Politics latest: Tories hit historic low in new poll - but there's bad news for Sir Keir Starmer as well (2024)

By Beth Rigby, political editor

This was the week it was meant to be done.

Having forced the House of Commons to vote down the Lords' amendments to the prime minister's flagship illegal immigration bill three times, peers would typically have bowed out of the battle this time around and passed the Rwanda bill.

Instead, they sought to amend the legislation again.

There is obvious frustration in government, with one senior figure saying: "We wanted to get it done today, but it shows Labour for their true colours."

The Rwanda bill now comes back to the Commons next week, and could finally be passed on Monday.

All the while, the clock is ticking down on the prime minister'spromise to get flights away by the end of spring.

With that timetable already in doubt, at least this ping pong can help ministers pin this on peers should that deadline be missed.

But there is also huge frustration amongst some MPs with Number 10.

Read more here:

The UK and US have unveiled a raft of new sanctions on Iran following its unprecedented attack on Israel.

The foreign office confirmed the UK has added seven individuals and six entities to its sanctions list "who have enabled Iran to conduct destabilising regional activity, including its direct attack on Israel".

They are now subject to an asset freeze.

The new measures add to more than 400 sanctions already imposed on Iran.

The US, meanwhile, has targeted 16 people and two entities.

"At a time of great tension in the Middle East, Iran's decision to launch hundreds of drones and missiles towards Israel carried with it a serious risk of thousands of civilian casualties and wider escalation for the region," foreign secretary Lord Cameron said, as he announced the sanctions at the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Capri.

"The sanctions announced today alongside the US demonstrate our unequivocal condemnation of Iran's attack on a sovereign state."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak added: "The Iranian regime’s attack against Israel was a reckless act and a dangerous escalation.

"Today we have sanctioned the ringleaders of the Iranian military and forces responsible for the weekend’s attack.

"These sanctions – announced with the US – show we unequivocally condemn this behaviour, and they will further limit Iran’s ability to destabilise the region."

Iran's strike over the weekend was the first direct Iranian military attack on Israel and has raised fears of further escalation in the Middle East.

Tel Aviv has vowed to respond, despite calls for restraint from allies, including the UK.

By Adele Robinson, business correspondent

The government has agreed to have an independent IT expert review of a Post Office software system predating Horizon, amid claims dozens more sub-postmasters may have been wrongly convicted.

The Capture software was rolled out across branches in the 1990s, years before the notorious Horizon systemwas introduced.

Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake has met with a former sub-postmaster and a lawyer representing 35 people who believe they were wrongly accused of stealing.

It was agreed between MPs and the Post Office minister that an independent IT expert would assess evidence claiming to "prove" Capture software was prone to glitches.

Steve Marston, 68, believes he was wrongly convicted of theft and false accounting after errors caused by Capture accounting software.

Auditors found shortfalls of £79,000 at his branch in Greater Manchester in 1998. He subsequently pleaded guilty to theft and false accounting.

Read more here:

Scotland has confirmed it is scrapping its flagship climate change target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030.

In a statement, net zero secretary Mairi McAllan said she accepts the target is "out of reach".

But she said Scotland still intends to meet a 2045 net zero target.

The move follows a report by theindependent Climate Change Committee (CCC) last month which said Scotlandwas so far behind that meeting the 2030 target it was no longercredible.

"In this challenging context of cuts, UK backtracking, we accept the Climate Change Committee's recent re-articulation that this parliament's interim 2030 target is out of reach," Ms McAllan told MSPs.

"We must now act to chart a course to 2045 at a pace and scale that is feasible, fair and just."

Sky's Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies says this had become a "huge political issue".

He says Scotland put itself "front and centre" in the global fight against climate change, with former first minister Nicola Sturgeon pledging at the COP26 climate conference to make Scotland the first country in the world to declare a climate emergency.

"Fast forward a couple of years and we have this climate climbdown from the Scottish government," he says.

The number of pupil suspensions in England has risen by nearly a third in a year to more than 260,000, government figures show.

Data from the department for education shows there were 263,904 suspensions in the spring term of 2022/23, compared to 201,090 during the spring term of 2021/22 - a rise of 31%.

The number of suspensions in spring 2023 is the "highest" termly figure recorded, the DfE said.

Suspensions are typically higher in the autumn term, but the figures show the number rose by 7% from autumn 2022 (when there were 247,366 suspensions) to spring 2023.

The rise of suspensions - which are when a pupil is excluded from a school for a set period of time - comes amid warnings of challenging behaviour in classrooms following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of permanent exclusions also increased in the spring term of last year compared to the same period in 2022.

There were 3,039 permanent exclusions in spring 2023, compared to 2,179 in spring 2022 - a rise of 39%, the figures show.

The most common reason for suspensions and permanent exclusions was persistent disruptive behaviour, the DfE said.

"Absolutely nuts" was how former prime minister Boris Johnson described Rishi Sunak's plan to gradually phase out smoking - banning anyone born since the start of 2009 from ever being able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products like vapes.

Liz Truss, who was also briefly prime minister in between the two men, is also among some critical of the proposal - which she described as "profoundly un-conservative".

Tories were given a free vote in the Commons - allowing them to vote with their conscience, not necessarily the government.

But will the policy create a smoke-free generation? And what will it mean for Conservative Party ideology?

Niall Paterson looks at the health implications with Alice Wiseman, vice president of The Association of Directors of Public Health, and the politics of the policy with Sky's political editor Beth Rigby and Tory peer Lord Frost, who disagrees with the planned legislation.

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Over a year ago, Rishi Sunak made five pledges for voters to judge him on.

The prime minister met his promise to halve inflation by the end of 2023.

But with the general election approaching, how is Mr Sunak doing on delivering his other promises?

You can see the progress for yourself below:

University chiefs will be invited to a COBRA briefing with the security services to combat the threat from hostile states.

Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, told an audience at Chatham House that a government review had found universities were "vulnerable" and had been "targeted".

He said: "As a first step, I will be calling in vice-chancellors to receive a COBRA briefing with our security services to understand the extent of the problems.

"I think it is likely we are going to need to consult on proposals to address, first of all, the security of researchers given access to frontier research in sensitive sectors."

Mr Dowden added: "Secondly, this issue of universities being dependent on foreign funding which could lead to the transfer of IP (intellectual property) or exploitation or coercion, that in turn sits alongside work we will do to look at our existing controls."

People voting in local elections in England on 2 May will need to provide photo ID.

It is the second year the requirement has been in place - but in 2023,14,000 people couldn't cast their ballot because they didn't take ID to the polling booth.

There are 22 different types of ID you can use - and if you don't have any of them, you can register for a Voter Authority Certificate.

Here's everything you need to know to avoid being caught out:

Sir Keir Starmer also echoed calls for the police to be involved in the case of Mark Menzies, who lost the Tory whip amid allegations - which he denies - that he misused campaign funds.

On a visit to a port in Teesside, he said there are "obviously a lot of unanswered questions in relation to these allegations".

Sir Keir added: "Not least why it seems the Conservative Party took so long to act and whether they've reported this to the police, who it seems to me should be involved in this.

"I'll be honest, there's a degree of frustration as well.

"We're two weeks away from really important political and mayoral elections, where there's a lot of positive arguments that we want to make about the change we will bring about in these elections.

"And yet again we're talking about misbehaviour by Tory MPs and if ever you needed evidence of why we need to turn the page on this... and have a fresh start with Labour, I think it's in these allegations coming out today."