Labour MP splits from party and demands ‘answers’ on Morgan McSweeney’s stolen phone

Keir Starmer: ‘I beat myself up’ over Lord Mandelson scandal 

Sir Keir Starmer had admitted “I beat myself up” over his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as US ambassador.

The Prime Minister said: “Nobody has been harder on me in relation to the mistake I made there than me. And I’ll tell you for why: I’ve spent years trying to deal with violence against women and girls.

“And as I look back at it now and the mistake I made, I’ve been really hard on myself. In the immediate days after this all came out, I was particularly hard on myself. So yeah, everybody else was criticising, I get all that.

“But nobody was criticising me more than myself. I’m not trying to, you know, make that a mitigation or an excuse but I know I made a mistake.”

“I know that after nearly 20 years fighting violence against women and girls, I made a mistake there. And I hate the fact I made that mistake. And I dwell on it. I beat myself up about it.

“It’s certainly not a mistake I’d ever repeat. But there’s no criticism anybody else can level at me that will be as harsh as the criticism I dished out for myself,” he told Sky News.

Keir Starmer ‘did something shocking’ claims Donald Trump in fresh attack

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GB NEWS

Donald Trump again castigated Sir Keir Starmer for initially refusing permission for the US to use RAF bases to launch attacks on Iran.

The US president said he was “very disappointed” by the Prime Minister’s decision at the start of the conflict not to permit the use of the UK-US Diego Garcia base to target Iran.

He said: “When we needed the island to land that beautiful B2 bomber, we were told we can’t use it. We’d have to fly back to Missouri, which is a 17-hour flight, as opposed to a couple of hours. And I said ‘you got to be kidding’. Not good. They made a big mistake.”

Of Sir Keir, Mr Trump also said: “I think he’s a lovely man, but I think he did something that was shocking. He didn’t want to help us.”

The Republican president suggested Washington would not necessarily support Nato allies militarily, saying: “We’re always going to be there – at least we were, I don’t know about anymore to be honest with you, I would have to be honest – we were always there when they needed help.”

Defence Secretary refuses to confirm if Iran could strike UK

Defence Secretary John Healey has refused to rule out that Iran has the capability to strike the UK, but said military chiefs do not believe Tehran has any plans to do so.

Iran has targeted the military base used by the UK and the US on Diego Garcia island in the Indian Ocean with missiles, which Mr Healey previously said fell well short of reaching it.

Asked repeatedly whether Iran could reach London with missile strikes, he said: “We have no assessment of Iranian plans to strike London.”

Pressed further, he said: “What I’m saying, and trying to reassure people, is that we’ve got no assessment that Iran has any plans to attack.

“But we have the resources, we have the alliance in place, to be able to defend Britain, and we do that with allies, and we do that with Nato.

“As far as Iran goes, they’re demonstrating a capacity to hit across the Middle East, we see the same tactics and technologies that we see employed by Russia in Ukraine, and this is the hidden hand of (President Vladimir) Putin in both conflicts,” he told Sky News.

It comes as Labour minister Lord Coaker assured Britons that Iran has “no intention of targeting the UK” just days after the Islamic Republic fired ballistic missiles at the Chagos Islands.

Wes Streeting issues deadline to BMA as strikes loom 

Wes Streeting has issued a deadline to the BMA for it to reconsider resident doctor strike action and offered to meet the whole resident doctor committee, who “thus far refused to meet me”.

Resident doctors in England, formerly known as junior doctors, will down their stethoscopes at 7am on April 7, immediately after the long Easter weekend.

The Health Secretary said: “As we ask the BMA to reconsider, they have until next Thursday to do so before we have to call time on the extra jobs and the focus of the NHS, and my department turns to minimising the disruption from this unnecessary and unwarranted strike action, which would also consume the money set aside for this deal.”

Mr Streeting told MPs that the Government was “planning on the basis of a prolonged conflict” in Iran and, as a result, will not be able to offer more to resident doctors in a future deal.

He warned that a future deal with junior doctors “will not look better than what is on offer today”.

“Along with decisions on pay I’ve already taken, this package would have meant that this year alone resident doctors would have been on average 35.2% better off than four years ago.”

Donald Trump reopens Keir Starmer row as he blasts UK’s ‘toy’ aircraft carriers 

Donald Trump has refreshed his slights against Keir Starmer, denigrating the UK’s aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, as “toys”.

Speaking at the start of a White House Cabinet meeting, the US president lashed out at Nato for doing “absolutely nothing” to help the US in the Middle East conflict.

He continued: “Now they all want to help. When they’re annihilated, the other side is annihilated, they said ‘we’d love to send ships’.

“Actually made a statement, a couple of them, that ‘we want to get involved when the war is over’. No, it’s supposed to get involved with the war’s beginning, or even before it begins.

“We had the UK say that ‘we’ll send’ – this is three weeks ago – ‘we’ll send our aircraft carriers’, which aren’t the best aircraft carriers by the way. They’re toys compared to what we have.

“But ‘we’ll send our aircraft carrier when the war is over’. I said ‘oh that’s wonderful, thank you very much. Don’t bother. We don’t need it’”.

Government warned cancelling King’s US trip would be a ‘very big mistake’

It would be a “very big mistake” to cancel the King’s planned state visit to the US, Washington’s ambassador to the UK has said.

There have been calls to scrap or delay the historic royal trip because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

But Warren Stephens argued it would be wrong to call off the trip, which has not yet been officially announced.

In a question-and-answer session after his speech to the British Chambers of Commerce conference in London on Thursday, Mr Stephens said: “I think that would be a very big mistake.”

He said he could not confirm the visit, but added: “I think he will go and I think it will be a very meaningful trip for him.”

The diplomat said US House Speaker Mike Johnson had offered Charles the opportunity to address both Houses of Congress while he was there.

US President Donald Trump last week declared the visit was going ahead, saying the monarch was coming to see him “very shortly” and that he was “looking forward” to it.

The overseas tour has yet to be officially announced, but the King and Queen are expected to visit Washington and New York in April to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence.

M&S scolds Labour for driving up ‘skyrocketing’ energy bills for businesses

Marks and Spencer boss criticises Labour over rising energy levies and business costs | GETTY

The head of Marks & Spencer has criticised the Labour Government over rising energy levies, warning they now account for more than half of the retailer’s total energy costs.

Chief executive Stuart Machin said policy‑driven charges on business energy bills have risen sharply in recent years.

“These are the tariffs that the Government place on our bills to fund their policies, and have nothing to do with the price of oil or gas,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Wes Streeting defends proposed deal with resident doctors

Wes Streeting has said the deal he tried to strike with the British Medical Association (BMA) would have improved pay and created jobs, after resident doctors in England announced a fresh walkout.

Making a statement in the Commons, Mr Streeting told MPs: “Yesterday evening, the BMA called its latest round of strikes for April 7 to 13, immediately following the long Easter bank holiday weekend.

“The announcement came just hours after its resident doctor committee rejected a historic deal that would boost pay, create jobs, improve career prospects and put money back in the pockets of its members.”

Conservatives accuse Labour of ‘gross gerrymandering’

The Tories have accused Labour of “gross gerrymandering” after its latest announcement on local government reorganisation.

Communities Secretary Steve Reed said on Wednesday that 15 new councils will be created in Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock, Hampshire, Southampton and Portsmouth, Norfolk and Suffolk.

With the Isle of Wight remaining a single unitary authority, 16 councils will now be operating in these areas in the place of the current 44.

Shadow communities secretary Sir James Cleverly argued that this has come from central government, rather than being locally led, and claimed Labour has done it to “maximise party political advantage”.

Speaking in the Commons, he said: “People will ask whether this is an act of gross gerrymandering and political opportunism or an act of gross incompetence and stupidity. I can inform the House: it is both.

“There is no mandate for this – nothing in their manifesto. This is an imposition from Whitehall.”

Responding, communities minister Alison McGovern said: “These proposals have all been put forward by the areas that they affect.

“Residents and others have had their chance to feed into the consultation, and we weighed those consultation responses alongside other factors that he will be aware of, including finances.”

Robert Jenrick claims Green Party is ‘running the country’ in swipe at Labour

Newark MP Robert Jenrick suggested the Green Party is running the country now

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GB NEWS

Reform’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick has suggested the Green Party is “running the country” in a swipe at Labour’s energy policy.

The Newark MP told GB News: “Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband could lift the crazy ban on new licences and get drilling tomorrow, and that would help us with our energy security.

“It would help to create thousands of jobs and protect ones that are in danger of being lost.

“It would bring in, at the very least, tens of billions of tax revenues, which could help us do things like what we’re proposing today, cut people’s taxes, lower people’s bills, provide some relief to people when they’re finding life so difficult at the moment.

“It feels like you’ve got this incredibly weak and powerless Prime Minister who is now in hock to Miliband. Angela Rayner on the back benches and Zack Polanski. The Green Party is running the country at the moment.

“That’s the real danger, that things get even worse. And it is hurting people at the moment because these mad net zero policies are just meaning people’s bills are going up and up and up.”

Shadow Defence Secretary blasts ‘car crash’ interview with John Healey

James Cartlidge has slammed a “car crash” interview with Defence Secretary John Healey where he stumbled over his words when asked by LBC how many frigates were at his disposal.

The Shadow Defence Secretary told GB News: “At a time of war in Europe and the Middle East, it is truly extraordinary that the Secretary of State for Defence doesn’t seem to know how many ships the Royal Navy has.

“This farce has serious consequences. Labour ministers didn’t have a single warship in the Middle East for the first time in decades, just as war was starting.

“Meanwhile, they have failed to deliver promised Nato commitments and instead have had to rely on Germany to meet our obligations in the Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea.

“All this on the day it was confirmed there will be no Defence Investment Plan before Parliament breaks before Easter.

“This is a complete shambles and it is not good enough to blame the past, Labour have got to take responsibility.

“It was Starmer’s decision to prioritise welfare over Defence spending, forcing the MoD into a penny-pinching posture which is why they’ve slashed ship availability. The PM owns what is happening now.

“A cash crunch and a car crash interview from John Healey is a long way from what our armed forces need right now. The men and women who serve our nation deserve far, far better’.”

Commons leader confirms King’s Speech date 

The Leader of the Commons Sir Alan Campbell has confirmed the King’s Speech will take place on Wednesday, May 13.

Sir Alan, the Tynemouth MP, confirmed the speech would take place less than a week after millions of voters across England, Scotland and Wales will go to the polls for the local elections.

John Swinney says NHS will not be ‘sold for Farage’s gold’ at SNP election launch

John Swinney said the NHS will “not be bought and sold for Farage’s gold” as he launched the SNP’s election campaign in Glasgow.

The First Minister said: “We already have one disastrous Labour government, we don’t need another one.. Depending on how the numbers stack up after the election, without an SNP majority there is always the potential for a grubby, backroom deal between Labour and Reform.

“So, let us resolve today that we will take them on, we will defeat them, we will make sure Nigel Farage is locked out of power and we will make sure Scotland’s future is in Scotland’s hands.”

Concluding his speech, he said: “I will give every fibre of my being to always standing up for Scotland because, like you, I care about and I love Scotland.

“That is who I am, it is who I have always been.“And that is who I will be if you put your faith in me as your first minister.”

Keir Starmer says Vladimir Putin is ‘rubbing his hands’ over Iranian war

Keir Starmer said Vladimir Putin is ‘rubbing his hands’

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GB NEWS

Sir Keir Starmer said Vladimir Putin is “rubbing his hands” over the ongoing war in Iran.

The Prime Minister said: “This group is of one mind that we must keep strengthening our support for Ukraine to find new ways of dialling up the pressure on Russia and crucially that includes further action on the shadow fleet.

“Putin is rubbing his hands at the war in the Gulf and the rising oil prices. That is why we should go after the shadow fleet even harder.”

Keir Starmer says the West faces war ‘on two fronts’

Keir Starmer has warned the West faces war “on two fronts” at the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) summit in Finland.

The Prime Minister said: “The fortitude of the Ukrainian people is extraordinary and not a little humbling. We must never lose sight of that.”

UK economy hit harder by Iran conflict than any other major country amid poor growth and high inflation

Britain has suffered the sharpest economic downgrade of any major nation following the Middle East conflict, according to new analysis from the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development (OECD).

The group has cut its 2026 growth forecast for the UK by half a percentage point, with output now expected to rise by just 0.7 per cent — the largest downgrade among member countries.

The eurozone and South Korea recorded the next biggest reductions.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Scottish Liberal Democrats are ‘winning again’ claims party leader

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has insisted his party is “winning again” as he launched the campaign for May’s Holyrood election.

The Lib Dems won four seats in the previous Scottish Parliament vote and Mr Cole-Hamilton said he is “focused” on boosting that number this time round.

The party is targeting 10 constituencies across Scotland where it believes it can win, taking some seats from the SNP.

Mr Cole-Hamilton launched the Lib Dem campaign at Newhaven harbour, in the Edinburgh Northern seat he hopes to win from John Swinney’s party.

The Lib Dems are also hoping to see MSPs returned as a result of the second, regional ballot which makes up part of Holyrood’s proportional representation system.

Speaking to reporters ahead of formally launching his party’s 2026 election drive, Mr Cole-Hamilton said he is “looking forward to the campaign”.

Keir Starmer meets with Scandinavia counterparts ahead of key summit

Keir Starmer alongside European counterparts

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GETTY

Sir Keir Starmer has met with his Scandinavian counterparts, including Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, at the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) leaders summit.

The Prime Minister said the JEF nations share a “mindset” at the top of his meeting with Mr Kristersson.

Turning to security in the Baltic, the Swedish prime minister replied: “The Baltic Sea has never been more challenged than it is today, but it has never been as protected as it is today, as well.

“It is surrounded by Nato countries and is being very, very well protected through co-operation.”

Al Carns tells GB News that Britons will feel the impact of Iran war

Armed Forces minister Al Carns has told GB News that Britons will feel the impact of the US and Israel’s war on Iran.

Mr Carns told GB News: “I’ve always been told when you’re putting troops in harm’s way, there are three real things you need to think about. One, you need a legal mandate. Two, you need a plan. And three, you’ve got to think to the finish.

“This war in Iran has cut off a large chunk of the world’s energy resources and a whole plethora of critical minerals that we are going to feel the burden of.

“The Prime Minister called a Cobra meeting just several days ago to really look across government, work out the impacts, take the totality of those impacts, and then make sure measures were put in place to protect and indeed support the population as we move forward.

“But let’s be really clear on this. There are reverberations from that war in Iran that we will feel here in the UK and across the rest of the world.”

Scottish Tory leader says there is ‘huge tranche’ of potential support for party

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay will launch his Holyrood campaign later today

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There is a “huge tranche” of small c conservative thinking in Scotland, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has said.

The Tory said he has been a “conservative small c, like most people, a lot of people in Scotland, all my days.”

Recent opinion polls suggest the Scottish Conservatives may fall to fourth place in the forthcoming Holyrood elections, behind the SNP, Labour and Reform UK.

Mr Findlay said the challenge will be to “turn that small c into a big C” at the ballot box in six weeks’ time.

Keir Starmer says he is ‘very keen’ to tackle social media addiction

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “very keen” for the Government to “do more on addictive features within social media.”

Asked if a landmark social media addiction trial in the US pointed to a shift in public mood with expectation of more aggressive regulation, Sir Keir told reporters: “I think it does, and obviously we’ll study that ruling very carefully, but I’m absolutely clear that we need to go further.

“The status quo isn’t good enough. We need to do more to protect children. That’s why we’re consulting about issues such as banning social media for under-16s.

“I’m very keen that we do more on addictive features within social media. We’ve already taken the powers so that when we get to the end of the consultation, we don’t have to wait years to implement this.

“But I want to be really clear, it’s not if things are going to change, things are going to change. The question is, how much and what are we going to do? And that’s what we’re working on. I’ll be saying some more about this tomorrow.”

Shadow Business Secretary warns Britain has ‘no seat’ at the table over war in Iran

Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith has warned Britain does “not have a seat at the table” as he lamented the state of the British armed forces.

When asked if the Conservatives support the Liberal Democrat plan to “walk away” from global talks about the war in Iran, the senior Tory told GB News: “I have no idea if there were talks underway or with whom or when.

“One of the great tragedies, I think is the much depleted UK armed forces, brilliant though the people who serve are, means in situations like this which of course impact us all, [is that] we do not have a seat at the table.”

Senior Lib Dem says Donald Trump’s war in Iran is ‘illegal’ 

Lib Dem Health spokeswoman Helen Morgan

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GB NEWS

A senior Liberal Democrat has expressed concern over the ongoing war in Iran and what it could mean for motorists at the pumps.

The party’s health spokeswoman Helen Morgan told GB News: “Obviously we’re no fans of the Iranian regime. We’ve repeatedly called for the prescription of the Revolutionary Guard there. But ultimately, this war is illegal.

“There was no sort of immediate provocation for Donald Trump to attack Iran. We’re really worried about the impact that this is going to have in the UK on people who are already really struggling with the cost of living.

“I think a lot of people are extremely worried about what soaring oil prices are going to mean for them as we get later on into the year when energy prices go up.

“Of course, they’re already seeing it at the petrol pumps and expecting it to feed through into all sorts of other types of inflation, particularly food. So we really want to see this come to an end when no fans of the of the Iranian regime. But we have to think of the worldwide consequences of this conflict.”

Labour does not believe Iran has plans to attack UK, says John Healey

Defence Secretary John Healey has stressed Labour does not believe Iran has any plans to attack the UK, but declined to rule out that the country has the capability to do so.

Asked repeatedly on Sky News whether Iran could reach London with missile strikes, he said: “We have no assessment of Iranian plans to strike London.”

Pressed further on whether the country has the capability to strike London, he said: “What I’m saying, and trying to reassure people is, that we’ve got no assessment that Iran has any plans to attack.

“But we have the resources, we have the alliance in place to be able to defend Britain, and we do that with allies, and we do that with Nato.

“As far as Iran goes, they’re demonstrating a capacity to hit across the Middle East, we see the same tactics and technologies that we see employed by Russia in Ukraine, and this is the hidden hand of Putin in both conflicts.”

Reform UK calls for petrol VAT to be slashed after Iran war price rises

Robert Jenrick will call on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to halve VAT on petrol for three months in the face of rising oil prices caused by the Iran war.

Reform UK said the move would reduce pump prices by 12p a litre for petrol and 14p a litre for diesel, at a cost to the taxpayer of £1.5billion.

Since the outbreak of the Iran war, prices have increased by around 15p a litre for petrol and 30p a litre for diesel.

Mr Jenrick, Reform’s economic spokesman, is expected to make the call on a visit to a petrol station in Dover, where he will offer drivers 5p off fuel.

The visit follows a similar stunt by party leader Nigel Farage earlier this month as part of Reform’s campaign against the Government’s plan to reverse the temporary 5p cut to fuel duty introduced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Here’s what’s happening today in Westminster and beyond

Good morning from all of us on the GB News Politics Team. Here’s what’s happening today in Westminster and beyond:

Sir Keir Starmer is in Helsinki for a Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) conference, with Russia’s war on Ukraine on the table, while Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is in France for a G7 meeting for talks about the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

This morning, the Prime Minister said it is “a little bit far-fetched” to suggest the theft of his former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney’s phone was in any way linked to the release of files on Lord Peter Mandelson.

Shabana Mahmood’s new measures on migration will take effect today as part of Labour’s push to crack down on asylum claims. GB News Assistant News Editor Jack Walters has the full write up here.

Closer to home, we’ve got a barrage of election launches today, with Reform UK officially starting their local campaign with a rally in Sunderland tonight.

North of the border, the SNP, Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour will all be getting their campaigns underway this morning for the Holyrood election.

Keeping it local, Labour is set to axe 800 councillors and shut down 43 councils across England within the next two years. Our reporter Dan McDonald has the full story here.

In the Commons today, there’ll be debates on transport accessibility for disabled people and support for Gurkha veterans, while long serving Tory MP David Davis has the adjournment debate on Cheshire Police’s conduct over the Lucy Letby case.

Here on GB News, we’ll be joined by Defence Minister Al Carns, Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith and Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Helen Morgan.