Here is a summary of today's UK politics developments:
The former prime minister Theresa May will step down as an MP at the next general election after 27 years in parliament. In a statement to the Maidenhead Advertiser, the Maidenhead MP said she wanted to focus on causes close to her heart, including her work on the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.
Labour has said that the wave of Conservative MPs stepping down at the next election shows a lack of confidence in Rishi Sunak’s government, as former prime minister Theresa May announced she was joining the more than 60 Tory MPs exiting parliament.
A 22-year-old who could become Labour’s youngest ever MP and just the second openly trans member of the House of Commons has described the opportunity to reach Westminster as “mind boggling”.
Education secretary Gillian Keegan has raised eyebrows by telling a conference this morning that she would have probably “punched” an Ofsted inspector she heard about.
Charlotte Owen, a former aide to Boris Johnson who became the youngest ever life peer in the House of Lords, has said Deepfake abuse is the “new frontier” of violence against women and creating such content should be outlawed.
Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge warned existing legislation only bans the non-consensual sharing of deepfake material and does not tackle the non-consensual creation of the content.
Peers heard there has been an increase in so-called nudify apps, which allow users to create fake nude images or videos of other people through generative artificial intelligence - widely known as deepfakes.
Lady Owen said the ability to create such content on the apps in a matter of seconds “represents a very real threat to all women”.
Updated
Labour candidate, 22, could become party's youngest ever MP
A 22-year-old who could become Labour’s youngest ever MP and just the second openly trans member of the House of Commons has described the opportunity to reach Westminster as “mind boggling”.
Georgia Meadows, 22, found out she was Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) for Witney, which lies on the edge of the Cotswolds and is roughly 15 miles west of Oxford, on 29 February – Leap Day – and officially announced her candidacy on social media on Thursday.
Meadows will be the youngest ever Labour MP if elected, unless that mantle goes to 21-year-old Luke Charters-Reid, who will run for Labour in the York Outer constituency in the next general election.
Despite the Conservatives securing a majority of 15,177 in the 2019 general election, Meadows told the PA news agency she believes her party has a “real chance of winning” the seat from the Conservatives.
I am beyond ecstatic to be able to announce that I am the Labour Party's PPC for Witney. pic.twitter.com/xbzylGjcrC
— Georgia Meadows (@MsGrgaMeadows) March 7, 2024
Updated
Nearly 50 organisations have joined forces to condemn what they call a “crackdown” on the right to protest by the UK government.
In response to Rishi Sunak’s recent remarks on extremism and “mob rule” linked to protesters, Amnesty International UK and 45 others have sent a letter to the prime minister calling for “leadership, not censorship”.
Read more here:
The next UK general election is looming, with most analysts expecting it to be called late this year.
Find out who’s up and who’s down in the latest polls – and how many seats each party is likely to win in the next general election:
Mike Short, head of education at Unison has criticised Gillian Keegan’s earlier comments that she might have “punched” an Ofsted inspector who was “rude” when visiting a school.
Short said:
Clearly there’s much that can and should be improved in the way Ofsted inspections are carried out. But to suggest punching people is an appropriate reaction is not becoming of a Government minister.
Making light of violence in schools when staff are increasingly likely to face assaults while doing their job is in very poor taste. Ofsted inspectors are already dealing with a great deal of hostility while they work. So much for showing respect.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has used the occasion of International Women’s Day to write for the Independent today about how she intends to “speak, and act, in the interests of women” over the economy, promising “an economic policy centred on equality for women” which would “also be an economic policy centred on growth.
She writes:
One of the things that successive Conservative governments have got wrong is to think we can build a strong economy based on the success of a few people, a few places, and a few industries. We have seen where that leads: stuttering growth, stagnant productivity, and deep regional divides.
Labour’s alternative is about the recognition that if we want to build a strong economy, that must be based on the contribution of the many. And that must mean a growth plan centred around women.
She goes on to cite the fact that Labour have commissioned a review into how they can go further and faster in closing the gender pay gap, and says that a future Labour industrial strategy will not be “top-down, narrow-focused” like the past, but focus on what she describes as “the everyday economy” which, she says, includes “childcare, social care and retail”.
Describing the Conservative “flagship commitment” of more childcare hours as “little more than hot air” she writes the “the UK’s broken childcare system won’t be fixed with gimmicks – which is why Labour has commissioned an expert-led early years review, headed by the former chief inspector of Ofsted, David Bell.”
You can read it all here.
First minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, has said Conservative MPs in the north-east of Scotland who back the windfall tax extension will be punished at the general election.
PA Media reports Yousaf told it the Conservatives have “sold out” the north-east, accusing West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP Andrew Bowie of doing it so “he can keep his ministerial car and ministerial salary. He will need to explain that to the electorate come the general election.”
Yousaf added “We don’t oppose windfall tax. We actually support a windfall tax, one of the first parties to be calling for a windfall tax. But we don’t agree with raiding the north east for a tax cut of £1,500, or Labour’s position of raiding the north-east so they can spend money on new nuclear power plants in England – simply not acceptable.”
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in his budget the levy on oil and gas profits will be extended by a further 12 months to 2029.
Theresa May has been out on a constituency visit today, having announced via her local newspaper earlier that she would be stepping down as an MP after 27 years.
The former prime minister was visiting an International Women’s Day football event at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Maidenhead.
Education secretary Gillian Keegan says she would have 'punched' rude Ofsted inspectors
Education secretary Gillian Keegan has raised eyebrows by telling a conference this morning that she would have probably “punched” an Ofsted inspector she heard about.
Schools Week reports that speaking at the Association of School and College Leaders annual conference, Keegan said:
I heard recently actually from a fantastic school I went into. They told me how their Ofsted experience had gone. I was shocked, I was actually shocked. I thought, ‘God, if I’d met these people, I’d have actually punched them.’ They were really rude. You expect people to be rude to you when you’re a politician. But when you’re trying to run a school and change lives you don’t expect somebody to come in and not be respectful.
Keegan said the key thing to develop good schools was “getting good people, retaining good people, continuing the professional development of good people, listening and respecting to good people.”
Ofsted chief inspector Martyn Oliver, asked about the comments, said he was more interested in “a fresh start and calming down tensions”, but added “people should act with professionalism, courtesy, empathy and respect on both sides.”
Ofsted has faced intense scrutiny after the death of headteacher Ruth Perry, and has today launched in England what it calls the “big listen”, a 12 week consultation which is asking school staff, education organisations and parents for their views across topics including schools, safeguarding, teacher training, and social care.
Keegan is the tenth secretary for state for education during the last 14 years of Conservative-led governments.
Foreign secretary and former prime minister David Cameron has praised his successor Theresa May after she announced she was stepping down from parliament five years and one general election after she resigned as prime minister.
Cameron, who stood down as an MP two months after leaving Downing Street, saying he did not want to be a “distraction”, posted to social media to say:
I wish Theresa May well as she stands down. As well as serving as my home secretary and then as PM, she did much to help modernise the Conservative party and promote women in public life. She has been the most dedicated of public servants. The House of Commons will miss her.
I wish @theresa_may well as she stands down.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) March 8, 2024
As well as serving as my Home Secretary and then as PM, she did much to help modernise the Conservative Party and promote women in public life.
She has been the most dedicated of public servants. The House of Commons will miss her. pic.twitter.com/fhrBYds9LC
Cameron returned to frontline politics in November when Rishi Sunak unexpectedly appointed him to foreign secretary to replace James Cleverly as part of the reshuffle after the second departure within 13 months of Suella Braverman as home secretary.
One of the key planks of Jeremy Hunt’s budget on Wednesday was the decision to adopt Labour’s policy of abolising non-dom status for taxation purposes, albeit with the money going to a different destination.
Labour had said it would use the money secured to put into the NHS and breakfast clubs. Hunt opted to use it to fund a cut in national insurance.
That doesn’t appear to have polled well with the public. According to YouGov, having spoken to people about the budget, their polling suggests “the public favour the Labour policy by 52% to 21%”.
There is some more reaction to Theresa May’s departure as an MP from Conservative colleagues here, via PA:
Julian Smith, who served as her chief whip, said: “I am very sorry to see that Theresa May is standing down as an MP. Our second female prime minister is an exceptional public servant with the highest integrity, relentless work ethic and total commitment to all parts of the UK in addition to her passionate campaigning for vital causes around the world.”
Nus Ghani, who gained her first ministerial role under May, said: “Theresa will be missed, she has integrity, determination and made time to support and help so many of us MPs as we learned the snakes and ladders of parliament.”
Caroline Nokes, immigration minister under Mrs May, said that on International Women’s Day “I want to celebrate a colleague who showed us all the importance of hard work, commitment to your constituency and integrity. Parliament will be poorer (and I’m a bit sad – too many women standing down).”
While he has been in Keighley, Rishi Sunak has been visiting Byworth Boilers, where it appears he has been pressed into doing some wiring.
Sunak: May is 'an extraordinary and inspiring example' of 'dedicated public service'
The prime minister is in Keighley, West Yorkshire today, where Rishi Sunak has spoken to the media about Theresa May, and her decision to step down as an MP after 27 years.
Obviously on International Women’s Day, it’s important to recognise that Theresa was our second female prime minister, which is an extraordinary achievement.
And actually beyond that, she just has the most amazing track record of dedicated public service over two decades. And that is an extraordinary and inspiring example to anyone.
Anyone who spent time with her knows how committed she is to public service, not just in her community, but the country. And everyone will miss her sorely.”
It will not have escaped your attention that a repeated attack line from Rishi Sunak and his frontbench is that Labour do not have a “plan” for being in government. Indeed one suspects that “plan” will be one of the words most typed on this live blog over the coming months.
Keir Starmer this morning has published a Labour campaign video which leans in to talking about their “plan” for apprenticeships, construction and housing. It opens with Starmer saying “We need a proper the plan for growth, and that’s what the Labour party has set out. We’ve been talking about that plan here on this construction site.”
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves then chips in with “what we need is decent wages so people can support a family, but that means helping businesses grow.”
Starmer goes on to say that the apprentices in the construction industry they are talking to will be busy for the next few years because Labour’s plan – that word again – is “one-and-a-half million houses in the first five years of a Labour government.”
He concludes:
It is about long term decision making. It is about making sure that public sector investment is matched by private sector investment. That will only happen if we have economic stability. But we only will have economic stability under a Labour government with tight fiscal rules.
Britain deserves a government that prioritises economic stability.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) March 8, 2024
That’s what a Labour government will deliver. pic.twitter.com/g6M28wbelC
Rishi Sunak has paid tribute to Theresa May on social media. May is stepping down at the next election after being an MP for 27 years. Sunak posted:
A relentless campaigner, a fiercely loyal MP to the people of Maidenhead, and Britain’s second female prime minister. Theresa May defines what it means to be a public servant. I have no doubt Theresa will continue to make a positive impact on public life.
Kiran Stacey, our political correspondent, has written this profile of the departing Theresa May:
Some argue that Theresa May’s inability to persuade her party to back her Brexit agreement was a result of her awkward style of personal interaction. She disliked the backslapping nature of the Commons tea rooms, hated small talk and deliberately shunned parliamentary gossip. John Crace, the Guardian’s sketch writer, called her the “Maybot”.
Those close to her, however, insist that in private she could be warm and sensitive, but that she put up a barrier in public in part to counteract perceptions of weakness as one of Britain’s highest-profile female politicians.
As home secretary May championed a range of initiatives to correct what she saw as social injustices, including curtailing police powers to “stop and search”, spearheading efforts to tackle modern slavery and reversing much of Labour’s hard-line antisocial behaviour policies. Much of that, however, was overshadowed by her uncompromising approach to immigration.
After calling the election in 2017 she watched a commanding poll lead evaporate as she fluctuated between presenting herself as a continuity candidate and a headstrong reformer. The campaign unravelled when she was forced to abandon a controversial signature pledge to reform social care, only to insist as she did so that “nothing has changed”.
Read more of Kiran Stacey’s profile of Theresa May here: Theresa May – loyal constituency MP who lost Tory support over Brexit
Labour says wave of Tory MPs stepping down shows lack of confidence in Sunak as Theresa May announces exit
Labour has said that the wave of Conservative MPs stepping down at the next election shows a lack of confidence in Rishi Sunak’s government, as former prime minister Theresa May announced she was joining the more than 60 Tory MPs exiting parliament.
May will step down as an MP at the next general election after 27 years in parliament. In a statement to the Maidenhead Advertiser, the Maidenhead MP said she wanted to focus on causes close to her heart, including her work on the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.
May joins 64 Conservatives and former Conservatives who will not fight their seats at the next election – the highest number of Tories to retire from parliament since May entered the Commons in 1997.
The Labour party chair, Anneliese Dodds, said the number of Tories standing down showed there was “no confidence” in Rishi Sunak and the Conservative party’s prospects.
“This is obviously a very significant decision from Theresa May to stand down at the next election,” she said. “It is a surprise, but of course we’ve heard this from a large number of Conservative sitting MPs. They’ve decided not to stand for the next election, and I think that does reveal that frankly there’s no confidence in Rishi Sunak, nor indeed in the Conservative party to be a party of government for the future.”
Treasury minister Gareth Davies denied it showed a lack of confidence, saying “This is what happens when you approach a new election, and completely reasonable for people to decide that it’s time to go.”
In her statement, May said it had been “an honour and a privilege” to serve as Maidenhead’s MP and vowed to continue working for her constituents until the general election.
She was first elected as MP for Maidenhead in 1997, and served as home secretary under David Cameron between 2010 and 2016 before succeeding him as prime minister. She coined the term “hostile environment”, which became a catch-all term for controversial policies on illegal migration.
She presided over the Home Office when it sent out the notorious “go home” vans, later saying they were “too much of a blunt instrument”. Her three years in Downing Street were marked by sharp parliamentary disagreements about how to implement Brexit – mostly from within her own party – which ultimately led to her resigning and being replaced by Boris Johnson.
Labour’s shadow environment secretary Steve Reed is speaking at the Create Streets Restitch conference in Coventry.
The conference is based on “disagreeing well” and Reed said Boris Johnson had started a US-style divide in UK politics. He said Johnson “saw political advantage in creating division”, comparing him to Donald Trump, and pointed out this has continued with leading Conservatives Lee Anderson and Suella Braverman making “very troubling remarks” in recent weeks. Anderson has been stripped of the Tory whip over his Sadiq Khan comments.
Reed added that in the recent past “Labour lost its anchor in the centre and began to drift leftwards”, and said it had been a “fight” to “connect with voters in the centre”. He said this is happening to the Conservatives, who are facing a revival of “right-wing nationalism”.
Reed says in a Labour government his focus as Defra secretary would be to improve access to nature and green space: “Without nature there would be no economy, no health, no food and ultimately no society” and that “people really do care” about their local green areas.
GB News commissioned People Polling to ask questions of 1,734 people on Thursday in the wake of the budget. The headline figures gave Labour a 46% share of voting intention, with the Conservatives down to 18% and Reform on 13%. It found that “only 47% of 2019 Conservative voters plan to vote Conservative at the next election”.
You can find our poll tracker here, where the updated rolling average gives Keir Starmer a 20.3 point lead over Rishi Sunak as we head towards the election. It puts Labour on 44.4% which would translate to something like 455 Labour seats in the next parliament.
Speaking of International Women’s Day, while the Commons is not sitting today, the House of Lords is, and there will be a debate on the steps taken to promote the economic inclusion of women.
Ex-hedge fund manager, Diana Barran, who set up a domestic abuse charity and who is now a life peer, will lead the debate for the government, two days after a Conservative budget arguably failed to help women. The debate starts at 10am. Here’s my colleague Heather Stewart on how Wednesday’s announcements suggest an unattached man would gain £346 from tax cuts, compared with £279 for a woman.
Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has posted to social media with a video clip for International Women’s Day. She points out that despite the job existing for 800 years, there has never been a female chancellor, and describes it as a “special responsibility” were she to be the first one.
She cites Barbara Castle introducing the Equal Pay Act 1970 – the first piece of UK legislation to enshrine the right to pay equality between women and men – but points out the gender pay gap is still 15%. Reeves says she wants to be the chancellor who closes that gap.
I want to be the first female Chancellor, close the gender pay gap once and for all - and deliver for women across our country.
— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) March 8, 2024
Happy International Women's Day! #IWD2024 pic.twitter.com/CCV5Julsa1
Annual data last year showed that the gap remains larger in the public sector at 15.1%. This compares with 8% in the private sector, and both were broadly similar to the previous year’s figures.
If you need you memory refreshing about Theresa May’s time at Number 10, here is a timeline of some of the key events during her turbulent three years in office.
14 July 2016 Prime minister Theresa May becomes the UK’s second female prime minister. In her first cabinet, she appoints Boris Johnson as foreign secretary, David Davis as Brexit secretary, and Liam Fox as international trade secretary.
17 January 2017 Lancaster House May gives her Lancaster House speech outlining her approach to navigating Brexit. It sets out the red lines that will continue to cause difficulties with her own party two years later.
29 March 2017 Triggers Article 50
18 April 2017 Snap election Despite having previously ruled it out, May calls a snap general election, accusing opposition parties of trying to jeopardise Brexit preparations.
8 June 2017 Loses majority After a disastrous campaign performance, May loses her majority in the Commons. She is forced to do a deal with the DUP to get a working majority.
4 October 2017 Coughing fit May’s speech at the Conservative conference lurches from disaster to disaster, as a cough mars her delivery, a protester manages to hand her a P45, and letters start falling off the backdrop behind her.
8 July 2018 Davis and Johnson resign After the Chequers summit, David Davis resigns as Brexit secretary over May’s withdrawal agreement with the EU. Boris Johnson follows Davis out the door the next day, claiming the UK was headed ‘for the status of a colony‘.
14 November 2018 Withdrawal agreement published The text of the withdrawal agreement is published. It is approved by the EU two weeks later.
15 November 2018 Raab resigns May loses a second Brexit secretary as Dominic Raab resigns, saying he cannot support the deal he helped negotiate. Work and pensions secretary Esther McVey resigns the same day.
4 December 2018 Contempt May’s government is found to be in contempt of parliament after refusing to publish the full legal advice it received over Brexit.
12 December 2018 Confidence vote victory Although more than a third of her MPs vote against her, May survives a Tory vote of no confidence.
15 January 2019 Record defeat on Brexit deal May suffers the heaviest parliamentary defeat of a British prime minister in the democratic era, losing a meaningful vote on her Brexit withdrawal deal by a majority of 230.
12 March 2019 Second defeat on Brexit deal May’s deal is again voted down by parliament, this time by a majority of 149.
27 March 2019 Promises to resign On the day that parliament votes against eight different alternative Brexit options, Theresa May tells her backbench MPs she will stand down as soon as her deal is passed.
22 May 2019 Leadsom resigns On the eve of European parliamentary elections the leader of the house, Andrea Leadsom, quits the cabinet. She is unhappy with 10 new commitments May has added to her withdrawal agreement bill in an attempt to get cross-party consensus.
24 May 2019 Resignation announced Theresa May announces she will formally resign as Conservative party leader on 7 June, sparking a leadership content that sees Boris Johnson beat Jeremy Hunt to become the next prime minister.
Rishi Sunak’s government has given a vague indication that ultimately they would like to abolish national insurance without giving any clear idea of what would replace the tax revenue it raises. Pressed on this today, treasury minister Gareth Davies has said it could take “several parliaments” to achieve.
He told viewers of Sky News:
The starting point is that we think there’s a fundamental unfairness that if you work in a job you pay two types of tax, you pay income tax and you pay national insurance contributions.
So what we want to do, what we’ve demonstrated at the last two fiscal events, is that we want to get national insurance contributions down to the extent that we remove the unfairness over time.
The long-term ambition, it may take several parliaments, but the long-term ambition is to remove that unfairness. We keep all these things under review, but we want to remove the unfairness of having two taxes for those in work.
My colleague Hilary Osborne had an explainer yesterday on what national insurance is and what it pays for here, if you need a reminder.
Our picture desk has been quick off the mark with this gallery of pictures from Theresa May’s political career, which includes some images you will surely recognise featuring her being handed a P45, Donald Trump, eating chips and dancing …
Among the high profile Conservatives stepping down at the next election are Matt Hancock, Sajid Javid, George Eustice, Dominic Raab, Graham Brady, William Cash, Ben Wallace, Alok Sharma, Chris Grayling, Kwasi Kwarteng, Tracey Crouch and Paul Scully. Harriet Harman and Margaret Beckett are perhaps the most prominent Labour MPs standing down, and Caroline Lucas (Green), Mhairi Black and Ian Blackford (SNP) are also very familiar faces from parliament who are not standing again.
Updated
Some of the tributes being paid to Theresa May from fellow MPs this morning include this from Andrew Bowie, Conservative MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, who said:
I’m so sorry to see the woman I was proud to call boss and remain proud to call a friend standing down from Parliament. It will leave the House of Commons a lesser place. Her dedication to her constituency, her country and her Party is unmatched. Thank you Theresa.
Labour MP Jess Phillips said: “Something very classy about this [May’s statement] being in the Maidenhead Advertiser first. Love her or loathe Theresa May politics, she was famed for being a responsive and involved local MP.”
Gavin Barwell, former Downing Street chief of staff to May said “Very sorry to hear this – both her constituents and the House of Commons will miss her. I hope future PMs will follow her example of remaining as an MP after they leave Number 10 – she has made a number of important contributions over the last five years.”
Treasury minister Gareth Davies has denied the number of Conservative MPs stepping down signifies a lack of confidence in the party’s electoral prospects.
He told Sky News he was “personally sad” to see Theresa May step down after “a pretty good innings” of “27 years of service not just to her constituents but I think as one of our longest serving home secretaries and then obviously prime minister as well.”
Asked if the number of Conservative MPs standing down indicated a lack of confidence in the party’s prospects
This is what happens when you approach a new election, and completely reasonable for people to decide that it’s time to go, particularly when they’ve been in the House of Commons for a long time.
Each one has made their own decision for personal reasons and I respect every single person’s decision to do so.
Davies then asserted he thought there were nearly 50 Labour MPs who were standing down. The House of Commons library tracker of how many MPs are standing down lists 17.
I missed this out of the paper round-up as it is such a zinger it deserves its own block. The Daily Express has gone with “Brexit is a great British success worth billions” with the front page including a picture of Kemi Badenoch and claiming – and I quote directly – in what is labelled an exclusive …
Brexit has reignited the UK’s trade standing in global markets ‘worth hundreds of billions of pounds’ says Kemi Badenoch. Britons are better off.
Booming trade means #Brexit Britain is truly global now, says @KemiBadenoch #TomorrowsPapersTodayhttps://t.co/sUem380bWx pic.twitter.com/tGbVN1xCd4
— Daily Express (@Daily_Express) March 7, 2024
It rather suggests the Express or Badenoch did not have a look at my colleague Richard Partington’s piece a few days ago featuring the Conservatives’ economic record since 2010 in ten charts, which included such gems as “The UK’s trend rate of economic growth has fallen since 2008”, “Business investment in the UK economy lags behind the G7” and “UK goods trade has fallen 15% below the G7 since Brexit”.
This chart from the Resolution Foundation, via George Eaton, is also instructive.
This chart from @resfoundation tells the story of Britain’s lost decade better than any other I’ve seen. pic.twitter.com/epTxvC5pjf
— George Eaton (@georgeeaton) March 7, 2024
Updated
Here is Archie Bland’s paper round-up from today’s first edition, which has as its main subject the murky relationship between the UK Ministry of Defence, middle men and the Saudi royal family …
“US to build port on shore of Gaza to allow aid deliveries” says the Guardian splash headline this Friday morning.
“Hunt pulls £200mn from councils after clawing back house sale funds” – that’s the Financial Times while the i has “Labour and Tories refuse to explain UK spending cuts before 2024 election”.
FT UK: Hunt pulls £200mn from councils after clawing back house sale funds #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/H7pP2c8pkl
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) March 7, 2024
“‘London is now a no-go zone for Jews’” – that’s the Daily Telegraph paraphrasing Robin Simcox, the UK’s independent counter-extremism tsar.
The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph:
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 7, 2024
'London is now a no-go zone for Jews'#TomorrowsPapersToday
Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4Oomry pic.twitter.com/UXwNTLvJtB
“Pension pinchers” – the Daily Mirror says there is a “Tory budget bombshell” that will “hammer 8m older people”.
Friday's front page: Pension pinchers https://t.co/WhmUesryvk#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/8wAKT6W0PQ
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) March 7, 2024
“Don’t leave our country defenceless” – the Daily Mail highlights the lack of extra defence spending. It also has a front page trail for a piece featuring Nana Akua which looks like a headline hallucinated by ChatGPT.
MAIL: Don’t leave our country defenceless #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/CbKKVVpScz
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) March 7, 2024
“Doctors to track patients’ step counts on NHS app” reports the Times.
THE TIMES: Doctors to track patients’ step counts on NHS app #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/ZAAPOCujxr
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) March 7, 2024
At the last election Theresa May held an 18,846 majority over the Liberal Democrat candidate in her Maidenhead constituency. That was down from 26,457 in 2017, when as prime minister she faced challenges from not just Lord Buckethead, but also Bobby Smith, a fathers’ rights activist who got three votes after dressing up as Elmo for the duration of the campaign.
Anneliese Dodds: number of Tory MPs standing down signals 'no confidence in Rishi Sunak'
Anneliese Dodds is one of the first Labour politicians to react publicly to the news that Theresa May is to stand down as an MP. She told GB News:
This is obviously a very significant decision from Theresa May to stand down at the next election.
It is a surprise, but of course we’ve heard this from a large number of Conservative sitting MPs. They’ve decided not to stand for the next election, and I think that does reveal that frankly there’s no confidence in Rishi Sunak, nor indeed in the Conservative party to be a party of government for the future.
I think this really strengthens those calls for change, those calls for a general election.
Almost 100 MPs have now announced they will not fight their seats at the next election, including more than 60 Conservatives and former Conservatives.
This is the most Conservatives to retire from the House of Commons since Theresa May entered it in 1997, which was another election year when polls were suggesting the party faced an electoral wipe-out.
Theresa May, 67, was first elected as MP for Maidenhead in 1997, and served as home secretary under David Cameron between 2010 and 2016 before succeeding him as prime minister.
As home secretary she was one of the chief architects of the so-called “hostile environment” for immigrants, and also presided over the department when it sent out the notorious “go home” vans.
She later said the vans were “too much of a blunt instrument”. The scheme’s official evaluation report concluded that only 11 people left the country as a direct result of May’s “go home or face arrest” van advertisements.
Under the “hostile environment” private landlords, employers and NHS staff were co-opted into plans to carry out checks on people to ensure they were in the UK legally and to report them to immigration enforcement if not.
Theresa May has made her announcement that she is stepping down in her local newspaper, the Maidenhead Advertiser. PA Media have an excerpt from the statement:
Since stepping down as prime minister I have enjoyed being a backbencher again and having more time to work for my constituents and champion causes close to my heart including most recently launching a global commission on modern slavery and human trafficking.
These causes have been taking an increasing amount of my time.
Because of this, after much careful thought and consideration, I have realised that, looking ahead, I would no longer be able to do my job as an MP in the way I believe is right and my constituents deserve.
As I pass the baton on I will be working with my successor to secure a Conservative victory in Maidenhead. I remain committed to supporting Rishi Sunak and the government and believe that the Conservatives can win the election.
I would like to thank all those who chose me to represent them as their MP.
Theresa May to step down as an MP at the next election
The former prime minister Theresa May will step down as an MP at the next general election after 27 years in parliament.
In a statement to the Maidenhead Advertiser, the Maidenhead MP said she wanted to focus on causes close to her heart, including her work on the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.
May, who was first elected in 1997, said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to serve everyone in the Maidenhead constituency as the MP for the last 27 years.
“Being an MP is about service to one’s constituents and I have always done my best to ensure that I respond to the needs of local people and the local area.”
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Welcome and opening summary …
Good morning. It is day three of reaction to Jeremy Hunt’s budget on Wednesday. Rishi Sunak’s government is under pressure after floating of the idea that he plans the unfunded axing of national insurance, while the questions for Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves remain what they would do differently, and how they would fund those plans. It is also a day with very little in the diary, but one former PM is making early news with Theresa May’s decision to step down as an MP. Here are the headlines …
Former prime minister Theresa May will step down as an MP at the next general election after 27 years in parliament.
Michael Gove failed to declare hospitality worth more than £1,700 at three Queens Park Rangers matches over the course of two years, not just the one occasion when he attended with a Conservative donor.
Having aimed a jibe at Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner during the budget about multiple home ownership after she faced questions about the sale of her former council house, Hunt has said he will pay more capital gains tax on his own multiple properties.
Sunak has been warned against fighting an election on an unfunded plan to abolish employee national insurance amid projections the move could blow a £40bn hole in the public finances.
The House of Commons is not sitting today, although the House of Lords is – more on that in a second. None of the Scottish parliament, Senedd or Northern Ireland assembly have any business scheduled.
It is Martin Belam with you today. I do try to read all your comments and dip in if I think I can be helpful, but the best way to get in touch with me – especially if you have spotted a typo or error – is to email me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
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