let's speak to our chief political correspondent, henry zeffman. henry, hello to you.pecting to hear today from keir starmer? i expecting to hear today from keir starmer? ~' �* expecting to hear today from keir starmer? ~ �* ., starmer? i think you're right to talk about _ starmer? i think you're right to talk about the _ starmer? i think you're right to talk about the general - starmer? i think you're right to | talk about the general election, because while people like me and of course lots of people around the uk are desperate to know when exactly it is going to be, we don't know, but both parties really are behaving as if the campaign is under way. we are not going to learn anything new from sir keir starmer today about how he would govern. there is no new policy. but we are going to learn an awful lot knew about how he intends to campaign to get into government. because what he is unveiling and calling six key steps, first steps but in practice, they are pledges and that is what they used to be called, it is his pledge card. they are going to be the key messages h

henry zeffman, thank you. _ hurt that morale. henry zeffman, thank you, with _ hurt that morale.effman, thank you, with the _ hurt that morale. henry zeffman, thank you, with the very - hurt that morale. henry zeffman, thank you, with the very latest. l the world's oceans have broken temperature records every day over the past year, because of climate change, according to bbc analysis. the heating has a major impact on global marine life. figures from the eu climate service copernicus also show that last month was the warmest april on record. 0ur climate editorjustin rowlatt is in anglesey. yeah, let's start with that impact on marine life. the most dramatic impact perhaps is in the tropical seas, where there is a mass global coral bleaching event under way. coral contains tiny algae within it thatis coral contains tiny algae within it that is what gives it those beautiful colours, it injects that when it is under stress because of heat and it can die as a result. in antarctica, we are seeing emperor penguins struggling to find safe places to make their nests on the ice, but we a

henry zeffman, bbc news, westminster.itical editor chris mason joins us now from where sir keir was speaking in essex. what are labour trying to do here? they are trying to command attention and project a sense of momentum. the thing i was struck by, i have just been talking to sir keir starmer, you will be able to see the interview on bbc news later this afternoon, a sense of scale. this was a big event, it had the rest of a general election launch event for a general election launch event for a summer election that is not happening —— the riff. there was video endorsements, graphics on the wall, a series of speeches from shadow cabinet ministers. what labour is trying to do is keep a sense of momentum going for them after the local election results in england and the by—election result in blackpool, conscious that it looks like there could be months and months until we get to a general election in the autumn. what they are trying to do, as henry was reflecting there, is take the big picture id is they have been kicking

let's speak to our chief political correspondent henry zeffman who's live in westminster. ay a day of shame for the british state. it is very rare i think for such strong words to be used, but completelyjustified, having heard the report yesterday? extremely rare, and extremely rare to have a prime minister standing at the dispatch box of the house of commons apologising not for something they specifically have done but something about the state has done, something that successive governments over decades have done. rishi sunak vowed to pay whatever it costs and compensation to do as much as the government can at this late juncture to put it right. that is the question that will be asked in the question that will be asked in the house of commons today, how is the house of commons today, how is the government proposing to compensate both those infected in this awful scandal but also those affected, the family members, loved ones and so on, of those treated with these contaminated blood products. this is the big question for today and it was clear yesterday that across politi

with more on this, here's our chief political ccorrspondent, henry zeffman. ll, it's kind of hard to sa . come from? well, it's kind of hard to say- the — come from? well, it's kind of hard to say. the first _ come from? well, it's kind of hard to say. the first things _ come from? well, it's kind of hard to say. the first things i _ come from? well, it's kind of hard to say. the first things i picked - come from? well, it's kind of hard to say. the first things i picked up| to say. the first things i picked up were yesterday afternoon from people inside the government machine. i think i have to live it a bit vague. by think i have to live it a bit vague. by this morning, practically everybody i spoke to had picked up flutters of rumours. westminster runs on gossip and, in the recent few months, westminster has run on election date gossip. but previously, in previous bursts of gossip like this, you've had people from downing street in rishi sunak�*s in a circle either openly or privately saying, look, this isn't worth getting excited about. over the last 12 ho

henry zeffman.t the night protesting outside the parliament building. they are opposing a new law being put forward by the pro—russian government, which targets foreign—owned organisations and media. they say it will suppress critical voices. in russia itself, more than two years into the war in ukraine, president putin has announced andrei belousov, an economist, will become the new defence minister. he's taking overfrom sergei shoigu, who has become the new secretary of russia's powerful security council. 6,000 people have been evacuated so far. from north—eastern ukraine. russia intensifies its attacks in the kharkiv area. they have entered the border town of vovchansk. president zelensky says ukrainian forces are involved in heavy fighting there. the russian incursion has made kharkiv — ukraine's second largest city — more vulnerable. james waterhouse is in kyiv. is ukraine able to slow this advance? james. well, there is an increasing contradiction emerging. at the moment, they are saying, yes,

let's speak to henry zeffman, who's in the commons lobby now. really quite a moment.u had asked me to make a list of the 100 conservative mps most likely to defect to labour —— labour, natalie elphicke wouldn't have been anywhere near it. most would have placed on the right of the conservative party, but as of midday today she is in the labour party. that came as shocked conservative mps and labour mps as well. sir keir starmer is absolutely jubilant nevertheless. let's hear a bit from him now. i'm delighted to welcome natalie elphicke to the labour party. she's got a strong track record on issues such as housing, she is on the front line when it comes to the crisis of small boats, and the reason that she is given forjoining the labour party is very, very important, because i think she speaks for very many tory voters in saying that the tory party has changed, it's left the centre ground, but equally the labour party has changed. we are very clearly the party of the national interest, country first, party second, and i look forward to working with her on the mission t

let's speak to henry zeffman, who's in the commons lobby now. really quite a moment.

it's now time for today's sunday episode of newscast, with laura kuenssberg, paddy o'connell and henry zeffman the studio. and henry at home. is it mission impossible for the conservatives? that's what we've been discussing this weekend. it depends how you count it. it depends who you are.

earlier, i spoke to our chief political correspondent henry zeffman and asked him about the prime ministerime minister standing at the dispatch box of the house of commons, apologising, not for something they specifically have done, but for something the state has done, some think that successive governments over decades have done. and rishi sunak vowed to pay whatever it costs in compensation to do as much as the government can at this point, at this late juncture to put it right. and that is the question that is going to be asked in parliament, in the house of commons today — how is the government proposing to compensate both those infected in this awful scandal, but also those affected, the family members and loved ones and so on of those who were treated with this contaminated product? that is the big question for today, and it was clear from yesterday that across political parties there is now, although campaigners would say far too late, a real desire to put this right at long last. and a figure that has been talked about is a figure of £10 billion. that�*s right, that is what most e

senior party figure hailed her switch as "one hell of a coup". 0ur chief political correspondent, henry zeffman labour leader keir starmer and his allies are jubilant that natalie elphicke hasjoined labour. and that's for the simple reason that they can now say to rishi sunak and to the voters that rishi sunak has promised to, in his words, stop the boats, stop the small boats crossing the channel. and the mp for dover, which is where so many of those boats arrive, has now publicly declared that she backs keir starmer to achieve that goal over rishi sunak. make no mistake, that is a proper blow in public relations terms for the conservative party, for rishi sunak. however, as you say, there is significant unease, mostly private, but a little bit in public from labour mps about this basically because natalie elphicke is quite right wing as they would see it as conservative mp saying she was probably on the right of the conservative party, although there's some nuances around that. and so there are labour mps who are saying, well, 0k, the party should be a broad church, but how broad is too broad

part of the forced deportation policy the government announced two years ago. 0ur correspondent, henry zeffman

earlier, i spoke to to our chief political correspondent henry zeffman, who told me what we're expectingbout how he intends to campaign to get into government. because what he is unveiling and calling six key steps, first steps but in practice, they are pledges and that is what they used to be called, it is his pledge card. they are going to be the key messages he will hammer home again and again until polling day, whenever it is. so economic stability, the nhs, border security, energy, anti—social behaviour and recruiting new teachers. that is what we are going to hear on repeat from sir keir starmer because that is what he thinks the priorities of the british public and crucially the swing voters he wants to win over from the conservatives are in this election campaign. stay with us here on bbc news. hello again. low pressure has been in charge of our weather as we've gone through this week, and today, once again, it's going to do the same. in fact, for the next few days, we are looking at spells of warm sunshine. but there'll be some rain around, some heavy showers which have the pote

earlier we spoke to our chief political correspondent henry zeffman. that some third party actor got hold of the armed forces payroll system. that is information on the names of everyone serving in the armed forces and some veterans too, also things like their bank details and in some limited cases their personal addresses too. grant shapps, the defence secretary, will be updating mps about this later today. he won't identify a culprit but i am told that at top of government faces back the chinese state of being behind this and that of course opens up all sorts of questions about the uk's relationship both diplomatic and economic with china. how are they going to potentially deal with that, do you think? i think they will come under a lot of pressure from some conservative mps who have long been calling for a tougher approach to china. we have already had a bit of that this morning. sir iain duncan smith, a former conservative party leader and cabinet minister, has posted this on x, "yet another example of why the uk government must admit that china po

let's speak to henry zeffman. so explain this to us.he last couple of weeks? it is not what we have _ the last couple of weeks? it is not what we have been _ the last couple of weeks? it is not what we have been talking - the last couple of weeks? it is not what we have been talking about. the last couple of weeks? it is not i what we have been talking about the last couple of years. this is a rwanda scheme but not the rwanda scheme. the government for two years under three prime ministers and more home secretaries than i can count has been committed to forcibly relocating people who arrive in the uk in small boats across the english channel to rwanda. what happened on monday was not that. it was a separate scheme, which we have only known about for a couple of months, whereby they want to offer, and crucially that is the word, offer people who have applied for asylum here but been rejected the opportunity to move to rwanda should they wish. and to do so, the government is willing to pay them up to £3000. on monday, according to the sun

the liberal democrats have so far secured just over 100 seats. 0ur chief political correspondent henry zeffmanhis report. as local elections results day blurs into local elections results weekend, one clear story... labour's strength in cities all over england. sir keir starmer celebrating in the east midlands... in some places, we did not get all the votes we wanted and of course we will fight to get those votes back but if you look at the overarching picture and the purpose, the purpose is to serve our country, this is the last stop before the general election and we have made significant and very real progress. i do hereby declare that steve rotherham is duly elected... celebrations in liverpool... south yorkshire... manchester... and west yorkshire. and london. susan mary hall, the conservative party candidate, 812,397. where intense rumours of a conservative upset turned out to be, well, wrong. sadiq khan, labour party, 1,088,225. frankly, we have run an incredibly underwhelming campaign over the last year. we have not articulated any sense of mission, itjust has all been what we are seei

part of the forced deportation policy the government announced two years ago. 0ur correspondent, henry zeffmaned the difference between the schemes. it's not what we've been talking about for the last couple of years. this is a rwanda scheme, but it's not the rwanda scheme. the government for two years, under three prime ministers and more home secretaries than i can count, has been committed to forcibly relocating people who arrive in the uk in small boats across the english channel to rwanda. what happened on monday was not that. it was a separate scheme, which we've only known about for a couple of months, whereby they want to offer, and, crucially, that is the word — "offer" people who've applied for asylum here but been rejected the opportunity to move to rwanda should they wish and to do so, the government is willing to pay them up to £3,000. and, on monday, according to the sun newspaper, that happened for the first time. so, a man who had made an asylum application here, which had been rejected, was paid around £3,000 by the government to voluntarily get on a commercial flight to rwand

it's now time for today's sunday episode of newscast, with laura kuenssberg, paddy o'connell and henry zeffmancast. newscast from the bbc. hello. it's paddy in the studio. and laura in the studio. and henry at home. is it mission impossible for the conservatives? that's what we've been discussing this weekend. it depends how you count it. it depends who you are. if you're mark harper, who is a loyal ally of rishi sunak, you say, "it's all to play for". or if you are suella braverman, former home secretary, you say on the telly, "we might not have any "mps left if rishi sunak doesn't change course." and if you're paul scully, who's another former minister who was also on our programme, you say, "it's all looking pretty "terrible and the party needs to take a breath, "show some humility and stick to the centre". so it's not a very pretty set of realities, but there are differing realities, but not a very pretty set of realities for rishi sunak today. so i offerfrom radio 4 land today gavin barwell, who was theresa may's adviser. now, of course, she saw a chance to go for an election and was then

now it's time for today's sunday episode of newscast, with laura kuenssberg, paddy o'connell and henry zeffmanhello, it's laura in the studio. it's paddy in the studio, hello. and henry at home, hi. henry, did you watch eurovision? i didn't, sorry, which is probably not the answer you were hoping for. well, did you do something else nice instead? i had a very nice meal out, yeah. but i saw some tweets so i feel like i watched eurovision. so, here is a quiz for you, as a newshound. who won? name the country and artist. switzerland, and nemo. there you go. and here is nemo. congratulations on having the winning song. # i went to hell and back # to find myself on track # i broke the code # whoa—oh—oh # like ammonites ijust gave it some time # now i found paradise. ..# i can tell you that paddy's toes and knees immediately started tapping and gyrating in a eurovision appropriate manner. a good final sentence, going back to switzerland where it all began, and a lot of people will say, go back to your roots in one way or another, oh, contest. get the innocence back. i was very disappointed it was ab

let's speak to our chief political correspondent, henry zeffman. tell us more about this.t this. we still don't know an _ tell us more about this. we still don't know an awful— tell us more about this. we still don't know an awful lot - tell us more about this. we still don't know an awful lot about i tell us more about this. we still i don't know an awful lot about this case but what we know it is very serious indeed. what happened was that some third party actor got hold of the armed forces payroll system. that is information on the names of everyone serving in the armed forces and some veterans too, things like their bank details and in some limited cases their personal addresses too. grant shapps, the defence secretary, will be updating mps about this later today. he won't identify a culprit but i am told that at top of government faces back the chinese state of being behind this and that of course opens up all sorts of questions about the uk's relationship both diplomatic and economic with china. haifa relationship both diplomatic and economic with china.— relationshi

our chief political correspondent henry zeffman is in central lobby for us now.ulation is really mounting and i heard chris mason, our political editor, say earlier that it feels different this time. what it feels different this time. what is our it feels different this time. what is your take? — it feels different this time. what is your take? to _ it feels different this time. what is your take? to be _ it feels different this time. what is your take? to be honest, - it feels different this time. what is your take? to be honest, i - it feels different this time. wuat is your take? to be honest, i don't know and i am in good company because cabinet ministers don't know what is going on, junior ministers don't know what is going on and keir starmer doesn't know what is going on. you get the idea, but the speculation in westminster this morning, even by the standards of a place that runs on gossip, has been pretty electrifying. at prime minister's questions, stephen flynn, the snp leader in westminster, asked the snp leader in westminster, asked the question on ev

henry, correspondent henry zeffman. morning to you. as the henry, morning to you.ot, naga, and yesterday was an utterly _ away. it's not, naga, and yesterday was an utterly confusing _ away. it's not, naga, and yesterday was an utterly confusing day. - away. it's not, naga, and yesterday was an utterly confusing day. in - was an utterly confusing day. in case you could not tell, labour wanted to spend it talking about the nhs, but they were overwhelmed by the confusing ins and outs of what diane abbott's position in the labour party is. here is where we stand this morning. she has the labour whip, she is in good standing as far as the parties concerned, officially, but the direction of travel still appears to be that if she wants to stand at the general election as she said at the rally in her constituency last night she does, the labour party is not likely to adopt her as their candidate. so you are still going to have the damaging row that people were trying to cool yesterday in a few days' time because labour's deadline, self—imposed deadline but deadline nevert

our chief political correspondent henry zeffman has the details. what you make of these pledges?what you make of these pledges? tte: first thing you what you make of these pledges? tt2 first thing you should make of them is the manner in which this was all presented. it was all very much like a campaign event. you had keir starmer, sleeves rolled up, jacket off, tie off, standing there with his entire shadow cabinet behind him. these six steps that he wants to lay out, there were cards that were able to be handed out on a digital version on the phone and post is going up in key constituencies so it felt like a campaign event even if we are not in a campaign. it was all about sending a campaign. it was all about sending a particular picture and this message that here is a man, leader of a party, that wants to get to sleep rolled up and get stuck in and make changes. six key areas, these are not new things but labour is trying to hone in on new things that it can start delivering. not new pledges, not changing old ones but things like economic growth. nhs appointments, new teachers

our chief political correspondent, henry zeffman, joins us now. one, henry.y win the general election onjuly the ath. it would be headquartered in scotland which is why he is talking about it. and he will all argue that this clean energy power company founded by a windfall tax on oil and gas companies, that will provide energy security and cat people's bills and he has had the backing on that today from sir patrick vallance, who was the chief scientific adviser during covid. he is saying under the current government plans, the transition to clean power is not happening in the way that he thinks it needs to. he told the bbc that, but he is not endorsing the labour party overall, just this specific policy. the scottish national party say this scheme is a con trick which will lead to scotland? energy wealth funding projects in the rest of the united kingdom. the conservatives say that labour's plans to stop granting new oil and gas licenses in the north sea means thousands of jobs in the scotland area are at risk. scotland —— conservative talking about cutting d

our political correspondent henry zeffman is in westminster. hat more do we know about the breach? good morning, sally. we don't know an awful lot at this stage, but what we do know is pretty serious indeed. it is understood there was a breach of the armed forces payroll system, affecting perhaps of people, and on that system, nothing operational, nothing to do with ministry of defence activities. instead, personal details, what is being described as hmrc style details of serving members of the armed forces, but also potentially some veterans too. that payroll system was operated by a subcontractor rather than the ministry of defence. it's been turned off now, and it's understood the ministry of defence is launching an investigation. we are going to hearfrom grant shapps, the defence secretary, speaking about this in the house of commons later, because clearly this is pretty serious. i think there are some questions that still arise, most obviously who was behind it. was it a hostile state? what kind of third party, what might they be able to do

we'rejoined now by our chief political correspondent henry zeffman. good morning, henry.morning. art in general— good morning, henry. good morning. art in general elections _ good morning, henry. good morning. art in general elections are _ good morning, henry. good morning. art in general elections are about - art in general elections are about set piece moments and the announcement itself is a big deal. you were right here in this position, the lectern was just here, tell me what that moment was like. let me make the most obvious point first. it was really wet. it was so wet that i was standing under massive golf umbrella but my suit is still a little bit wet so i don't know how that worked, but it was a drenching for the prime minister and he was clearly determined to persevere actually because i think they think, his team, that it displays a message about his strong willingness to make some tough decisions. , ., ., ., decisions. there is a lot of choreography _ decisions. there is a lot of choreography here. - decisions. there is a lot of choreography here. we i decis

it's time for today's sunday episode of newscast, with laura kuenssberg, paddy o'connell, and henry zeffmano. did you watch eurovision? no. what, then? — hello. did you watch eurovision? no. what, then? meal— hello. did you watch eurovision? no. what, then? meal out. _ hello. did you watch eurovision? no. what, then? meal out. saw- hello. did you watch eurovision? no. what, then? meal out. saw some - what, then? meal out. saw some tweets. what, then? meal out. saw some tweets- who _ what, then? meal out. saw some tweets. who won? _ what, then? meal out. saw some tweets. who won? name - what, then? meal out. saw some tweets. who won? name the - what, then? meal out. saw some . tweets. who won? name the country what, then? meal out. saw some - tweets. who won? name the country an artist. switzerland. _ tweets. who won? name the country an artist. switzerland. congratulations - artist. switzerland. congratulations on the winning _ artist. switzerland. congratulations on the winning song. _ artist. switzerland. congratulations on the winning song. music. - paddy's toes started tapping. a good f

our chief political correspondent henry zeffman joins us now. absolutely _ essence, isn't it? yes, it absolutely is. _ essence, isn't it? yes, it absolutely is. this - essence, isn't it? yes, it absolutely is. this is - essence, isn't it? yes, it - absolutely is. this is potentially a significant moment because what happened yesterday will have the force of law. it is not a verbal commitment. you mentioned speed, this scandal has been running for decades now. it was way back in the 19705 and 19805 that more than 30,000 nhs patients who were being given blood clotting treatment were given blood clotting treatment were given contaminated blood products, around 3000 are later thought to have died from contracting hiv or hepatitis. there is a public inquiry still ongoing into this scandal. in april last year, the chair of the inquiry called on the government to set up a full compensation scheme as speedily as possible. and in december last year, some mps frustrated by the fact that that is not yet happening passed a vote requiring the government to a

our chief political correspondent henry zeffman is in westminster. mplete surprise? morning, charlie, yes, it was a complete - charlie, yes, it was a complete shock and i will be honest i was sitting in the press gallery in the house of commons perched above the speakers chair and i missed natalie elphicke move over to the labour benches and take a seat behind sir keir starmer but in my defence i did almost every conservative mp as well. —— so did almost every conservative mp. you could see these casts when it rippled through the chamber. —— you could hear the gasping. it was shocking because natalie elphicke is not a prime candidate for defection, she is on the right of the conservative party, a big supporter of borisjohnson and brexit although there are some interesting nuances on her ideology on housing and the economy and some issues. some people thought she might defect to the fledgling reform party stock but now she is in the labour party and that is a blow undoubtedly for rishi sunak because sir keir starmer can say that rishi sunak has promise

our chief political correspondent henry zeffman joins us now. still raining.ed, rishi sunak closed the gap as the economy improved. that has not happened. on the evidence last night, lots of people and lots of different parts of england are frustrated with the conservative party and of giving their votes to various parties, in particular the labour party. if you are a conservative strategist, thinking about the looming general election, prospects as it stands are not very good. is election, prospects as it stands are not very good-— not very good. is rishi sunak safe as our not very good. is rishi sunak safe as your party _ not very good. is rishi sunak safe as your party leader _ not very good. is rishi sunak safe as your party leader and - not very good. is rishi sunak safe as your party leader and prime i as your party leader and prime minister? ~ , ,., , as your party leader and prime minister? ~ , . . ., minister? absolutely. the crucial thin . minister? absolutely. the crucial thin is minister? absolutely. the crucial thing is these — minister? absolutel

our chief political correspondent henry zeffman joins us now.lans and how have we heard about them? morning. they have leaked, as often seems to happen, but they will be announced by the government very shortly. these plans affect schools in england specifically, where the current rules are that the sex education is compulsory in secondary school but optional in primary schools, where skills deem it might be appropriate. the government wants to set a clear it age delineation so they will say no sex education at all before the age of nine, year five, towards the end of primary school. we also expect other age delineation, the limits of a different material, higher age limits, so we expect for example schools to be cold or inaccurate or not to get into subjects like abortion or sexually transmitted diseases until they are teenagers. there is also a separate issue that will be covered in this guidance to do with gender identity, schools to be told they should not teach issues of gender identity, and that if pupils ask questions about them, the scho

we'rejoined now by our chief political correspondent henry zeffman. morning to you. lacking in detail, will we get some today?— on ideas, lacking in detail, will we get some today? morning. as far as labour are concerned, _ get some today? morning. as far as labour are concerned, this - get some today? morning. as far as labour are concerned, this is - get some today? morning. as far as labour are concerned, this is it, - labour are concerned, this is it, this is the programme on which they hope to persuade the british public to put them in government at some point this year when that general election comes. what they are calling this six first steps or change. those who remember tony blair's pledge card in 1997 will think this is pretty similar because you will see labour relentlessly hammered these six pledges again and again and again until the general election. so what are they? the first is economic stability, the second is to cut nhs waiting times, the third is to set up a publicly owned energy company, great british energy, fourth, crackdown on anti—social beh

our chief political correspondent, henry zeffman is in westminster for us this morning. seen to keep the public safe and this growing pressure on prisons in england is really concerning people here in westminster. what this is as a letter from the national police chief counsel that coordinates activities between forces and it was sent ten days or so ago and went out to all of the police forces and it suggested that the chief constables think about pausing what they called non—priority arrest. consideration has been given to pausing non—priority arrests and any planned operations where large numbers of arrests might take place to ease the pressure in the criminaljustice system, so the letter to chief constables were saying that the prisons are so for that they should consider delaying arrests of people who they might otherwise arrest for fear they might end up having to be held in custody and increase the pressure on prisons. this letter was circulated at around the same time the government triggered something called operation early dawn, another measure designed to ease

let's speak to our chief political correspondent henry zeffman.they are still sending out quite conflicting messages, aren't they, on the future of diane abbott. peter kyle this morning spoke about her legacy as a great member of the labour party in the past but they are trying to make the party fit for the future. angela rayner giving quite a different message yesterday. the labour party is a sprawling, almost federal organisation, with all sorts of people with separate power bases. keir starmer, obviously, is the elected leader. he has just been saying repeatedly for several days now that diane abbott has not been barred from being a labour candidate. note the tense, that does not mean she won't be but he is insisting that he has not been and praises her as a trailblazer, that seems to be the word that everyone is using for britain's first ever black female mp. angela rayner yesterday, first ever black female mp. angela rayneryesterday, keir first ever black female mp. angela rayner yesterday, keir starmer�*s deputy but separately elected, with

henry zeffman, our chief political correspondent, is with us. tion, they won't increase the headline rate of income tax, national insurance or vat. he claimed that labour had a plan to increase vat because they have avoided committing to not doing so. well, not any more because last night, rachel reeves, in response to that article, the shadow chancellor said that labour would not increase income tax, national insurance or vat over the course of a parliament if they win the general election. they would match the conservatives. so the conservative search for a dividing line was unsuccessful. you are right to pose the question of what this means in the broader context for the uk public finances. a lot of experts say that even though we are already at a point where the uk tax burden is as high as it has ever been in peacetime, given the level of public spending and the level of tax receipts, actually, the levels of public spending in the uk are not plausible without increases in tax receipts unless you have a period of sustained economic growth. so

we'rejoined now by our chief political correspondent, henry zeffman. rdjim we heard jim mentioning we heardjim mentioning a compensation scheme, henry, what more can you tell us, what more for the people waiting for this news, what can they hope for? this inuui , what can they hope for? this inquiry. this— what can they hope for? this inquiry, this scandal - what can they hope for? this inquiry, this scandal is - what can they hope for? ti 3 inquiry, this scandal is really going to dominate the start of the week here in westminster and understandably so. the political fallout is going to come in two steps. so today, this afternoon, after the report is published, we are expecting to see rishi sunak at the dispatch box of the house of commons making a statement in response. it's been fairly widely reported that he will apologise on behalf of the government, on behalf of successive governments to the families of those infected and affected. that's a really big moment, those apologies those sorts of apologies don't come along too often, they are reserved fo

our chief political correspondent henry zeffman joins us now. an apology is one thing but trying to sort this out as a whole other challenge for the government? that's right, whatever it cost is what the prime minister said to a practically silent house of commons yesterday. we will not get much clearer direction of travel than that. we will get more details today. the expectation of what it will cost is upwards of £10 billion, a really extensive compensation scheme covering those notjust those infected, but those affected, family members, parents and children, who had loved ones affected by what we now know and what the government is now know and what the government is now recognising as one of the great scandals of our age. in practical terms how that compensation will work will be set out by the paymaster general, john glenn in the house of commons later today. worth noting, some people, although campaigners say fat if you receive some interim compensation payments. i think i would expect more interim payments today while the compensation aut

our chief political correspondent, henry zeffman, joins us now.front of that support back then it has been at the forefront in recent want of trying to persuade other allies to keep up the support for ukraine, principally there has been a lot of frustration in the uk about what is going on in america in terms of supporting ukraine, which is something grant shapps the defence secretary spoke to us about earlier. the world sort of took their eye off the ball to some extent because we knew for many months that ukraine would need more equipment. the united kingdom did keep stepping up — we sent our biggest package this year, and then we enlarged it again last month, and also sent a lot of additional kit to ukraine. we know that internal politics in america meant that there was that delay — what was happening in congress — and, you know, it has created some issues. grant shapps talking about the internal politics of the us, something that also occupies the government's thoughts a lot here is what might happen, should the american government change next

let's get more on this with our chief political correspondent henry zeffman. lot to talk about at this stage. i want to start without diane abbott news this morning. i know you have been writing on the page upon bbc website, but there is questions to labour about the handling of this cookie is cut first and foremost, what are my mistresses.— and foremost, what are my mistresses. ~ , ., , , ., mistresses. then abbott has been an mp for 40 years- _ mistresses. then abbott has been an mp for 40 years. she _ mistresses. then abbott has been an mp for 40 years. she was _ mistresses. then abbott has been an mp for 40 years. she was the - mistresses. then abbott has been an mp for 40 years. she was the first. mp for 40 years. she was the first black woman mp, elected first in the 19705. she was a trailblazer, according to many. labour went to the country, telling the public that if they won, they would make diane abbott home secretary for sub now, it seems that in this general election, she is not going to be allowed to be a labour candidate. how long political caree

get more on those quesitons around candidate selection with our chief political correspondent, henry zeffmanee.— campaign trail tree. your analysis on what we _ campaign trail tree. your analysis on what we have _ campaign trail tree. your analysis on what we have heard? - campaign trail tree. your analysis on what we have heard? that - campaign trail tree. your analysis on what we have heard? that is l on what we have heard? that is right, and it would put centre stage byjeremy hunt, the chancellor, who last night made a vow and no increase in income tax, vat, national insurance, but crucially he claimed that labour had a secret plan to increase vat. the problem was by the time his newspaper article making that claim had been published, labour had much the claim of no raising of those headline taxes. so both parties locked into the same major tax policies and though crucially they are battling over appearing to be the party best place to cut the uk's unprecedentedly high tax burden, both major parties are also still committed to leaving the threshold, the rates which people move through dif