Voters head to polls in native elections in England
Good morning. It’s began. People are already balloting within the 2025 native elections. They are England-only, and there are round 1,600 council seats up for grabs (in another years, there are greater than 8,000 seats up for election in England on my own), and so in some respects it’s a minor set of native elections. But you’ll by no means discover a political commentator prepared to mention an election isn’t essential and this 12 months there may be lots to get enthusiastic about. That is in part as a result of it’s Labour’s first electoral check for the reason that normal election (and no governing celebration in trendy instances has noticed its recognition cave in so temporarily, as John Curtice identified this week). But most commonly this is because two-party politics has collapsed, there are actually 5 political events which are aggressive in England and the upward push of Reform UK manner a realignment of the fitting is already going down. These elections will display how advanced that procedure is.
Today persons are balloting for:
-
More than 1,600 councillors in 14 county councils, 8 unitary government, one metropolitan council, and within the Isles of Scily.
-
Six mayors – two of them are regional mayors the place Labour received ultimate time (West of England, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough), two of them are regional mayors the place elections are being held for the primary time (Greater Lincolnshire, and Hull and East Yorkshire), and two of them are single-authority mayors the place Labour received ultimate time (Doncaster, and North Tyneside).
Here is Peter Walker’s morning preview tale.
And, in his First Edition briefing, Archie Bland units out what would rely as a just right consequence for all of the primary events.
On polling day itself now not so much typically occurs. But we’ve at all times were given canine at polling stations.
And there could also be some non-election politics too. Here is the time table for the day.
9.30am: Jonathan Reynolds, trade secretary, takes questions within the Commons.
After 10.30am: Lucy Powell, chief of the Commons, takes questions about subsequent week’s Commons trade.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a foyer briefing.
Noon: John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, takes questions from MSPs.
If you wish to have to touch me, please submit a message underneath the road when feedback are open (typically between 10am and 3pm at the present time), or message me on social media. I will be able to’t learn all of the messages BTL, however in the event you put “Andrew” in a message geared toward me, I’m much more likely to look it as a result of I seek for posts containing that phrase.
If you wish to have to flag one thing up urgently, it’s best to make use of social media. You can achieve me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its reputable accounts on X however particular person Guardian reporters are there, I nonetheless have my account, and in the event you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will be able to see it and reply if vital.
I to find it very useful when readers indicate errors, even minor typos. No error is simply too small to right kind. And I to find your questions very attention-grabbing too. I will be able to’t promise to answer all of them, however I will be able to take a look at to answer as many as I will be able to, both BTL or now and again within the weblog.
Key occasions
UK consents ‘fraud motion plan’ with Nigeria
The Home Office has agreed an information-sharing deal ‘“fraud action plan” with Nigeria.
David Hanson, the fraud minister, signed the settlement after assembly in Abuja together with his Nigerian opposite numbers. He mentioned:
Our new settlement with Nigeria will assist us higher determine and forestall fraud earlier than it occurs, crack down on criminals who exploit our programs, and in the end give protection to the general public from the devastating affect of fraud.
According to the Home Office’s information relase, the settlement comes to:
news sharing and operational coordination, together with the opportunity of joint regulation enforcement operations involving the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Nigeria’s Office of the National Security Adviser
building and strengthening of nationwide fraud methods throughout the change of highest apply, frameworks, and courses realized, along side doable joint public consciousness campaigns to discourage fraudsters
exploration of collaboration between monetary, on-line, and telecoms regulators and trade our bodies in each international locations to assist shut loopholes exploited by way of criminals
sharing insights at the misuse of monetary programs, with the opportunity of joint research and analysis into rising threats
figuring out coaching wishes and turning in capacity-building tasks, beginning with focused coaching for Nigerian prosecutors by way of the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office, with additional programmes deliberate, topic to investment
Unite urges Birmingham council to ‘come to its senses’ forward of resumed talks on resolving bin strike
Sharon Graham, the Unite normal secretary, mentioned Birmingham council had to “come to its senses” forward of talks these days meant to unravel the bin strike within the town.
As PA Media stories, Graham is main the union’s negotiating group in talks below the auspices of the conciliation provider Acas over the council’s plans to delete the function of waste recycling and assortment officer. The union says this may increasingly lead to a couple staff dropping as much as £8,000 a 12 months, however the council says it’s “undertaking a fair and transparent job evaluation process of the driver/team leader role, working with all trade union partners to ensure a fair outcome”.
Speaking outdoor Unite’s regional place of job in Birmingham earlier than the talks resumed these days, Graham mentioned town council’s chief John Cotton had to be concerned within the negotiations – one thing he has prior to now made transparent he would now not do.
She mentioned:
We need the council to return to their senses these days. We need the chief of the council John Cotton to return into the negotiating room. He has now not but been within the negotiating room and he must be so we will get this dispute solved.
He is the chief of the council, this is occurring to his citizens. This is occurring around the board, there’s garbage piling up. When you’re the chief, then you definitely will have to take the duty and the duty.
Graham mentioned Unite sought after “to do a deal” however that it used to be as much as the council. She went on:
Forty-eight hours in the past, they announce the drivers who usually are dropping £8,000. Why would you do this 48 hours earlier than talks are because of happen? I’m hoping that we will come to a deal, we’re right here to do a deal, however in reality the ball is within the council’s courtroom right here.
Hundreds of staff on the power regulator Ofgem are being balloted for moves in a dispute over pay and jobs, PA Media stories. PA says:
More than 700 participants of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) in Glasgow, London and Cardiff will vote within the coming weeks on whether or not to release a marketing campaign of business motion.
PCS normal secretary Fran Heathcote mentioned: “Ofgem managers have been deliberately provocative in their dealings with us. Rather than driving through sticking plaster solutions for organisation-wide problems, they should reach agreement with us before committing to changes that risk industrial action.”
One of the indicators that Bluesky is functioning as a good choice to Elon Musk’s X is the truth that it has turn out to be a good supply for #dogsatpollingstations. Here are one of the crucial nicer photos I’ve noticed there this morning.
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Met confirms counter-terrorism police investigating Kneecap over ‘kill MP’ and ‘up Hamas, up Hezbollah’ feedback
The Metropolitan police has showed that counter-terrorism police are investigating pictures that looks to turn Irish language rap band Kneecap calling for politicians to be killed, and shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.
In a remark, the Met mentioned:
On April 22, we have been made acutely aware of a web-based video believed to be from a track tournament in London in November 2024. Following this, we have been made acutely aware of an extra video, believed to be from some other track tournament in London in November 2023.
Both movies have been referred to the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit for review by way of specialist officials, who’ve decided there are grounds for additional investigation into doable offences related to each movies.
The investigation is now being performed by way of officials from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command and inquiries stay ongoing at the moment.
Two days in the past Kneecap apologised for the ‘kill MP’ remark, which it mentioned have been “deliberately taken out of all context”. It additionally mentioned it didn’t make stronger Hamas or Hezbollah.
As Kevin Rawlinson stories, dozens of artists – together with Pulp, Paul Weller and Primal Scream – have defended Kneecap, pronouncing the try to silence or deplatform them is an assault on inventive freedom.
Solar panels to be fitted on all new-build houses in England by way of 2027
Almost all new houses in England shall be fitted with sun panels all over building inside of two years, the federal government will announce after Keir Starmer rejected Tony Blair’s grievance of internet 0 insurance policies, Eleni Courea stories.
Here is a Guardian information to the place native elections are happening these days.
Unite chief Sharon Graham says her participants need internet 0, but additionally need ‘safe jobs’ as a part of transition
The Daily Mail isn’t any nice fan of industry unions, or the Jeremy Corbyn-supporting Unite union specifically. It isn’t that keen on Tony Blair both. But at the present time they appear to hate Ed Miliband and internet 0 much more, and so these days the paper has – possibly for the primary time? – splashed on a tale quoting Unite approvingly. It is precipitated by way of the remark Unite issued the day gone by about Blair’s feedback about internet 0.
In interviews this morning, Sharon Graham, the Unite normal secretary, stressed out that her union isn’t hostile to the objective of decreasing carbon emissions to internet 0. But what she does need is an assurance that just right jobs are to be had for employees who lose out when oil and gasoline manufacturing will get run down.
She informed Times Radio:
Workers need internet 0, my participants haven’t any drawback with internet 0. The drawback that we’ve were given is that there is not any funding recently about how we get to that and in addition safe jobs …
We don’t have the imaginative and prescient but of what we might be realising. We might be … the European capital for the manufacturing of inexperienced metal. We may also be the folk that make the wind generators. We may also be the one of the most global manufacturers of SAF [sustainable aviation fuel]. This nation’s were given the abilities, we’ve were given the technology, we’ve were given the employees that may do this. Why are we delaying even additional getting that infrastructure in position? It’s utterly and totally fallacious.
Here is the most recent version of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly UK podcast. John Harris has been to Doncaster, the one council the place elections are happening recently below Labour regulate. At least one ballot suggests it’s going to lose to Reform UK.
It’s a pleasant day for balloting in England. Yesterday the Green celebration mentioned it used to be prone to be “the hottest local election day on record”. Here are two photos of other folks arriving to vote.
At 10.30am an power minister will reply to an pressing query from Labour’s Gareth Snell, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, requesting a remark on “the government’s approach to reducing energy prices for energy intensive industries”.
In the Commons Jonathan Reynolds, the trade secretary, is taking questions. Asked by way of the Green MP Ellie Chowns if he agreed {that a} new industry handle the EU will have to come with a adolescence mobility scheme, linking the United Kingdom with the EU’s emissions buying and selling schme and aligning on chemical rules.
In his answer, Reynolds mentioned he didn’t wish to touch upon the main points of the negotiation. But he mentioned that he did need it to deal with the “barriers” Chowns discussed and he mentioned he sought after the United Kingdom to have “the best and most frictionless trade possible with the EU”.
Voters head to polls in native elections in England
Good morning. It’s began. People are already balloting within the 2025 native elections. They are England-only, and there are round 1,600 council seats up for grabs (in another years, there are greater than 8,000 seats up for election in England on my own), and so in some respects it’s a minor set of native elections. But you’ll by no means discover a political commentator prepared to mention an election isn’t essential and this 12 months there may be lots to get enthusiastic about. That is in part as a result of it’s Labour’s first electoral check for the reason that normal election (and no governing celebration in trendy instances has noticed its recognition cave in so temporarily, as John Curtice identified this week). But most commonly this is because two-party politics has collapsed, there are actually 5 political events which are aggressive in England and the upward push of Reform UK manner a realignment of the fitting is already going down. These elections will display how advanced that procedure is.
Today persons are balloting for:
-
More than 1,600 councillors in 14 county councils, 8 unitary government, one metropolitan council, and within the Isles of Scily.
-
Six mayors – two of them are regional mayors the place Labour received ultimate time (West of England, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough), two of them are regional mayors the place elections are being held for the primary time (Greater Lincolnshire, and Hull and East Yorkshire), and two of them are single-authority mayors the place Labour received ultimate time (Doncaster, and North Tyneside).
Here is Peter Walker’s morning preview tale.
And, in his First Edition briefing, Archie Bland units out what would rely as a just right consequence for all of the primary events.
On polling day itself now not so much typically occurs. But we’ve at all times were given canine at polling stations.
And there could also be some non-election politics too. Here is the time table for the day.
9.30am: Jonathan Reynolds, trade secretary, takes questions within the Commons.
After 10.30am: Lucy Powell, chief of the Commons, takes questions about subsequent week’s Commons trade.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a foyer briefing.
Noon: John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, takes questions from MSPs.
If you wish to have to touch me, please submit a message underneath the road when feedback are open (typically between 10am and 3pm at the present time), or message me on social media. I will be able to’t learn all of the messages BTL, however in the event you put “Andrew” in a message geared toward me, I’m much more likely to look it as a result of I seek for posts containing that phrase.
If you wish to have to flag one thing up urgently, it’s best to make use of social media. You can achieve me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its reputable accounts on X however particular person Guardian reporters are there, I nonetheless have my account, and in the event you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will be able to see it and reply if vital.
I to find it very useful when readers indicate errors, even minor typos. No error is simply too small to right kind. And I to find your questions very attention-grabbing too. I will be able to’t promise to answer all of them, however I will be able to take a look at to answer as many as I will be able to, both BTL or now and again within the weblog.