that after the comments emerged she had been verbally challenged by a man defending Benjamin as she left parliament.
In her letter to Sunak, published on social media, Phillips said Benjamin had expressed âdespicable views about violence against womenâ.
She wrote: âThe impact men like Benjamin have on politics cannot be underestimated. Men like Benjamin make female MPs live in fear, which discourages women from standing in future, weakening our democracy in the process.
âYou have a responsibility as leader of your party to uphold high standards among your MPs and candidates, and you have a responsibility as prime minister to foster a safe environment for MPs, particularly female MPs who face ever-increasing rates of abuse and threat.â
She added: âIf you have any decency, you will deselect LizTruss as Conservative candidate for South West Norfolk.â
The Conservatives and a representative for Truss were contacted for comment.
Sunak denies Conservatives wasted police time with Rayner complaints, saying 'police are independent of government'
Rishi Sunak has denied that Conservative calls to investigate Labourâs deputy leader Angela Rayner had been a waste of police time.
Speaking from Cornwall, the prime minister said âthe police are independent of government. Itâs for them to decide, you know, who and what theyâre investigatingâ.
On 19 May the chief constable of the police force examining the claims, Stephen Watson, told the Guardian it was a letter from the Conservative deputy chair, James Daly, that led to his force reversing an initial decision not to investigate.
Sunak, who in recent years has been fined for breaching Covid regulations and for not wearing a seatbelt, and who also defended Suella Braverman after the then home secretary asked civil servants to help her with a speeding fine, added âmy understanding is that theyâve passed on a file to HMRC and the tax authorities which again are independent of government.â
Sunak went on to say:
Actually when it comes to Angela Rayner, what people should know is if Labour are elected into power, Angela Rayner is someone who voted against our nuclear deterrent, at a time when the world is more dangerous than it has been at any point since the end of the cold war.
And she is committed to introducing French-style union laws back into our country. And all that will do is cost jobs and damage our economic recovery.
And thatâs the choice at this election. Do we build on the progress weâve made with the economy, inflation down, the economy growing, wages rising? Or do we go back to square one with Labour. Itâs the same old Labour party. Union laws that will cost jobs and damage the recovery and putting up your taxes. Thatâs what Angela Rayner represents.
On Tuesday the Conservatives published a campaign graphic saying Rayner was âunder investigation for serious tax avoidanceâ. She was cleared of any wrongdoing hours later.
Threat 3: Angela Rayner
ð Under police investigation for serious tax avoidance ð«ð· Plans to burden businesses with £41bn a year of extra costs with French-style Union laws â ï¸ Voted against renewing our nuclear deterrent
Just a little more from Rishi Sunak on Diane Abbott, he was explicitly asked âShould Diane Abbott stand as a Labour candidate in the general electionâ and Sunak replied âThatâs a question for the Labour party. I havenât been following this whole thing very closely.â
ITV announces Sunak and Starmer will debate head-to-head on 4 June
ITV has announced that Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer will take part in an hour long TV debate at 9pm on Tuesday 4 June moderated by Julie Etchingham. It will take place live in front of a studio audience.
More details soon â¦
Rishi Sunak has also been talking about the apprenticeship plans during his campaign trip to Cornwall.
Speaking at a train depot in Cornwall, he said:
University is great and it makes a fantastic option for young people, but itâs not the only option. Iâm not someone who believes that you have to go to university, and all the apprentices Iâve been talking to this morning are proof of that, describing it as the best decision they ever made.
And what we do know is that there are university degrees that are letting young people down. Independent studies say that around one in five people who are on degrees would have been financially better off not doing them, about one in three graduates are in non-graduate jobs.
So actually we are better off providing those young people with the opportunity of a high-quality apprenticeship. The regulator will be given the powers to look at underperforming degrees, looking at the progression rates, the drop-out rates, the earnings of people on those degrees, and instead we will use that money to fund 100,000 new apprenticeships.â
PA reports that asked to name a specific example of an underperforming degree, Sunak did not do so.
Rishi Sunak is seen through a glass in the cab of a locomotive at a rail traction maintenance depot, 29 May. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AFP/Getty Images
The Conservatives have been pushing a plan today to expand the number of apprenticeships, pledging â100,000 more apprenticeships a year by the end of the next parliament.â
It is unclear whether this figure includes the âup to 20,000 more apprenticeshipsâ that Sunak previously announced ten weeks ago.
Rishi Sunakâs social media team have just posted a summary of the policy, and again used the phrase ârip-off degreesâ.
That's why we have a clear plan to deliver 100,000 more apprenticeships a year by the end of the next Parliament.
We will pay for this by cracking down on rip-off degrees that make students poorer, saving £910 million by 2029-30.
Our political correspondent Eleni Courea wrote overnight:
Under the plans, there would be legislation granting greater powers to the Office for Students, the universities regulator, to close degree courses that are underperforming. These would be chosen based on drop-out rates, job progression and future earnings potential.
The Conservatives claim to have delivered 5.8m apprenticeships since 2010. But the number of people starting out on apprenticeships in England is in decline, falling from 500,000 in 2015 to 337,000 last year, according to Commons library statistics.
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary who completed an apprenticeship at a car factory in Kirkby, said: âWhen Labour were in power they pushed an arbitrary target to get half of young people to university, creating a boom in low-quality degrees â leaving far too many students saddled with debt and little else.â
Damian Hinds, minister of state for school standards, got into some difficult territory being questioned about this on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning, when he was pressed by Emma Barnett to name âthe top three degrees right now that are rip-off degreesâ. Hinds said:
First of all, you cannot generalise about entire subject areas. In almost all subjects there will be some institutions delivering well, and some not doing well. So for example, you take computer science, you know, you get earnings outcomes from young people studying computer science degrees which will range from £18,000 pounds to £80,000 pounds so itâs not about an individual subjects but about specific courses.
The second thing I genuinely donât think it will be right or fair to young people who are currently on an undergraduate course to have a politician come on the radio and namecheck that particular course that they are on.
We have an independent body that we created called the Office for Students and an objective analytical method, looking at things like completion rates, looking at things like who progresses from the first year, looking at the proportion of graduates who ended up in graduate jobs.
Barnett pointed out that âItâs your education secretaryâs choice to call them rip-off degrees", a phrase now repeated by Sunak on social media.
Sunak calls on Starmer to be transparent about Diane Abbott situation
Rishi Sunak is campaigning in Cornwall today, and has spoken to the media about the reports that Labour has restored the whip to Diane Abbott after a lengthy suspension, but she is being barred from stand for re-election.
The prime minister told the media:
The Labour party has been telling everybody this investigation into Diane Abbott is ongoing, it now appears it concluded months ago. So really itâs a question for them to clear this all up, what happened when, be transparent about it.
Sky News has published a new YouGov poll with fieldwork taking place since the election was called, which gives Labour an increased lead over the Conservatives, standing at 27 points.
It says that of those who voted for the Tories in 2019 under Boris Johnson, âonly 36% say they would vote Tory now, 19% would vote Reform UK, 19% donât know and 14% would switch to Labour.â
You can find the Guardianâs aggregator of recent polling here: UK opinion polls tracker â Labour ahead as general election campaigning continues
Abbott: 'I am very dismayed numerous reports suggest I have been barred as candidate'
Diane Abbott has posted to social media, saying that she will be âcampaigning for a Labour victoryâ but is âvery dismayedâ by reports she has been barred from standing. She wrote:
Naturally I am delighted to have the Labour Whip restored and to be a member of the PLP. Thank you to all those who supported me along the way. I will be campaigning for a Labour victory. But I am very dismayed that numerous reports suggest I have been barred as a candidate.
Naturally I am delighted to have the Labour Whip restored and to be a member of the PLP. Thank you to all those who supported me along the way. I will be campaigning for a Labour victory. But I am very dismayed that numerous reports suggest I have been barred as a candidate. pic.twitter.com/OKdyLLOmvE
Rishi Sunak has arrived in the south-west of England to campaign, having travelled by sleeper train overnight. He has already made an early morning media appearance, buying breakfast sandwiches for staff and the media at a seaside cafe. He described the train trip as âjollyâ according to PA Media. He seems to have successfully avoided anybody taking a photo of him awkwardly eating a bacon sandwich. Sunak will be doing a Q&A later in Devon.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak arrives by sleeper train in the south-west of England. Photograph: WPA/Getty ImagesRishi Sunak buying breakfast at a cafe. Photograph: Alastair Grant/APRishi Sunak buys breakfast for the travelling media and staff. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn hailed Diane Abbott as a âphenomenal individualâ as he described the situation as a âpretty sorry state of affairsâ for Labour.
PA Media reports Flynn told Sky News:
I think this is a pretty sorry reflection of the Labour Party and where it stands, what its values are and what its principles are at the moment. Diane Abbott gets her membership back at the very last minute but isnât allowed to stand.
Iâd just like to thank Diane for everything she has done, as a trailblazer for women in parliament, but also as the first black female in parliament. Sheâs a phenomenal individual and her legacy is going to be long lasting.
Flynn contrasted the treatment of Abbott with the fact that Labour leader Keir Starmer had welcomed with âopen armsâ defecting Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke, who he described as a âright-wing populistâ.
Wes Streeting was also pressed about Diane Abbott while appearing on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. Justin Webb put it to the shadow health secretary that it went to a wider question of honesty about Keir Starmerâs leadership, pointing out that he had said the partyâs process was carrying on, when it has now emerged that the process had finished.
Streeting said âFirstly, Iâm not going to rely on hearsay. The second thing Iâd say is that the Labour party has fundamentally changed from the party that was rejected in 2019.â
Webb pointed out it wasnât âhearsayâ, he was referring to what Starmer had actually said. Asked whether he wanted Abbott to remain as a Labour MP, and whether she should be allowed to stand, Streeting said:
Well, this is the decision for the Labour partyâs national executive committee. And Keir Starmer, when he talks about improving standards in the Labour party, he really meant it. Now, I donât know the specific factors that apply in Diane Abbottâs case. I was pleased actually yesterday that her suspension was lifted and the whip was restored.
He continued that it was ânot my decisionâ whether Abbott stands or not, adding âI say this with enormous respect for Diane Abbott, and everything she has achieved in politics as a trailblazer, and someone that despite our disagreements, I have huge respect for.â
Streeting: 'not particularly' comfortable with what has happened with Diane Abbott
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has done the media round for Labour this morning, and was repeatedly questioned about Diane Abbott. On Times Radio, he was asked âDo you feel comfortable about whatâs happened here with Diane Abbott?â and he replied âNo, not particularly.â
He told listeners:
I know that Diane had the whip restored and her suspension lifted yesterday. This was following her suspension over remarks that she made, for which she later apologised. So I know at this stage, in terms of decisions about her candidature, as much as has been reported.
I think this has gone on for a very long time. I say this with enormous respect for everything that Diane has achieved in politics. Diane rightly apologised for the comments that she made that led to her suspension, as to the process, I think those questions are better directed to people responsible for the process.
He stressed he had not personally been involved in the process, and had âno responsibilityâ for it.
Diane Abbott says she has been banned from standing for election by Labour
Kiran Stacey
Kiran Stacey is a political correspondent for the Guardian based in Westminster
Diane Abbott has confirmed she has been banned from standing as a Labour MP at the next election, bringing to an end a near 40-year career as one of the partyâs highest-profile politicians.
The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington issued a statement to broadcasters on Wednesday morning confirming she had been handed back the Labour whip following a months-long investigation into her conduct, but would not be allowed to stand again as a Labour candidate.
The decision leaves Abbott, the first black woman to be elected to the British parliament, facing a decision whether to run as an independent against the party she has represented since 1987 or to end her long parliamentary career.
According to both Sky and the BBC, Abbott said: âAlthough the whip has been restored, I am banned for standing as a Labour candidate.â
Her comments cap a chaotic 24 hours during which reports suggested she was about to be banned from standing as a Labour candidate, only for her allies to say she had not been informed of any such decision.
Abbott was suspended from the party in April last year after writing a letter to the Observer that appeared to play down racism against Jewish people. Abbott apologised for her remarks, but was placed under investigation and lost the Labour whip.
Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said this week the investigation was ongoing. But it emerged on Tuesday it had concluded in December, with Abbott being told to complete an online antisemitism training course in February.
Read more here: Diane Abbott says she has been banned from standing for Labour at election
Welcome and opening summary â¦
Good morning! Labour are facing questions about how the disciplinary process around Diane Abbott unfolded. She has said she has had the Labour whip restored after a long suspension, but is being prevented by the party from standing in the election. More of that in a moment. Here are your headlines â¦
Labour has pledged to clear the NHS waiting list backlog in England within five years
Wes Streeting has mocked the Conservatives for trying to portray Keir Starmer â aged all of 61 â as old and doddery
A poll shows Waitrose is the only major supermarket with a majority Tory customers among its customers
Ticket touts have already drawn up plans to thwart any Labour attempt to clamp down on them
Wealthy white men from rural areas are the UKâs biggest emitters of climate-heating gases from transport, according to a study
The Royal Mail owner has agreed to a £3.57bn takeover by Czech billionaire Daniel KÅetÃnský
Rishi Sunak is campaigning in Cornwall today â he took a sleeper train from Paddington
Ed Davey is launching the Liberal Democrat campaign at 10.10am, Starmer and Streeting are campaigning on the NHS in the Midlands with an event at 11.15am, Sunak will do a Q&A in Devon in the afternoon at 4.25pm, and Jeremy Corbyn is launching his campaign at 7pm.
It is Martin Belam here with you today. I do try to read all your comments, and dip into them where I think I can be helpful, but if you want to get my attention the best way is to email me â martin.belam@theguardian.com â especially if you have spotted errors or typos.
