Labour would immediately cancel deportation flights to Rwanda if it entered government, Keir Starmer has pledged. After a speech in which he announced his plans to tackle illegal immigration, Starmer committed to scrapping the Rwanda scheme “absolutely, flights and all”. Starmer welcomed Labour’s newest MP, Natalie Elphicke, at a speech in Dover and said her defection was proof that the party was building a broad range of support. The Labour party should be “less tribal” and be open to “reasonably minded people, whichever way they voted in the past”, he said. Elphicke said “Under Keir Starmer, Labour occupies the centre ground”.
The UK is officially out of recession after figures showed the economy grew by 0.6% in the first three months of the year. Prime minister Rishi Sunak said “things are starting to feel better”. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said a government “victory lap” over 0.6% growth shows “how out of touch they are”. John Swinney has chaired his first cabinet meeting as first minister of Scotland. He said “Today, my colleagues and I embark on a new chapter as we collectively work to build a better, brighter future for the people of Scotland.” First minister of Wales, Vaughan Gething, has appealed to Tata Steel not to close its blast furnaces at Port Talbot until it has had a chance to speak to any new Labour government in Westminster. Mark Harper, the Conservative transport secretary, is examining whether there should be a ban on the use of what are known as floating bus stops, where a segregated bike lane is routed behind a bus stop and passengers cross the cycle lane to reach it. Education secretary Gillian Keegan has told the Times that parents working from home have contributed to a rise in students missing school days. Judges on a freedom of information tribunal have ruled that the cost of protecting members of the royal family cannot be revealed to the public. Thank you so much for your comments and emails today. I hope you have as good a weekend as you are able to, and I will see you on the Guardian website again somewhere soon.