General Election LIVE: Diane Abbott has Labour whip reinstated but remains banned from running for party
General Election LIVE: Diane Abbott to be banned from running for Labour after party admitted inquiry ended months ago
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Former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott has had the Labour whip reinstated after a lengthy probe into controversial comments made about antisemitism.
The Hackney North & Stoke Newington MP, who was the first black woman elected to the House of Commons, was suspended last April.
Abbott, 70, reportedly received a formal warning and was told to complete an "antisemitism awareness course".
The row erupted after Abbott likened the discrimination suffered by Jewish people, the Irish and Travellers to the bullying of redheads.
An investigation was reportedly completed six months ago.
However, Abbott's allies accused the Labour leadership of deliberately “dragging out the process in order to block her from being a candidate at the election”.
It has been reported that Labour would only reinstate the whip if Abbott left frontline politics "with dignity".
Responding to the update, Tory Party chairman Richard Holden said: "This isn't another flip-flop or yet another policy U-turn. Sir Keir Starmer has blatantly lied to the British people and has serious questions to answer."
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Diane Abbott to be banned from running for Labour after party admitted inquiry ended months ago
Former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott will not be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate in the upcoming general election.
The Hackney North & Stoke Newington MP, who was the first black woman elected to the House of Commons, was suspended in yet another antisemitism row last April.
Southside could announce its decision as early as today as senior aides discuss restoring the whip provided Abbott leaves politics "with dignity".
Abbott, 70, reportedly received a formal warning and was told to complete an "antisemitism awareness course".
The row erupted after Abbott likened the discrimination suffered by Jewish people, the Irish and Travellers to the bullying of redheads.
An investigation was reportedly completed six months ago.
However, Abbott's allies accused the Labour leadership of deliberately “dragging out the process in order to block her from being a candidate at the election”.
Labour lead cut to just 12 per cent, new poll shows
Labour's lead has fallen to just 12 per cent, a new opinion poll has revealed.
A survey by JL Partners put support for Sir Keir Starmer's party at just 40 per cent.
However, the Conservatives received a two-point boost to stand at 28 per cent.
Reform UK dropped by one per cent to 12-points overall.
The Liberal Democrats and Greens polled 10 and five per cent respectively.
Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to go head to head in DAYS as first election debate scheduled
Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer are preparing to go head to head in the first debate of the General Election, scheduled for next week.
The Prime Minister and Labour leader are said to have signed up in principle to the televised event, with details to be ironed out in the coming days.
Sources told the Telegraph it will take place on ITV next week.
The Tories called for Starmer to participate in six debates during the six-week campaign, but Labour has suggested the Leader of the Opposition will participate in two throughout the campaign.
This mirrors what Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn did in the 2019 election campaign.
Angela Rayner council tax probe: Police say NO further action to be taken as investigation concludes
Greater Manchester Police has said no further action will be taken against Angela Rayner following a "thorough, carefully considered and proportionate investigation"
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Greater Manchester Police has said no further action will be taken against Angela Rayner following a "thorough, carefully considered and proportionate investigation".
Rayner, who denied any wrongdoing, was being formally investigated over the sale of her council house after being reported to the police by Tory MP James Daly.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: “Following allegations about Angela Rayner MP, Greater Manchester Police has completed a thorough, carefully considered and proportionate investigation. We have concluded that no further police action will be taken.
“The investigation originated from complaints made by Mr James Daly MP directly to GMP. Subsequent further contact with GMP by members of the public, and claims made by individuals featured in media reporting, indicated a strong public interest in the need for allegations to be investigated.
“Matters involving council tax and personal tax do not fall into the jurisdiction of policing. GMP has liaised with Stockport Council and information about our investigation has been shared with them. Details of our investigation have also been shared with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).”
‘Makes me SO angry!’ Bev Turner erupts at Rishi Sunak’s ‘hideous’ pledge
GB News host Bev Turner has been left fuming at the pledge from the Prime Minister that stated if the Conservatives were re-elected they would bring back national service.
Eighteen-year-olds would be able to apply for one of 30,000 full-time military placements or volunteering one weekend a month carrying out a community service.
Rishi Sunak said he believed bringing back compulsory service across the UK would help foster the "national spirit" that emerged during the pandemic.
Speaking about the promise on GB News, Bev said: "At first I had a moment where I thought 'oh brilliant. This is just priming the next generation, prepare yourself that you may have to go to war and something is on the horizon'.
"However, you look at the details of it and it is pathetic. It is saying that if you get through certain criteria, as in you are not overweight and you are fit enough, you can do a year in the military. You can do it anyway, if you don't want to do that you can spend one weekend a month helping your local community.
"Again you can do that anyway? There is going to be no way that this can be mandated, what a pointless headline grabber. It is hideous."
Sunak says voters face 'clear choice' over pensioner tax cut
Rishi Sunak said the tax cut for pensioners meant there was a “clear choice” for voters at the election
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Rishi Sunak said the tax cut for pensioners meant there was a “clear choice” for voters at the election.
Speaking on a visit to a bowling green in Leicestershire, the Prime Minister said: “What I believe is if you work hard all your life you should have dignity in retirement."
He said the "triple lock-plus" would deliver "a tax cut worth around £100 to millions of pensioners, demonstrating our commitment to them".
Under Labour “pensioners will be paying tax” and “that’s a clear choice on offer”, he said.
Asked if he was now admitting that freezing the personal allowance thresholds was a tax rise, the Prime Minister said the twin challenges of Covid and the Ukraine war meant “difficult decisions” were taken to control debt and borrowing.
“Now that that plan has worked – inflation has come down from 11 per cent to 2 per cent, wages are rising and the economy is growing – we are also able to cut people’s taxes."
Sunak claims Labour will 'halve the number of apprenticeships'
Rishi Sunak has claimed that Labour’s plan will “halve the number of apprenticeships”.
Asked what he was going to do about the "skills gap" at a visit in Staffordshire, the Prime Minister replied: "We are a party that believes in increasing the quality and quantity of apprenticeships, great route for young people to get into work.
"Not everyone has to go to university, and that’s a clear choice at this election, because the Labour Party are still clinging to this idea that the only way to succeed in life is to go to university, that’s simply not right.
"So we want to make sure that there’s a high-quality apprenticeship in every career, that’s what we’re doing, more money behind them. Their plans will halve the number of apprenticeships."
Ed Davey falls into lake in bizarre Lib Dem election stunt
Ed Davey was seen falling off his paddle board on Lake Windermere, in an election stunt which he later admitted was on purpose
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Ed Davey was seen falling off his paddle board on Lake Windermere, in an election stunt which he later admitted was on purpose.
The Liberal Democrat leader posed for a picture alongside Tim Farron before falling into the lake in a dramatic fall.
Asked if he fell into the lake on purpose, Davey said: "Once I did, the others I just kept falling in".
As part of their general election campaign, the Liberal Democrats unveiled plans to abolish water regulator Ofwat and introduce a new regulator to tackle the sewage crisis.
BBC presenter faces calls to be 'SACKED' after sparking impartiality row with 'inflammatory' Farage remark
Nigel Farage has been accused of using "customary inflammatory language" by BBC News presenter Geeta Guru-Murthy
PA
Nigel Farage has been accused of using "customary inflammatory language" by BBC News presenter Geeta Guru-Murthy following his appearance at Tuesday's Reform UK event.
Guru-Murthy, the sister of Channel 4 news anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy, has prompted calls to "resign" and be "sacked" for her comments which many have deemed not to be impartial.
The remarks came after BBC News shared a live stream of some of Farage's speech at the Reform UK event with its viewers.
Diane Abbott race row investigation completed in December
The investigation into Diane Abbott over accusations of antisemitism is said to have been completed in December 2023
PA
The investigation into Diane Abbott over accusations of antisemitism is said to have been completed in December 2023.
Abbott, who was suspended 13 months ago, has not yet been readmitted into the Labour Party.
According to the BBC, Abbott has been given a formal warning and has been required to complete an "antisemitism awareness course".
But a source close to the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington said she still has not been told whether she will be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate at the upcoming general election.
Tory claim that Labour will start taxing pensioners is ‘laughable’ says Jonathan Reynolds
The Conservative Party's claim that the Labour Party is planning to tax pensioners if it wins the General Election is “laughable”, according to Shadow Business Secretary Johnathan Reynolds.
PA
The Conservative Party's claim that the Labour Party is planning to tax pensioners if it wins the General Election is “laughable”, Shadow Business Secretary Johnathan Reynolds said.
He told GB News: “I'm just laughing in disbelief at what they [Conservatives] put out overnight again. So let's be clear, the only reason the state pension at £11,500 a year is anywhere near being taxed is because the personal allowance is £12,500 and it's the Conservative Party that has frozen that.
“We want a stronger economy where we will see those thresholds rise. We know what we will inherit will [be] what the current government plans are.
“That’s simply how winning an election works, but it is laughable to hear the Conservative Party say we're introducing a policy.”
Labour claim that National Insurance cut is underfunded is a ‘myth’ says minister
Labour is wrong to claim that a cut in National Insurance contributions is unfunded, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride has said.
He told GB News: “Well, this huge National Insurance cut being unfunded is a complete myth. We have fully funded the one third reduction that is cutting working age people's taxes on average by £900.
“There is the aspiration that we now have to go still further, because we're a party that believes in lower taxes, to ultimately abolish National Insurance altogether.”
Stride also the Conservatives would also introduce new measures which amount to tax cuts for pensioners.
Rachel Reeves says she is 'ready to move into Number 11 Downing Street
Rachel Reeves has said she is “ready” to move into Number 11 Downing Street as Chancellor.
Giving a speech at Rolls-Royce in Derby, the Shadow Chancellor set out “five missions for a decade of national renewal”.
She detailed plans for 40,000 new appointments every single week, a Border Security Command to “smash the criminal gangs and strengthen our borders”, a publicly owned Great British Energy company, an antisocial behaviour crackdown and plans for 6,500 new teachers.
Reeves said: "To serve as chancellor of the exchequer would be the privilege of my life, not to luxuriate in status, not as a staging post in a career, but to serve.
"I know the responsibility that will come with that – I embrace it."
She added: "As I travel around the country, I see great potential wherever I go, in dynamic great British businesses like this one, in labs and classrooms in our world-leading universities, and in the talent and the effort of working people.
"It is time to unlock that potential, to turn the page on chaos and decline, and start a new chapter for Britain. Labour is ready."
Farage says he is not standing as an MP because he is a 'realist'
Nigel Farage said he is not standing as an MP in the upcoming General Election because he is a “realist”
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Nigel Farage said he is not standing as an MP in the upcoming General Election because he is a “realist”.
Speaking in Dover, he said “six weeks is not long enough to take on a Parliamentary seat”, adding: “I’ve only stood once for Parliament seriously, and what happened? I stood just a few miles up the road here, and what happened?
“Third party campaign groups spent unbelievable sums of money, putting negativity through people’s doors, the likes of which you can’t believe. The Conservatives cheated, to such an extent that one of the agents got a nine-month prison sentence for mass overspending.
“So for me, to fight and win any constituency, I’m going to need a lot of time and a lot of data. I can’t do that in six weeks, so you can call me what you like, but I think realist might be more accurate.”
Asked whether he is prioritising the US election over the UK, he said: “I believe the world was a much better, safer place with Donald Trump in the White House than it has been with Joe Biden.
“So that’s the context, I’m not saying Britain doesn’t matter, far from it. Of course not, I’m British, I’m here. But I do think who wins in America for global safety is absolutely vital.”
Rachel Reeves claims Labour is 'natural party of business'
The Shadow Chancellor has claimed the Labour Party is the “natural party of British business” while on a visit to Rolls-Royce in Derby
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The Shadow Chancellor has claimed the Labour Party is the “natural party of British business” while on a visit to Rolls-Royce in Derby.
Rachel Reeves said: “In five weeks’ time, the British people will go to the polls to make a profound choice about the future of our country.”
The shadow chancellor added: “Today, I want to put forward a simple proposition: that this changed Labour Party is today the natural party of British business.
“And I want to set out the central economic faultline in this election, the choice before the British people on July 4: five more years of chaos with the Conservative Party leaving working people worse off; or stability with a changed Labour Party.”
Farage defends decision to use the word “invasion” when describing migration
Nigel Farage has defended his decision to use the word “invasion” when describing migration
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Nigel Farage has defended his decision to use the word “invasion” when describing migration.
Speaking from Dover at a Reform UK campaign, Mr Farage said: “I said that I thought unless something dramatic was done, that there would be an invasion. Now, of course, for using that word, I was called all the names under the sun.
“But 3,800 boats later, 125,000 people later, you can use whatever word you want. I happen to think that invasion, frankly, was pretty appropriate.
“So I’ve campaigned hard on this issue throughout this four-year period. And I’m gonna say to you, frankly, I was ahead of the curve on this. I was right.”
Institute for Fiscal Studies tears down Sunak's pensioner tax break plan
Rishi Sunak’s proposed tax break for pensioners is “simply a reversal of a tax increase that the Conservatives proposed”, the Institute for Fiscal Studies director Paul Johnson said.
Johnson said: “Pensioners used to have a bigger personal allowance than people of working age – it was the Conservatives who got rid of it.
“So this is one of many examples actually of tax policy that has been reversed by the same Government. George Osborne got rid of it in the 2010s when the personal allowance of people under pension age continued to rise.
“So one of the consequences of that, actually, is that the point at which pensioners currently start to pay tax is below where it was in 2010, whereas the point at which the rest of us start to pay tax is well above where it was in 2010."
Speaking to the BBC, he added: “Secondly, it’s worth saying that in part, looking forward, this is simply a reversal of a tax increase that the Conservatives proposed. The idea is that the allowance doesn’t rise at all in line with inflation for the next three years. So half of the cost of this is simply not imposing the tax increase that was previously proposed.”
Rishi Sunak pledges £2.4bn tax cut for pensioners with 'triple lock plus'
Pensioners could be given a tax break worth £2.4billion a year if the Tories win the General Election on July 4.
Rishi Sunak is expected to announce the tax cut today as he continues his election campaign.
The tax cut would mean that from April next year the income tax personal allowance for pensioners will be increased in line with the triple lock.
The pledge would mean both the state pension and pensioners’ tax-free allowance will always rise in line with the highest of earnings, wages or 2.5 per cent.
Labelled the “triple lock plus”, the policy is estimated to cost £2.4bn a year by 2029/30.
This price tag mirrors Sunak’s proposed national service duty for all 18-year-olds, billed at £2.5bn a year.
Keir Starmer admits to being a 'socialist' as Labour leader distances himself from Jeremy Corbyn
Sir Keir Starmer has told voters he is a socialist who will put the country before the Labour Party
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Sir Keir Starmer has told voters he is a socialist who will put the country before the Labour Party, whilst also distancing himself from his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.
The Labour leader, who has regularly been seen as a centrist politician, said he is a "progressive" politician who will put the "party second".
Putting distance between himself and Corbyn, Starmer said the party is now "unrecognisable from the party of 2019".
Asked if he would describe himself as a socialist, he said: "Yes, I would describe myself as a socialist. I describe myself as a progressive."
Labour will drag millions of pensioners into paying income tax, Work and Pensions Secretary says
The Work and Pensions Secretary has claimed Labour will drag millions of pensioners into paying income tax.
Speaking about the Conservatives' proposed tax break for pensioners, Mel Stride said: “We will not only up rate by the triple lock across the whole of the next Parliament, but we will also up rate something called the personal allowance, which is the amount you can earn without paying income tax by the triple lock as well.
“And that will mean millions of pensioners are getting a tax cut through time. Now Labour have dismissed that, they say they wouldn’t do it, which will drag millions pensioners into tax.”
He added that the “triple lock plus” will “stop millions of pensioners, as will be the case under Labour, getting dragged into income tax”.
Farage set for major speech in Dover today
Nigel Farage is gearing up for his first speech of the General Election campaign today in what is expected to be a major intervention on behalf of Reform UK
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Nigel Farage is gearing up for his first speech of the General Election campaign today in what is expected to be a major intervention on behalf of Reform UK.
The party's honorary president is set to speak in Dover at 10am on the Channel crisis.
He said he will set out "all the solutions to this massive problem".