Angela Rayner claims Tory election candidates are ashamed to be linked with the prime minister, by running as “local Conservatives” and pleading with voters not to “punish” them for the Partygate scandal.
“It speaks volumes that Boris Johnson’s own Conservative candidates are ashamed to be associated with him and trying to pull the wool over voters’ eyes,” Labour’s deputy leader said.
The extraordinary attempts by some candidates to distance themselves from Mr Johnson’s troubles are revealed in election leaflets for the nationwide polls on Thursday.
Earlier, she claimed the Conservatives hadn’t “got a clue” about the cost of living crisis after a government minister suggested poorer families buy value brands to save on food bills.
George Eustice, the environment secretary, said: “Generally speaking, what people find is by going for some sort of value brand rather than own branded products they can actually contain and manage their household budget.”
Sinn Fein eyes historic win in Northern Ireland
If opinion polls are right, tomorrow’s local elections will lead to Sinn Fein becoming the largest group in the 90-seat Northern Ireland Assembly, giving the nationalist party the post of first minister for the first time:
Press watchdog rejects complaints over Mail’s Rayner article
The press watchdog has rejected all complaints about an article claiming Angela Rayner crossed and uncrossed her legs in the Commons in a bid to distract Boris Johnson.
The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) received more than 6,000 complaints.
How local elections could make or break Boris Johnson
Hanging on to the keys of Downing Street is not the only political challenge facing the prime minister, writes John Curtice.
Read his full piece here:
Senior Tory: Ukraine policy would get ‘stronger’ if PM replaced
Britain’s support for Ukraine would get even “stronger” if Boris Johnson were to be replaced as prime minister, a senior Tory has claimed.
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the defence committee, spoke to BBC politics earlier and was asked whether it would be wise to remove Mr Johnson while the war continues in Ukraine.
Mr Ellwood has publicly called for the PM to resign after being found to have broken Covid laws.
More comments below:
Tories ‘ashamed’ of Johnson links
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner says Conservative candidates in tomorrow’s local elections are ashamed to be connected to Boris Johnson.
‘Beergate’ is Tory mudslinging, Starmer insists
Sir Keir Starmer would not be drawn on providing further details in relation to allegations he broke lockdown rules while out campaigning on the last day before the elections.
The Labour leader has come under pressure since footage emerged of him drinking a beer with colleagues in April 2021 in Durham during campaigning for the Hartlepool by-election.
Sir Keir said he wanted to focus on the cost-of-living crisis and not Conservative “mudslinging”.
Asked if Durham Police have contacted him in recent days, Sir Keir said: “I have not had contact from Durham Police and I think people are just about fed up with the mudslinging that’s going on.
“We know there’s elections coming, we know what the Conservatives are up to. What we need to do, I think, is focus on the issue in hand, which is the cost of living.”
Asked what he was doing at 11pm in Durham on the night in question, and if he went back to work having eaten, he said: “We were working, we stopped, we ate.
“No breach of the rules. No party. And I think that’s enough for the mudslinging from the Tories on this.”
Tories ‘ashamed’ to be linked to PM, says Labour
Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s deputy leader has responded to reports that Tory council election candidates as running as “local Conservatives”, our politics reporter, Adam Forrest , writes.
“It speaks volumes that Boris Johnson’s own Conservative candidates are ashamed to be associated with him and trying to pull the wool over voters’ eyes,” she said.
“With no answers to the cost of living crisis, Tory candidates are trying to hide from their own government’s record.”
Ed Davey – BP has called government’s ‘bluff’ on windfall tax
Oil and gas giant BP has called the government’s “bluff” on calls for a windfall tax on profits to help people struggling with their energy bills, Ed Davey has claimed
The Liberal Democrat leader spoke to Sky News following comments by BP chief executive Bernard Looney, who said the firm would still invest in the UK even if it was hit with the tax.
He did, however, say that the policy could result in job losses and hit pensions.
Prime minister Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, have both ruled out a windfall tax on energy companies, saying it would deter investment in renewable energy.
More comments for Mr Davey below:
Starmer: Tories have ‘no answers’ on cost of living crisis
Boris Johnson’s government has “no answers” to the cost of living crisis, Keir Starmer has claimed.
The Labour leader spoke to Sky News earlier on the final day of campaigning before the local elections.
More comments from Mr Starmer below:
Breaking: Neil Parish officially resigns after watching porn in Commons
Neil Parish has formally resigned as an MP after admitting watching pornography in the Commons, the Treasury has announced.
Our politics correspondent Ashley Cowburn has this breaking story:
