Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned that plans for a second Scottish independence referendum would “needlessly divide” the UK at the “worst possible time”, as the country recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Sunak argued on Monday that Scotland was a “stronger nation” because it was part of the UK ahead of the Holyrood elections this week.

“The last 12 months has shown that in the darkest of moments, all four nations of the United Kingdom benefit from each other and our partnership,” he said.

“The undeniable truth is that Scotland is a stronger nation because it is part of a United Kingdom.”

The chancellor added: “In this Scottish parliament election, if you want to get your political leaders focused on the things that matter to you and your family, then you need to use your peach party list vote for the Scottish Conservatives.”

Mr Sunak urged Scottish voters to focus on “the job prospects of young people in Scotland” rather than the possibility of independence from the UK.

Thursday’s Holyrood election could be crucial in determining the future of Scotland in the UK as the SNP pushes for an overall majority to validate calls for a second independence referendum.

Nicola Sturgeon’s party is almost certain to emerge as the largest party once all the ballots have been counted, but winning a majority in the 129-seat Scottish parliament is difficult due to the proportional representation system used to elect MSPs.

A total of 73 constituency MSPs will be returned in the election, with the remaining 56 coming from the regional list ballot, which is used to try to bring the number of representatives each party has in line with their share of the vote.

Ms Sturgeon is urging voters to back her party with both their ballots, while Labour and the Tories are battling to secure second place and to deny the SNP an overall majority.

If the SNP fails to win a majority on its own, it is likely that the Greens will provide the MSPs needed for a majority for independence in the parliament.

There is also the possibility of more pro-independence MSPs being elected from Alex Salmond’s new Alba Party, but recent opinion polls have cast doubt over whether the party will attract enough support to win any MSPs.

Furthermore, Ms Sturgeon has made clear that she will not work with Mr Salmond if he is elected to Holyrood again following a public feud over the handling of sexual harassment allegations made against him.

Footage from Sir Jeffrey Donaldson’s announcement on his bid to become DUP leader can be found below:

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has confirmed that he will run for the leadership of the DUP, pledging to promote positive strategy and values if elected.

The Lagan Valley MP said on Monday that he would push for meaningful reform within the party and set clear policy directions on key challenges for unionism, such as the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol.

His entry in the race to succeed Arlene Foster will mean the DUP is set for its first-ever leadership contest in its 50-year history, as Stormont agriculture minister Edwin Poots is also running.

“I want to thank Arlene Foster for her service to our party, people and country,” Sir Jeffrey said.

“She led with great courage, conviction and a big heart for Northern Ireland. I wish Arlene and her family well for the future.

“Today, Northern Ireland enters its second century. I am convinced that in this new century, Northern Ireland’s best days are ahead of us.”

He added: “We want to build a shared future for Northern Ireland where everyone, regardless of their background, has a part to play in showing the world what we are truly capable of.”

Voters will get to have their say on the government for the first time in a year and a half when polling stations open across the country on Thursday.

The local and devolved administration results will be a key test for Boris Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer – but what are the two leaders hoping for?

The growing list of allegations of Tory “sleaze” does not appear to have destroyed the Conservative’s lead over Labour, based partly on a so-called “vaccine bounce”, but support for the governing party does appear to have weakened in recent days.

Mr Johnson will be hopeful of holding firm at council level and keeping the Tories as the main challengers to the SNP in Scotland – although Labour pose a clear threat to the second place finish there.

However, it looks like the Tory London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey is a lost cause, as Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan is widely-tipped to secure a second term.

Labour’s Sir Keir is facing his first electoral test on Thursday since taking the leadership mantle from Jeremy Corbyn in April last year.

Although opposition leaders tend to enjoy a bounce in local elections, this year’s polling does not look favourable for the Labour leader – especially with a by-election in the former Labour safe seat of Hartlepool.

A win in Hartlepool could ease fears over the party’s future prospects of securing power in Westminster, while a loss would likely spark further soul-searching and serious questions about Sir Keir’s strategy.

Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has said that a “turning point” is emerging in the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s imprisonment in Iran after the foreign secretary accepted that the British-Iranian national was effectively being held hostage.

Iranian state TV reported yesterday that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe could be freed if the UK pays a historic £400m military debt to Iran dating back to the 1970s.

“It’s taken us five years for them to actually say that what Nazanin is going through is torture,” Ms Siddiq, who is the MP for Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s constituency, told Sky News.

“The fact that she is hostage, the fact that if they paid the historic debt [to Iran] it would put them in a stronger negotiating position to ensure that my constituent comes home.

“This is new narrative from the government, we haven’t heard that before.”

You can find her comments in full below:

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has told party colleagues that he intends to run for the leadership of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) following the decision by Arlene Foster to step down last week.

The PA news agency understands that Sir Jeffrey, the MP for Lagan Valley, sent a letter to MPs and Assembly members on Monday morning informing them of his decision and the party’s current Westminster leader will make an official announcement later today.

The move means the DUP will have its first-ever leadership contest in its 50-year history, as Stormont agriculture minister Edwin Poots announced his candidature last week.

Sir Jeffrey will be seen as the moderate candidate against the more hard-line Mr Poots, who also represents the Lagan Valley constituency, as an Assembly member.

A small electorate, comprising just the party’s MLAs and MPs, will decide the leadership contest, which will play out against a backdrop of discontent over the DUP’s Brexit strategy.

Foreign Office minister James Cleverly has attacked headlines about the sleaze allegations against Boris Johnson’s government while India is suffering from a devastating surge in Covid-19 cases.

Mr Cleverly criticised the “juxtaposition” of questions about the funding of the PM’s flat refurbishment amid vital international efforts to help the South Asian country.

Our deputy political editor, Rob Merrick, has the full story below:

If she is successful in Liverpool’s mayoral election this week, Labour candidate Joanne Anderson will be the first woman of colour to ever lead a major British city.

Ms Anderson (who is no relation to former Liverpool city mayor Joe Anderson) spoke to our reporter Colin Drury ahead of the vote about the potential impact of her victory and the political scandal that has engulfed the city.

You can find the full piece below:

Nicola Sturgeon has said suggestions that an independent Scotland would have been unable to procure Covid-19 vaccines is “nonsense” following criticism of her plan for the country to leave the UK.

The SNP leader said coronavirus vaccines were not a “gift” from the UK government to Scotland and were procured on a joint four-nations basis with Westminster and the devolved nations.

“I just think that is utterly nonsense,” Ms Sturgeon said, when questioned by ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

“The UK was still within the transition period when it procured the vaccine and that didn’t prevent it procuring the vaccine on a four-nations basis with England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, the way we procure the flu vaccine every year.

“That was done, nothing would have prevented that happening had we still been in the European Union.”

She added that Scotland’s vaccination programme was down to the “sterling efforts” of NHS Scotland and teams across the country.