Most people in France, Germany, Italy and Spain would support UK rejoining EU, poll finds

A decade after MPs voted to hold the referendum that led to Britain leaving the European Union, a poll has found majorities in the bloc’s four largest member states would support the UK rejoining – but not on the same terms it had before.The YouGov survey of six western European countries, including the UK, also confirms that a clear majority of British voters now back the country rejoining the bloc – but only if it can keep the opt-outs it previously enjoyed.The result, the pollster said, was a “public opinion impasse”, even if there seems precious little likelihood, for the time being, of the UK’s Labour government, which this year negotiated a “reset” with the bloc, attempting a return to the EU.YouGov’s EuroTrack survey showed that at least half of people asked across the four largest EU nations – France, Germany, Italy and Spain – supported the UK being allowed to rejoin, with percentages ranging from 51% in Italy to 53% in France, 60% in Spain and 63% in Germany.Asked whether Britain should be allowed back in on the conditions it enjoyed when it left, however, including not having to adopt the euro currency and remaining outside the Schengen passport-free zone, the numbers changed significantly

Reform wants to cut council diversity roles. The problem is there are already barely any

Councils run by Reform UK have an average of fewer than 0.5 diversity and equality roles each, it has emerged, calling into question the party’s stated aim to save significant sums of money by cutting such jobs.According to freedom of information requests, across the 10 Reform-run English councils there was a combined 4.56 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs connected to equality and diversity, not including roles required by law such as those for inclusion in education, including for pupils with disabilities.Even using an assumed average full-time salary of £50,000, cutting all the roles would save the Reform-run councils slightly less than 0

Unite attacks Angela Rayner over ‘abhorrent’ handling of Birmingham bin strikes

Angela Rayner has been accused of handling the Birmingham bin workers’ strike in a “totally and utterly abhorrent” way by the Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham.Graham told BBC Radio 4 Today’s programme: “Angela Rayner refuses to get involved, and she is directly aiding and abetting the fire-and-rehire of these bin workers, it is totally and utterly abhorrent.”In a heated interview, Graham said the deputy prime minister had also failed to turn up to a recent meeting with Graham at an event, saying: “She doesn’t want to talk about this issue, because she knows that what is happening is abhorrent, but she does not want to intervene.”A party source told the Guardian that Rayner had to attend an urgent statement in the house led by the prime minister instead of going to the event and described Graham’s claims as “baseless”.Graham added that Rayner had been a member of the union for 10 years but may have left of her own accord over the last quarter because “she’s seen the mood music”

Starmer and Reeves promised honesty about public finances. Can they stay the course?

During the first televised debate in the run-up to last summer’s general election, Keir Starmer used a phrase that received enthusiastic – and unanticipated – applause from the Salford audience.“I don’t pretend there’s a magic wand that will fix everything overnight,” he told them. Labour strategists were surprised by the clapping, and encouraged him to deploy the line again in future.The prime minister, his aides said, entered office determined not to fall into the same trap as many leaders before him of making promises that were never going to be kept because of the state of the public finances.For her part, Rachel Reeves arrived at the Treasury intent on hammering home the message the Tories were to blame for the sorry state of the nation’s books

Zarah Sultana launches fundraising drive for new leftwing party

Zarah Sultana has launched a fundraising drive and supporter sign-up page under her own name as she pushes on with plans for the formation of a new leftwing party.The Coventry South MP, who announced last Thursday that she would be co-leading the new party with Jeremy Corbyn, used the platform ActionNetwork to gather supporters. The landing page has so far recorded more than 64,000 “actions taken”.But the move has caused further unease within the emerging left alliance, with organisers fearing control over donations and data might become concentrated within Sultana’s camp.After Sultana announced her co-leadership plan, Corbyn made a separate statement noting “discussions were ongoing”

Nearly 60 Labour MPs call for UK to immediately recognise Palestinian state

Nearly 60 Labour MPs have demanded the UK immediately recognises Palestine as a state, after Israel’s defence minister announced plans to force all residents of Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah.The MPs, who include centrist and leftwing backbenchers, sent a letter to David Lammy on Thursday warning they believed Gaza was being ethnically cleansed.They are urging the foreign secretary to take immediate steps to prevent the Israeli government from carrying out its Rafah plan, and to go further and recognise Palestinian statehood immediately.The letter was sent just after the French president, Emmanuel Macron, made a similar plea at a joint press conference with Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister.The MPs wrote: “It is with great urgency and concern that we are writing to you regarding the Israeli defence minister’s announcement on Monday of his plans to forcibly transfer all Palestinian civilians in Gaza to a camp in the ruined city of Rafah without allowing them to leave