/Election results – live: Johnson calls union crisis talks as Sturgeon warns against blocking ‘will of people’

Election results – live: Johnson calls union crisis talks as Sturgeon warns against blocking ‘will of people’

Michael Gove repeatedly dodges questions over government blocking Scottish referendum in court

Nicola Sturgeon has said it would be “absurd and completely outrageous” if the UK government went to court to try to block a second referendum on Scottish independence.

Speaking on BBC’s Andrew Marr Show after the SNP’s victory in the Scottish elections, Ms Sturgeon said it should not be up to either her or the UK’s leadership to decide on a Scottish referendum.

“It’s up to the Scottish people to decide that question and in this election they have voted overwhelmingly for the SNP,” she said.

However, she said her first priority was “to continue to steer the country through the Covid pandemic” before moving forward with a second independence referendum.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited the SNP leader for crisis talks, telling her in a letter that UK residents are “best served when we work together”.

Meanwhile, Keir Starmer is expected to reshuffle Labour’s top team today following the party’s disastrous local election resultsThe Independent understands.

The move comes after Mr Starmer already sacked his deputy Angela Rayner from her frontbench role following the party’s disappointing results, including losing a key by-election in Hartlepool and losing seats across England.

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Michael Gove wants to see ‘intimate contact’ restored on 17 May

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has said he hopes to see “intimate contact” between friends and family restored come 17 May, when coronavirus restrictions are eased.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday May 9 Mr Gove said: “All being well the prime minister will confirm tomorrow that there will be a relaxation”.

“Friendly contact, intimate contact between friends and family is something that we want to see restored,” he said.

Prime minister Boris Johnson will announce details of the UK’s roadmap out of lockdown tomorrow.

Watch Mr Gove’s comments:

Watch: Michael Gove wants to see ‘intimate contact’ restored on 17 May

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has said that he hopes to see “intimate contact” between friends and family to be allowed once again when lockdown restrictions are further eased on May 17.Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday May 9 Mr Gove said: “All being well the prime minister will confirm tomorrow that there will be a relaxation”.”Friendly contact, intimate contact between friends and family is something that we want to see restored”.Prime minister Boris Johnson will announce details of the UK’s roadmap out of lockdown on Monday May 10.

Chantal Da Silva9 May 2021 14:15

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Welsh Labour would welcome ‘real’ union summit, minister says

Welsh Labour would welcome a Union summit called by Boris Johnson if it is “real”, a minister has said.

Mr Johnson has invited Welsh Labour leader mark Drakeford and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon to talks following their victories in the Welsh and Scottish parliaments.

The prime minister called for the meeting after Ms Sturgeon maintained that a Scottish independence referendum was the “will” of the people.

In his letter, however, Mr Johnson said the UK was “best served when we work together”.

On Sunday, Welsh Labour housing minister Julie James said she backed the call for a “Team UK” summit, so long as it is “real”.

“I hope very much that it’s real. We would welcome it if it was,” she said.

“We’ve been calling for many, many years for a proper constitutional summit, where we talk properly about the role of devolution across the UK, in a United Kingdom,” she said. “We very much welcome that. You’ve heard party leaders from us for many, many years saying how necessary that is.”

Ms James said that in devolved nations, there is a “clear appetite for it”.

Ms James also noted that the Welsh Cabinet would be meeting on Monday afternoon to discuss “the next set of measures” as Wales waits for an announcement on any further easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions to be made on Friday.

She said she was “absolutely not able to say” whether the easing of restrictions could move forward, at least until ministers had received the latest advice from scientific advisers.

However, she said foreign holidays are “very much part of the package of discussion for Monday”.

Chantal Da Silva9 May 2021 14:01

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Social care reform plan ‘heading for the statute books’, Gove says

A social care reform plan should be “heading for the statute books” by the end of the year, Michael Gove has said.

Asked whether social care reform would be part of this week’s Queen’s Speech, Mr Gove told Times Radio: “We’re working to make sure that we have an effective social care plan at the moment. That work is going on.”

“So, by the end of the year you will have a specific social care plan that is heading for the statute books at the very least,” he said. “We want to make sure that we can get cross-party support for it. That is critical.

“That’s the point the Prime Minister has always made. The more support we can get for it across parties, and I hope we do, the quicker we can be,” he said.

Chantal Da Silva9 May 2021 13:54

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Boris Johnson ridiculed for ‘Team UK’ comments

The prime minister has been mocked online after he wrote to leaders of the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish governments describing the vaccine rollout across the country as “Team UK in action”.

In the letters to the first ministers, Boris Johnson also called for a summit to discuss the UK’s recovery from coronavirus on the same weekend that Mark Drakeford was re-elected as leader in Wales and Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP came one seat short of an outright majority in Holyrood.

Ms Sturgeon has threatened the British PM with court action if he refuses to allow a referendum on Scottish independence.

Sam Hancock9 May 2021 13:35

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‘Better and brighter future’: Sadiq Khan’s victory speech

In case you missed Sadiq Khan’s victory speech, you can watch it here.

The Labour candidate won a second term as Mayor of London on Saturday, taking just over 55 per cent of votes, following an anxious wait for results.

Mr Khan entered a run-off with Conservative Shaun Bailey when neither managed to secure a majority in the first round, but it was the current mayor who eventually came out on top.

Sam Hancock9 May 2021 13:25

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Laurence Fox loses £10,000 deposit after scoring under 2% of votes

Former actor and self-proclaimed “anti-woke” campaigner Laurence Fox has lost his deposit in the London mayoral election after receiving less than 2 per cent of votes.

Mr Fox, who set up his Reclaim Party to run in the race and campaigned on a platform of scrapping the coronavirus lockdown, won 47,634 ballot papers – 1.9 per cent of votes – in Thursday’s election.

Candidates must secure 5 per cent of votes or higher to retain their deposit.

Sam Hancock9 May 2021 13:15

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Everything you need to know about Angela Rayner

Her name has been plastered over the press and social media since it was announced yesterday she had been sacked as chair of the Labour Party, but who exactly is Angela Rayner?

Rayner, 41, has held a number of high-profile positions in her relatively short time on the green benches. Less than a year after taking the Ashton-Under-Lyne seat she was made shadow minister for pensions in January 2016, before moving to the women and equalities brief that June.

By July 2016, she was shadow secretary of state for education, a role that she would hold until Sir Keir Starmer replaced Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader in April 2020.

Ms Rayner did not stand for the party leadership in 2020, instead supporting her close friend Rebecca Long-Bailey for the top job, while she successfully went for the deputy role. Her appointments to the roles of chair and shadow first secretary of state followed quickly after the election results.

She left school at 16 when she was pregnant with her first child and later qualified as a care worker after attending college. She now has three children and became a grandmother in 2017.

Sir Keir sacked Ms Rayner her role as Labour’s chairman and national campaign co-ordinator on Saturday, following the party’s disappointing electoral performance. Many have suggested the move was an attempt by Sir Keir to use Ms Rayner as a scapegoat for his failings.

Rayner is still Labour’s deputy leader

(Getty)

Sam Hancock9 May 2021 13:05

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Scotland sees record-high voter turnout

Some 63 per cent of Scotland’s electorate came out to vote on Super Thursday – a full 10 percentage points above the average for previous Holyrood polls.

Experts are not sure exactly why this happened but said a number of factors were likely at play.

The rise in postal vote registrations could be one, as could the expansion of voting to new groups including refugees.

Plus the pandemic may have ultimately boosted turnout, rather than held it down, as many had predicted. It is thought people will have had more time to engage with activists or go out to vote due to lockdown.

The SNP came out of the election on top, winning 64 seats, just one short of an outright majority.

Sam Hancock9 May 2021 12:55

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Prince Michael accused of using royal status to ‘sell access’ to Vladimir Putin

An undercover investigation has claimed that Prince Michael of Kent was willing to use his royal status to profit from providing access to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The Queen’s cousin told undercover reporters pretending to be investors from South Korea that he could be hired for £10,000 a day to make “confidential” appeals to Mr Putin’s government.

The investigation’s findings were brought to light on Channel 4 Dispatches in collaboration with The Sunday Times, who set up a fake South Korean gold company called House of Haedong as part of the scheme.

Chantal Da Silva9 May 2021 12:45

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‘Levelling up’ cash to go to helping NHS recover from Covid, PM says

Boris Johnson is expected to admit that his plans for investment to “level up” disadvantaged areas of the country will likely have to give way to the need for additional spending to help the NHS recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The prime minister is expected to use Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech to warn MPs that extra money will be needed to restore and rebuild the NHS.

Downing Street has acknowledged that the years ahead will see “significant constraints on public spending”, making it “more challenging” to deliver on Mr Johnson’s plans to “level up” areas across the country.

Andrew Woodcock has more:

Chantal Da Silva9 May 2021 12:30