UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer has distanced himself from Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner and refused to say if he would like Diane Abbott to stand in the general election as tensions in the party about a “leftwing purge” mount.The Labour leader broke with Ms Rayner and declined to give a view on whether the veteran left-winger should be allowed to run as a Labour candidate.A day earlier, the Labour deputy said “as the deputy leader of the Labour Party… I don’t see any reason why Diane Abbott can’t stand as a Labour MP going forward”.Sir Keir Starmer refused to say if he would like to see Diane Abbott stand More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer has said he will work with Donald Trump if both men are in power later this year after the former president’s hush money conviction.The Labour leader described Mr Trump’s guilty verdict as an “unprecedented situation”, but promised to “work with whoever is elected president”. “That’s what you’d expect,” he added.A New York jury found Mr Trump guilty of 34 charges relating to the falsification of 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 intends to appeal the convictions.Former US president Donald Trump on the 15th hole at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in Doonbeg, Co. Clare, during his visit to Ireland (Brian Lawless/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailJust days after Sir Keir Starmer was spotted wearing a £500 hoodie from luxury French fashion house Sandro, it has emerged that a peer donated nearly £20,000 to help the Labour leader with a pre-election glow-up.Former ASOS chairman Waheed Alli, who sits in the House of Lords, gave stylish Starmer £16,200 for “work clothing” and a further £2,485 for “multiple pairs of glasses”, according to the latest update to his register of interests. The Labour leader appears to have put that donation to good use after he donned a chic Sandro Orion jacket – which currently retails at £519 at Harrods – while meeting voters in Brighton and pledging to tackle the cost of living crisis. The donations were received on 17 April and 29 April and pledged by Lord Alli, the former boss of Chorion, fashion retailer Koovs, and was the chairman of online clothing giant ASOS. Lord Alli is also the director of multiple companies including SGIF 2 investments, Silver Star Productions and SGIK 3 Investments. Earlier this year, Sir Keir was spotted wearing a pair of £500 glasses by Danish luxury brand Lindberg, according to Guido Fawkes. The Labour leader has now reportedly switched out his glasses on the campaign trail to a humbler pair – a snip at £220. The Sandro Orion jacket has a detachable hood and currently retails at £519 on high-end retailer Harrods 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 insightBrexit has reduced Britain to tears, France’s prime minister has said in a bid to quell support for French populists in next month’s European elections.Gabriel Attal, who was appointed prime minister by president Emmanuel Macron in January, said: “Don’t let’s be like the British, who cried after Brexit.”Speaking in a radio interview, the 35-year-old was seeking to drum up support for Mr Macron’s centrist candidate list for the European Parliament elections in June.Gabriel Attal is seen as a protege of Emmanuel Macron More

A Conservative MP has hit out at “bullies” who posted “excrement” through the letterbox of her constituency office.Katherine Fletcher, who is standing for re-election in South Ribble, said she would not be deterred from campaigning following the incident.In a video message, posted on X on Thursday (30 May), Ms Fletcher said: “Today the police are at my office because somebody has put excrement through the letterbox.”One of my volunteers had to find that this morning.”Now, I understand that women get more than their fair share in political environments, but this attempt to bully me will not work because it is not the decent or right thing to do.” More

A bereaved son whose mother died during the coronavirus pandemic confronted Rishi Sunak over the Partygate scandal, asking the prime minister how he could be trusted as he continued the campaign trail on Thursday, 30 May.Nick Fox confronted Mr Sunak during his visit to visit to Niftylift, a cherry picker manufacturer near Milton Keynes.The 35-year-old environment, health and safety officer told the PM he lost his mother a month after Boris Johnson’s June 2020 birthday celebration in No 10, which Mr Sunak attended and was fined for.“How can anyone trust you or the party after things like this?” Mr Fox asked. More

Fiona Bruce stopped a clash between Nigel Farage and Piers Morgan on Thursday’s (30 May) episode ofQuestion Time.The Reform UK founder had been questioned on why he wasn’t standing to be an MP in the general election, with an audience member asking if it’s because he had been unsuccessful in the past.Before Mr Farage could answer, the TalkTV host interrupted with: “You bottled it mate,” leading the pair to shout across each other on the panel.Mr Farage told Mr Morgan he was “not even a TV presenter” before the host stepped in. More

Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey slid down a waterslide riding a rubber ring as the party campaigned about children’s mental health on Thursday, 30 May.The politician wore swimming shorts and a T-shirt to ride down the Ultimate Slip n Slide attraction near Frome, Somerset.Defending the stunt, Sir Ed said: “Politicians need to take the concerns and interests of voters seriously but I’m not sure they need to take themselves seriously all the time and I’m quite happy to have some fun.”Sir Ed’s Frome and East Somerset visit was to support the campaign of his party’s candidate Anna Sabine and highlight their pledge to improve mental health support for young people. More