UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s closest aide has said he made a “huge error of judgement” on a general election bet he made that is being investigated by the Gambling Commission.Craig Williams, the prime minister’s private secretary, apologised after admitting that he placed a bet on what date the election would be held days before the prime minister announced it on 22 May.It is understood the Gambling Commission (GC), which has launched an inquiry into the incident, informed Downing Street officials of the bet last week.Mr Williams, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Montgomeryshire, said he would not comment further while the GC carried out its work.“I clearly made a huge error of judgment, that’s for sure, and I apologise,” he told the BBC earlier on Thursday. “I will not be expanding on my statement because it’s an independent process.”Using confidential information to gain an unfair advantage when betting may constitute a criminal offence.Additionally, the MPs’ code of conduct bars members from “causing significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the house”. The bet was allegedly placed while parliament was still in session.The bet was flagged automatically by Ladbrokes, the betting company with which Mr Williams placed the wager.Mr Williams placed a £100 bet with 5-1 odds, meaning he would have won £500, but his name was raised as potentially a “politically exposed person”, so the wager was not registered.The bookmaker is believed to be particularly cautious over “novelty” betting markets such as the general election.Craig Williams MP is pictured alongise Rishi Sunak More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFrom wealth creation to a new state-owned energy company, Labour has unveiled their policy pledges for government. Here we look at some of the main points: ‘President’ StarmerThe manifesto put Keir Starmer front and central in a continuation of the presidential style campaign he has been running since May. The document was entitled “My plan for change” not “Labour’s plan for change”, making it very personal to Starmer himself. Added to that there were 34 pictures of the Labour leader throughout the manifesto.ChangeThe word change is emblazoned across the manifesto. Labour says its policy platform is a plan to change the UK. And that includes from its leadership down. The manifesto also includes a picture of Keir Starmer at last week’s D-Day commemorations. Yes, the same event Rishi Sunak faced an outpouring of criticism over, after it emerged that he had left early.Wealth creation Labour says this is a policy plan for wealth creation. The party will cap corporation tax at its current rate of 25% to give businesses long-term certainty and create a national wealth fund designed to boost economic growth. It has also ruled out raising the rates of income tax, national insurance and VAT. But it will raise around £7bn more from higher taxes on non-doms, cracking down on tax avoidance and charging private schools VAT. Labour leader Keir Starmer at the launch of his party’s manifesto More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour has said it will introduce “binding regulation” on the biggest artificial intelligence firms to ensure the “safe development” of AI if it wins the General Election.In its manifesto, the party said it would target the regulation at the “handful of companies developing the most powerful AI models”.Labour said it would also ban the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes, and pledged to create a new Regulatory Innovation Office which it said would help regulators across sectors keep up with rapidly evolving new technologies.It said regulators were currently “ill-equipped” to deal with such advances, which often “cut across traditional industries and sectors”.The new office would help regulators “update regulation, speed up approval timelines and co-ordinate issues that span existing boundaries”, Labour said.This is in contrast to the Government’s approach during the last parliament, which chose to use existing regulators to take on the role of monitoring AI use within their own sectors rather than creating a new, central regulator dedicated to the emerging technology, which it said was a more agile and pro-innovation approach.As part of that approach, in February, the Government pledged to spend £100 million on AI regulation, including on upskilling regulators across different sectors on how handle the rise of AI.And speaking in November last year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that while “binding requirements” would likely be needed one day to regulate AI, it was currently the time to move quickly without laws.Last month, a number of world-leading AI scientists called for stronger action from world leaders on the risks associated with AI, and said governments were moving too slowly to regulate the rapidly evolving technology.In an expert consensus paper published in the Journal Science, 25 leading scientist said more funding was needed for AI oversight institutions, as well as more rigorous risk assessment regimes. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFormer Neighbours star Holly Valance has helped Nigel Farage’s Reform UK raise £1.5m within days of his return as leader, according to reports. The news will add to Rishi Sunak’s woes after one poll put the Tories just a single point ahead of Reform. Big donors are understood to be reluctant to fund the Conservative campaign, while Tory MPs complain a snap election did not allow them enough time to build up their warchests. Meanwhile, Reform’s numbers has been boosted by thousands of new members and pledges from large donors. Holly Valance at a Reform UK press conference at The Glaziers Hall in London More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA man who believes his terminal cancer may not have spread without NHS treatment delays described Labour as “the party of hope for a brighter future I won’t live to see”, as he introduced Sir Keir Starmer’s general election manifesto launch.Nathaniel Dye, a 38-year-old music teacher, spoke emotionally to the audience at Manchester’s Co-op headquarters as he described himself as representing “the human cost of an NHS neglected over the past 14 years”.And he praised the policies put forward by shadow health secretary Wes Streeting in Labour’s manifesto “as a real tangible plan to give people the treatment they need before it’s too late”.Nathaniel Dye opened for Keir Starmer at the Labour manifesto launch More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA heckler interrupted Sir Keir Starmer’s launch of the Labour party manifesto by uncovering a banner and claiming his plans are the “same old Tory policies”.A woman described as a climate protester in the audience shouted out just minutes after Sir Keir began speaking before being quickly removed from the event in Greater Manchester.Uncovering a yellow banner showing the words “Youth deserve better”, the young woman said: “You say you are offering change but it is the same old Tory policies. We need better.”Follow live updates hereThe Labour leader quickly snapped back that “Labour stopped being the party of protest five years ago” after Jeremy Corbyn lost the 2019 general election.Do you know the protester? Email alexander.butler@independent.co.ukThe protester was quickly removed from the event in Greater Manchester after claiming Labour’s manifesto pledges were the ‘same old Tory policies’ More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email The left-of-center politician aiming to become Britain’s prime minister in three weeks’ time said Thursday he will lead a government that’s both “pro-business and pro-worker” and restore stability after years of economic and political turmoil.Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said that if he’s elected on July 4, he will end the “desperate era of gestures and gimmicks” of the Conservative Party’s turbulent tenure.Launching Labour’s election manifesto in the northwest England city of Manchester, Starmer said a Labour government would “stop the chaos, turn the page and start to rebuild our country.”Next month British voters will elect lawmakers to fill all 650 seats in the House of Commons, and the leader of the party that can command a majority — either alone or in coalition — will become prime minister. Labour currently has a double-digit lead over Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ’s governing Conservatives in opinion polls.The Tories have been in power for 14 years under five different prime ministers. The party jettisoned two prime ministers without an election in quick succession in 2022: first Boris Johnson, felled by scandals, then Liz Truss, who rocked the economy with drastic tax-slashing plans and lasted just seven weeks in office.Starmer, a former chief prosecutor who is widely seen as competent but dull, is trying to turn his stolid image into an asset. His core message is that he has transformed Labour from its high-taxing, big-spending days into a party of the stable center.He said his platform was “a manifesto for wealth creation,” and acknowledged that a Labour government would face “hard choices” about public spending.“We cannot play fast and loose with the public finances,” he said. He said he rejected the idea that “the only levers are tax and spend,” and would get the economy expanding after years of sluggish growth.Starmer’s cautious economic approach dismays some in his party, who want bolder change, but has won the support of many business leaders.Sunak released the Conservative manifesto — the party’s key handbook of promises — on Tuesday, pledging to cut taxes and reduce immigration if the Conservative Party is reelected. More