General election latest: Starmer recalls hospital visit that made him 'really angry' (2024)

MPs have criticised the government over its Rwanda scheme, saying the Home Office has "does not have a credible plan" for sending asylum seekers to the country

The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the department had "little to show" for the "significant sums of money" spent so far on the policy.

Its latest report, published today, says the Home Office has "continually failed to be transparent with parliament about how many people will be relocated, and the potential costs of the programme".

PAC praised efforts to move asylum seekers out of hotels, but said the "assessment of the requirements for setting up alternative accommodation in large sites fell woefully short of reality and risked wasting taxpayers' money".

The new sites would not house "anywhere near" as many people as promised, it said.

"We are concerned that the Home Office does not have a credible plan for implementing the Rwanda partnership," the report concluded.

Rishi Sunak has been ordered by a High Court judge to confirm when the first Rwanda deportation flight will take off, as the government was accused of providing "insufficient clarity" due to its changing position.

He has downplayed the chances of a flight taking off before the election on 4 July.

Scottish First Minister John Swinney has been speaking on the SNP's campaign trail in Fife this afternoon.

It comes as former first minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon confirms she will be on the trail as the party fights the general election.

Asked by our Scotland correspondentConnor Gillies whether Ms Sturgeon would be an asset or a liability to the campaign, Mr Swinney said: "Of course Nicola Sturgeon's an asset."

"She's an incredibly dynamic individual who led Scotland through really, really difficult times," he said, adding that he has spoken to people who said they admired her leadership.

"Nicola is welcome on the campaign trail," Mr Swinney added.

It's 1.30pm - here's your lunchtime run-down.

We're still in the early days of the election campaign, but there's been plenty of divisive policy announcements and rows making headlines.

Let us get you up to speed on everything you may have missed so far today...

• Sir Keir Starmerhas been out and about in the West Midlands to promote his pledge to clear the backlog of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment within five years of government, if the party gets into power;
• But the message has been completely smothered by a lack of clarity on whether the veteran MP Diane Abbott will be able to stand for Labour at the general election;
• In short - Ms Abbott was suspended over a year ago due to comments suggesting Jewish people do not face racism, and that instead they suffer prejudice similar to "redheads";
• The party whip was restored yesterday - but she told Sky News that she has been barred from standing for the party at the election;
• The Labour leader said it in not the case, but "no decision has been taken";
• Our political correspondent Tamara Cohensays Ms Abbott's allies "do not believe it was the leader's team who briefed that she was being barred, but now it is out there, they are still not getting on the front foot and denying it";
• Tamara adds that it is not necessarily that she wants to stand, but wanted to be let back into the party and have a proper send off, but "it seems the Labour leadership are allowing this to rumble on for several more days";

• Rishi Sunakis in the South West of England today promoting his promise to replace "rip-off degrees" with 100,000 apprenticeships each year by the end of the next parliament;
• He got off the train in Cornwall and bought breakfast for the travelling media pack, including our political correspondent Rob Powell, who was not best pleased about the lack of ketchup on the bacon sarnies...
• On more serious matters - the PM was quick to call for "transparency" from Labour over the Diane Abbott situation when speaking to broadcasters;
• But his last 20 hours or so have been overtaken by the news that Labour's Angela Rayner has been cleared by police after one of his deputy chairs made a police complaint;
  
• He swatted away suggestions that pushing for the probe was "a waste of police time" - and pivoted to attacking Ms Rayner;
• In more bad news for the PM - junior doctors have announced they will be going on strike just days before the election as part of their pay dispute, saying they are "fed up and out of patience with the government";
• He has lots of work to do to make up ground against Labour - an exclusive Sky News / YouGov poll reveals that the opposition is a whopping 27 points ahead;
• It should be noted that the poll was conducted AFTER his big offering of a national service policy was unveiled this weekend, which could be worrying for the embattled PM.

• Elsewhere, the SNP is demanding that Labour follows their lead and renationalises railways across the UK;
• The party's Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, criticised Sir Keir Starmer, saying the Diane Abbott situation is "a pretty sorry state of affairs";
• The Lib Demshave been launching their campaign in Wales, with a pledge to provide £1bn of extra funding for agriculture;
• The Welsh first minister and Labour leader could be facing a vote of no confidence after the Welsh Tories tabled a motion.

If you've still got a few more mouthfuls of lunch to go, here are a couple of other stories that may interest you:

Stick with us for all the latest throughout the afternoon.

The NHS, rightly, is a key election battleground.

So it's no surprise Labour has targeted the health service early on in the campaign - and they have one big advantage over the Conservatives.

It was under a Labour government that NHS waiting lists came down to a record low and satisfaction with the health service grew to a record high.

Under a Conservative government, the opposite is true.

But how achievable is Labour's target of cutting the 18-week waiting list within five years?

Public health leaders have described the aim as "bold" and say it took Labour 10 years to do it the last time they were in power.

Labour says it will do this by making thousands of appointments available at weekends and in the evenings.

Making use of empty operating theatres is smart, some trusts are already doing this right now, but it all depends on the availability of a trained, willing and able workforce.

Labour says no staff member will be forced to work extra shifts and can refuse without any comeback - but this is a workforce that is burnt out and stressed.

Even if they wanted to help with this huge push, physically and mentally many might not be in a position to help.

Labour also says it will spend millions raised through scrapping non-dom tax schemes on extra scanners and diagnostic equipment.

That's great - but again, the crucial question is where will we find the staff to make these machines work.

We've just heard from Sir Keir Starmer outside a Labour Q&A event with medical students in Worcester.

As well as being asked about Diane Abbott (see 12.14 post), the Labour leader was asked about the newly-announced junior doctor strikes which will take place in the lead-up to the election.

Sir Keir said he was "shocked" that the government had allowed the situation to reach this point and added that a settlement should have been negotiated.

"What they've effectively done is kicked it the other side of the general election. That's unforgivable," he said.

Sir Keir said he did not want the strike to go ahead due to the impact on patients, and said it would fall to Labour to settle the issue if they were to be elected into government.

The head of the UK's biggest nursing union is stepping down to try to become an MP in the general election.

Professor Pat Cullen, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, has announced her bid to be elected as an MP for Sinn Fein in Fermanagh South Tyrone.

She became the public face of the biggest nursing strike in history last year, as she led her union through several months of walkouts over pay and conditions,often joining RCN members on picket lines.

'The honour of my life'

Prof Cullen said in a statement: "This was the hardest decision to make, and we have achieved so much in three very different and difficult years."

She said it had been the "honour of my life" to have served in the RCN and "to provide leadership every day to hundreds of thousands of hard-working nurses and healthcare staff who always prioritise the delivery of high-quality care to patients".

Paul Vaughan, who chairs the RCN Council, said Prof Cullen had been a "tremendous leader".

By Tomos Evans, Wales reporter

Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething is set to face a motion of no confidence next week.

Mr Gethinghas only been in post since March but his government has since been through what he described as a "difficult" time.

The motion of no confidence has been tabled by the Welsh Conservatives, the largest opposition party in the Senedd, and is set to take place on 5 June.

Mr Gething has faced questions over a controversial £200k donation to his leadership campaign from a man convicted of environmental offences.

He has refused calls for the money to be returned, and remaining funds have instead gone to "wider progressive causes".

He has said the donation was within the rules but has commissioned a review of future political donations.

Mr Gething was also accused of having misled the COVID Inquiryafter a text message emerged in which he said he would delete messages in a ministerial group chat.

The first minister insisted the messages related to internal Labour Party matters.

He then sacked Hannah Blythyn, a minister in his government, for allegedly leaking them to the media - allegations she denies.

Victoria Atkins has called for Labour to condemn a decision by junior doctors to strike during the election campaign.

In a post to X, the health secretary said the announcement of fresh strikes from 27 June to 2 July "on Labour's health day shows this was only ever political and not about patients or staff".

She said the decision was a "highly cynical tactic", adding: "This Conservative government has taken the tough decisions to keep public spending down to bear down on inflation, which is now back to normal.

"Labour would be in the hands of their union paymasters - meaning more spending and higher taxes."

Junior doctors are striking as part of their long-running dispute over pay, the British Medical Association said (see more in 11.14 post).

Our political correspondent Tamara Cohen just spoke to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer about the row surrounding Diane Abbott.

He says she has not been barred from standing for the party at the election, despite reports suggesting otherwise yesterday and the veteran MP claiming they were true (see pinned post).

But by saying no decision had yet been made, and likely wouldn't come until next week, Tamara says Sir Keir's "allowing this to rumble on for several more days".

Ms Abbott's supports "in this confusing situation, feel she has been poorly treated", says Tamara.

"Even though who disagree with Diane Abbott's politics feel she has a legacy in the party as the first black woman MP and there's a desire for her to be rehabilitated."

A reminder that Ms Abbott was suspended over a year ago for a letter she wrote for The Observer newspaper, in which she suggested Jewish people don't experience racism but rather prejudice like redheads.

She swiftly apologised and retracted the comments, but only had the whip restored yesterday despite a party investigation reportedly concluding several months ago.