Here’s a roundup of today’s politics news, as the former chief executive of the Scottish National party Peter Murrell, who is Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, has been arrested in connection with a police investigation into party finance and funding.
Meanwhile the Home Office – whose head, Suella Braverman, faces a vote to get selected for a parliamentary seat tonight - has announced it will moor a barge to house 500 asylum-seeking men in Dorset.
Police Scotland arrested Peter Murrell, 58, on Wednesday morning in connection with an investigation into party funding. He is in police custody.
Officers have been seen at Murrell and Sturgeon’s home in Glasgow, including with a spade in her garden, and at the SNP headquarters in central Edinburgh.
Sturgeon was reportedly picked up at 8.10am before police arrived at 8.30am.
The new SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, said it was “clearly not great” and a “challenging day for the SNP”.
The Home Office has confirmed it has leased a boat to house 500 adult men who are asylum seekers off the coast of south Dorset, at Portland port.
It is the latest measure in the government’s strategy to tackle the small boats crisis, and deter people from trying to travel across the Channel in makeshift rafts.
The Home Office said the boat would be operational for about 18 months. It will have to be towed from Genoa, Italy where it is currently docked as it does not have an engine.
Amnesty International said the use of the barge was “ministerial cruelty”.
The government has suggested that further boats could be used and the pilot expanded to house more people, along with centres at inactive RAF bases.
The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has blamed Conservatives for failing to clear “the asylum backlog”.
Richard Drax, the Conservative MP for South Dorset, told GB News that the decision to house asylum seekers on a barge in Portland port in Dorset would lead to an “influx” of illegal immigrants to a “sensitive seaside town”.
Braverman, the home secretary, faces a selection contest for a new Fareham and Waterlooville seat on Wednesday evening.
She is standing against Flick Drummond. Both of them are MPs in Hampshire whose seats are being abolished by the boundary review.
The government’s pay offer to teachers in England is in tatters after the headteachers’ union announced its members had overwhelmingly rejected it.
The US president, Joe Biden, will visit Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland from 11 April to 14 April to “mark the tremendous progress since the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement 25 years ago”, the White House has confirmed.
That’s it from me, Donna Ferguson, and for our rolling UK political coverage today. We’ll be back tomorrow morning.
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Portland port said it would be working with the government to maximise the business opportunities and said it welcomed the investment in the local economy.
Bill Reeves, chief executive of Portland port, said: “We welcome this investment in the port and local economy.
“We will be working closely with the Home Office to maximise the benefits and business opportunities while minimising any impact on public services.
“We understand local concerns and, as the port operator and a local business, have a vested interest of our own in the safe and secure use of the vessel.
“We are insisting that no economic migrants, criminals or under-18s are included in the population on board under a robust screening process.
“We are keen to ensure that only those people considered suitable and most deserving after passing strict checks are able to reside at Portland.
“There will be close cooperation with local agencies, including the health, welfare and emergency services during the preparations for the vessel’s arrival and its operation. We also hope to work closely with local community and voluntary groups.
“Although they won’t be able to work, we hope that some of the asylum seekers will be able to volunteer and make a contribution to the local area too.”
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