It’s too late to replace Sunak so Tories must ‘march towards the sound of the guns’, Ben Wallace says – as it happened

Rishi Sunak speaks as he visits an apprentice training centre in Coventry. Photograph: Carl Recine/AP

5.49pm GMT

Afternoon summary

• Ben Wallace, the Tory former defence secretary, has said it is too late for Conservative MPs to replace Rishi Sunak as PM and that they should instead focus on the election and on marching “towards the sound of the guns”. (See 1.50pm.) He was speaking after a weekend where the political news was dominated by claims relating to different Tory factions plotting against Sunak. Sunak himself said today this sort of Westminster leadership chatter “doesn’t matter”. (See 12.17pm.)

• GB News repeatedly breached impartiality rules by allowing Conservative MPs to serve as news presenters – but will not face any sanctions from Ofcom.

• Stephen Kinnock, the shadow immigration minister, has claimed that the safety of Rwanda (asylum and immigration) bill turns parliament into a laughing stock. In a debate on Lords amendments to the bill, which says Rwanda should be regarded as a safe country even though a supreme court ruling said the opposite, Kinnock said:

At the end of the day you cannot legislate to turn dogs into cats. You cannot legislate for the sky to be green and the grass to be blue. It is basic tenet of the respect with which our institutions should be treated that to put this kind of absurd legislation is frankly turning our institutions into a laughing stock.

Michael Tomlinson, the minister for illegal migration, said the government was opposed to all the Lords amendments, which strengthen safeguards for asylum seekers in various ways, and MPs are expected to vote to remove them all from the bill in votes later. (See 3.13pm and 3.49pm.)

• Zac Goldsmith was warned by a judge that speeding drivers “emit more harmful emissions” as he was banned from driving for a year for a number of motoring offences.

Updated at 5.52pm GMT

5.34pm GMT

New polling from Redfield and Wilton Strategies suggests support for the Conservatives has fallen since the budget.

Labour leads by 26%.

Tied-lowest Conservative % with Rishi Sunak as PM.

Westminster Voting Intention (17 March):

Labour 47% (+5)
Conservative 21% (-3)
Reform UK 14% (–)
Liberal Democrat 8% (-4)
Green 6% (+1)
SNP 3% (+1)
Other 1% (–)

Changes +/- 10 Marhttps://t.co/2qeJYIYrA2 pic.twitter.com/Jfo4cn0wMJ

— Redfield & Wilton Strategies (@RedfieldWilton) March 18, 2024

The Guardian’s opinion poll tracker also has some evidence of Tory support falling marginally after the budget, although it does not identify a pronounced trend.