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| BBC 'played a part' in Labour's election defeat, says shadow cabinet minister - live news | BBC 'played a part' in Labour's election defeat, says shadow cabinet minister - live news |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Rolling coverage of the day’s political events as they happen | Rolling coverage of the day’s political events as they happen |
| The Electoral Reform Society, which campaigns for a fairer voting system, has released figures saying 14.5m voters are effectively “unrepresented” because they voted for a candidate who did not win. It says: | |
| Ian Lavery, the Labour party chair, says he has suffered abuse and harassment because he argued the party had to accept the result of the Brexit referendum. | |
| And the Lib Dems have also been posing for a team photograph - which, given the numbers, was probably a bit easier to coordinate. | |
| Here is the new cohort of SNP MPs. | |
| Labour’s defeat is ‘big opportunity’ to move to centre ground, says Andrew Adonis | |
| An old joke in the Labour party is that, after every election defeat, the party promptly forms a circular firing squad. Labour figures never actually end up shooting at each other although, as my colleague Rowena Mason reports, today they are threatening to sue each other - or at least one of them is. | |
| To add to the spirit of comradeliness, the Labour MP Stephen Kinnock (who represents leave-voting Aberavon and who was urging the party to back a soft Brexit, not remain) told the BBC’s Politics Live earlier that those in the party who backed a second referendum should apologise to pro-leave Labour supporters. And the party should choose a new leader who did not argue for a second referendum, he said. He explained: | |
| But Andrew Adonis, the former transport secretary, Labour peer and passionate remain campaigner, told BBC News this afternoon that he thought it was not all over for the remain campaign. He said that, although the UK would now leave the EU next year, the remain cause was not “gone for all time” and that at some point in the future a party might campaign to rejoin the EU. | |
| He said Labour should view its defeat as a “big opportunity” to elect a better leader. | |
| Asked to say who the new leader should be, Adonis said he had not firmly decided, but he said that he had “always been hugely impressed by Keir Starmer” (the shadow Brexit secretary, who won’t get Kinnock’s vote because he backed a second referendum) and that Starmer was fit to be prime minister. | |
| From my colleague Heather Stewart | From my colleague Heather Stewart |
| President Trump has called to congratulate Boris Johnson on his election victory, No 10 has said. A Downing Street spokesman said: | President Trump has called to congratulate Boris Johnson on his election victory, No 10 has said. A Downing Street spokesman said: |
| Many senior Labour figures have been attending Frank Dobson’s funeral in London. This is from Alastair Campbell, director of communications at No 10 when Dobson was health secretary. | Many senior Labour figures have been attending Frank Dobson’s funeral in London. This is from Alastair Campbell, director of communications at No 10 when Dobson was health secretary. |
| From the Sunday Times’ Gabriel Pogrund | From the Sunday Times’ Gabriel Pogrund |
| Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, has said she hopes the Northern Ireland assembly will be up and running early next year. Speaking after a meeting with Julian Smith, the Northern Ireland secretary, she said: | Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, has said she hopes the Northern Ireland assembly will be up and running early next year. Speaking after a meeting with Julian Smith, the Northern Ireland secretary, she said: |
| Foster accepted the election had created a new “momentum” towards breaking the deadlock and reaching agreement on power-sharing. | Foster accepted the election had created a new “momentum” towards breaking the deadlock and reaching agreement on power-sharing. |
| Foster, who said she did not believe a new assembly election was necessary before 2022, also stressed the need for an injection of money. She said reforms were required to ensure that any new executive was “sustainable”. | Foster, who said she did not believe a new assembly election was necessary before 2022, also stressed the need for an injection of money. She said reforms were required to ensure that any new executive was “sustainable”. |
| This is from Mark Rutte, the Dutch PM. | This is from Mark Rutte, the Dutch PM. |
| Julian Smith, the Northern Ireland secretary, has been holding talks today with the five main parties in Northern Ireland - the DUP, Sinn Féin, the UUP, the SDLP and the Alliance party - about restoring power-sharing in the province. | Julian Smith, the Northern Ireland secretary, has been holding talks today with the five main parties in Northern Ireland - the DUP, Sinn Féin, the UUP, the SDLP and the Alliance party - about restoring power-sharing in the province. |
| Speaking a few minutes ago after those meetings, Smith said that every party had been “very, very positive” about doing what they could do to get the Northern Ireland assembly and the power-sharing executive back up and running. So it was a “very heartening” set of discussions, he said. He went on: | Speaking a few minutes ago after those meetings, Smith said that every party had been “very, very positive” about doing what they could do to get the Northern Ireland assembly and the power-sharing executive back up and running. So it was a “very heartening” set of discussions, he said. He went on: |
| By “message on the doorsteps”, Smith was referring to the anger about the fact that the executive has been suspended now for almost three years. This partly explains why both the DUP and Sinn Féin, the two main parties in Northern Ireland who between them are responsible for the deadlock, saw their share of the vote go down in the election. | By “message on the doorsteps”, Smith was referring to the anger about the fact that the executive has been suspended now for almost three years. This partly explains why both the DUP and Sinn Féin, the two main parties in Northern Ireland who between them are responsible for the deadlock, saw their share of the vote go down in the election. |
| On the World at One Lord Grade, the former BBC chairman, warned the government against trying to bully the corporation. Commenting on the government plan (see 1.37pm) to consider decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee (a move that could reduce the BBC’s revenue), Grade said an independent report looked at this in 2015 and concluded the status quo should remain. “I cannot say any new factor that would justify the government reopening that debate,” he said. He went on: | On the World at One Lord Grade, the former BBC chairman, warned the government against trying to bully the corporation. Commenting on the government plan (see 1.37pm) to consider decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee (a move that could reduce the BBC’s revenue), Grade said an independent report looked at this in 2015 and concluded the status quo should remain. “I cannot say any new factor that would justify the government reopening that debate,” he said. He went on: |
| When asked if he thought that was what was happening, Grade said: | When asked if he thought that was what was happening, Grade said: |
| Grade said he also thought no prime minister would want to be remembered for destroying the BBC. | Grade said he also thought no prime minister would want to be remembered for destroying the BBC. |
| At the morning lobby briefing Downing Street confirmed that it would consider decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee. (See 12.08pm.) There was no mention of this idea in the Conservative manifesto, but Boris Johnson disclosed it at a campaign event on a day when he was facing intense criticism for his response to questions about the boy sleeping on a hospital floor and CCHQ was anxious to find another story that might divert journalists. | At the morning lobby briefing Downing Street confirmed that it would consider decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee. (See 12.08pm.) There was no mention of this idea in the Conservative manifesto, but Boris Johnson disclosed it at a campaign event on a day when he was facing intense criticism for his response to questions about the boy sleeping on a hospital floor and CCHQ was anxious to find another story that might divert journalists. |
| Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, has been defending the idea in interviews this morning (although not on the Today programme, which still seems to be the subject of a No 10 boycott). He told Sky News: | Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, has been defending the idea in interviews this morning (although not on the Today programme, which still seems to be the subject of a No 10 boycott). He told Sky News: |
| He also said that under the current system people were “ending up in court for something that they wouldn’t in other walks of life, if they were paying bills to other companies and organisations”. | He also said that under the current system people were “ending up in court for something that they wouldn’t in other walks of life, if they were paying bills to other companies and organisations”. |