Starmer declines to say whether he wants Diane Abbott to run for election
Labour leader Keir Starmer has declined to say whether he wants Diane Abbott to run as a Labour candidate in next monthâs election, while repeating that she has not been formally barred by the Labour party.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, he told listeners âDiane Abbott has had the whip returned to her, no decision has been taken to bar her from standing and the NEC will come to a decision in due course.â
Asked if he would like her to be a candidate, Starmer added: âUltimately, that will be a matter for the NEC but no decision has been taken.â
Shadow science secretary Peter Kyle was asked about the situation while appearing on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, and said:
Iâm sure thereâs lots of conversations going on. They will be going on in as sensitive a way as possible. Diane was a trailblazer. We have a lot of respect for that. This election, though is about the future. And the NEC will be making sure that our party is fit for the future. And I think all these things will be discussed. They will come to a decision in the coming days.
Pressed on whether he was suggesting that Abbott wasnât fit to stand as an MP again, Kyle said:
These are real issues about standards, and Iâm not going to apologise for the fact that Keir Starmer, when he became leader of the Labour party, raised the standards by which sitting MPs, candidates, anybody that represents the Labour party and speaks on his behalf, are held.
That is why just today another Tory MP endorsed the Labour party That is because of the standards that weâre holding ourselves to and we are holding ourselves to extremely high standards.
Martin Forde KC has also spoken to the BBC about the row surrounding her selection. He told listeners:
It looks utterly shambolic to me, in ways that are probably predictable, in the sense that you need a system of regulation which is transparent, as swift as it can be, and consistent in outcome.
And when you have situations where the various factions are able to point to unequal treatment, or lack of consistency, it allows them to argue that this is a system which is factional.
Key events
Workers at steel giant Tata are to ban overtime as part of industrial action in protest at job losses, PA Media reports. Unite said about 1,500 of its members based in Port Talbot and Llanwern in South Wales will take action from 18 June.
Earlier this month first minister Vaughan Gething went to meet Tata bosses in India, and came back saying the âonly way to shift their position realistically is if there was a different UK government.â
In January the owner of the Port Talbot steelworks confirmed that its two blast furnaces would shut down, in what unions condemned as an âabsolutely devastatingâ blow
Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride was on the media round for the Conservatives this morning, and he expressed his disappointment that former Tory MP Mark Logan had defected to Labour.
âItâs disappointing,â PA Media reports he said. âMark will have his own reasons as to why heâs decided to do that. Of course weâre disappointed when those things happen, but the big picture here, and thereâs a lot at stake here â over and above what Mark Logan may or may not decide to have done â is the future of our country.â
The Conservative party has announced plans for fly-tippers to get points on their driving licences. The party also pledged to pass a law that would allow tenants to be kicked out of social housing after three proven instances of antisocial behaviour.
PA Media reports it said the moves are part of the partyâs âplan to stamp out antisocial behaviour across the board to restore pride in place, improve peopleâs quality of life and boost community cohesionâ.
Labour rejected the announcement as âmore empty words from a chaotic Tory party who have let antisocial behaviour run rampant.â
More than 600 households in Surrey have been told not to drink their tap water after tests carried out by Thames Water. The company said results on Thursday indicated âa possible deterioration in qualityâ of drinking water âin some areasâ.
Thereâs more here: Thames Water tells hundreds of Surrey households not to drink tap water
Labourâs leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, has said the SNPâs opposition to his partyâs Great British energy plans were âutter nonsenseâ and âgrievance-driven politicsâ.
Speaking to the BBC, Sarwar said:
What we are talking about here is a publicly owned energy generation company headquartered in Scotland, backed up by the UK Treasury, meaning billions of pounds of investment here in Scotland, investment in onshore wind, offshore wind, carbon capture, storage, and so much more. And that means over 50,000 more jobs here in Scotland.
Asked about Unite general secretary Sharon Grahamâs warning that the plans risk making oil and gas workers in Scotland âthe coalminers of our generationâ, referring to the way that Margaret Thatcherâs government in the 1980s virtually wiped out the industry, Sarwar said:
Let me be really clear to oil and gas workers across the country, and to companies that operate in oil and gas. There will be no cliff edge. There will be no turning off the taps. Oil and gas will play a significant role for decades to come. We will not make the same mistakes as Margaret Thatcher made with the coal mining industry.
We recognise that the large scale investments that are required for us to realise our transition is going to require partnership with members of the oil and gas industry, as well as the renewables industry, to give them the confidence to invest.
People have heard promises for 14 years from the Conservatives, for 17 years from the SNP, and those promises were broken time after time after time. We will not make that same mistake. And thatâs why this is at the heart of our growth plan for Scotland, and our economic growth plan for the whole UK.
Some new opinion polling from Savanta in Scotland shows Labour maintaining a narrow lead in Westminster voting intention, with support on 37% ahead of the SNPâs 34%.
The polling, for the Scotsman, suggests that Labour would be on course for 28 Scottish MPs, up from two. The SNP would be left with 18 seats, and the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives would have five and six MPs respectively.
You can find our UK-wide aggregated poll tracker here:
Sunak: Labour’s Great British energy plan announcement is just ‘a logo’
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has dismissed Labourâs Great British energy plan as being just a âlogoâ, saying it will not deliver the energy security that the country needs.
All this new policy is, is a logo. You donât deliver energy security for our country with a logo.
Thereâs a clear choice on this issue. My view is we have to prioritise this countryâs energy security, thatâs why weâll continue to support Britainâs North Sea energy industry.
Thatâs not something that the Labour party supports, they will ban further energy exploration there even though independent experts all say that we need that energy for decades to come.
On top of that, Iâll make sure we get to net zero in a proportionate way that does not load up ordinary families with thousands of pounds worth of costs. So yes, weâll get to net zero, but I will do it in a way that prioritises our countryâs energy security and household bills.
All weâve seen from the Labour party today is a logo. And as our experts have described their ideas: theyâre incoherent, incredible and completely unachievable.
The prime minister is campaigning in the north-west of England today, and is expected to make a media appearance later this afteroon.
Sarwar: election campaign can’t just be about internal workings of Labour party
Labourâs leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, has been asked for his opinion on the row over Diane Abbottâs selection during an interview this morning with the BBC to promote Labourâs new energy plans. He did also get a chance to talk about those, Iâll come to that in a minute.
He said:
Itâs not for me to decide who our candidates are in England. I wouldnât take kindly to anyone trying to tell me who our candidates should be in Scotland, so Iâm not going to do it the other way around. Itâs for the NEC to decide.
What Iâm very clear about is that Diane has a proud history in the Labour party. She has been a great servant of our party, our country and the community that she serves.
Asked if there was a âcullâ of left-wing candidates going on, Sarwar said:
Look, I donât accept that, because I look at the diverse candidates we have here in Scotland, from every wing of our Labour party, fighting for change across the country. And I recognise people from across the political spectrum standing as candidates.
Our party is unified on the purpose of getting rid of this rotten Tory government whoâve done so much damage to Scotland and the UK over the last 14 years. And weâre unified and delivering the change our country needs.
Of course in any election process, selection processes, appointing of candidates, there is always this kind of thing that goes on, but what we have to do is get right behind this campaign, because this is an opportunity Scotland and the UK cannot afford to miss after 14 years of chaos.
We canât make this about the internals of the Labour party. This has to be about the country. It has to be about delivering change. And thatâs what the Labour campaign is all about.
Starmer declines to say whether he wants Diane Abbott to run for election
Labour leader Keir Starmer has declined to say whether he wants Diane Abbott to run as a Labour candidate in next monthâs election, while repeating that she has not been formally barred by the Labour party.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, he told listeners âDiane Abbott has had the whip returned to her, no decision has been taken to bar her from standing and the NEC will come to a decision in due course.â
Asked if he would like her to be a candidate, Starmer added: âUltimately, that will be a matter for the NEC but no decision has been taken.â
Shadow science secretary Peter Kyle was asked about the situation while appearing on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, and said:
Iâm sure thereâs lots of conversations going on. They will be going on in as sensitive a way as possible. Diane was a trailblazer. We have a lot of respect for that. This election, though is about the future. And the NEC will be making sure that our party is fit for the future. And I think all these things will be discussed. They will come to a decision in the coming days.
Pressed on whether he was suggesting that Abbott wasnât fit to stand as an MP again, Kyle said:
These are real issues about standards, and Iâm not going to apologise for the fact that Keir Starmer, when he became leader of the Labour party, raised the standards by which sitting MPs, candidates, anybody that represents the Labour party and speaks on his behalf, are held.
That is why just today another Tory MP endorsed the Labour party That is because of the standards that weâre holding ourselves to and we are holding ourselves to extremely high standards.
Martin Forde KC has also spoken to the BBC about the row surrounding her selection. He told listeners:
It looks utterly shambolic to me, in ways that are probably predictable, in the sense that you need a system of regulation which is transparent, as swift as it can be, and consistent in outcome.
And when you have situations where the various factions are able to point to unequal treatment, or lack of consistency, it allows them to argue that this is a system which is factional.
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has also spoken ahead of the launch of Great British Energy in Scotland. The shadow energy security and net zero secretary said:
Great British Energy will kickstart our mission for clean power to lower bills and boost our energy independence. Itâs time to move on from the Toriesâ bone-headed opposition to clean energy, for which British families are paying the price. The choice at this general election is clear: higher bills and energy insecurity with the Conservatives, or lower bills and energy independence with Labour.
Keir Starmer to launch Great British energy pledges in Scotland
Keir Starmer is expected to warn that âfamily financial security depends on energy securityâ and accusing Tories of failing to make Britain resilient, as he launches the logo and website for Great British Energy at an event in Scotland with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
Labourâs pledge to set up a publicly owned company to invest in domestic power sources â part of the partyâs six-point âfirst stepsâ policy â aims to tackle the cost-of-living crisis by cutting energy bills.
Early investments by Great British Energy will include wind and solar projects across the UK, as well as making Scotland a world leader in new technologies.
Ahead of the launch Starmer said:
The pain and misery of the cost-of-living crisis was directly caused by the Toriesâ failure to make Britain resilient, leaving us at the mercy of fossil fuel markets controlled by dictators like Putin.
It doesnât have to be this way. Our clean power mission with Great British Energy will take back control of our destiny and invest in cheap, clean homegrown energy that we control.
We will turn the page on the cost-of-living crisis. The choice at this election is clear: higher bills and energy insecurity with the Conservatives, or lower bills and energy security with Labour.
The plan has also been endorsed by former chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance, who said: âThe prize is huge, lower energy bills, good jobs, more innovative businesses, energy security and climate leadership.
âIf we choose to go slowly, others will provide the answers and we will ultimately end up buying the solutions rather than selling them. Getting to a clean power system fast and with appropriate technologies is an investment, not simply a cost.â
Welcome and opening summary â¦
Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of the general election campaign. Here are your headlines â¦
Keir Starmer is campaigning in Scotland and holds a launch event this morning. Ed Davey is visiting south-west London and will do a media event this afternoon.
It is Martin Belam with you again today. I do try to read all your comments but if you want to get in touch with me then email is probably the best bet. You can reach me martin.belam@theguardian.com.
