UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA Labour candidate for a seat in east London is being investigated over an allegation of sexual harassment.Councillor Darren Rodwell, the leader of Barking and Dagenham Council and Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Barking, has been accused of “inappropriate touching” of an attendee at an event last month.The Independent has seen the details of the allegations made to Labour’s complaints unit by a party member on Friday. It comes after another Labour MP was suspended from the party last week after a complaint about his behaviour.Mr Rodwell’s alleged victim said she met him for a coffee while at an event, believing the meeting was set up to discuss a development in Barking.In the communication to the party, the complainant said: “After 10 to 15 minutes, he started asking personal questions which I was not happy to answer. He was ordering more drinks for himself.“As I was obviously not happy to be present and was looking for a way to leave, he started touching my hands and legs in a sexual way. “He clearly had other ideas about the meeting. He touched my legs and body inappropriately and I’ve made it clear to him that I did not want him to touch me and left the meeting immediately.”The complaint file reads: ”The complainant has received confirmation that an investigator will be contacting her in regards to the allegations.”Labour has declined to comment on what it calls an ongoing disciplinary matter, however, the allegation now raises questions over whether Mr Rodwell will still be allowed to stand in the election.Last week, former Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle was suspended by the party over “historic allegations” and prevented from standing as a candidate.The Independent has also contacted Mr Rodwell but has not received a response.Rodwell with Sadiq Khan during the London mayor’s reelection campaign this year More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailKemi Badenoch stumbled over how her plans to overhaul equality laws would work if the Conservatives win the general election.The women and equalities minister has promised to redefine the legal definition of the term “sex” to mean biological sex and not “redefined meanings of the word”. She has said the shakeup will improve the safety of women and girls in single-sex spaces.Click here for our live coverage of the general election campaign. But, grilled over the specifics of how the changes will be implemented, a tetchy Ms Badenoch floundered and accused BBC presenter Mishal Husain of “trying to trivialise what is a very serious issue”.Kemi Badenoch faced questions about what paperwork would be needed to assign prison places to transgender people More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailDiane Abbott has deleted a tweet accusing Sir Keir Starmer of lying about how much respect he has for her.The veteran Labour MP, who has been at the centre of a storm over whether she would be allowed to stand for the party at the general election, accused Sir Keir of being dishonest in claiming that he has “more respect for Diane than she probably realises”.In an interview with The Observer, the Labour leader said: “Although I disagree with some of what she says, in terms of the battles she’s been through and the terrible insults she has had to rise above, I’ve actually got more respect for Diane than she probably realises…Click here for our live coverage of the general election campaign“She was the first Black woman MP and has always had to fight for everything. She’s not like any other candidate.”Sharing the article in a now-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter, Ms Abbott said: “More lies from Starmer.”Diane Abbott has said she intends to ‘run and win’ as a Labour candidate More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch as Sir Keir Starmer spoke to pitch Labour as the “party of national security” as he sought to draw attention to defence matters during the general election campaign on Monday, 3 June.The Labour leader is expected to meet with forces veterans and party candidates when he campaigns in north west England.He is expected to reaffirm his pledge of a “nuclear deterrent triple lock” and a proposal to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).Rishi Sunak has said that he wants to meet the 2.5 per cent target by 2030 although the opposition party has not outlines its timeline, only clarifying that they will do so when economic conditions allow. The nuclear deterrent triple lock involves a commitment to construct the four new nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness, maintaining Britain’s continuous at-sea deterrent, and the delivery of all future upgrades needed for the submarines to patrol the waters, Labour said. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe BBC will host the final head-to-head general election debate between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, the corporation has confirmed.The two party leaders will face each other on 26 June in what will be the final televised debate of the campaign.The debate will be hosted by BBC newsreader Sophie Raworth and take place in Nottingham, airing on BBC One and BBC News on 26 June.It comes as Mr Sunak and Sir Keir prepare for their first televised leaders’ debate of the election campaign, which will air on ITV on Tuesday,  4 June.Elsewhere on the BBC, Mishal Husain will host a 7 June debate between leading figures from the Conservative Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party (SNP), Plaid Cymru, Green Party and Reform UK.Final head-to-head between Sunak and Starmer to be broadcast on BBC One More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailDonald Trump has thanked Boris Johnson for defending him in the wake of his hush money conviction.The former president, who last week became the first to be convicted of felony crimes, shared a column by the ex-prime minister calling the trial “a machine-gun mob-style hit-job on Trump”.“Thank you Boris Johnson!” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.In his Daily Mail article, Mr Johnson said a second term in the White House for Mr Trump was “more likely, not less” as a result of the conviction.A New York jury found Mr Trump guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who said the two had sex.Mr Trump insisted he was a “very innocent man” and claimed without evidence the trial was “rigged”.And, jumping to his defence, Mr Johnson wrote: “The American people have looked at this case, and in spite of all the portentous claims about its HISTORIC importance, they have concluded that it was, by and large, a load of stunted-up old nonsense.“The vast mass of American voters could see what I believe was really happening: that the liberal elites were just appalled at Trump’s continuing popularity and his ability to connect with voters – and they were using anything they could find to derail his campaign.“If you look dispassionately at his time in office, both on the domestic and international front, it was far more successful than his Left-wing critics allow. They should not be using legal tricks like this to prevent him from receiving the judgement that really matters – the verdict of the people.“By pursuing these cases, they have helped to make his victory more likely, not less.”Mr Johnson’s successor Rishi Sunak refused to comment on the ex-president’s conviction last week when asked by reporters.“You wouldn’t expect me to comment on another country’s domestic politics or judicial processes,” the prime minister said.His rival Sir Keir Starmer said the guilty verdict was an “unprecedented situation” but promised to “work with whoever is elected president”.Mr Trump intends to appeal the convictions.Several of Mr Sunak’s Conservative MPs have backed Mr Trump to return to the White House, including former minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.Sir Jacob said Mr Trump is “better disposed” towards the United Kingdom and that he would rather have the Republican candidate than President Biden.Former prime minister Liz Truss claimed the “world was safer” when Mr Trump was in the White House. More