Evening summary
It’s almost 5pm in Westminster. Here is a roundup of the day’s main news stories:
Nicola Sturgeon will stand down as first minister of Scotland, she has announced at a press conference. In a shock decision, Scotland’s longest-serving first minister said she had instructed the Scottish National party (SNP) to begin the process of electing a new leader and would remain in office until her successor was chosen. The SNP leader has had a series of political setbacks recently, including the UK supreme court defeat of her plans for a fresh independence referendum and a damaging row over a double rapist being sent to a female jail after announcing she was a trans woman.
The Scottish first minister set out her reasons for resigning and was at pains to stress that it is not a reaction to “short-term pressures”. Sturgeon admitted there were “difficult issues” confronting the government but said she had “plenty of experience to draw on” in “soldiering on when walking away would be the simpler option”.
A new SNP leader could reunite the independence movement, Sturgeon’s predecessor Alex Salmond has said. Asked on BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme whether he saw an opportunity for his rival party Alba, Salmond said: “Well, what I see as an opportunity is to reset the independence movement.” He noted it depended “a great deal on who succeeds” Sturgeon.
The Scottish Conservative leader, Douglas Ross, said Sturgeon “refused to accept the result” of the 2014 independence referendum and her tenure as first minister was marked with “relentless agitating” for another referendum.
The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, said Nicola Sturgeon was an “able politician” who had led Scotland through some of the most “challenging times” in recent history. He said: “It is right that today we pay tribute to those achievements, particularly during the pandemic. Regardless of our differences, she is an able politician who has stood at the forefront of Scottish politics for more than 20 years. On a human level that is worthy of respect and thanks.”
The pro-independence leader of Catalonia, the Spanish region that launched an unsuccessful, unilateral bid to secede from the rest of Spain in late 2017, also paid tribute to Sturgeon’s leadership and the example she had set for like-minded movements. “Thank you, Nicola Sturgeon, for your courage and political commitment to progress, social justice and your tireless struggle for freedom,” Pere Aragonès wrote on Twitter. “Your leadership will continue inspiring independence movements. You will always have Catalonia as an ally.”
Keir Starmer has said Jeremy Corbyn will not stand as a Labour party candidate at the next general election. Asked by reporters whether he could say “categorically” whether or not his predecessor would stand for the party at the next election, the Labour leader said: “Let me be very clear about that; Jeremy Corbyn will not stand for Labour at the next general election, as a Labour party candidate.”
Dame Margaret Hodge said Labour has “moved on from the very dark days of October 2020 when the EHRC judged us to be a party that was discriminating against Jews”. Her comments came after the Equality and Human Rights Commission watchdog said it was no longer monitoring Labour after it made the changes demanded over its law-breaking handling of antisemitism under Corbyn.
Talks between teaching unions and the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, have ended without progress yet again, prompting warnings that further strike action in schools in England seems “inevitable”. After the meeting, which lasted an hour and 20 minutes, the unions said the government had put no new offer on the table, prompting warnings of a possible escalation in strike action.
Negotiations with the Treasury over public spending levels are always an uphill battle, the defence secretary has acknowledged, amid reports he is looking for an increase of up to £11bn in defence spending. Ben Wallace said soaring inflation was hitting the Ministry of Defence’s real-terms budget particularly hard, dismissing suggestions he would resign if the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, refused to provide the nominal increase he was looking for.
A report by the government’s independent watchdog on surveillance found that British police are leaving themselves open to spying by Beijing because of their reliance on Chinese-made cameras. Most forces in England and Wales use camera equipment that is either made in China or contains important Chinese components, the biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner has warned.
The Liberal Democrats have delivered 48,000 of their campaign leaflets to Tory MP Lee Anderson’s constituency, after he promised to deliver them to voters himself. Last week, the Lib Dems announced a new advertising blitz with posters highlighting the controversial views of the new Conservative party chair, including his backing the death penalty and suggesting people who use food banks “can’t cook properly”.
More than 2,500 refugees and asylum seekers have crossed the Channel to the UK so far this year. Government figures show 204 people made the journey on Tuesday in five boats, taking the provisional 2023 total to date to 2,517.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the UK politics live blog for today. Thanks for following along on what turned out to be a busy day of political news. Goodbye for now.
Updated
More than 2,500 people have crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats so far this year.
Government figures show 204 people made the journey on Tuesday in five boats, taking the provisional 2023 total to date to 2,517.
This is more than 1,000 higher than the total number of crossings for January and February combined in 2022 (1,482), PA Media reported.
The busiest day of 2023 so far was 25 January when 321 people were brought to the UK in eight boats.
Updated
Nicola Sturgeon took Scotland, and the UK, by surprise with her unexpected resignation.
In her speech on Wednesday morning she blamed two factors: her own waning energy levels and the way in which Scottish politics has become polarised around her as a leader.
The first minister and SNP leader acknowledged the difficulty of keeping the party together on the sensitive question of whether the next election should be treated as a de facto independence vote.
She also spoke of how important it was for the next leader to reach across the political divide to supporters of other parties.
Here is what she said.
The EIS teaching union has rejected the latest pay offer from the Scottish government and council leaders, PA Media reports.
The new offer announced on Tuesday evening involves teachers who earn up to £80,000 given a 6% pay boost backdated to April 2022 and a further 5.5% from the start of the 2023 financial year, representing 11.5% over two years.
It was rejected at a special meeting of the EIS salaries committee on Wednesday, with the union confirming its programme of strikes will continue “until a more credible offer is put on the negotiating table”.
Updated
The Liberal Democrats have delivered 48,000 of their campaign leaflets to Tory MP Lee Anderson’s constituency, after he promised to deliver them to voters himself.
Last week, the Lib Dems announced a new advertising blitz with posters highlighting the controversial views of the new Conservative party chair, including his backing the death penalty and suggesting people who use food banks “can’t cook properly”.
On Saturday, Anderson posted the new flyer on Twitter and said: “Please drop me 48,000 off and I will deliver them myself in Ashfield.”
The Lib Dems followed through and today dropped off boxes of the leaflets at his office in the Nottinghamshire district of Ashfield.
Signed, sealed and ready to be delivered by @LeeAndersonMP_ 📮 pic.twitter.com/NGWo9IhiQi
— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) February 15, 2023
Anderson won the former “red wall” seat for the Conservatives in 2019 with an 11.7% majority.
Updated
As Nicola Sturgeon resigns as first minister, support for Scottish independence is the highest it has been since 2021, according to polls.
The SNP MP Joanna Cherry has called for a “neutral caretaker CEO” to take over from Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell.
Cherry tweeted:
The SNP leadership and party management have been deeply bound together.
I cannot see any circumstances in which Peter Murrell can continue as chief executive under a new leader who must be free to choose a successor.
Meantime we need a neutral caretaker CEO.
The SNP Leadership & party management have been deeply bound together. I cannot see any circumstances in which Peter Murrell can continue as Chief Executive under a new leader who must be free to choose a successor. Meantime we need a neutral caretaker CEO. https://t.co/b87smMxwNf
— Joanna Cherry KC (@joannaccherry) February 15, 2023
Updated
The pro-independence leader of Catalonia, the Spanish region that launched an unsuccessful, unilateral bid to secede from the rest of Spain in late 2017, also paid tribute to Sturgeon’s leadership and the example she had set for like-minded movements.
“Thank you, Nicola Sturgeon, for your courage and political commitment to progress, social justice and your tireless struggle for freedom,” Pere Aragonès wrote on Twitter. “Your leadership will continue inspiring independence movements. You will always have Catalonia as an ally.”
Pro-independence Catalans have long kept an eye on the situation in Scotland and have campaigned – fruitlessly – for a Scottish-style independence referendum jointly agreed by the central and regional governments.
But the Catalan independence movement has stalled over recent years amid continuing splits and squabbles between the two main pro-independence parties.
A survey published towards the end of last year by the Catalan government’s Centre for Opinion Studies found that 50% of Catalans wanted to remain part of Spain, while 42% favoured independence.
At the height of the crisis in October 2017, a survey by the same centre found that 48.7% of Catalans supported independence, while 43.6% did not.
Updated
Polling expert Prof Sir John Curtice told the BBC that Nicola Sturgeon was the most popular leader in Scotland and the SNP was still the dominant party in the electorate.
He said:
That said, however, her popularity is now as low as it has been at any point during her tenure as first minister.
She was very, very popular in the early months and years. That reached a point where roughly half the people thought she was doing OK and half thought she wasn’t.
She then got a very substantial boost during the pandemic when she was regarded as a very effective communicator and leader of her country, in contrast to Boris Johnson, but that’s been gradually diminishing.
Sturgeon came into office in November 2014 after the Scottish independence referendum.
Updated
New SNP leader could reunite independence movement, says Salmond
A new SNP leader could reunite the independence movement, Nicola Sturgeon’s predecessor Alex Salmond has said.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme whether he saw an opportunity for his rival party Alba, Salmond said:
Well, what I see as an opportunity is to reset the independence movement.
He noted it depended “a great deal on who succeeds” Sturgeon, but added:
If you get somebody who is looking to reunite the movement, perhaps through the vehicle of an independence convention, whereby you take a range of parties, and indeed cross-party movements, and bring it under the same tent, then that would be a highly significant move.
Not just by reuniting the movement, which would be a good idea, but also, I think, by separating the case for independence from the day-to-day business of government.
Nicola was very, very dominant within the SNP government in terms of decision-making, and that’s great when things are going well. But when things start to come unstuck, as they have been over the last few months, then one thing you have to be aware of is the cause of the case for independence suffering from the day to day problems of government.
Updated
Ian Blackford says he is “very saddened” by Nicola Sturgeon’s decision to stand down as Scotland’s first minister.
The Scottish MP and former leader of the SNP in Westminster told the BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme:
I’ve always had the opportunity of having a conversation with the first minister over the course of the last few days. And I have to say, I’m very saddened by the decision that she’s taken.
However, Blackford said it was “perfectly understandable given that Nicola has been in public life for so long”, adding:
But I’m just so grateful that she’s been in a position to lead us over the last few years and I think we should reflect on the leadership that she gave to us at the time of Covid.
On how much of a loss Sturgeon was to the SNP and its electoral prospects, he said:
She has laid the foundations, I believe, that will see the next leader be able to take the party, the movement, the country on to independence. So it’s about completing that journey.
She will move on to a new role, but she’ll still be part of the campaign, the argument for Scottish independence.
Updated
Talks between teaching unions and the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, have ended without progress yet again, prompting warnings that further strike action in schools in England seems “inevitable”.
Following the meeting, which lasted an hour and 20 minutes, the unions said the government had put no new offer on the table, prompting warnings of a possible escalation to the industrial action.
Strike action is already being taken by members of the National Education Union. But, with frustration growing at a lack of progress despite a series of meetings with the secretary of state, other unions are considering their next steps.
Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
While the tone of today’s talks signalled a greater sense of urgency on the part of the government, we have to report that once again there is no new offer to improve the inadequate pay settlement which has sparked the ongoing dispute.
There has been discussion about addressing systemic issues which drive unsustainable workload pressures on education staff but nothing concrete in this direction either. Unless pay and conditions are improved, the severe teacher shortages being experienced by many schools will worsen and so will the impact on the education of young people.
We cannot go on like this. Unless there is tangible progress towards an improved offer, the prospect of further strike action by NEU members is inevitable – and will lead to members of our union, and other education unions, also concluding that industrial action is the only option left.
Updated
Polling on Scottish independence has not moved as much as campaigners would like under Sturgeon’s leadership, Alex Salmond has suggested.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One, he said:
Obviously, your objective is to get the country to independence. That’s how you measure success, or how far you take people along that road. We’re now at a point where independence is a near a majority opinion in Scotland. That’s occurred over the last 25 years. But people might well argue that there hasn’t been a distinctive shift over the last few years, and they might [ask] why that should be.
Nicola Sturgeon announces she is standing down as first minister of Scotland.
Updated
Labour “stands ready to be the change that Scotland needs”, its leader, Keir Starmer, has said, as he wishes Nicola Sturgeon “all the best for her next steps” following her resignation announcement.
Nicola Sturgeon has been at the forefront of not just Scottish but UK politics for over two decades. She’s served with dedication and passion. I wish her all the best for her next steps. Labour stands ready to be the change that Scotland needs.
Updated
Anas Sarwar recalled meeting Nicola Sturgeon for the first time when he was 12, as he highlighted the outgoing first minister’s “love for Scotland”.
The Scottish Labour leader’s father, Mohammad Sarwar, defended his former Glasgow Govan seat in the House of Commons against a challenge from Sturgeon in 1997.
Asked about his memories of meeting the SNP leader, Sarwar told broadcasters:
It is interesting, I first met Nicola Sturgeon when I was 12 years old because she was standing in an election against my father. So I have seen her from that time. She’s seen me grow up in life perhaps, and I’ve seen her grow up in politics over that time period.
And there has been lots of disagreements, lots of arguments, lots of back and forth but one thing you can’t doubt is this is someone who is an able politician.
I’ve never questioned her love for Scotland. I may have disagreed with many of her decisions and how they have impacted on Scotland, but I have never questioned her love and passion for Scotland.
Updated
Lunchtime summary
It is 1pm in Westminster. Here is a roundup of the main news stories from a busy day so far:
Nicola Sturgeon will stand down as first minister of Scotland, she has announced at a press conference. In a shock decision, Scotland’s longest-serving first minister said she had instructed the Scottish National party (SNP) to begin the process of electing a new leader and would remain in office until her successor is chosen. The SNP leader has had a series of political setbacks recently, including the UK supreme court defeat of her plans for a fresh independence referendum and a damaging row over a double rapist being sent to a female jail after announcing she was a trans woman.
The Scottish first minister set out her reasons for resigning and was at pains to stress that it is not a reaction to “short-term pressures”. Sturgeon admitted there were “difficult issues” confronting the government but said she has “plenty of experience to draw on” in “soldiering on when walking away would be the simpler option”.
The Scottish Conservative leader, Douglas Ross, said Nicola Sturgeon “refused to accept the result” of the 2014 independence referendum and said her tenure as first minister was marked with “relentless agitating” for another referendum.
The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, has said Nicola Sturgeon is an “able politician” and led Scotland through some of the most “challenging times” in recent history. He said: “It is right that today we pay tribute to those achievements, particularly during the pandemic. Regardless of our differences, she is an able politician who has stood at the forefront of Scottish politics for more than 20 years. On a human level that is worthy of respect and thanks.”
Keir Starmer has said Jeremy Corbyn will not stand as a Labour party candidate at the next general election. Asked by reporters whether he could say “categorically” whether or not his predecessor will stand for the party at the next election, the Labour leader said: “Let me be very clear about that; Jeremy Corbyn will not stand for Labour at the next general election, as a Labour party candidate.”
Dame Margaret Hodge said Labour has “moved on from the very dark days of October 2020 when the EHRC judged us to be a party that was discriminating against Jews”. Her comments come after the Equality and Human Rights Commission watchdog said it was no longer monitoring Labour after it made the changes demanded over its law-breaking handling of antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn.
Negotiations with the Treasury over public spending levels are always an uphill battle, the defence secretary has acknowledged, amid reports he is looking for up to an £11bn increase in defence spending. Ben Wallace admitted soaring inflation was hitting the Ministry of Defence’s real-terms budget particularly hard, dismissed suggestions he would resign if the chancellor Jeremy Hunt refused to provide the nominal increase he was looking for.
A report from the government’s independent watchdog on surveillance found that British police are leaving themselves open to spying by Beijing because of their reliance on Chinese-made cameras. Most forces across England and Wales use camera equipment that is either made in China or contains important Chinese components, the biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner has warned.
My colleague Kevin Rawlinson will take you through the next hour or so, as we get more reaction to Sturgeon’s resignation speech at Bute House.
Updated
We would like to hear from people in Scotland about their views on the first minister’s resignation.
What are your hopes for the future? Do you have concerns? What do you think Sturgeon’s legacy will be?
The Scottish Conservative leader, Douglas Ross, said Nicola Sturgeon “refused to accept the result” of the 2014 independence referendum and said her tenure as first minister was marked with “relentless agitating” for another referendum.
He said:
Whatever our differences, it is right we recognise that political leadership is always demanding and takes its toll on a person and their family. I am glad Nicola Sturgeon has recognised this is the right time to go.
However, at this time, we cannot ignore that she has presided over a decade of division and decay in Scotland. Instead of trying to unite the country in the wake of the 2014 referendum, Nicola Sturgeon refused to accept the result. Her entire tenure as first minister has been characterised by relentless agitating for another vote on separation – governing in her party’s interests, rather than Scotland’s.
As a result, Scotland has been in a state of constitutional paralysis ever since – divided and unable to move on from the Groundhog Day of 2014 and its toxic legacy, despite the wish of the majority of Scots to do just that.
The SNP government now needs to use this opportunity to focus on the Scottish people’s real priorities, especially the cost of living crisis, supporting our NHS and rebuilding our public services.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister has paid tribute to Sturgeon upon her resignation.
“I extend my best wishes to Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, following the announcement of her resignation,” Micheál Martin said in a statement.
He added:
Over many years, Nicola has demonstrated strong leadership rooted in her vision for Scotland. Ireland and Scotland are close neighbours and friends, and I have greatly appreciated and valued my regular engagement with the first minister, particularly at British-Irish Council summits.
I want to wish her all the best and look forward to engaging with her successor in due course.
Updated
Nicola Sturgeon has announced she is to resign as Scotland’s first minister.
There had been growing speculation she was preparing to stand down at the next Scottish parliamentary election, but not so abruptly.
Photographer Murdo MacLeod has charted much of the career of the country’s longest-serving first minister.
Here are some of the pictorial highlights.
Updated
Nicola Sturgeon’s predecessor as Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, has said there is “no obvious successor” in the SNP’s ranks.
He said:
There has been no question of Nicola’s talents as a first-rate political communicator and election winner and – having been there – I feel for her personally on the day of her resignation.
There are two questions for the future. One is that the movement has been left with no clear strategy for independence. The previously accepted referendum route has been closed and the de facto referendum/election proposal is now, at best, up in the air.
Secondly there is no obvious successor. There are a range of able people in the SNP but they will now be tested in the fire of leadership inheriting a range of serious government policy challenges. It is to be hoped that those voices which wish to reunite the national movement emerge to win that contest.
However, Christina McKelvie, Scottish minister for equalities and older people, said Sturgeon has been “an absolute inspiration as a feminist to women and girls across Scotland”.
“Nicola Sturgeon will go down as one of the finest [SNP] leaders in history, winning each and every election since becoming leader in 2014,” the SNP MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse tweeted.
She added:
Nicola has been an absolute inspiration as a feminist to women and girls across Scotland and myself. Her time as leader has demonstrated that women and girls, regardless of background, can aspire to the highest office in the land and hold that office with distinction.
This alone is a legacy that will have touched countless women across Scotland and further afield.
Updated
Following Nicola Sturgeon’s shock decision to quit as Scotland’s first minister, attentions are turning to the runners and riders who might replace her.
The Guardian’s Severin Carrell and Libby Brooks take a look at some of the leading candidates.
Updated
Former prime ministers Theresa May and Gordon Brown have paid tribute to Nicola Sturgeon.
May tweeted:
We disagree on many issues but I’d like to thank you Nicola Sturgeon for your long, tireless service to our country and for the professional relationship we maintained as leaders.
I can assure you that there is plenty of scope to contribute from the backbenches.
We disagree on many issues but I’d like to thank you @NicolaSturgeon for your long, tireless service to our country & for the professional relationship we maintained as leaders.
— Theresa May (@theresa_may) February 15, 2023
I can assure you that there is plenty of scope to contribute from the backbenches.
Brown said:
I want to join others in thanking Nicola Sturgeon for her work as Scotland’s first minister and wish her well in what she does in the future.
I want to join others in thanking @NicolaSturgeon for her work as Scotland's First Minister @ScotGov and wish her well in what she does in the future.
— Gordon Brown (@GordonBrown) February 15, 2023
SNP MP Joanna Cherry calls for 'reform and healing' after Sturgeon resignation
SNP MP Joanna Cherry has called for “reform and healing” in her party, asking for it to react to the resignation of Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon in “a way that is beneficial to the country and the cause of independence”.
“It is vital that [the SNP] reacts to the resignation of [Nicola Sturgeon] in a way that is beneficial to the country and the cause of independence,” the MP for Edinburgh South West tweeted.
She added:
Our party needs a leadership election that is about policies and not personalities.
We must restore the SNP’s tradition of internal party democracy, open respectful debate and intellectual rigour and we must also put the welfare of everyone living in Scotland back at the heart of our endeavours.
There are some huge challenges facing our country and our government. There is also a need for reform and healing within our party. I’m looking forward to playing my role in this process.
Keith Brown, the deputy leader of the SNP, said Sturgeon “has given her working life to the cause of independence”.
“An outstanding Leader,” he tweeted, after her decision to resign. “The first female and longest serving first minister.
“Nicola Sturgeon has given her working life to the cause of independence. Thank you for all you have done, and will do in our campaign to win independence for Scotland.”
Scottish deputy first minister John Swinney, one of several possible candidates who could succeed Sturgeon as leader, thanked the first minister after her decision to step down.
And SNP president Michael Russell thanked Sturgeon for her “extraordinary and brilliant leadership”.
He tweeted:
As President of [the SNP] I thank [Sturgeon] for her extraordinary and brilliant leadership of her party and country.
As a friend for 30 years I wish her all the best and look forward to her continuing huge contribution to our national wellbeing and success.
Updated
The Scottish secretary, Alister Jack, said Nicola Sturgeon had been a “formidable politician” and he thanked her for her service as first minister.
The Conservative minister said:
I particularly appreciate the work that she undertook to help us deliver two new freeports in Scotland, bringing thousands of jobs and millions of pounds of investment.
A new first minister will have a real chance to re-focus the Scottish government on what they were elected to do – improve public services such as health and education that people rely on and that are vital to Scotland’s future success.
Her resignation presents a welcome opportunity for the Scottish government to change course, and to drop its divisive obsession with independence. I want to see a Scottish government that works hand in hand with the UK government to realise our full potential as a country.
Meanwhile, Ian Blackford, Scottish MP and former leader of the SNP in Westminster, said Sturgeon is the “finest first minster Scotland has ever had”.
“Nicola Sturgeon is the finest First Minster Scotland has ever had, and the finest friend anyone could hope for,” he tweeted.
“When Scotland wins independence, she will have been its architect and builder. She has laid the foundations we all now stand on.
“We owe it to her to finish the job.”
Nicola Sturgeon is the finest First Minster Scotland has ever had, and the finest friend anyone could hope for.
— Ian Blackford 🇺🇦🏴 (@Ianblackford_MP) February 15, 2023
When Scotland wins independence, she will have been its architect and builder. She has laid the foundations we all now stand on.
We owe it to her to finish the job.
Updated
The Scottish health and social care secretary, Humza Yousaf, a potential candidate to replace Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader, has said he is “gutted” to see her standing down.
Gutted @NicolaSturgeon is standing down, but I know hard she has reflected on this decision.
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) February 15, 2023
I have had enormous pleasure of being in her Govt for the time she has been FM, and I can safely say she has always put interests of the Country first, and governed for all of Scotland.
She is right, politics can be brutal, it impacts on our relationships, our families and of course on our own physical and mental health.
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) February 15, 2023
I hope the FM gets to experience some kind of normality upon standing down, she certainly deserves it.
From leading our response to the pandemic to leading the independence movement to new heights, and many achievements in-between, @NicolaSturgeon should be very proud of what she has achieved as First Minister.
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) February 15, 2023
I am proud to call her my friend. #ThankYouNicola
Updated
The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, has said Nicola Sturgeon is an “able politician” and led Scotland through some of the most “challenging times” in recent history.
He said:
It is right that today we pay tribute to those achievements, particularly during the pandemic.
Regardless of our differences, she is an able politician who has stood at the forefront of Scottish politics for more than 20 years. On a human level that is worthy of respect and thanks.
Sarwar said Sturgeon had “secured her place” in history and he had “never for a moment doubted” her passion for Scotland.
He added:
All too often it is easy to forget that those on the frontline of our politics carry a heavy burden – not only for themselves but for their friends and families.
I – and my entire party – wish her the best in whatever she does next.
But our country, now more than ever, requires a politics focused on delivering the change Scotland needs – by uniting Scotland and not dividing it.
It is clear that Scotland needs new ideas and new passion to make our country the best place to grow up and grow old in.
Updated
Rishi Sunak thanks Nicola Sturgeon for her service
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has thanked Nicola Sturgeon “for her longstanding service”.
He tweeted:
My thanks go to @NicolaSturgeon for her long-standing service. I wish her all the best for her next steps.
We will continue to work closely with the @scotgov on our joint efforts to deliver for people across Scotland.
My thanks go to @NicolaSturgeon for her long-standing service. I wish her all the best for her next steps.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) February 15, 2023
We will continue to work closely with the @scotgov on our joint efforts to deliver for people across Scotland.
Updated
The Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price, has paid tribute to Nicola Sturgeon, calling her a “once in a generation politician” and said her legacy would be Scottish independence.
Price said:
Nicola Sturgeon is a once in a generation politician, driven by a deep and unwavering passion for her country and duty to public service.
Nicola’s political conviction that fairness and equality should be the guiding principles of all progressive governments has been a beacon of light in some of the darkest days of UK democracy.
No woman or man alone will achieve independence – but there will be some who move the dial. Nicola Sturgeon’s legacy will be Scottish independence and for that and all else she has achieved; her tenure will truly be historic.
Updated
Tributes to Sturgeon come in after resignation speech
Reaction from across the political spectrum is starting to pour in following the resignation of Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, hailed Sturgeon as a “true European”.
The taoiseach said:
I pay tribute to Nicola Sturgeon following her decision to stand down as first minister of Scotland. I had the pleasure to work with Nicola through the British Irish Council and met her on a number of occasions. I also welcomed her to government buildings in Ireland during my first tenure as taoiseach.
I always found Nicola a very warm person, articulate and thoughtful, and a very capable politician, who showed huge commitment to her country. She was also a true European. I wish Nicola and her family the very best for the future.
Meanwhile, the Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O’Neill also paid tribute to the outgoing leader.
She said:
It is with regret that I learned of Nicola Sturgeon’s decision to stand down after eight years as first minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National party.
As a friend and colleague, we have worked closely together in recent years, and I have seen the depth of dedication, commitment and energy that Nicola has given. I wish to pay tribute to the huge strides she has made in advancing the campaign for Scottish independence, the strong stance against Brexit and the undermining of devolution by the Tories in London.
The world of politics and all those of us who have had the great pleasure of working with Nicola Sturgeon will miss her leadership. She leaves a legacy for which anyone in politics or public life would be rightly proud and I want to take this opportunity to offer every good wish to Nicola and Peter for the future.
Updated
Nicola Sturgeon has said she is a human being and suggested she has been struggling with “conflicting emotions” since around the turn of the year.
Speaking in Edinburgh, Sturgeon said:
I’m a human being, and every human being every day wrestles with a whole load of conflicting emotions. And over the last number of weeks, probably since around the turn of the year, I’ve been struggling with just that.
You know, I get up in the morning and I tell myself, and usually I convince myself, that I’ve got what it takes to keep going and keep going and keep going. But then I realise that that’s maybe not as true.
She suggested she could have gone on for “maybe” a year, but said:
I know that as time passed I would have less and less energy to give to the job. And I can’t do the job on anything other than a 100% basis.
The country deserves nothing less than that.
The outgoing first minister’s press conference has now ended. I will bring you all the latest reaction to her resignation very shortly.
Updated
Speaking in Edinburgh, Nicola Sturgeon was asked how she had gone from having plenty in the tank three weeks ago to an empty tank today, and it was put to her that she did not mention the police investigation into the party’s finances during her resignation speech.
The outgoing first minister said:
These things are not the reason I’m standing here today.
These are not factors, nor will my decision today affect these things.
Updated
Nicola Sturgeon has indicated she will continue on the backbenches as an MSP at Holyrood.
She said in Scotland there are now “stronger protections for victims of domestic abuse, and parliament will soon consider legislation to improve access to justice for victims of rape and sexual offences”.
Sturgeon added:
I will be the strongest possible advocate for these reforms from the backbenches.
Sturgeon also said the “short-term” issue of the Scottish government’s gender reform legislation being blocked by Westminster was not behind her decision to resign.
The first minister, asked whether the gender identification row was the “straw that broke the camel’s back”, said:
No, that issue wasn’t the final straw. I’m long enough in the tooth, I’ve been in politics a long, long time.
I’m not going to stand here and insult your intelligence and say that I live in a world that is divorced from the reality of what is going on around me.
But it is not the case that this decision is because of short-term issues. I’ve faced more short-term issues from time to time in my years in politics than I care to remember.
And if it was just that, I wouldn’t be standing here today.
She concluded her resignation speech, saying:
So to the people of Scotland, to all of the people of Scotland, whether you’ve voted for me or not, please know that being your first minister has been the privilege of my life. Nothing, absolutely nothing I do in future will ever come anywhere close. Thank you from the very bottom of my heart.”
Sturgeon says she will not give an opinion on who she wants to succeed her as SNP leader.
Taking questions from reporters after announcing her intention to step down, she said:
This is a question that no matter how many times you ask it of me over the next few weeks, no matter how many inventive ways you find of asking it, I’m not going to say who my preference will be to succeed me.
What I do know is that the SNP is awash with talented individuals.
One of the things I’ve often reflected on is that when a political party, any political party in any country, has very dominant individuals, others – through no fault of the dominant individual, I should say, and often not through want of trying – become eclipsed.
So what I’m looking forward to, and I think the country will enjoy over these next few weeks, is seeing that talent and seeing that array of talent.
She added:
I believe I have led this country closer to independence, I believe we are in the final phase of that journey.
I believe that my successor, whoever he or she may be, will lead Scotland to independence, and I’ll be there cheering him or her on every step of the way.
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Nicola Sturgeon has said “I intend to be there” when Scottish independence is won.
Speaking in Edinburgh, Sturgeon said:
Winning independence is the cause I have dedicated a lifetime to. It is a cause I believe in with every fibre of my being. And it is a cause I am convinced as being won.
I intend to be there as it is won, every step of the way.
She said that attending the funeral of a friend and “longstanding independence activist” solidified her decision, adding:
His funeral reminded me that the cause of independence is so much bigger than any one individual. That all of us who believe in it, contribute in different ways at different stages of our lives.
Since I was 16, I have contributed as an activist and campaigner and a leader. And so now as we look to what I firmly believe, is the final stage in Scotland’s journey to independence, albeit a hard one, I hope to use all the experience and perspective I’ve gathered over these years to help get us there.
Nicola Sturgeon said standing down as first minister would “free” the SNP to take a decision on how best to pursue independence “without worrying about the perceived implications for my leadership”.
Speaking in Edinburgh, Sturgeon said:
I feel that duty first and foremost to our country to ensure that it has the energy of leadership that it needs not just today but through the years that remain of this parliamentary term.
And right now, in a very particular sense, I feel that duty to my part too. We are at a critical moment. The blocking of our referendum as the accepted constitutional route to independence is a democratic outrage.
My preference of using the next Westminster election as a de facto referendum is well known.
But she added:
I have always been clear that decision must be taken by the SNP collectively, not by me alone, but I know my party well enough to understand that my view as leader would carry enormous, probably decisive, weight, when our conference meets next month.
And I cannot in good conscience ask the party to choose an option based on my judgment whilst not being convinced that I would be there as leader to see it through.
By making my decision clear now I free the SNP to choose the path it believes to be the right one without worrying about the perceived implications for my leadership.
Sturgeon discussed the polarising discourse experienced by staying as first minister so long.
She said:
I feel more and more each day now that the fixed opinions people increasingly have about me, some fair and others a little more than caricature, are being used as barriers to reason debate in our country.
Statements and decisions that should not be controversial at all quickly become so. Issues that are controversial end up almost irrationally so.
Too often I see issues presented as a result viewed, not on their own merits, but through the prism of what I think and what people think of me.
I’ve always been of the belief that no one individual should be dominant in any system for too long.
She added:
If all parties were to take the opportunity to depolarise public debate just a bit, to focus more on issues that on personalities, and to reset the tone and the tenor of our discourse, then this decision, right for me, and I believe my party and the country, may also prove good for politics.
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Continuing her resignation speech, Nicola Sturgeon says being first minister and deputy first minister has been a “privilege”.
She said:
But they are also really hard and especially in the case of first minister relentlessly so.
Now to be clear, I’m not expecting violins here. But I am a human being as well as a politician.
She added:
My point is this, giving absolutely everything of yourself to this job is the only way to do it. The country deserves nothing less.
But in truth that can only be done by anyone for so long. For me, it is now in danger of becoming too long.
A first minister is never off duty, particularly in this day and age there is virtually no privacy. Even ordinary stuff that most people take for granted like going for a coffee with friends or for a walk on your own becomes very difficult.
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Nicola Sturgeon said she no longer felt she could give the job of first minister everything it deserved, and said she felt she had a duty to say so now.
Speaking in Edinburgh, Sturgeon said leading Scotland through the pandemic is “by far the toughest thing I’ve done”, adding the weight of responsibility was “immense”.
“It’s only very recently I think that I’ve started to comprehend, let alone process, the physical and mental impact of it on me.”
She went on:
If the only question was ‘can I battle on for another few months?’, then the answer is yes, of course I can.
But if the question is, ‘can I give this job everything it demands and deserves for another year, let alone for the remainder of this parliamentary term – give it every ounce of energy that it needs in the way that I have strived to do every day for the past eight years?’ – the answer honestly is different.
And as that is my decision, hard though it has been for me to reach it, then given the nature and scale of the challenges the country faces, I have a duty to say so now.
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Nicola Sturgeon said there needed to be a new SNP leader to make the argument for Scottish independence.
The first minister told a press briefing her party was “firmly on course to win the next election, while our opponents remain adrift”.
She added:
The longer any leader is in office, the more opinions about them become fixed and very hard to change, and that matters.
Individual polls come and go, but I am firmly of the view that there is now majority support for independence in Scotland.
But that support needs to be solidified and it needs to grow further if our independent Scotland is to have the best possible foundation.
To achieve that, we must reach across the divide in Scottish politics and my judgment now is that a new leader would be better able to do this.
Someone whom the mind of almost everyone in the country is not already made up, for better or worse. Someone who is not subject to quite the same polarised opinions, fair or unfair, as I now am.
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Sturgeon says she has been 'wrestling' with resignation for 'some weeks'
The Scottish first minister has set out her reasons for resigning and was at pains to stress that it is not a reaction to “short-term pressures”.
Nicola Sturgeon admitted there were “difficult issues” confronting the government but said she has “plenty of experience to draw on” in “soldiering on when walking away would be the simpler option”.
She said:
This decision comes from a deeper and longer-term assessment. I know it might seem sudden but I have been wrestling with it, albeit with oscillating levels of intensity, for some weeks.
Essentially I’ve been trying to answer two questions. Is carrying on right for me? And, more importantly, is me carrying on right for the country, for my party and for the independence cause I have devoted my life to?
I understand why some will automatically answer ‘yes’ to that second question but, in truth, I have been having to work harder in recent times to convince myself that the answer to either of them when examined deeply is yes and I’ve reached the conclusion that it’s not.
Nicola Sturgeon says she knows the “time is now” for her to stand down as Scotland’s first minister, adding that it is “right for me, for my party and for the country”.
She said:
I know there will be some across the country who feel upset by this decision and by the fact I am taking it now.
Of course, for balance, there will be others who – how can I put this – will cope with the news just fine, such is the beauty of democracy.
But for those who do feel shocked, disappointed, perhaps even a bit angry with me, please be in no doubt this is really hard for me.
My decision comes from a place of duty and of love. Tough love perhaps but love nevertheless for my party and, above all, for the country.
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Nicola Sturgeon resigns as Scottish first minister
Nicola Sturgeon has announced her resignation as Scottish first minister in a press conference at Bute House, Edinburgh, this morning.
She says she will remain in office until a successor is elected.
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Sturgeon resignation news conference about to begin
Nicola Sturgeon’s press conference at her official residence of Bute House, Edinburgh, is due to begin in the next five minutes.
She is expected to resign as Scottish first minister.
Stay tuned for updates from 11am.
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SNP MP Stewart McDonald described Nicola Sturgeon as “the finest public servant of the devolution age” amid reports of her expected departure as Scottish first minister.
“Nicola Sturgeon is the finest public servant of the devolution age,” the MP for Glasgow South tweeted, sharing a photograph of himself with Sturgeon.
“Her public service, personal resilience and commitment to Scotland is unmatched, and she has served our party unlike anyone else. She will be an enormous loss as First Minister and SNP leader. Thank you!”
Nicola Sturgeon is the finest public servant of the devolution age. Her public service, personal resilience and commitment to Scotland is unmatched, and she has served our party unlike anyone else. She will be an enormous loss as First Minister and SNP leader. Thank you! 🏴🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/DyeJU5EkIV
— Stewart McDonald MP (@StewartMcDonald) February 15, 2023
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Alison Thewliss, the SNP MP for Glasgow Central and the party’s home affairs spokesperson, said she was “gutted” at news of Nicola Sturgeon’s impending resignation.
She tweeted:
Absolutely gutted about this. Nicola has been an incredible leader.
Absolutely gutted about this. Nicola has been an incredible leader. https://t.co/0baIAbEFJz
— Alison Thewliss 🧡 (@alisonthewliss) February 15, 2023
Nicola Sturgeon is to quit as Scotland’s first minister later this morning in a shock decision, it has been confirmed to the Guardian.
A source confirmed Sturgeon, who has been the country’s longest serving first minister and is also leader of the Scottish National party, will announce her resignation at 11am today in Edinburgh.
Sturgeon has suffered a series of political setbacks recently, including the UK supreme court defeat of her plans for a fresh independence referendum and the deeply damaging row over a double rapist being sent to a female jail after announcing she was a trans woman.
More to follow, as well as coverage of the 11am press conference.
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Nicola Sturgeon to resign as Scottish first minister – reports
Nicola Sturgeon is expected to resign as first minister of Scotland, according to the BBC.
The Scottish National party leader will give a press conference at her official residence Bute House in Edinburgh at 11am.
It is not clear exactly when she will leave office. Sturgeon is Scotland’s longest-serving first minister having been in post since November 2014.
The BBC chief political correspondent, Nick Eardley, reported a source close to the first minister as saying: “She’s had enough.”
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Defence secretary denies he will resign if Jeremy Hunt refuses defence increase
Negotiations with the Treasury over public spending levels are always an uphill battle, the defence secretary has acknowledged, amid reports he is looking for up to an £11bn increase in defence spending.
Ben Wallace admitted soaring inflation was hitting the Ministry of Defence’s real-terms budget particularly hard, dismissed suggestions he would resign if the chancellor Jeremy Hunt refused to provide the nominal increase he was looking for.
“I’ve been in this game long enough, I have been a minister for God knows how many years, but it’s always an uphill battle with the Treasury, no matter what department you’re in,” Wallace said on Wednesday.
He told Sky News:
It’s the right thing that the secretary of state will argue for an increase to meet their priorities. And of course, between now and the budget, I’ve got lots of time and lots of meetings with the chancellor to make sure that we try and come to a deal on it.
Wallace said he has not hidden the fact defence suffers “from inflation pressures”, adding:
That’s spending on hardware and infrastructure because of course, that’s where inflation goes to but, you know, we’ll see.
I am not going to conduct the negotiations in public, but obviously, we’re going to try and make our way through this so that between now and the next spending review, which is in two years’ time, we can insulate defence from many of those pressures.
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Dame Margaret Hodge has said Labour has “moved on from the very dark days of October 2020 when the EHRC judged us to be a party that was discriminating against Jews”.
Her comments come after the Equality and Human Rights Commission watchdog said it was no longer monitoring Labour after it made the changes demanded over its law-breaking handling of antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn.
Asked if the battle against antisemitism in the party was now over, the Labour MP for Barking told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
No, I think we’ve reached a very significant moment, we’ve moved on from the very dark days of October 2020 when the EHRC judged us to be a party that was discriminating against Jews, Labour members expressing Jew hate, we’ve made fantastic progress but I think when you allow antisemitism, Jew hate, to move from the fringes of your party into the mainstream of the party it takes time, commitment, determination to expel it.
We’ve gone much further than I’d of thought, if you’d had me in the studio two years ago I’d have said it will take five, 10 years. You know I lived through the Militant years in the 80s and that was the sort of time it took to expel that sort of ideology from the party, now, two years on, given a clean bill of health by the EHRC so, ironically, I’m really proud I’ve been proved wrong at the speed of change and actually at the fundamental nature of that change.
On the future of Corbyn, who is now sitting as an independent, she said before this morning’s announcement he will not stand as a Labour MP in the next general election (see post 9.38am):
I cannot think of any circumstances whatsoever under which Jeremy could stand as a candidate for the Labour party at the next general election.
He’s been a master of his own destiny, he knew what he did in the past, he knew what he did when the EHRC came out and he’s only got himself to blame.
I’ve moved on from Corbyn, the party has definitely moved on from Corbyn, the country’s moved on from Corbyn if you see what Labour is gaining now in the polls and I think Corbyn is just part of the past, he’s a relic of yesterday.
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Labour out of EHRC special measures after progress on tackling antisemitism
The Corbyn announcement comes after Labour was taken out of special measures by the equalities watchdog.
Keir Starmer hailed the progress in tackling antisemitism as a watershed moment for the party and, in a speech on Wednesday, will say there is still significant work to be done.
He will say:
Be in no doubt: the job of restoring Labour is not complete. I don’t see today’s announcement as the end of the road. I see it as a signpost that we are heading in the right direction.
It is 18 months since the Equality and Human Rights Commission found the party had acted unlawfully in its treatment of Jewish members under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
Labour said it had expelled hundreds of members, in a process that has caused deep splits in the party, and proscribed Labour-associated groups that had campaigned against the EHRC recommendations.
The former Labour MP Ruth Smeeth, who detailed extensive antisemitic abuse she received, said she would be “forever grateful” for the progress made under Starmer.
“This is such a welcome development from the EHRC and demonstrates quite how far the Labour party has come under Keir’s leadership to tackle the stain of anti-Jewish hatred that had become so prevalent under the last leader,” she said.
Starmer has also issued an ultimatum to Labour MPs who oppose his plans for government to either support him or leave the party.
Keir Starmer said he “challenged” Jeremy Corbyn “both in the shadow cabinet and publicly” on antisemitism.
Asked by reporters whether he could see antisemitism spreading in the party while he was in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, the Labour leader said:
As you know, it’s a matter of record that on antisemitism I challenged the previous leader both in the shadow cabinet and publicly on that.
And it’s absolutely clear that the Labour party lost its way and that’s why I knew that my first duty as leader of the Labour party was to change the Labour party and to tear antisemitism out.
That’s why on my acceptance speech, I made an apology on behalf of the Labour party and made that my commitment.
Meanwhile, on whether he will put Momentum, the grassroots movement supportive of Corbyn, “on notice”, Starmer said:
Well, I have many powers and duties and responsibilities in the Labour party, but that one is not for me, I’m afraid. But look, whatever group or individual in the Labour party, I think the message from this morning couldn’t be clearer.
This is an important day. It’s a day of reflection. The change that we brought about is substantial and it is permanent. The Labour party has changed.
And if there’s anyone in the Labour party that does not like that change, then my message to them is very clear this morning: the door is open, and you can leave.
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Jeremy Corbyn will not be a Labour candidate at next election, says Starmer
Keir Starmer has said Jeremy Corbyn will not stand as a Labour party candidate at the next general election.
Asked by reporters whether he could say “categorically” whether or not his predecessor will stand for the party at the next election, the Labour leader said:
Let me be very clear about that; Jeremy Corbyn will not stand for Labour at the next general election, as a Labour party candidate.
What I said about the party changing, I meant, and we are not going back, and that is why Jeremy Corbyn will not stand as a Labour candidate at the next general election.
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Wallace 'certainly confident' UK can deal with airspace threats
Good morning and welcome to the UK politics live blog.
The defence secretary has been giving media interviews this morning and has said he is “certainly confident” the UK could deal with mystery objects such as those shot down over the US.
It comes amid concerns over suspected Chinese spy balloons and follows comments from the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, that the UK could deploy Typhoon fighter jets to deal with any threat to its airspace.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Ben Wallace said:
Yes, I’m certainly confident that we could deal with them if we wished to, or indeed if they posed a threat to the population or our national security.
I think the key here is to analyse the data share, you know, with the United States and Canada, what they have discovered and obviously they recovered, and they’re still recovering parts of that debris.
And we’ll learn a lot from that. And I think once we’ve discovered what it was, what some of them were, and we add that to our knowledge of our own atmosphere, and airspace, I think we can get into a pretty good position of being confident about what our limits are, and indeed what we can do about it.
The latest discussion comes as a report from the government’s independent watchdog on surveillance found that British police are leaving themselves open to spying by Beijing because of their reliance on Chinese-made cameras.
Most forces across England and Wales use camera equipment that is either made in China or contains important Chinese components, the biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner has warned.
Asked whether the Chinese government is hacking CCTV in the UK, the defence secretary told Kay Burley on Sky News:
Well, they’re not hopefully … I don’t think they are hacking our sensitive CCTV cameras and we take every effort to protect areas that are sensitive from anybody hacking it, whether it’s China or whether it is another nation.
And there are two parts to protecting our infrastructure. One is to make sure that the quality of the equipment we buy is protected from being hacked.
I’m Tom Ambrose, covering for Andrew Sparrow this week. The Commons is still in recess but I will continue to bring you all the latest news from Westminster throughout the day.
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