Diane Abbott’s Labour suspension must be resolved ‘as swiftly as possible’, says minister – as it happened

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of UK politics. We’re now in recess but we’ll still be bringing you all the news from across the country including continued reaction to the suspension of Diane Abbott.This morning, a minister has denied the veteran MP’s assertion that “it is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out”.Exchequer secretary to the Treasury James Murray told Times Radio:That’s absolutely not the case.What’s happened is Diane has made some comments which come on the back of previous comments which she made and for which she apologised some time ago

Labour MPs challenge Richard Tice over Reform UK’s plan to scrap green projects

A group of nearly 60 Labour MPs has written to Richard Tice challenging the Reform UK deputy leader’s pledge to rip up green energy contracts if his party wins power and questioning if he appreciated the impact this could have on the economy.Led by Polly Billington, the East Thanet MP, and signed by 58 others who have sustainable energy projects in their constituencies, the letter said Tice appeared to have “under-appreciated the growth potential of the green transition” when he wrote to eight leading energy firms warning that to bid for new contracts carried “significant” risk.The MPs’ letter said growth in the clean energy economy was 10% in 2024, and asked Tice: “When you made these threats, were you aware you were threatening one of Britain’s strongest drivers of growth?”It also cited estimates from the Confederation of British Industry saying the industry supported more than 950,000 often well-paid jobs in the UK, many outside London and the south-east, and asked if Tice saw the CBI as part of the “unquestioned liberal progressive orthodoxy”, which he has blamed for promoting net zero measures.Tice’s letter, an example of which he tweeted, warned energy firms against taking part in the next series of bids to apply for guaranteed minimum prices for clean power provision, formally known as allocation round 7 (AR7).If a Nigel Farage-led government took power in Westminster, Tice told the companies, it would reassess net zero commitments, adding: “As a first step, we will seek to strike down all contracts signed under AR7

Grant Shapps defends use of superinjunction to suppress Afghan data leak

The former defence secretary Grant Shapps has defended the use of an unprecedented superinjunction to suppress a data breach that led to the UK government relocating 15,000 Afghans.The Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) was created in haste after it emerged that personal information about 18,700 Afghans who had applied to come to the UK had been leaked in error by a British defence official in early 2022.It has also emerged that details of members of the SAS and MI6 were among more than 100 Britons named in the database.Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Shapps, who was defence secretary from 31 August 2023 to 5 July 2024 and was in post while the superinjunction was imposed on the incident, said his focus after the leak was on “sorting out the mess and saving lives”.The superinjunction lapsed on Tuesday, when a high court judge concluded the threat to the 18,700 Afghans was no longer very significant

Labour suspends Diane Abbott for second time over racism comments

Diane Abbott has been suspended from the Labour party for a second time after saying she did not regret her past remarks on racism, as Keir Starmer once again attempted to reassert his grip over his backbenchers.The veteran MP now faces an investigation over her defence of remarks more than two years ago that people of colour experienced racism “all their lives”, which was different from the “prejudice” experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.In a statement to Newsnight on Thursday evening, Abbott said: “It is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. My comments in the interview … were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept.”In the interview with the BBC earlier on Thursday, Abbott, the first black woman elected to parliament, had said: “Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know

Spies and SAS personnel among 100-plus Britons included in Afghan data leak

Details of members of the SAS are among more than 100 Britons named in the database of 18,700 Afghans, the accidental leak of which by a defence official led to thousands being secretly relocated to the UK.Defence sources said the highly sensitive document contained names and email addresses belonging to people sponsoring or linked to some individual cases. Personal information about MI6 officers was also included.The identities of members of the SAS and MI6 are a closely guarded secret, and the possibility that such information could have ended up in the public domain was a source of significant official concern.SAS and other special forces officers were involved in assessing whether Afghans who said they were members of the elite 333 and 444 units, known as the Triples, were allowed to come to the UK

Voting age to be lowered to 16 across UK by next general election

The voting age will be lowered to 16 across the UK by the next general election in a major change of the democratic system, despite some concerns within Labour that it could benefit smaller parties like the Greens and Reform UK.The government said it would be fairer for 16- and 17-year-olds, many of whom already work and are able to serve in the military. Keir Starmer said it was important that teenagers who paid taxes had their say on how the money was spent.The move brings voting age for the whole of the UK to 16. Scotland and Wales have already made the change for Holyrood, Senedd and council elections