Early evening summary
The Green party would abolish Ofsted because they view it as a “failed institution”, Zack Polanski, its leader, has told a teaching union conference. (See 3.34pm.)
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.
NEU gives Polanski standing ovation as Green leader says he's actively courting trade unions 'let down by Labour'
Sally Weale is the Guardian’s education correspondent.
Green leader Zack Polanski has wooed teachers with a savage attack on the government’s education record, promising instead the abolition of Ofsted, “a serious cash injection” into schools and a halt to further academisation. (See 3.34pm.)
Making the first in a series of major speeches to trade unions as part of his party’s pitch to “replace Labour”, Polanski won a standing ovation from National Education Union (NEU) member attending their annual conference in Brighton.
As the first Green leader to ever address the NEU, Polanski said education had been “pushed to the brink by the toxic twin pressures of ideologically-driven reorganisation, and an unforgivable squeeze in budgets”.
At a time when there is growing frustration with Labour among teachers – many of whom helped vote the party into power – Polanski’s speech offered much that pleased NEU members.
There were huge cheers at the Greens’ plan to tax “extreme” wealth to provide more money for schools. His criticism of academies drew enthusiastic applause, and his call for the abolition of Ofsted didn’t quite bring the house down but was predictably well received. Teachers are deeply unhappy about Labour’s Ofsted reforms, which many feel only makes the inspection worse.
Polanski’s speech was welcomed by NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede who said more than 60% of his members had voted Labour at the last election, adding: “I think our membership feels that Zach speaks more for schools and education than Labour do at the moment.”
In an interview with the Times published today, Polanski said he was making a deliberate effort to court trade unions. He said:
When I became Green party leader I said I wasn’t here to be disappointed by Labour – I’m here to replace them. And a crucial part of that is connecting with the organised labour movement.
Historically, most trade unions have been very strongly linked to the Labour party but that link is starting to break as it becomes clear the Labour party is no longer the party of working people.
Since becoming leader I’ve had lots of really fruitful conversations with key union figures, and it’s clear that many people in trade unions are feeling really let down by this Labour government and are ready to work more closely with the Green party.
Swinney says he would demand control of energy policy from Westminster on day one after SNP Holyrood election victory
Libby Brooks is the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent.
The first full week of campaigning for the Scottish parliament elections kicked off with a flurry of party events and a couple of running stories that could impact SNP support.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar was in the Western Isles, pledging more support for rural transport just as ferry operators CalMac warned island passengers of widespread disruption and “unprecedented” pressure, with eight of the operator’s vessels out of service at some point in the past week. Islanders have been describing shops empty of fresh produce, urgent hospital appointments missed and business lost because their transport is grounded, adding to an ongoing consensus that rural transport infrastructure – whether ferries or roads – has withered under the SNP.
Further north, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay was joined in Aberdeen by the UK Tory leader Kemi Badenoch who was promoting her party’s “cheap energy plan”. (See 10.24am.) Around the same time, SNP leader John Swinney revealed he would draft a section 30 order to acquire the responsibilities over energy on the first day after he was re-elected as first minister. (An order that would require approval from the UK government – something they’d be highly unlikely to give.)
Swinney said:
If Westminster will not act to bring down bills, they should get out of the way for a government that will. It’s Scotland’s energy – and it should be in Scotland’s hands.
And if the UK government refuse, it will only confirm that if we want to make Scotland’s energy wealth work for Scotland and bring down bills, that is only available through the fresh start of independence that I am offering at this election.
Swinney was also asked about Jordan Linden, the former SNP council leader who was convicted of sexual offences last week, prompting an investigation by the party into whether it brushed aside early warnings about his behaviour. Swinney has previously apologised to Linden’s victims.
Here is the clip from Keir Starmer speaking on camera at the start of the No 10 roundtable on the economic impact of the Iran war. (See 4.48pm.)
BREAKING: "The government can't do it on its own, you can't do it on your own."
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 30, 2026
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has told business chiefs in Downing Street the economic response to the Iran war must be 'a joint effort'.https://t.co/2teP2G7sm8
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602 pic.twitter.com/jK8kF4hHQO
Starmer said:
It’s not our war, but it is our duty to protect British citizens.
Particularly their concern will be not just the escalation of the war, but this sense that it’s going to hit them and their families and their households.
And I think probably uppermost in their minds at the moment is energy bills, petrol and also food prices.
Address the business executives at the meeting, he said:
The government can’t do it on its own. You can’t do it on your own.
We’re going to have to work together on this
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay refuses to rule out backing Anas Sarwar to be first minister, to keep out Swinney
Russell Findlay, the Scottish Conservative leader, has refused to rule out backing Anas Sarwar to be first minister.
As the Press Association (PA) reports, Findlay was asked outright if he would instruct his MSPs in the new parliament to back the Scottish Labour leader for Bute House during a visit to Aberdeen with UK leader Kemi Badenoch.
While he refused to be drawn on supporting Sarwar, the Tory leader said he could never back John Swinney to return to the job.
He said:
First and foremost, I’m fighting for every single Scottish Conservative vote and as many Scottish Conservative MSPs as possible.
I’m just not going to get into post-election speculation about numbers, which none of us in this room or further afield know anything about.
But what I will say, categorically, is I will not support and will never support an SNP first minister or SNP government.
His comments come following a story in The Scotsman which quotes a senior Labour source, who says the party winning about a dozen constituencies in Scotland’s central belt could put them in a position to lead the government, but they would need the votes of other unionist parties, including Reform UK. PA says a deal between Labour and Reform would come as a surprise to many given the fractious relationship between the two parties, including a row in a byelection last year where social media ads produced by Nigel Farage’s party about Sarwar were described as “racist” by critics.
The spectre of a deal between the two parties was raised by SNP first minister John Swinney at his party’s campaign launch, where he denied the idea was a “scare story”, PA says.
Starmer calls for ‘joint effort’ with business on Iran war economic impact
Business leaders have been urged to help address the economic impact of the Iran war as Keir Starmer admitted the government could not shoulder all the burden, the Press Association reports. PA says:
Bosses from energy, shipping and banking firms were called in to Downing Street for talks as Donald Trump threatened to escalate the Middle East conflict.
The Downing Street discussions focused on Iran’s ongoing blockade of the strait of Hormuz, which has disrupted a vital shipping route for the oil and gas industry along with supplies of other products such as fertiliser.
The crisis has pushed up prices and caused economic uncertainty around the world.
The prime minister told the executives gathered in Downing Street it must be a “joint effort” to tackle the impact of the war, saying “the government can’t do it on its own”.
Zack Polanski tells NEU teachers' union Greens oppose academisation and would abolish 'toxic, failed' Ofsted
The Green party would abolish Ofsted because they view it as a “failed institution”, Zack Polanski, its leader, has told a teaching union conference.
Polanski also said that the Greens were opposed to the academisation of schools and that they believe that Labour is not fixing the “failings” in the system by the Tories, but embedding them.
In a speech to the National Education Union’s annual conference, Polanski said:
Ofsted is a toxic, failed institution which is harming teachers and children – and it’s time to end it.
Talking about school structures more generally, he said:
This government’s reforms are simply tinkering around the edges.
We need to end the Ofsted era entirely and move towards a genuinely collaborative model. One that connects teachers on the frontline with local experts – specialists in pedagogy, child development and social care – we must make sure teachers have the support and guidance they need to meet the needs of their pupils.
And then we need to talk about academies. Another failed model pushed on to teachers and children by previous governments’ ideological drive to marketise our children’s education. And the results have been stark: a fragmented system with poor accountability, allowing academy CEOs to be paid enormous salaries while pay and conditions for their staff worsen.
Research into the impact of academisation on learning has found no positive impact on the attainment and progress of pupils in multi-academy trusts, compared to other schools. And in fact, in larger multi-academy trusts, particularly secondary schools, the results were worse.
Polanski may have been talking about research papers like this one, which has been cited by the NEU.
Referring to Labour, Polanski said:
This government came in promising to fix the failings in the system – but the new schools white paper would entrench them. Forcing every school to join a multi-academy trust when we know that this model weakens accountability to local authorities, parents and the local community.
Polanski also said education needed a “serious cash injection”.
The UK currently invests approximately just 4.1% of GDP in education, below the OECD average of just under 5%. That puts us significantly behind top-performing countries like Iceland, investing 5.6%, and Norway at 6.2%.
He said the Greens could fund higher educational spending by taxing extreme wealth, saying that “the average wealth of a billionaire in the UK grew by more than £230m last year”.
Updated
Here are some more pictures from Kemi Badenoch’s visit to an oil rig in docked in Aberdeen.
Greens criticise Badenoch's cheap energy plan, saying Tories 'not living in same world as rest of us'
The Green party has criticised what Kemi Badenoch is calling her cheap energy plan. (see 10.24am.) It has issued this statement from the party’s new MP, Hannah Spencer.
Kemi Badenoch is not living in the same world as the rest of us – where we can see first-hand that decades of failure to properly insulate our homes and invest in renewables has left us all vulnerable to ridiculous price shocks.
The Tories, Reform and rightwing media are deliberately failing to explain that UK oil and gas are priced on global markets, and new fields take years to deliver while adding only limited supply. Hundreds of licences issued between 2010 and 2024 have delivered the equivalent of just 36 days’ extra gas.
Labour’s position isn’t good enough either. A “ban” on new licences doesn’t mean much if loopholes like tiebacks still allow new drilling to go ahead.
Successive governments keep failing to listen to ordinary people who’re sick of seeing bills go up, and workers like me who have experience in this industry. We’ve been saying for years that we have the leakiest homes in Europe. It would be much cheaper to invest in a proper, well-regulated national insulation scheme than to have to keep subsidising people’s bills and pouring public money into energy company profits.
The Green party is clear: stop new oil and gas, close the loopholes, and invest properly in the transition to renewable energy.
Welsh Labour 'not fully facing up to difficult fiscal reality facing next Welsh government', IFS thinktank says
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has described Welsh Labour’s pledge not to put up income tax (see 12.12pm and 1.36pm) as “risky”. It is issued an initial response to the Welsh Labour manifesto plans written by David Phillips, its head of devolved and local government finance, and he says:
In terms of taxation, Welsh Labour’s key pledge is a promise to not do something – increase the Welsh rates of income tax (WRITs).
Since 2019–20, UK government income tax rates on income other than from savings and dividends have been reduced by 10 percentage points in Wales. The Senedd sets the WRITs on top of these UK rates and until now has set each of the rates (basic, higher and additional) at 10%. As a result, the overall income tax rates are the same as in England and Northern Ireland. Welsh Labour says that for the next four years it would continue to set income tax rates no higher than they are in England and Northern Ireland.
That doesn’t mean income tax overall won’t change – the UK government is freezing income tax thresholds, dragging more people into tax and into higher rates of tax. If the UK government were to change its tax rates, those changes would apply in Wales too unless the Welsh government made offsetting changes to the WRITs. And the manifesto leaves open the possibility of setting income tax rates in Wales lower than in England and Northern Ireland.
Stability in tax policy is, in general, good – it helps businesses and individuals to plan, and avoids the administration and compliance costs that frequent or unexpected changes can incur. But cast-iron promises not to increase tax rates (above rates in England and Northern Ireland) for a whole term are risky. Circumstances can change and closing off the Welsh government’s single largest tax-raising power would limit room for manoeuvre.
Phillips also analyses the spending plans in the manifesto, which he says would “almost certainly require cuts to spending on some other services”. He concludes:
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that despite being in government for 27 years, Welsh Labour, like the other Welsh parties, is not fully facing up to the difficult fiscal reality facing the next Welsh government.
Andrew Rosindell loses legal bid to keep his office in Romford Tory association office despite his defection to Reform UK
An MP has lost a high court bid to be let back into his former constituency office after being locked out following his defection from the Conservatives to Reform, the Press Association reports. PA says:
Andrew Rosindell, who has represented the Romford constituency in east London since 2001, defected in January and was later locked out of the constituency office he had occupied for more than 20 years at Margaret Thatcher House in Romford.
The MP began legal proceedings against the Romford Conservative Association (RCA), which runs the building, with his lawyers telling a hearing on Monday it had “taken the law into its own hands” and that he should be granted an injunction allowing him “full and unfettered” access.
The RCA opposed the bid, with its barristers telling the court in London that it was “blindingly obvious” that Rosindell’s licence to use the premises only applied when he was a Conservative and that he could “spy” on its activities in the run-up to the local elections.
In a ruling, Mr Justice Choudhury refused the injunction bid, stating Rosindell’s case was “intrinsically weak” and that he “ought to have realised that he had surrendered his right to occupy” his office.
He said: “It would have been obvious to him from the moment of defecting that continued occupation would be unsustainable.”
The judge continued that the need for those using the building to “share a common cause” with the Conservative party “strikes me as not only necessary … but consistent with common sense”, and that there was no evidence that Rosindell had sought alternative accommodation.
He also ordered Rosindell to pay £23,000 of RCA’s legal costs.
Adam Richardson, for the MP, told the court in written submissions that the agreement to use the building saw monthly payments of around £1,250 in return for exclusive use of an office at the site and full access for Rosindell and his staff.
After the defection, the association said the agreement for him to use the building was invalid and later changed the locks without notice, with Rosindell’s staff only allowed to retrieve work items under supervision.
Mr Richardson said: “The proper course would have been to seek possession through the court. Instead, the respondent has taken the law into its own hands. Such conduct is unlawful irrespective of the ultimate determination of any dispute as to the validity of the arrangements.”
The barrister continued that the lockout was “materially impairing” Rosindell’s ability to serve his constituents and deprived him of safety measures inside the building, including CCTV and a panic room.
In court, Tiffany Scott KC, for the association, said there was an “implied term” in the agreement for Rosindell to use the site that meant it would “terminate automatically upon Rosindell leaving the Conservative party”.
Updated
The Welsh Conservatives have posted this on social media about Welsh Labour’s tax pledge. (See 12.12pm.)
Labour are only talking about freezing taxes because the Welsh Conservatives are leading with plans to cut them.
We’ll cut income tax, scrap stamp duty, back businesses and #GetWalesWorking
Last week’s YouGov MRP poll suggests that, after the Senedd elections, the Tories will have just one seat (out of 96). In 2021 they won 16 seats (out of 60).
And this is from Dan Thomas, Reform UK’s leader in Wales, commenting on the Labour plan.
A frozen tax is a stealth tax.
If your wages increase, more of your earnings will be taxed, often at a higher rate.
Labour have now made fiscal drag a key pledge for the election.
Reform will cut taxes to cut the cost of living.
Thomas seems to be confusing a freeze in tax thresholds (which is not what Welsh Labour is promising – although thresholds have been frozen by the UK Labour government) with a freeze in tax rates (which is what it is promising).
Updated
Foreign Office dismisses allegations of spying against British diplomat as 'baseless'
The UK has accused Russia of an “aggressive and coordinated campaign of harassment” after a British diplomat was expelled from Moscow over spying allegations, the Press Association reports. PA says:
Claims made against the unnamed diplomat are “malicious” and “baseless”, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said.
Espionage was uncovered by Moscow’s security and counterintelligence agency, according to Russian media, with the diplomat ordered to leave within two weeks.
This is the second British diplomat this year to be removed from Russia over allegations of spying.
Starmer says no need for drivers to stock up on petrol, as government plays down prospect of fuel rationing
Keir Starmer has said that he will chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee tomorrow to discuss the economic impact of the Iran war.
Speaking to broadcasters this morning, he said that at today’s roundtable meeting he would be “bringing together the shipping sector, insurance and energy” to discuss the Iran war. He went on:
A lot of discussion about the strait of Hormuz and what we can do to get the straits open, which is the single most effective way to bring energy prices down.
I will have a Cobra tomorrow, another Cobra, to look at the economic impacts of the war and making sure that everything that we need to have in place, everything is monitored and audited properly.
Asked about whether petrol rationing was being considered, as it has in other European nations, Starmer insisted the advice to motorists is that there was “no need to do anything other than what is normal”.
Later, at the Downing Street lobby briefing, asked about possible petrol rationing, the PM’s spokesperson said:
To be very clear, as the PM has said and as the government have said, and indeed industry have said, fuel production and imports are continuing.
The UK benefits from diverse and resilient supply.
Petrol stations in the UK are well-stocked nationally and any suggestion otherwise is incorrect.
Other countries are starting to introduce measures to curb fuel use in the light of the global shortage created by the Iran war.
This is what the Senedd would look like after the elections in May if the YouGov MRP poll released last week (see 12.38pm) turns out to be an accurate guide to the results.
And this chart from YouGov explains how a result like this would give Plaid Cymru two options for forming a majority government in coalition with a smaller party.
Plaid Cymru urges voters to choose 'hope over division' at campaign launch for 'most important election' since devolution
Rhun ap Iorwerth, the leader of Plaid Cymru, has urged voters to “choose hope over division” as he launched his party’s bid to end three decades of Labour rule in Wales, the Press Association reports. PA says:
Plaid is hoping to form the first non-Labour led government in Cardiff Bay since devolution in 1999.
An MRP poll published last week, conducted by YouGov for ITV Cymru Wales, suggested Plaid Cymru remains on course to be the biggest party in May, with Reform the second largest and Labour third.
Ap Iorwerth, a former BBC journalist, also launched Plaid’s key election pledges, which include cutting NHS waiting lists and speeding up treatment times, helping families with £30,000 worth of free childcare, improving educational standards and tackling child poverty.
“We will stand up for Wales to get a fair deal from Westminster,” he told supporters at the campaign launch at Bedwas Workmen’s Hall and Institute in Caerphilly.
“May 7 is a historic opportunity to change Wales for the better.
“Labour’s time is up – they are now out of the picture.
“This campaign is a straight choice between Plaid Cymru and Reform, between hope and division, between credibility and chaos.
“Plaid Cymru is the only party with an ambitious and deliverable plan to bring down those waiting times, to raise education standards, to support families with that universal childcare offer, to support businesses and the Welsh high streets, giving them the backing that they deserve.
“Reform are making it up as they go along. They will never make it their priority to do the right thing for Wales and for its communities.”
Plaid launched its campaign in Caerphilly – the scene of its Senedd byelection victory against Labour last year and ap Iorwerth said that Lindsay Whittle’s win in the contest could be a “blueprint for success in all parts of Wales”.
He said: “I have no doubt that our nation has so much untapped potential, and if we have the honour of leading Welsh government for the next four years, we are determined in Plaid Cymru to unleash it.
“We in no doubt, this is the most important election in the history of devolution.”
Updated
Welsh Labour promises to freeze income tax rates if re-elected in Senedd election
Bethan McKernan is the Guardian’s Wales correspondent.
Welsh Labour leader Eluned Morgan has launched her party’s manifesto for May’s Senedd elections, pledging to freeze income tax rates if re-elected.
Speaking at a rally-like launch in Swansea on Monday, Morgan said she was focused on the cost of living crisis because “times have been tough enough already” for Welsh voters.
The NHS also featured heavily in Morgan’s speech, in which she guaranteed that people seeking primary care would be seen by a member of a primary care team within 48 hours, vowed to cut Wales’ long waiting lists, and promised £4bn for new hospitals over the next decade. Other Welsh Labour manifesto pledges included 20,000 new childcare places and capping bus fares.
The Welsh government has been able to raise or lower income tax since 2019, but has not done so to date. Westminster’s decision to extend a freeze in income tax thresholds until 2031 will push taxpayers into higher brackets or pull more people into paying tax, and is predicted to have a disproportionate effect in Wales, where average salaries tend to be lower than the rest of the UK.
Voters in Wales go to the polls on 7 May to elect 96 members to the new Senedd, up from 60 members, under a new more proportional voting system.
After 27 years in government, Welsh Labour are struggling in the polls; several surveys suggest the vote is a two-horse race between Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, with Labour in a distant third.
How Starmer's trying to capitalise on Trump's Iran war taunts - snap verdict on PM's local elections launch speech
The English local elections are all but certain to be a nightmare for Labour (see 9.20am), and it is understandable why the party wanted to make today’s campaign launch low key. The government is focusing on living standards, and Keir Starmer was keen to stress various measures coming into force tomorrow or next week which will help people. (See 9.42am.) All of this was quite routine. While Nigel Farage can get hundreds of supporters to turn out for a huge rally, this was a relatively small event, involving party activists and cabinet ministers (who, judging by the pictures – see below – did not seem overjoyed about being there).
What was most striking about Starmer speech, though, was what he said about the Iran war (explicitly), and Donald Trump (implicitly).
For most of the time Trump has been president, Starmer has chosen to handle him by sucking up to him shamlesslessly. There have been some public disagreements (on Greenland, and the record of Nato troops in Afghanistan), but generally Starmer has sought to avoid antagonising the president, and has sought to play down, or ignore, their differences in public.
With the Iran war, and Trump now ridiculing the UK and Starmer on an almost daily basis, that is becoming harder.
A week ago Starmer told MPs that was responding to the Trump insults by, essentially, ignoring them, and focusing on his job and the national interest.
But today he was more creative, implicitly trying to capitalise on Trump’s bullying to his own advantage. He was at his most passionate talking about the war, and this is what he said:
People look at their screens and they’re worried when they see explosions, infrastructure blown up, the rhetoric that goes with it, worried about whether this is going to escalate even further.
And therefore it’s really important that I reiterate where I stand and where this government stands, because this is not our war and we are not going to be dragged into it.
This generated loud applause.
Starmer went on
Yes, of course we will defend British lives and British interests in the region. We’ll stand by our allies in the Gulf region, but we’re not going to get dragged in. That’s my values, that’s my principles, and that’s what we’ve applied to our decisions, whatever the pressure and whoever it’s coming from.
The anti-Trump jibe came in the final clause. It was not very direct, and it is a long way from what Ed Davey or Zack Polanski would say about the president, but it still quite a shift from what used to be Starmer’s default, deferential stance towards the White House.
The Tories, and the rightwing papers, have been gleefully relishing Trump’s anti-Starmer diatribes. Now the PM has found a way of boasting about them on his CV.
Updated
Starmer ended his speech talking about the NHS, where he named Wes Streeting, the health secretary, as the person leading efforts to improve it.
He said:
This is the thing, I think, that broke all of our hearts is that confidence in the NHS was a record high in 2010 and then it plummeted under the last government because of what they did to the NHS.
Gradually, through the hard work that we’ve put in, the investment we’ve put in, Wes’s leadership, that confidence is going back up because people can see that it matters to us.
We don’t see public services just as a chart of how much money you can save here or there. We see it as something you invest in because they’re vital for people.
This did not sound like the sort of thing that Starmer would say if, as some reports have claimed, he were thinking of sacking Streeting.
If this had been a major launch, with a lot of national media journalists present and Starmer taking questions, someone might have asked about today’s Guardian report saying the NHS is set to miss key targets to shorten waiting times for help at A&E, cancer care and planned hospital treatment.
But it was not that sort of event, and after Starmer’s speech the formal part of the event wrapped up.
Updated
Starmer complained about other parties whipping up division, and he specifically criticised Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, for “complaining about Muslims praying in public”.
Labour, by contrast, values bringing people together, he said.
And he highlighted Labour’s Pride in Place programme as an example of that.
He claimed this was an example of Labour trusting people, because under the scheme “you decide what the money is spent on, because you’re going to have a better idea than someone in Westminster or Whitehall, and that’s why it’s Pride in Wolverhampton. Let Wolverhampton decide.”
Starmer refers to Labour’s cost of living measures (see 9.42am), saying that energy bills will start going down this month because of a decision by the government.
Starmer insists UK won't get 'dragged into' Iran war, highlighting his willingness to resist Trump's calls for more help
Keir Starmer is speaking now.
He thanks Sarah, and say he has the cabinet with him in the room. There is a lot of energy there, he claims.
Moving into the substance of his speech, he starts by referring to the Ukraine war, praising the courage of the Ukrainians, before move on to the Iran war.
He goes on:
People look at their screens and they’re worried when they see explosions, infrastructure blown up, the rhetoric that goes with it, worried about whether this is going to escalate even further.
And therefore it’s really important that I reiterate where I stand and where this government stands, because this is not our war and we are not going to be dragged into it.
He says this applies “whatever the pressure [to join in] and whoever it’s coming from”.
(Starmer is referring to Donald Trump at this point, highlighting is refusal to comply with Trump’s requests for more military support.)
Starmer says Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch both “wanted to go straight in, with both feet, into the war without thinking through the consequences”.
And he criticises Zack Polanski for wanting to leave Nato.
Powell introduces “Sarah from Dudley”, who is talking about having two “amazing” adopted twins.
Sarah is talking about the impact of the 30-hour free childcare allowance introduced by Labour. It has saved the family £400 a week, she says. It meant she could return to work full-time, she says.
Powell goes on to make jokes (not particularly good ones) about Nigel Farage and Zack Polanki.
Farage has got a new job as Donald Trump’s intern, she says.
And she says Polanski is making “hypnotic promises” that are “just an illusion”.
Labour launches its English local elections campaign
The Labour local elections launch is starting.
Lucy Powell, the deputy leader, is opening the proceedings.
She starts by saying the party is “immensely proud” of the way Keir Starmer has dealt with the Iran war, and his decision “in the face of a lot of pressure and criticism not to follow blindly into an offensive war”.
In Australia the Labor government has announced that it is halving excise duty on fuel for three months. Only last week Reform UK called for VAT on road fuel to halved for three months. Explaining the policy, Reform UK said:
The tax cut would reduce pump prices by around 12p per litre for petrol and 14p per litre for diesel at current prices, at a static exchequer cost of about £1.5bn. The measure could be funded within current spending envelopes using the estimated £2.7bn windfall from higher oil prices that the chancellor has received.
Tories call for VAT on household energy bills to be removed for three years
At the Conservative party conference last year, the Tories announced plans to cut £165 a year from the average household energy bill by getting rid of the renewables obligation subsidy and the carbon tax.
Today Kemi Badenoch is visiting an oil rig in the North Sea to publicise what the Conservatives are calling their cheap energy plan. In addition to the measures announced last year, they are now proposing removing VAT from household energy bills for three years. They say this would save the average household £94 per year, at a cost of £2.2bn. They say they would fund this by cutting subsisides for renewables.
In a statement issued overnight, Badenoch said:
Labour promised to cut energy bills by £300 but they are still higher than when they took office. Instead, Ed Miliband is blocking drilling in the North Sea during an energy crisis and Rachel Reeves is hiking taxes on working families to pay the energy bills of those on benefits.
The Conservatives would use extra tax revenue from our plan to Get Britain Drilling in the North Sea to cut taxes and ease the cost of living. Our cheap power plan would scrap VAT on energy bills and cut bills by £200 for every family.
Badenoch also says the Tories would “back the North Sea” by allowing new oil and gas drilling licences to be issued, and repealing the windfall tax on energy firms. They claim this would boost tax revenues, which could be used to cut costs for households.
Updated
Labour highlights 13 'key cost of living measures' coming into force within next week as it launches local elections campaign
As Jessica Elgot reports in her overnight story on the Labour local elections launch this morning, Keir Starmer will also highlight what Labour is doing to help people with the cost of living.
In his news release issued ahead of the launch, Labour has highlighted more than a dozen measures coming into force within the next week that it says will help people with the cost of living. Here is the list.
Key cost of living measures coming into force on 1 April:
-Prescription charge freeze, keeping prescriptions under £10
-National Living Wage (age 21+) rises to £12.71 an hour - 4.1% increase
-National Minimum Wage (age 18-20) rises to £10.85, under 18 £8, apprentice £8
-Energy bill support - average £117 reduction on household energy bills, applied to all households on top of £150 Warm Homes Discount for millions of low income households.
-Benefits uprating - most inflation-linked benefits to rise by 3.8% (CPI Sept 2025)
-Child benefit increases
-Crisis & Resilience Fund launches (replacing Household Support Fund). New £1 billion per year fund begins April 2026.Offers: Cash‑first crisis payments; Housing payments (replacing Discretionary Housing Payments)
-Healthy Start vouchers increase by 50p a week
Key cost of living measures coming into force on 6 April:
-State pension uplift - increasing by 4.8% rising to £241.30 per week
-Two child limit removed - expected to lift 450,000 children out of poverty
-Statutory Sick Pay rights from day 1
-Day one entitlement to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave
-Universal credit standard allowances receive an additional 2.3% uplift
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Starmer to say Iran war means Labour’s values needed more than ever at local elections campaign launch
Good morning. Keir Starmer will today chair a meeting in Downing Street on how the government responds to the economic consequences of the Iran war, which has the potential to upend much of what the government is trying to do to improve living standards. And so he is probably not too happy about the fact that this morning he has to attend an event in the West Midlands launching Labour’s English local elections campaign.
It is a relatively low-key launch. “The Westminster press pack wasn’t invited for a full Q&A,” Politico reports. Starmer will be back in London later for his Iran war meeting.
No one expects Labour to do well in the local elections and last week Stephen Fisher, an Oxford politics professor and an elections expert who works with John Curtice on the widely admired general election exit polls, published his projections for how many seats he expects parties to win and lose in the English local elections, based on current polling and other factors. It is terrible reading for Labour.
As Fisher points out in his blog on this, his equivalent forecast for Labour losses in 2025 turned out to be reasonably accurate.
According to the extracts from his speech briefed in advance, Starmer will not be forecasting success for Labour at the local elections, but he will argue that the war in Iran means that Labour is needed more than ever. He will say:
We’re going to fight to earn every vote. Fight for our values. And fight for the country we are building together, a Britain built for all.
Because, in the context of everything that is happening in the world. Those values – that fairness we stand for – it’s never been more important.
That is the thing about the volatile world we live in now. It tests, not just our security, our strength on the world stage. It is also tests our fairness at home. Our unity.
He will also attack Reform UK and the Conservatives in particular for their initial unqualified support for President Trump’s decision to go to war.
We will protect our forces, our people, our allies in the region. But I made the decision that it is not in our national interest to commit British forces to a war, without a clear legal basis and a clear plan – and I stand by that.
It’s a question of judgement. Do not forget that the Tories and Reform would have rushed us into this. With no thought of the consequences, including for the cost of living. Utterly reckless.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.15am: Eluned Morgan, the Welsh first minister, launches Labour’s campaign for the Senedd elections.
Morning: Keir Starmer launches Labour’s campaign for the English local elections in the West Midlands.
10.30am: Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru leader, launches Plaid’s campaign for the Senedd elections.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Afternoon: Starmer hosts a roundtable with business leaders to discuss the impact of the Iran war.
2.40pm: Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, addresses the National Education Union’s conference.
Afternoon: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, and Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, take part in a virtual meeting with G7 counterparts to discuss the economic impact of the Iran war.
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