UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Labour first minister of Wales Vaughan Gething has vowed to carry on in the job despite losing a vote of no confidence, and branded the motion “a transparent gimmick”. He lost the vote on his leadership in the Senedd on Wednesday, with 29 votes against him to 27 for, but the motion, tabled by the Welsh Conservatives, was non-binding, meaning he will not be ousted from his job. However, the result is highly embarrassing for him and for Labour.The motion followed a series of controversies involving Mr Gething and the collapse of his electoral deal with Plaid Cymru.Mr Gething, who has been the Welsh Labour leader only since March, was seen in tears before the vote.Gething is the first Clack leader of any European country More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBlocked Labour candidate Faiza Shaheen will stand against Labour as an independent, she has announced. She said: “I am standing as an independent candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green at the General Election on 4 July.”The announcement comes a day after she dramatically quit Labour and accused the party of operating a “hierarchy of racism”.Ms Shaheen has previously said she is considering legal action against Labour.Faiza Shaheen has confirmed she will stand as an independent candidate against Labour (Gareth Fuller/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailIt was a chaotic day for Nigel Farage at his campaign rally on Tuesday – which saw fans arrive to show their support for the new Reform Party leader before a protester covered him in milkshake.After repeatedly saying that he wouldn’t run – and declaring the US presidential contest was more important than the UK election – Mr Farage will attempt to get a seat in the House of Commons for the eighth time, this time in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.The self-styled “man of the people” and anti-establishment campaigner, who argued for the UK to leave the EU for many years and was one of Brexit’s staunchest supporters, has been in and around the political fray now for three decades.Eastleigh by-election (1994)Nigel Farage out on the campaign trail in Clacton More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe UK’s official statistics regulator is investigating Rishi Sunak’s claim that Labour will hike household taxes by £2,000 if they win the election.The Office for Statistics Regulation launched the probe after the figure became the centrepiece of the prime minister’s attack on the opposition in Tuesday night’s TV debate.It sparked a barrage of condemnation from Labour’s shadow cabinet, with a slew of the party’s top politicians accusing the PM of deliberately lying to the public. In response, a defiant Conservative leader doubled down, repeating the assertion.Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer clashed on the implications of Labour’s spending plans (PA) More

Energy Secretary admits Rishi Sunak’s £2,000 tax attack on Labour spread over four yearsSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s claim that Labour will hike household taxes by £2,000 is being investigated by the UK’s official statistics regulator. The Prime Minister has come under attack as Labour Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves accused him of lying 12 times during last night’s ITV debate, with shadow Cabinet Office minister Jonathan Ashworth saying he has “exposed himself as no better than Johnson”. It comes as the Treasury has poured cold water on Mr Sunak’s claim that Labour will put up taxes by £2,000 for every household. In the first televised debate of the general election campaign, the prime minister repeatedly pointed to a £38.5bn black hole in Sir Keir Starmer’s spending plans. However, Treasury permanent secretary James Bowler wrote to the Labour Party on Monday to dismiss the claim. The figure “includes costs beyond those provided by the civil service and published online by HM Treasury”, he told shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones.But it appears the prime minister is not backing away from the claims. Instead, he doubled down on the accusations and warned voters that Labour would cause a “£2,094 tax hike” if they win.Show latest update 1717593570Breaking: Sunak’s £2,000 Labour tax hike claim investigated by UK statistics regulatorThe UK’s official statistics regulator is investigating claims made by the Conservatives about the tax burden families could face if Labour wins the general election.The Office for Statistics Regulation – which is the independent regulatory of the UK Statistics Authority – is looking into the veracity of the Tory claim that Labour tax rises would amount to just over £2,000 over four years per working household.The body hasn’t detailed how long the inquiry will take.Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, Sir Robert Chote has written to leaders urging to use statistics “appropriately and transparently”. Sir Robert Chote said: “We believe official statistics should serve the public good. This means that when statistics and quantitative claims are used in public debate, they should enhance understanding of the topics being debated and not be used in a way that has the potential to mislead.”Salma Ouaguira5 June 2024 14:191717599271Tories slam Starmer over tax burden amid statistics regulator investigation Salma Ouaguira5 June 2024 15:541717599007 More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailJames Bowler, the most senior civil servant in the Treasury, may have just hammered the final nail into a misfiring Tory general election campaign.With Labour more than 20 points ahead in most polls and the Conservatives heading for less than 100 seats there was a sense of desperation for Rishi Sunak ahead of televised debate. It was a do or die situation.Well he did and now the party may die.Mr Sunak’s team alighted on the threat of a £2,000 tax rise for every household as one of his two main attack lines. And on the night it worked.The two men went head to head on ITV in the first debate of the campaign More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Treasury has rubbished Rishi Sunak’s claim Labour will put up taxes by £2,000 for every household – a major line of attack for the prime minister in Tuesday night’s TV debate.In the first televised clash of the general election campaign, Mr Sunak repeatedly pointed to analysis by Treasury civil servants showing a £38.5bn black hole in Sir Keir Starmer’s spending plans.This would lead to each working household paying £2,094 more in tax under a Labour government, the PM said.His claims immediately started to unravel on Wednesday morning when Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho conceded on the Today programme that the £2,000 figure was spread over four years.Click here for our live coverage of the general election campaign.Then, within minutes in a dramatic and humiliating intervention for Mr Sunak, a letter emerged from Treasury permanent secretary James Bowler which he wrote to the Labour Party to pour cold water on the claim.Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer met for the first time on the campaign trail as they went head-to-head in a debate hosted by ITV (Jonathan Hordle/ITV) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Conservative Party must recapture young voters and not “chase Nigel Farage” to win back the electorate, Rory Stewart has warned.The former Tory leadership hopeful and government minister warned the party has not recovered since the “chaos” of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss and must return to the centre rather than pandering to the far-right.Mr Stewart’s comments come as the latest polls show the Conservatives on course for a landslide defeat as they lag more than 24 points behind Labour.Rory Stewart said that, since 2019 the Tories have ‘bet the house on voters over 65’ and given up on young voters More