Varadkar suggests Johnson ready to sign up to EU standards

The Irish premier Leo Varadkar has suggested Boris Johnson could use his majority to sign up to EU standards and avoid a no-deal Brexit at the end of 2020.

Varadkar said he believed Johnson would agree to keep the UK closely aligned to European rules on labour rights and environmental protections to ensure he can sign a tariff-free and quota-free trade deal.

‘People in this country are in favour of radical left-wing policies’

It all got very heated on GMB this morning – as the feud for the future of the Labour party gets well-and-truly under way.

The left-wing commentator and Corbynista Grace Blakeley: “The policies that have been democratically chosen and developed by the Labour party are incredibly popular.”

The Tory-supporting broadcaster Iain Dale responded: “You have just gone down to the worst defeat since 1987 – what part of that don’t you understand? … You’re a robot!”

Blakely said: “Literally, it’s because of Brexit,” before claiming: “People in this country are in favour of radical left-wing policies.”

Blakely also clashed with former Labour advisor Ayesha Hazarika. The Corbyn-backer told Hazarika it was no good “going back the 1990s”.

Hazarika fired back: “Imagine – when we won elections!”

“This is not about asking Boris Johnson or any other Westminster politician for permission,” Nicola Sturgeon said.

“It is an assertion of the democratic right of the people of Scotland to determine their own future. Given what I fear the Tory government has in store for Scotland, that right to choose our own future has never been more important.

“So, to the Prime Minister, let me be clear. This is not simply a demand that I or the SNP are making. It is the right of the people of Scotland – and you as the leader of a defeated party in Scotland have no right to stand in the way.”

‘I feel dirty – but Labour took us for granted’: Why Workington Man has no regrets about voting Tory

Colin Drury finds out how Boris Johnson won over the hypothetical voter experts said he needed to take a majority, by paying a trip to Workington this morning.

‘End of Corbynism,’ says David Cameron

The former prime minister David Cameron has welcomed the Conservatives’ election victory.

“It’s an extraordinary result, a powerful result. It marks the end of Corbyn and Corbynism, and that’s a very good thing for the country,” he told ITV News, before saying Boris Johnson will have his “full support”.

‘It’s always party before country with you lot isn’t it?’

Among the more entertaining election night clashes involved Michael Gove and Nigel Farage, who appeared together on BBC Radio 4.

The cabinet minister refused to thank the Brexit Party leader for his decision to stand down candidates in seats the Tories won last time, sparking a furious reaction from Farage.

Gove said: “The people I most want to thank are all those who helped fight for a Conservative victory – the candidates who stood, the activists who worked so hard and the voters who appear to have supported us.”

Farage replied: “It’s always party before country with you lot isn’t it? … I wouldn’t expect anybody in the Conservative Party to thanks anybody – they only think about themselves.”

‘Brexit will now happen’: EU chief responds to Tory win

Guy Verhofstadf, the EU parliament’s Brexit co-ordinator, has declared that the UK will soon be leaving the EU. “The EU must now focus on building a new close, fair and lasting partnership with Britain. It is in our common interest,” he tweeted.

‘You were warned’ – Momentum chief challenged on what went wrong

Laura Parker, the national coordinator of the Corbynista group Momentum, has struggled to explain the scale of the Labour loss.

The BBC’s Emily Maitlis asked: “You were warned so many times, so often, in such clear language, from you own MPs, from people who defected, from voters on the doorstep – what part of that could you not hear?”

Challenged on why Labour lost two and a half million voters since 2017, Parker said she hoped the party would “get them back again when Brexit is done”.

‘Celebrate Boris!’ – Trump enjoys Tory win

Donald Trump has hailed Boris Johnson’s election victory. He claims the two countries are now “free” to strike a “massive” trade deal after Brexit. He also exclaimed: “Celebrate Boris!”

Varadkar urges Johnson to look to ‘next step’ in Brexit process

The Irish premier Leo Varadkar has congratulated Boris Johnson on his election victory and urged him to get on with Brexit legislation.

“The next step is to ratify the withdrawal agreement which guarantees no hard border between North and South, guarantees the protection of the common travel area,” he said.

‘Are you hallucinating?’: Andrew Neil takes on Mark Francois

One of the strangest moments of election night when Mark Francois attempted to give us a history lesson. “In 1989 Russia’s Berlin Wall came down – in 2019 Labour’s red wall came down,” he said on the BBC.

Host Andrew Neil scoffed at the idea the opposition’s northern heartlands were “analogous to a wall of a totalitarian state… are you hallucinating?”

Who will be the next Labour leader?

Jeremy Corbyn made clear he would “not lead” Labour in any future general election campaign, meaning the battle for the future of the party is already way.

We’ve taken a look at some of the main runners and riders to succeed him.

SNP: Handing over indyref2 powers ‘right thing to do’

The UK has been left in a “constitutional crisis,” SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford has warned as he insisted the “right thing” for the PM to do would be to permit a second vote on Scottish independence.

Blackford refused to say if the SNP would take legal action if Boris Johnson fails to grant a Section 30 order, giving Holyrood the power to hold such a ballot.

But he said that the PM “simply can’t continue to say no” to a request – claiming this would be an “affront to democracy”.

Blackford was one of 48 SNP MPs elected, with Nicola Sturgeon’s party having its second best ever result in a Westminster ballot.

While the Tories gained seats south of the border, in Scotland they lost seven of the 13 seats they had held, ending up with six MPs.

While SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon plans to formally request the power to hold a second independence vote within days, the Tory leader has repeatedly stated he will block this.

He said: “In light of the fact that the Scottish Government already has a mandate, in light of the stunning result we have had in the election this week, it is right that the Government in London recognises the right thing to do is to transfer that power.”

Chris Williamson loses his deposit

Former Labour MP Chris Williamson, who stood as an independent, lost his deposit in Derby North after winning just 635 votes.

Williamson was suspended back in February after he claimed Labour had been “too apologetic” over its handling of antisemitism. Labour’s ruling NEC later decided he couldn’t stand for the party.

Tory candidate Amanda Solloway won with a majority of just over 2,500 over her Labour rival.

Voter fraud allegations investigated by police

Cases of suspected voter fraud in several constituencies have been reported to police.

Glasgow City Council reported three cases of alleged “personation” – when a person votes as someone else – following Thursday’s poll while one incident was reported in Paisley and Renfrewshire North.

It is understood one instance is being investigated in each of the Glasgow North, Central and South seats.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said the authority is “co-operating with the police” on the matter, and Renfrewshire Council has also reported an incident to police.

A council spokesman said: “We have been made aware of an incident earlier today (Thursday) in the Paisley and Renfrewshire North constituency where a member of the public arrived at a polling station to place a vote to find that it had already been cast by another member of the public.”

BBC Scotland reported a further possible case of voter fraud in Stirling.

More than 50 per cent of voters backed Final Say parties

Millions of people who wanted to have a final say on Brexit will be devastated this morning. They can, perhaps, take some comfort in looking at the vote share.

According to ITV, the combined share for parties backing a second EU referendum is 50.3 per cent, compared to the Tories and the Brexit Party on 45.6 per cent.

‘Please stand down’: Labour figures want Corbyn to go now

Labour figures are piling pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to quit immediately. Corbyn said he would not lead the party into the next election, but would stay on for a “period of reflection”.

Margaret Hodge who held her London seat, tweeted: “Corbyn talking about a period of reflection. I’ve reflected. You failed. Please stand down.”

Ian Murray, who held his Edinburgh South seat, said: “Every door I knocked on, and my team and I spoke to 11,000 people, mentioned Corbyn … we must change course and fast.”

Ruth Smeeth was among the several defeated candidates blaming the leader for the humiliation. “Corbyn’s actions on antisemitism have made us the nasty party,” she said. “We are the racist party.”

Phil Wilson, who lost Tony Blair’s former seat of Sedgefield to the Tories, was highly critical. “Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership was a bigger problem. To say otherwise is delusional,” he tweeted. “The party’s leadership went down like a lead balloon on the doorstep.”

Labour’s Jess Phillips was asked if it was Brexit, Corbyn or policies that were too far to the left which caused the Labour defeat and she said it was “all of those things and many other things”.