Top Starmer aide resigns over explicit Diane Abbott messages in further blow to PM – as it happened

Paul Ovenden has resigned. Photograph: Imageplotter/Alamy Live News/Alamy Live News.

5.45pm BST

Afternoon summary

• A senior adviser to Keir Starmer has resigned after it was revealed he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.

• The MP Danny Kruger has defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK, declaring the Tory party “is over” and Nigel Farage is the “new custodian” of conservatism and the political right’s “last hope” of governing Britain.

• Keir Starmer has broken his silence about sacking Peter Mandelson as US ambassador over the envoy’s close friendship with the financier Jeffrey Epstein.

• Downing Street has fiercely condemned Elon Musk for using “dangerous and inflammatory” language, after he told a crowd of protesters in London that “violence is coming” and “you either fight back or you die”.

For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.

5.40pm BST

Former Tory minister Steve Baker says Kruger's defection is 'seismic' political event

Steve Baker, the former Tory minister and leading pro-Brexit organiser in parliament, has told the PM programme that the defection of Danny Kruger to Reform UK will have an impact on the whole nation. He explained

I regard this as a major seismic event, politically, one which will have long-term aftershocks, which will be felt by the whole nation.

For two reasons, if I may.

First, because Danny is a man of skill, talent, vision and experience, capable of making Reform fit to govern. He’s not to be underestimated. You can see that, if you listen to his speech and hear how he answered questions, it is for good reason that he’s worked for multiple prime ministers over 15 years.

Secondly, because I’m afraid none of this can be understood without realising that across the whole western world the major axis of politics is no longer economic organisation, it’s no longer capitalism versus socialism, it’s cosmopolitan globalists versus communitarian nationalists. You see that in the USA. You see here,

And what’s happening is that Danny is the Conservative party’s intellectual leader for the communitarian nationalists.

UPDATE: Baker also said on PM he thought Nigel Farage would ultimate seek to agree some sort of pact with the Tories. He explained:

Nigel Farage must know from polling that he’s not really very likely to secure an outright majority with a landslide.

It’s quite likely at the next election that what he’ll do is be the largest party in parliament, but at the moment it looks like without some kind of deal, he’ll have so wiped out the Conservatives that they’re not large enough to get him over the line in a coalition.

So the big challenge for Nigel is, does he really want to go down to the absolute last mile of trying to destroy the Conservatives? And if so, is he willing to have the blame for leaving this rotten Labour party still in power? I don’t think he’ll do that.

I reckon about a year out from the election he’ll realise he doesn’t want the blame for Labour continuing in power with no idea what to do. And he’ll end up with some kind of electoral pact and then a coalition.

Updated at 6.18pm BST