pm about the labour party and sir kier starmer.— kier starmer.ape in a recent by—elections. conservatives taking hartlepool, the liberal democrat taking chesham and amersham from the conservatives just last month, things seem to be in flux. what is the feeling in terms of the bigger picture? absolutely. what we're seeing is what we have seen since 2016, the slow realignment of british politics. people thought the brexit realignment was done but it is not an event, it is a process. hartlepool, going over to the conservatives from labour. perhaps more left—wing, the borisjohnson morphing. some boris johnson morphing. some conservatives borisjohnson morphing. some conservatives going to liberal democrats, perhaps more graduates living there. not entirely approving of boris johnson or brexit going over to the liberal democrats. we are seeing this in other countries as well in terms of what is happening to traditional left of centre in the us, the french socialist, marine le pen and other sources, socialist, marine le pen and othersources, in socialis

kier starmer has painted this is a triumph. of only 300 votes over the conservatives in a seat that was held by labour at the last general election really constitute a dramatic turn of good fortune for party?— fortune for party? well, it constitutes _ fortune for party? well, it constitutes a _ fortune for party? well, it constitutes a dramatic - fortune for party? well, it| constitutes a dramatic turn fortune for party? well, it. constitutes a dramatic turn of fortune for party? well, it - constitutes a dramatic turn of the orthodox narrative because it defied expectation. that is when by—elections make an impact, so there was a narrative that labour was going to lose, that kier starmer could face a leadership challenge and that labour would erupt into one of theirfamiliar civil and that labour would erupt into one of their familiar civil wars. the win, even though as you do find it it was limited, changes that framing altogether for now, and that all by—elections can do. it gives kier starmer space, by—elections can do. it gi

here's kier starmer again. went into isolation because they were busted. we've seen once again their instincts on show. 0ne rule for them, another rule for the rest of us. borisjohnson has urged caution — but that's up to the individual now, not the government. and even he's admitted cases will keep rising. we've got to remember that this virus is sadly still out there. cases are rising. we can see the extreme contagiousness of the delta variant. and there's another thing worrying scientists besides the rising cases. here's our health correspondentjim reed. by allowing people to get infected you are increasing the chance that a new variant could emerge. at the moment, it is this delta variant that is by far the most prevalent in the uk. could you see some mutation to that that is in some way more infectious or could make a vaccine less effective and are you increasing the chances of that by having 50, 60, 70, 100,000 people a day infected? martin hibberd is a professor of emerging infectious diseases at the lon

makes it less likely, if anything, but sir kier starmer is accusing the government of a chaotic approachome into contact with someone who has tested positive to the 7th of august. why then? well, it happens to be the date that the welsh government is due to confirm will be the end of isolation requirements for double jabbed adults there, and sir kier stamer was asked earlier more about his reasoning for specifying that date. we have been talking to scientists throughout the 18 months of this pandemic on a very regular basis. it's not that date that is driving it, it's the principle of the double vaccination, and the idea, as welsh labour have put forward, if you are double vaccinated, you don't have to isolate if you have been in contact with someone, as is automatically the _ rule at the moment. at the moment, we've got hundreds of thousands of people a week isolating, and you can see the chaos that that's causing. so, why not now, is perhaps the other obvious question for labour here. if it�*s deemed safe in nine days�* time, why isn�*t deemed safe now, where sir kier stamer�*s answer

is defending a majority of three thousand in batley and spen — it's being seen as a test of sir kier starmer this is a by—election that's been hard—fought and at times fraught. perhaps that's a sign of just what's at stake, because a loss here for labour would be damaging and would undoubtedly prompt another period of introspection about the party's direction, but perhaps more crucially, the party's leadership. now, for the tories, this is a test of whether they can continue their charge in this part of the country, now that it's their handling of the pandemic rather than brexit that's at the forefront of people's minds. so the result here will have national significance, but there are important local factors at play here too. this was the seat once of jo cox, the mp who was murdered by a far right extremist, so it has known division before, and this has been a difficult campaign, tense. there's been anger, there's been harassment, there's been a police presence on the ground. it's been a highly charged contest in a very crowded field, some 16 candidates standing. and among them, george gall

the government's covid strategy has been challenged in the commons by the labour leader sir kier starmerions reach 100,000 every day, that will lead to huge numbers of people having to self—isolate. but borisjohnson said the vaccination programme makes the relaxation possible — and that he's taking decisions in a balanced way. here's our political correspondent helen catt. the prime minister will be hoping that england can win the football and the country can combat a rise in covered cases. the health secretary has said that cases could reach 100,000 per day. sir keir starmer wanted to know how many would end up in hospital could die.— in hospital could die. we've certainly — in hospital could die. we've certainly proved _ in hospital could die. we've certainly proved that - in hospital could die. we've certainly proved that we - in hospital could die. we've| certainly proved that we are in hospital could die. we've - certainly proved that we are seeing a wave _ certainly proved that we are seeing a wave of— certainly proved that we are seeing a wave of cases because of the delta variant