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A friend of Lee Anderson said he “regrets” the Ashfield MP’s decision to defect to Reform UK from the Conservative Party.Speaking on Politics Live on Monday, 11 March, following the announcement, Tory MP Danny Kruger said he believed it was wrong for the whip to have been removed from Anderson after his remarks about Sadiq Khan and declared: “Today is a wake-up call for us as a party.”It came after Mr Anderson held a press conference with Reform UK leader Richard Tice in which he claimed his parents “could not vote for him” if he stayed in the Tory party. More

A Rishi Sunak lookalike acted as a gameshow host spinning a dystopian “wheel of misfortune” created by Amnesty International UK to “highlight the serious consequences of the controversial Rwanda bill.”The action was staged outside the House of Commons on Monday, 11 March, a day before the government’s proposed asylum law was due to receive its third reading in the Lords.The charity is calling for lawmakers to reject the bill and stop playing a “dystopian horror game” with the lives of people seeking asylum. More

Sir Keir Starmer dismissed calls for a by-election following Lee Anderson’s decision to defect from the Conservative Party to Reform UK.The Ashfield MP announced his move in a press conference on Friday, 11 March, during which he claimed his mum and dad had told him they would not vote for him unless he switched to Richard Tice’s party.Mr Anderson has ruled out calling a by-election, telling the BBC it “would be pretty reckless for me to suggest a by-election when we could have a general election in May”.The Labour leader made a similar statement, telling Sky News: “Forget about Lee Anderson, let’s have a general election.” More

Lee Anderson criticised Reform UK weeks before defecting from the Conservative Party, declaring the party “leaves the door open for Sir Keir Starmer to get into Number 10 and undo all the hard work we’ve tried to do so far.”On 2 January, the Ashfield MP said Richard Tice’s part “is not the answer”.“I’ve got a lot of time for Richard, but knock on doors in Ashfield and nobody’s ever heard of him,” Mr Anderson said.Mr Anderson announced his move on Friday, 11 March.It marks his third political party membership in six years, having first supported Labour before defecting to the Tories. More

Gillian Keegan said she would have “probably punched” rude Ofsted staff as she spoke at the Association of School and College Leaders annual conference on Friday, 8 March.The education secretary appeared to shock Q&A host Pepe Di’Iasio with a frank admission about a “fantastic” school she had recently visited.Ms Keegan said: “They told me how their Ofsted experience had gone and I was shocked. I was actually shocked.“I thought: God if I had met these people, I would have probably punched them. They were really rude.”Mike Short, head of education at Unison, said: “To suggest punching people is an appropriate reaction is not becoming of a government minister.” More

Theresa May has announced she will not stand as an MP in the next general election, bringing her 27-year career in Parliament to an end.The former prime minister, 67, revealed her decision to stand down as MP for Maidenhead on Friday (8 March), saying she would focus on championing causes including the fight against modern slavery.The Independent has taken a look at Ms May’s most memorable television moments over the last three decades, from being elected the Conservative Party leader, to dancing to Abba and stepping down as prime minister. More

David Cameron has urged Hamas to accept the hostage deal as he reiterated a call for a “permanent sustainable ceasefire”.The foreign secretary’s remarks in Berlin on Thursday, 7 March, came after Hamas’s delegation left talks in Cairo without a deal for a Gaza ceasefire ahead of Ramadan.Lord Cameron also called for 500 aid trucks a day to prevent famine in Gaza as he downplayed a diplomatic rift with Germany.”No-one is doing more than Britain and Germany to pile that pressure on, let’s remember that there’s a group of people that could stop this conflict right now. And that is Hamas,” Lord Cameron said. More

Jeremy Hunt refuses to tell Robert Peston how many houses he owns as the pair clashed in a post-Budget interview broadcast on Wednesday, 6 March.The chancellor has seven apartments in Southampton, a half-share of holiday house in Italy, and a half-share of an office building in London, according to the register of interests.It comes after he mocked Angela Rayner, who has faced questions about selling her former council house, while announcing a capital gains tax cut.Mr Hunt would not be drawn on how many properties he owns, telling Mr Peston: “These are personal questions.” More