Batley and Spen by-election news – live: Labour defends slim majority as voters head to polls

An early challenge to Starmer is unlikely because you cannot beat somebody with nobody – an adage favoured by Nick Brown, the Labour chief whip who stepped down from his post after the last by-election defeat in Hartlepool in May. There is no plausible candidate to replace Starmer who would obviously do a better job, writes John Rentoul.

What is more, the party rule book makes it hard for such a candidate to emerge suddenly from the primordial soup of talent. Leaders with some profile among party members, such as Andy Burnham, mayor of Manchester, and Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, are not eligible to stand for leader because they are not members of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Here is his full analysis of the consequences for Labour of today’s vote:

Boris Johnson has said the level of public money the government has used to support Nissan building a new electric model and huge battery plant in the UK is “confidential”, with reports putting it at around £100m.

The deal has divided opinion, with those on the Leave side claiming the news as a vote of confidence in Brexit Britain.

Those opposed to leaving the EU have suggested British taxpayers will foot a large bill.

Commenting on the broader economic landscape, Kay Van-Petersen, global macro strategist at Saxo Group, said on Thursday: “The UK has a scarcity factor that cannot be easily replicated anywhere else; there is only one London, one Oxford and one Cambridge, in it’s in the sweet time zone between Asia and the Americas.

“The UK will always be a destination for the global elite in the form of capital, talent, education and demand for assets.”

Boris Johnson has pledged to reveal details of what the end of lockdown restrictions will look like in the coming days as he acknowledged some “extra precautions” may be needed after restrcitions are eased in the step 4 of the government’s roadmap.

The prime minister said it is “ever clearer” that vaccines are reducing deaths, despite increasing levels of infections involving the Delta variant of coronavirus.

He said he has increasing confidence that he can go ahead with the final phase of his plans to end England’s lockdown on 19 July to “get back to life as close to it was before Covid”.

‘There may be some things we have to do, extra precautions that we have to take, but I’ll be setting them out,” he added.

The UK and EU have failed to strike a deal over the British financial sector’s role in Europe, the chancellor has said.

Rishi Sunak confirmed that the two sides have failed to sign an agreement for mutual recognition of financial services rules between London and Brussels since the Brexit transition period ended in January.

Ministers has previously hoped to sign a so-called “memorandum of understanding” by March this year, since no deal for the sector was signed ahead of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

He told a room of young chief executives and entrepreneurs at Mansion House in London: “Our ambition had been to reach a comprehensive set of mutual decisions on financial services equivalence. That has not happened.”

Mr Sunak added that there is no reason why an agreement cannot be signed with the EU and said fears that regulatory standards could slip are wide of the mark.

“The EU will never have cause to deny the UK access because of poor regulatory standards,” he said.

Boris Johnson has conceded he is still largely driven in vehicles running on polluting fossil fuels when asked if he has an electric car.

During a visit to a Nissan plant in Sunderland, which was arranged in order for the prime minister to promote the announcement of a significant investment in cleaner car technology, he told reporters: “I, at the moment, am driven in a variety of machines most of which are still run on hydrocarbons but I can tell you we will be phasing it out as soon as we conveniently and economically can.”

Tory MP Andrew Rosindell has claimed Romford, which lies within his constituency and is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering, is actually in Essex.

Igniting a row that appears to have played out on the pages of the Romford Recorder for several years, the backbencher intervened in a discussion between two journalists on Twitter relating to the estate agent – from Romford – who was filmed accosting Chris Whitty.

“Romford is Essex! Romford has always been part of the County of Essex, never “East London” of which there is no actual definition,” Mr Rosindell wrote.

BBC journalist Allie Hodgkins-Brown replied: “Don’t agree – it hasn’t been part of Essex since 1965. It’s in Havering, a London borough & served by the Met Police. (When I said east London I meant geographically to place it).”

The MP tweeted back: “Sorry Allie, you have got this completely wrong. You are muddling up local government and administrative boundaries that constantly change, with historical and geographical boundaries that have existed for centuries. Please don’t try to alter the local identity of my town!”

Romford was in Essex until 1965, when it joined with Hornchurch to form the London borough of Havering. It serves as the administrative centre of the London borough, home to the council offices.

The Batley and Spen by-election has been one of the most keenly anticipated for years, with speculation swirling around a possible challenge to Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership if Labour loses its second seat to the government since he took over.

John Rentoul will be here at 4pm on Friday to answer your questions. 

If you have a question, submit it now, or when he joins live at 4pm. All you have to do is register to submit your question in the comments on the story below:

Boris Johnson has raised hopes that those who have received both doses of a Covid vaccine will be able to travel more freely later this summer after telling reporters that “double jabs will be a liberator”.

The prime minister is under pressure from the travel industry and some of his own backbenchers to enable easier foreign trips for vaccinated Britons.

Asked during a visit to a Nissan plant in Sunderland about reports that fully vaccinated people may be able to travel from amber list countries without needing to quarantine by 26 July, he said: “Everybody who is frustrated about travel over the summer – double jabs will be a liberator.

“I want travel to be possible but I’ve got to stress that this year will not be like every other year because of the difficulties with Covid. People shouldn’t expect it will be completely hassle free.”

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has denied she is part of a possible bid to challenge Sir Keir Starmer if the party loses the Batley and Spen by-election.

After a report in The Times suggested she was considering a move, Ms Rayner described the suggestion as “news to me”.

Her spokesman later said that anyone gauging support is “not doing it under instructions from Angela or with Angela’s backing” and that she is “focused entirely on her jobs”.

“She is also perfectly capable of speaking for herself and doesn’t need anyone to claim to speak for her,” the spokesman added.

Former health secretary Matt Hancock made a “grave mistake” and rightly lost his job, the Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has told MPs.

The Cabinet minister said Mr Hancock had been replaced by “super sub” Sajid Javid.

“He made a grave mistake for which, because the rules are enforced fairly, he resigned and he resigned the day after the story was printed in the newspapers,” Mr Rees-Mogg said.

“And here we get the splitting of hairs between the resignation and the sacking – the man has gone, he has lost his job, as has the non-executive director in the Department of Health with whom he seemed to be closely associated.

“And that is quite the right way for it to have happened – [Mr Hancock] is no longer in office.”