Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak accepted an additional £5m from Tory donor Frank Hester, who was accused of saying Diane Abbott “should be shot”, Electoral Commission figures show.In a major boost to the Tories’ campaign war chest, the prime minister accepted the donation in January after Mr Hester donated £10m to the Conservative Party last year. The latest data also revealed the Tories took a further £150,000 from Mr Hester. That donation was received on 8 March but accepted by the party on 14 March, three days after his comments were first revealed. His other donations were made before the story broke. Mr Hester allegedly told colleagues that looking at Ms Abbott makes you “want to hate all black women”, adding that the veteran Labour MP “should be shot”.Frank Hester allegedly made the comments in 2019 (Screengrab/PA) More

Sir Keir Starmer has branded Rishi Sunak a liar and claimed he had broken the ministerial code for suggesting Labour planned to hike taxes by more than £2,000.The prime minister repeatedly highlighted the allegation during his ITV head-to-head debate with Sir Keir on Tuesday (4 June), claiming “independent Treasury officials” have costed Labour’s policies “and they amount to a £2,000 tax rise for everyone”.But the Treasury’s permanent secretary, James Bowler, said ministers had been told not to suggest civil servants produced the figure at the heart of the Tory attack.Sir Keir today said: “What you saw last night was a Prime Minister with his back against the wall, desperately trying to defend 14 years of failure, resorting – and it was a flash of his character, an insight into his character – to lies. I don’t say that lightly.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFormer award-winning BBC journalist David Campanale is suing the Liberal Democrats for allegedly deselecting him because he is a practising Christian.The revelation comes after The Independent disclosed that a petition demanding he is reinstated as the candidate for Sutton and Cheam in south London had been backed by the bishop of Winchester Philip Mounstephen who warned that Liberal greats like William Gladstone would no longer be welcome in the party.Since then the GoCitizen petition has been supported by 20,000 people and the bishop of Guildford Andrew Watson has added his support.In a further move today, court papers have been filed against the Lib Dems for discrimination and victimisation against Mr Campanale.Ed Davey’s party is being sued More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer is more trusted by the British people than Rishi Sunak the modern infrastructure that Britain needs in the future built, a new poll has revealed.The research, commissioned by pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade, found that the Labour leader was 2 to 1 over the prime minister (34 per cent to 16 per cent) to deliver projects such as new homes and transport schemes.Britons also think the country doesn’t build enough. The poll, carried out by Opinium, found that more than half (52 per cent) of voters said we don’t build enough sources of clean energy.Another half (49 per per cent) say we don’t build enough transport links and just under half (45 per cent) agree that the UK doesn’t build enough new homes in and around major cities.The findings were revealed as Britain Remade released its plan, that includes 64 policies, to get the country building again.As part of the plans, the campaign group said there needs to be a radical overhaul of current planning rules and regulations. For example, the campaign group said that it can take up to 13 years for an offshore wind farm to go from being an idea to generating power despite construction only taking two to three years.Keir Starmer is more trusted than Rishi Sunak to deliver infrastructure projects More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Labour first minister of Wales Vaughan Gething has vowed to carry on in the job despite losing a vote of no confidence, and branded the motion “a transparent gimmick”. He lost the vote on his leadership in the Senedd on Wednesday, with 29 votes against him to 27 for, but the motion, tabled by the Welsh Conservatives, was non-binding, meaning he will not be ousted from his job. However, the result is highly embarrassing for him and for Labour.The motion followed a series of controversies involving Mr Gething and the collapse of his electoral deal with Plaid Cymru.Mr Gething, who has been the Welsh Labour leader only since March, was seen in tears before the vote.Gething is the first Clack leader of any European country More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBlocked Labour candidate Faiza Shaheen will stand against Labour as an independent, she has announced. She said: “I am standing as an independent candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green at the General Election on 4 July.”The announcement comes a day after she dramatically quit Labour and accused the party of operating a “hierarchy of racism”.Ms Shaheen has previously said she is considering legal action against Labour.Faiza Shaheen has confirmed she will stand as an independent candidate against Labour (Gareth Fuller/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailIt was a chaotic day for Nigel Farage at his campaign rally on Tuesday – which saw fans arrive to show their support for the new Reform Party leader before a protester covered him in milkshake.After repeatedly saying that he wouldn’t run – and declaring the US presidential contest was more important than the UK election – Mr Farage will attempt to get a seat in the House of Commons for the eighth time, this time in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.The self-styled “man of the people” and anti-establishment campaigner, who argued for the UK to leave the EU for many years and was one of Brexit’s staunchest supporters, has been in and around the political fray now for three decades.Eastleigh by-election (1994)Nigel Farage out on the campaign trail in Clacton More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe UK’s official statistics regulator is investigating Rishi Sunak’s claim that Labour will hike household taxes by £2,000 if they win the election.The Office for Statistics Regulation launched the probe after the figure became the centrepiece of the prime minister’s attack on the opposition in Tuesday night’s TV debate.It sparked a barrage of condemnation from Labour’s shadow cabinet, with a slew of the party’s top politicians accusing the PM of deliberately lying to the public. In response, a defiant Conservative leader doubled down, repeating the assertion.Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer clashed on the implications of Labour’s spending plans (PA) More