Markus Andrews

Humza Yousaf has denied that his decision to end the so-called Bute House Agreement underpinning the Scottish government coalition was about saving seats for the Scottish National Party at the next general election.At a press conference on Thursday, 25 April, the first minister said: “I believe that stability is really important for governing… Recent weeks have shown that stability is not there.”Mr Yousaf removed Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater from the government, and the SNP is set to act as a minority government going forward.It comes after the Greens were angered when the Scottish government announced it was to ditch a key climate change target. More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightShifting generational attitudes towards the EU could result in another referendum on British membership by the year 2040, polling expert professor John Curtice has predicted.Prof Curtice said the timescale would depend on “uncertain politics” and how a potential future Labour government approaches relations with the EU.He suggested the nation’s feelings toward the 27-member bloc would change as younger people in the UK become eligible to vote while older citizens, who voted overwhelmingly for Brexit, drop off the electoral register.“If you look so far at what’s happened to attitudes, and if you look at the age profile of attitudes towards Brexit, you can see why”, Prof Curtice told a UK in a Chaging Europe event on Wednesday.“A lot will also happen about – how does our relationship with the EU evolve, to what extent does the next Labour government soften it or not?”He added: “One of the things to realize is the Labour party is going to get elected by an electorate which is three-quarters anti-Brexit … Labour’s vote is almost as anti-Brexit as it was back in 2019.”Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has ruled out rejoining the EU if his party wins the next general election, which must take place by January 2025 at the latest.He has indicated his intention to improve relations with Brussels and to negotiate a better trade deal with the bloc to ease friction at the border.Professor Curtice speaks at a UK in a Changing Europe event More

Labour “can’t guarantee” their pledge to renationalise the railways if elected would bring in lower train fares, the shadow transport secretary has said.The party would expect to transfer rail networks to public ownership within its first term by folding existing private passenger rail contracts into a new body as they expire, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh will say at a launch event on Thursday.Speaking to BBC Breakfast ahead of the event, Ms Haigh said: “Today I can’t guarantee we’ll lower fares… we’ll simplify them.“We will have an ambition for a best fare guarantee.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour’s shadow transport secretary has failed to rule out that fares could become more expensive under Labour’s plans to nationalise the railways within five years.Louise Haigh repeatedly dodged questions on whether ticket prices could rise, saying there were no “plans” for increases.In an interview with the BBC’s Today programme Ms Haigh said she could not promise to lower fares. Asked if fares could go up, Ms Haigh said they would be “simpler”, and she could not say which journeys would be cheaper. Pressed again, she said: “We have absolutely no plans to make them more expensive”. Her plans would allow ministers to make “significant savings” which would allow them to make fares “more affordable” she said. Under Labour’s plans for the “biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation” it would transfer rail networks to public ownership within its first term in office. This would see existing private contracts taken into a new body, Great British Railways, as they expire. Labour says the plans would nationalise the network “without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs”. Under the reforms Great British Railways would be responsible for rail infrastructure and awarding contracts to operate trains.But the body would be led by rail experts rather than ministers and civil servants in Whitehall. Labour also plans to establish a watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, to hold GBR to account. Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh (Jonathan Brady/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSuspended MP Kate Osamor is being given the Labour whip back within days, The Independent has been told.Three months after being suspended over a Holocaust Memorial Day post suggesting the Israeli action in Gaza is genocide, the Edmonton MP will be welcomed back into the Labour fold.Ms Osamor, who was a shadow minister under Jeremy Corbyn, was placed under investigation over the post, which likened Israel’s war in Gaza to the Holocaust, as well as genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia.Kate Osamor likened Israel’s war in Gaza to the Holocaust, as well as genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia More

Scottish Greens co-leaders arrived at and left Bute House before SNP leader Humza Yousaf held an emergency cabinet meeting and the so-called Bute House Agreement underpinning the government’s coalition ended on Thursday, 25 April.Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie did not respond to any questions as they left the first minister’s official residence in Edinburgh.It comes after the Greens were angered when the Scottish Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan announced last week the Scottish government was to ditch a key climate change target. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour will pledge to renationalise the railways if elected, in what the party will call the “biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation.”A Labour government would expect to transfer rail networks to public ownership within its first term by folding existing private passenger rail contracts into a new body as they expire, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh will say at a launch event on Thursday.The plan will nationalise the network “without the taxpayer paying a penny in compensation costs”, the party will say.The Government’s own proposals for rail reform, published in a draft Bill in February, include the creation of a new public sector body named Great British Railways (GBR) to hold responsibility for rail infrastructure and awarding contracts to operate trains.But a Labour government would create a “unified, publicly owned, accountable and arm’s length” version of GBR led by rail experts rather than Whitehall, Ms Haigh will say.Labour also plans to establish a watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, to hold GBR to account.(left to right) Richard Parker, Labour’s West Midlands mayoral candidate, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh, and deputy party leader Angela Rayner More

There is “no way back” for the UK and Vladimir Putin’s relationship, David Cameron has said.When pressed on a time when he took the Russian president to watch judo competitions at the Olympics in London during his time as prime minister, Lord Cameron said he thought it was right to “try and see if we could build more of a relationship”, but ties ultimately broke down because of Russia’s actions in Syria and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.It comes as the UK was accused of helping Moscow “pay for its war” in Ukraine by importing record amounts of refined oil from countries processing Russian fossil fuels. More