UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Labour party has become embroiled in a political row following the fallout around veteran MP Diane Abbott’s readmission to the party – and lack of clarity over whether she can still stand for it.After being suspended from Labour for just over a year, Ms Abbott was readmitted to the party in late May, once again becoming a Labour MP.Ms Abbott has represented Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, securing a majority of over 33,000 at the last general election.For the latest political updates in the run-up to the General Election, follow The Independent’s live coverageLabour has not confirmed who its candidate will be for the constituency, leading to fears from supporters of Ms Abbott that she may still be deselected, despite her readmission into the party.Diane Abbott at a rally in Hackney, in front of a placard that reads “I stand with Diane”, March 15, 2024 More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailChancellor Jeremy Hunt has ruthlessly seized on the chaos in the Labour Party over the future of Diane Abbott which has sparked a revolt on the left of the party.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was accused on Radio 4’s Today Programme ths morning of “dithering” over the trail blazing MP and first black woman to be elected to Parliament in Britain.She has vowed to stand again for her Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency and accused Labour bosses of trying to bar her from being a candidate after almost four decades as an MP.But Sir Keir has denied she has been barred but been unable to say whether she will be allowed to be a candidate just weeks before a general election.Ms Abbott told supporters she intended to remain as MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailJeremy Hunt and Rachel Reeves have ruled out raising VAT after the general election amid a furious row about each other’s tax plans.The chancellor accused Labour of secretly planning to raise VAT, currently charged at 20 per cent on most goods and services, by 1p to plug a £9bn hole in its spending plans.Mr Hunt said the increase would “hammer families’ finances and push inflation back up, just when we have got it down to normal”.Rachel Reeves and Jeremy Hunt have clashed over Labour’s tax plans More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailDiane Abbott has vowed to stay on as the MP for her London constituency as the row over her future threatens to derail Labour’s important announcements on health and the economy.In her first public speech on the escalating situation on her selection, which has sent the party’s election campaign into turmoil, Ms Abbott told supporters she intended to stay on as MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington for “as long as it is possible”.The future of the trailblazing MP, who was the first black woman to be elected to parliament, was thrown into confusion when she revealed she had been barred from standing again for Labour despite having the party whip restored following months of suspension.But within hours, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer insisted that Ms Abbott had “not been barred” from standing as a candidate as he tried to promote Labour’s policy on cutting NHS waiting lists. Diane Abbott spoke to supporters outside Hackney Town Hall on Wednesday evening More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailHM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will take no further action against Angela Rayner following investigations into her living arrangements a decade ago prompted by Tory allegations, it was reported on Wednesday night.The deputy Labour leader had faced claims she may have broken electoral law and dodged capital gains tax and council tax over the 2015 sale of her council house in Stockport, and whether she had provided false information about her main address during the 2010s.However, HMRC said on Wednesday that the Ashton-under-Lyne MP oweed no capital gains tax for the sale, according to a document seen by the Guardian. Following a consideration of the evidence two weeks ago, the tax authority concluded the house was Ms Rayner’s principal residence the entire time she owned it, which meant that no tax would be due.It comes after Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and Stockport Council both confirmed on Tuesday that they would also be taking no further action against Ms Rayner after investigations that followed a complaint from Conservative deputy chairman James Daly.The force said it had shared details of its investigation with HMRC because tax falls out of its jurisdiction. While the tax body said it would not comment on individual cases, the Guardian has now reported an HMRC document found “no capital gains tax is due” on the sale of Ms Rayner’s home and showed the case was concluded.HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will reportedly take no further action against Angela Rayner following investigations into her living arrangements a decade ago prompted by Tory allegations More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailYvette Cooper has promised to “take Britain’s town centres back from thugs and thieves” by putting 13,000 bobbies back on the beat in communities across the country.The shadow home secretary lashed out at the Conservatives after a “decade of dereliction” on law and order, laying bare the damage done to policing and the criminal justice system.And she unveiled plans for a visible army of neighbourhood police and PCSOs with tough new powers to “crack down on those causing havoc on our high streets”.The shadow home secretary vowed to rollout an army of neighbourhood police if Labour wins the election More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailTrebling taxes for search engine and social media firms could fund a mental health professional in every primary and secondary school, the Liberal Democrats have said.Party leader Sir Ed Davey said children are “being left in limbo” when they seek mental health care.The Lib Dems have unveiled plans to employ mental health professionals in schools if they make it into government, which they claim could be funded through an increase to the Digital Services Tax – currently 2% on search engine, social media and online market place companies’ revenues.Sir Ed said: “Thousands of children are being left in limbo, forced to suffer intolerably long waits for mental health treatment. They are being failed by this Conservative government who have neglected the NHS and abandoned parents and children.“Liberal Democrats would put a dedicated, qualified mental health professional in every school both primary and secondary, funded by a tax on the social media giants that are such a big part of the problem.“Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to get rid of this appalling Conservative government and fix the health and care crisis.”According to House of Commons Library research, which the party has published, 336,885 children and young people were on a mental health waiting list in the quarter ending in March throughout England, with hotspots in Birmingham and Solihull (17,035 patients), Kent and Medway (15,550) and Coventry and Warwickshire (15,500). More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA cross-party group of 50 influential politicians have urged foreign secretary Lord Cameron to end the UK’s “punitive and unfair ban” on direct flights to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).The letter was sent to the foreign secretary as last ditch effort before Parliament is dissolved for the general election but had the support of Labour’s Lord Straw and Tory Sir Iain Duncan Smith among other.The move comes as Cyprus’ divided island is set to mark 50 years since the crisis which saw them split into rival parts and is still to be resolved.While the move is too late to influence the current government policy of not allowing flights or recognising the elected government in the TRNC, MPs and peers hope that it will be a prompt for whoever wins the next election.Lord Straw supports direct flights to the TRNCAs Labour’s foreign secretary Lord Straw oversaw the failed talks on the Annan Plan in 2004 which would have reunited the island but failed despite the north voting in favour because the Greek Cypriots in the south rejected the proposals in a referendum.He has spoken of his regret of the UK allowing Cyprus into the EU a week later when the Annan Plan had been a condition of entry.The parliamentarians wrote to Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, raising serious concerns over the treatment of the TRNC and calling for “the commencement of direct flights from the United Kingdom to Ercan International Airport – the largest airport on the island of Cyprus”.They want the foreign secretary to end “one of the most restrictive policies of any country in Europe when it comes to air travel to Ercan”.MP and peers wrote to Lord Cameron (Lucy North/PA) More