Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has suffered his latest campaign gaffe after his party’s first election broadcast depicted the Union Jack flying upside down.The prime minister’s video pointed to uncertain times fuelled by “pandemic, war in Europe and the Middle East, a reckless dictator in Russia… China”.“We face unprecedented challenges here at home because of global insecurity, but by sticking with the plan Rishi Sunak is steadying the ship and making progress,” a deep-voiced narrator says over footage of the PM working.Click here for our live coverage of the general election campaign.But, just minutes after the video was released, it was pointed out that perhaps the most striking part of the video is a shot of the UK’s flag upside down.The Flag Institute, which researches and promotes the use and design of flags, says it is “most improper to fly the flag upside down”.The Union Jack drew attention on social media More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBusiness groups, food producers and a Labour-supporting union have warned Sir Keir Starmer that the UK needs foreign workers to help ease labour shortages, after he vowed to cut immigration.The Labour leader said the net migration figure of 685,000 has “got to come down” and hit out at Rishi Sunak’s Conservative for failing to cut the numbers.He said that businesses had become too reliant on workers from overseas and said Labour would train more Britons to do jobs in areas where there were labour shortages.However, leading business groups and food producers called for “credible” plans to be put forward and warned that skilled migrants would still be needed to fill vacancies.Matthew Percival, future of work and skills director, at the CBI, said: “The need for work visas is increased by skills and labour shortages and businesses want to see all political parties put forward credible plans to ease shortages and support growth. “The CBI has long called for a stronger link between shortages and the training that is available. It’s a key part of a more honest conversation about immigration.”The Labour leader said that businesses had become ‘too reliant’ on workers from overseas (PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailAngela Rayner has said she still wants to rid the world of nuclear weapons – just hours after Sir Keir Starmer said his whole shadow cabinet was right behind his position on the UK’s nuclear deterrent.On Monday Sir Keir said he was prepared to deploy weapons to protect Britain and announced a “triple lock” commitment for maintaining the Trident system.In 2016 some of his shadow cabinet members voted against renewing the Trident deterrent, including deputy leader Angela Rayner and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy.When asked about this, Sir Keir responded: “I lead this party. I have changed this party. If we are privileged to come in to serve, I will be the prime minister of the United Kingdom and I’ve made my commitment to this absolutely clear and I’ve got my whole cabinet, shadow cabinet, behind me.”Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said his whole shadow cabinet was behind his position on the Trident system More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailPolling guru Professor Sir John Curtice has said Nigel Farage’s decision to take over as leader of Reform UK will deal a significant blow to the Conservatives, potentially costing them as many as 60 seats.Mr Curtice noted Mr Farage’s announcement, as first revealed exclusively by The Independent at Monday lunchtime, came on the same afternoon as the release of YouGov’s first MRP poll for this election, which has the Conservatives down nearly 20 points in the vote and at risk of losing three in five of their seats.These polling figures are at least partly due to the steady 10 per cent support for the Reform party, led by Mr Farage, which attracts former Conservative voters who supported Brexit in 2019, he said.Mr Farage on Monday electrified the general election campaign by announcing yet another bid to become an MP and run in Tory-held Clacton in Essex, amid what was already being described as “an existential risk” for the Tories in the 4 July election.The decision comes as a major blow to Rishi Sunak’s electoral hopes, as the former Ukip leader – who had said he would not run to be an MP – confirmed he had changed his mind and decided to contest the general election.Writing in The Times, Mr Curtice noted that most of Reform’s support came from those who supported Boris Johnson’s 2019 “Get Brexit Done” appeal. Many of those supporters would support the Conservatives if Reform were not an option, he suggests.Mr Farage’s decision five years ago to withdraw his Brexit Party candidates from constituencies that were being defended by the Conservatives led to a dramatic decrease in support for his party.His pledge to challenge Tory-held seats makes it more probable that Reform will perform better in this election, Mr Curtice said.Reform’s decision to challenge Conservative-held seats “is but one reason why YouGov’s estimate that the Conservatives could find themselves with just 140 seats is credible”, he said.The professor at the University of Strathclyde said that “implies that the party could lose as many as 60 more seats than would be the case if its support were to fall by the same amount everywhere.”Explaining his bid to become an MP, Mr Farage said he could not let down “millions of people” who had supported his past political projects.At what he dubbed an emergency press conference, he added: “Something is happening out there.“There is a rejection of the political class going on in this country in a way that has not been seen in modern times.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailIn 1969, Harold Wilson’s Labour government lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. More than fifty years on, Sir Keir Starmer believes the time has come to lower the voting age even further, to 16.The idea is not a new one. It was first rejected by Parliament back in 1999 and again in 2005.The Labour leader has plans to lower the voting age to 16 if his party wins July’s general election.On a campaign visit to Stafford last week, the Labour leader confirmed plans to follow Scotland and Wales in extending the vote to a further 1.5 million people, telling reporters: “If you can work, if you can pay tax, if you can serve in your armed forces, then you ought to be able to vote.”The “extremely straightforward” legislation could appear as soon as the King’s Speech, a Labour source told The Times, which estimated that such a move could flip eight Tory seats red in England alone. Members of the Tory party have been critical of the proposals, however. Conservative Bob Seely said: ”Perhaps Labour think younger voters will be easier to pull the wool over than older folks with a bit of life experience.”And Sir Iain Duncan Smith accused Sir Keir of ‘virtue signalling’, adding: “This is a gimmick done by those who think their party is more likely to get the vote.”Now we want to know what you think. Is lowering the voting age a simple ‘gimmick’ or is it necessary for proper democracy?Share your thoughts by adding them in the comments — we’ll highlight the most insightful ones as they come in.All you have to do is sign up and register your details — then you can take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Join the conversation with other Independent readers below. More