General election latest: Starmer pays tribute to 'trailblazer' Abbott - as dropped candidate launches legal action amid claims of cull (2024)

Yvette Cooper has declined to say whether she would support Diane Abbott if she ran in the election - either as a Labour or independent candidate.

Answering media questions during a visit to Maltby in South Yorkshire, the shadow home secretary - a role filled by Ms Abbott during the Corbyn years - said she wanted the issue "resolved as swiftly as possible".

"Diane is now back a member of the parliamentary Labour Party, and that is really welcome," she said.

Although with parliament having now been dissolved, she isn't an MP.

Ms Cooper described her as a "trailblazer" who has done "immensely important work" during her time in parliament, adding: "That's why I think everybody wants to see this resolved as quickly as possible."

"Diane is a really important figure in the Labour Party and in the Labour movement," the shadow secretary said.

Ms Cooper was also asked about claims that Sir Keir Starmer is purging left-wing candidates from the party ahead of the election.

She said Labour has people "from all different perspectives" who are "standing behind a Labour plan for government".

Nigel Farage is also speaking at the launch of Reform UK's immigration policy, which he calls "bold" and "innovative".

He takes an early swipe at the Conservatives and Labour, accusing them of being "dull" and lacking "substance". He adds that he can't "tell them apart" on certain issues including economics.

He says "nothing slippery [Rishi] Sunak says is believable" and adds that when he hears Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, he "zones out".

Mr Farage also says legal immigration is the "elephant in the room" that neither Mr Sunak or Sir Keir want to talk about.

He says the UK had the best levels of integration of migrants until Tony Blair came into power in 1997, and accuses the Tories of allowing the trend of rising immigration to "accelerate".

"I really believe this should be the immigration election," he says, adding that people across the country are "beginning to join the dots" that a "population explosion" is leading to a "decline in the living standards of pretty much everyone".

Mr Farage says Reform is not "anti-immigration" but is "totally opposed to what has happened over the course of the past 25 years".

Over in central London, Reform UK is launching the party's legal immigration policy.

Leader Richard Tice begins by saying the economy has a "deadly addiction" to the "drug" of "cheap overseas labour".

"This drug is being pushed on every street corner by the Labour Party and by the Tories," he says, adding the "cure" is an "employer immigration tax".

Mr Tice says businesses should be incentivised to employ British workers.

Explaining how the immigration tax would work, he says employers would have to pay a "perfectly reasonable" premium on national insurance - with exemptions, including for small businesses and health care.

"This will change people's thoughts and behaviour," he says, adding the tax would raise £20bn over one term.

"Don't tell me there's a shortage of labour… we've got to overcome this addiction," he says.

Mr Tice also suggests there are "shy" Reform supporters among the UK's electorate. "They're out there. Every day I meet them, that little sort of thumbs up, wink, 'don't tell anyone'," he says.

"That's why we're going to do so much better than everybody predicts on 4 July."

Faiza Shaheen, who was removed last night as Labour's candidate in Chingford and Woodford Green, is launching a legal challenge against the decision, Sky News understands.

She was selected by local party members to contest the seat in July 2022, but Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) decided last night the party would not endorse her candidacy.

Following the decision, it is understood she has instructed legal counsel to challenge the validity of the process, who we understand believes the process to have been "abhorrent, unprofessional and unfair".

In a statement on social media, Ms Shaheen said she was only informed of her removal last night, and described it as a "huge injustice".

"This is not the end of my story, and I will be releasing all the detail of what has happened to me publicly very soon," she added.

While other party leaders have been giving speeches - Sir Ed Davey has been having a bit more fun.

The Lib Dem leader went to Frome in Somerset where he went down a Slip N Slide with his party's candidate in the constituency.

More seriously, Sir Ed is unveiling his party's plans to for a mental health professional to work in every school, as data shows that 336,886 children are on mental health waiting lists.

Watch Sir Ed on the slide here:

By Tomos Evans, Wales reporter

Plaid Cymru has said "no more to ignoring Wales at Westminster" as the party launched its general election campaign.

The pro-Welsh independence party's leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth, said it was "time to kick the Conservatives out of power”"

But he also said Labour - who are in government in Wales - had taken the country "for granted".

"For too long, Wales has been overlooked at Westminster," told supporters at the launch in Bangor.

"Plaid Cymru says no more to austerity. Plaid Cymru says no more to empty promises.

"Plaid Cymru says no more to narrow-minded nostalgia and we say no more to ignoring Wales at Westminster."

The leader was joined by Liz Saville Roberts, the Dwyfor Meirionnydd candidate, and Llinos Medi who is standing for the party in Ynys Mon.

He said Plaid Cymru would "fight for Wales, day in, day out" and would offer a "real Welsh alternative".

Mr ap Iorwerth claimed Wales's voice at Westminster was being "diluted" after the number of Welsh constituencies was reduced from 40 to 32.

"We will not allow Plaid Cymru's voice to be silenced," he added.

"The message is clear, if you do want change, and goodness knows I do, think about how best to bring about that change."

Labour's "safety first" campaign has been overshadowed by "internal wrangling" about which candidates will be able to run in the election, says our political correspondent Tamara Cohen.

A public war of words over Diane Abbott's status as a potential candidate also remains unresolved, she says.

While it's "par for the course in politics" for certain candidates to be favoured by a party leadership, Labour has "gone further" with Ms Abbott, who is one of its best-known politicians and the first black woman MP, she says.

Other left-wing candidates "closer to Jeremy Corbyn's politics" being told they can't run "has seemed to many Labour MPs to increase the self-inflicted wound of having this battle over Diane Abbott", Cohen says.

The battle, which looks like it won't be resolved until next week, is "still very much on" despite Sir Keir Starmer's "warmer tone" towards her today, she adds.

After his campaign launch in Wales, Sir Keir Starmer spoke to broadcasters, and was asked if he is blocking left-wing candidates from standing.

It comes after Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who was poised to contend Brighton Kemptown, was suspended from the party last night following a complaint.

Faiza Shaheen, a candidate selected by local members in Chingford and Woodford Green, has also been removed by the National Executive committee.

And there continues to be uncertainty about the future of Diane Abbott.

The Labour leader replied: "No. I've said repeatedly over the last two years… that I want the highest quality candidates - that's been the position for a very long time."

On Ms Abbott, he repeated that "no decision has been taken to bar her".

He praised her as a "trailblazer" who overcame "incredible challenges" and "carved out the path for others to come into politics".

"And she did all that whilst being one of the most abused MPs across all political parties."

Green Party co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay are speaking at the party's campaign launch, taking place in Bristol.

Ms Denyer welcomes the election being called, declaring the party is "ready" and "excited" for the campaign.

She tells the gathered activists: "We've got something to offer that no other party has - real hope and real change."

Mr Ramsay says the election is "historic" because the polling is "clear" that the Tories are going to lose, and hits out at the "chaotic and disruptive" governance of the last few years.

Ms Denyer also hits out at Labour, say people are "not offering that change", and are "disappointed by the way Starmer has backtracked on his promises of green investment, his weak offer on housing", and "more privatisation" of the NHS.

"Labour is failing to offer the real change needed," she argues.

"We have the practical solutions to the cost of living crisis, building new affordable homes, protecting our NHS from creeping privatisation, and cleaning up our toxic rivers and seas.

"That's why it's so important that when Labour form the next government, they are pushed beyond the timid change they are offering."

Mr Ramsay says their goal is to "elect at least four Green MPs" at this election - up from just one.

They start unveiling their key pledges, including pushing for reform of the tax system, building homes "for the right price in the right place", cleaning up the UK's waterways, ensuring a strong NHS, and stopping the "backsliding" on tackling the climate crisis.

Ms Denyer says voters are "excited that they have a genuine choice", saying the "incremental change Labour have put on the table just isn't going to cut it to get this country back on track".