Diane Abbott has accused Labour of carrying out a “cull of leftwingers” after she and others were blocked or dissuaded from standing for the party. The veteran Labour MP vowed on Wednesday to stay on for “as long as it is possible” after a deal for her to retire from parliament broke down. Labour leader Keir Starmer has again told broadcasters that no decision has been taken over her selection, and he described her as “a trailblazer as an MP”. He said Labour’s selection policy had been clear for a long time, that it wanted “the best quality candidates” Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner has said Abbott has not been treated “fairly or appropriately” by some Labour colleagues and should be allowed to stand again. In an interview with the Guardian, she also suggested it was up to Abbott to decide whether she retired at this election, although she indicated there was an expectation she would do so. “I want to see her be able to retire with her 37 years of service being respected and being celebrated,” she said. Faiza Shaheen, the candidate blocked by Labour from standing in Chingford and Woodford Green, has announced she will challenge the decision in the courts, claiming she has faced “a systematic campaign of racism, Islamophobia and bullying”. Citing a series of recent issues, including having a local organiser removed from her team and being blocked from producing videos blaming inflation on “corporate greed,” Shaheen claimed Starmer’s party had “a problem with black and brown people” Rishi Sunak has been questioned over his role in partygate at an event in Milton Keynes by someone who said their mother had died during the pandemic while Conservatives were partying in Downing Street
Keri Starmer appeared with first minister Vaughan Gething and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy among others at a campaign launch event in Wales. While in Wales Starmer has said it was “absolutely clear” that Gething had broken no rules in accepting a £200,000 donation from a company owned by a convicted criminal. Gething faces a vote of confidence in the Senedd next week tabled by the Welsh Conservative party Darren Jones, Labour’s shadow Treasury minister, has said that Rachel Reeves has “consistently pointing to the fact that we want taxes to come down” and ruled out rises to income tax, national insurance or VAT Jeremy Hunt was making a similar pledge on behalf of the Tories during the morning media round, but said his party would be keeping the income tax threshold freezes that will bring more 4 million people into paying income tax for the first time between 2024 and 2028. The Green party of England and Wales launched their campaign in Bristol, saying they aimed to win a minimum of four seats in the election. Outgoing MP Caroline Lucas said she hoped Green MPs would be able to push a future Labour government “to be bolder and braver on everything from housing to the NHS to the accelerating climate crisis”
Plaid Cymru launch their campaign Bangor. Ahead of the launch, leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said that a vote for them is the only way to guarantee fair funding for Wales Office of Rail and Road (ORR) statistics published on Thursday show the equivalent of 3.8% of services on Britain’s railways were cancelled in the year to the end of March. That is the joint worst performance for that period – matching the figure from the previous 12 months – in records dating back to 2014 The SNP has deleted an election video on TikTok after it emerged it featured a sexually-explicit song by American rap artist Big Boss Vette, which also uses the N-word. The SNP video reportedly promoted party policies calling for a full ceasefire in Gaza and its baby-boxes policy, free bus travel and featured party leader John Swinney Scotland’s first minister Swinney has apologised to patients on NHS waiting lists in the country after news the number has risen to more than 840,000 Nigel Farage has backtracked on his offer of an electoral deal with Rishi Sunak, claiming that he was being sarcastic and denying that it had led to sharp words with the Reform leader, Richard Tice. Farage was speaking at an event in London where Tice announced a policy of increasing employer national insurance contributions for workers without British passports, which he claimed would raise £20bn over the next parliament Liberal Democrats announced they would triple the Digital Services tax to fund mental health services for schools in England. Leader Ed Davey staged another photo stunt, this time down a large water slide in Frome in Somerset
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