Reform support hits record high

Chosen by us to get you up to speed at a glance
Reform UK has hit a new record high in poll support. 
A YouGov survey conducted between March 26-27 and published today put Richard Tice’s party on 16 per cent of the vote. 
That was up by one point on last week and YouGov said it was “another highest ever result” for the party in its polling. 
Meanwhile, Labour was down by four points on 40 per cent of the vote and the Tories were up by two points on 21 per cent.
Mr Tice, the Reform leader, urged his party’s activists to “keep spreading the word” as he welcomed the news. 
You can follow the latest updates below and join the conversation in the comments section here. 
Thank you for joining me for today’s politics live blog. 
I will be back on Tuesday morning. 
A Tory manifesto pledge to ban no-fault evictions has been thrown into doubt after a backlash from Tory MPs. 
In a letter to Conservative MPs seen by The Telegraph today, levelling up minister Jacob Young laid out a series of amendments to the incoming Renters Reform Bill.
This included a commitment for the Lord Chancellor to review the “readiness” of the courts before no-fault evictions, otherwise known as Section 21, can be banned.
You can read the full story here. 
Rishi Sunak has suggested he had inherited the “worst hospital pass” of any new prime minister in decades when he took over from Liz Truss.
In an interview for The Times with Lord Hague, the former Tory leader, Mr Sunak said the country had “been through a lot … over the past few years, which people are understandably frustrated about.”
But he added he was “entirely confident that there are better times ahead”, insisting his efforts over the past year were beginning to pay off.
You can read the full story here. 
Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions fell to a new low in 2023 after households and businesses cut back on heating due to high energy prices.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said territorial emissions – those that take place within a country’s territorial boundaries – fell by 5.4 per cent to 384.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent last year, compared to 2022.
In an update released today, the department said this was due to “reduced gas use in UK electricity generation and higher energy, and other prices that reduced demand for heating”.
Michael Gove has hit back at Sir Keir Starmer after the Labour leader criticised the Tories over their levelling up efforts. 
The Levelling Up Secretary said the Labour leader “couldn’t be more wrong” on the issue. 
Mr Gove told broadcasters: “Keir Starmer couldn’t be more wrong. We are the party that’s been leading on levelling up for years now. The areas of the country in the Midlands and the North that Labour neglected for decades have had an infusion of cash and a power surge thanks to this Conservative Government.
“We’re the people who’ve given power to mayors in the Tees Valley and in the West Midlands, who’ve had a decisive impact on raising wages, levering in investment, empowering local communities.
“Labour are late to this game and also they come with nothing new to say. No new money, no new powers, no plan at all.”
Sir Keir said this morning that the Tories had “tapped into something real” on levelling up but they had failed to put in the “hard yards” to deliver change, something he described as “unforgivable” (see the post below at 10.35).
Michael Gove says ‘Keir Starmer couldn’t be more wrong’ in saying the Tories have failed to deliver on levelling up’Labour are late to this game’, he saidStarmer said in a speech on Thursday the Tories ‘preyed on people’s hopes’ with the policy pic.twitter.com/5yFSQS19gK
Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to end secretive justice by ensuring that journalists and the public get access to courts amid growing criticism of magistrates and immigration judges’ decisions being made behind closed doors.
Asked by The Telegraph today whether a Labour government would seek to open up courts, Sir Keir said courts and justice should be “open and accountable” which meant the “eyes and ears” of journalists should be able to get access to them.
You can read the full story here. 
Nigel Farage has given his biggest hint yet that he could return to frontline politics. 
The honorary president of Reform UK said “I honestly don’t know” after he was asked the question in an interview with the UnHerd website. 
Mr Farage said life is “pretty good” at the moment but added that “just maybe” he could return. 
Asked why it was a “maybe” if he liked where he was at in his life currently, Mr Farage said: “There’s a historic opportunity to really change things. I edge towards thinking that may be the case.”
Nigel Farage attributed Reform UK’s rise in the opinion polls to “word of mouth”. 
The honorary president of the party said that “something is happening out there” as he welcomed a YouGov survey showing Reform on a new record high of support (see the post below at 12.33).
The rise of Reform is all word of mouth. Something is happening out there. https://t.co/IoYSGEKbcE
Richard Tice urged Reform UK activists to “keep spreading the word” after the party achieved a new record high in poll support. 
The Reform leader tweeted “BOOM” as he welcomed the YouGov survey (see the post below at 12.33). 
He said: “Thanks all for your support, keep spreading the word!”
Reform UK has hit a new record high in poll support. 
A new YouGov survey conducted between March 26-27 and published today put Richard Tice’s party on 16 per cent of the vote. 
That was up by one point on last week and YouGov said it was “another highest ever result” for the party in its polling. 
Labour was down by four points on 40 per cent of the vote and the Tories were up by two points on 21 per cent.
Reform UK’s blue double decker bus has been travelling along the Blackpool seafront to drum up support following the unveiling of Mark Butcher as the party’s candidate in the Blackpool South by-election, writes Lauren Shirreff. 
Mr Butcher shouted down to the street: “Vote Reform.”
But a member of the public shouted back: “Absolutely not.”
Meanwhile, Lee Anderson, the Reform MP, would not be drawn on whether more Tory MPs could join him in defecting. 
“They’ll have to wrestle with their conscience on that one,” he said. 
Lee Anderson, the Reform UK MP, is in Blackpool today to announce the party’s candidate for the Blackpool South by-election. 
My colleague Lauren Shirreff is there and has sent across this update: 
It’s a sunny day here in Blackpool where Lee Anderson has just arrived on the Reform UK double decker bus.
He is here to introduce Mark Butcher, the party’s candidate in the Blackpool South by-election.
Mr Butcher, a local charity founder, said that he is “not a politician” but that he had been driven to stand by Labour rule in the area.
The Labour leader said Margaret Thatcher had a “sense of mission” after he was asked why he and other prominent Labour figures like to reference the former Tory premier. 
Sir Keir Starmer said: “When I speak about Margaret Thatcher, I was singling out leaders, prime ministers who I believe had a sense of mission, a sense of driving purpose.
“I don’t agree with her mission or driving purpose. In fact, she did very destructive things across the country, including in the Black Country, and people are still paying the price of that.
“But I do think it’s an important distinction, between leaders who have a driving sense of purpose, what they’re trying to achieve, a sense of the hard yards of five or 10 years in government, leaving something better after it, than those that drift.”
Angela Rayner should not publish the tax advice she received relating to the sale of her council house, Sir Keir Starmer said. 
Ms Rayner has refused to publish the advice she was given amid fresh scrutiny over her living arrangements a decade ago. 
Sir Keir told reporters following a speech in Dudley: “Angela has been very clear. I think she has been doing media this morning. She has made it very clear that if anybody wants more information from her, any of the authorities, she is more than happy to provide it. 
“But should she publish legal tax advice? No, she shouldn’t. Where does this end? Are you going to be calling for Tory ministers to publish all their legal and tax advice going back over the last 15 years? That is where this ends.”
Sir Keir Starmer said he is “satisfied” that Angela Rayner “has not broken any rules” amid a row over the sale of her council house. 
Greater Manchester Police said yesterday that it was looking again at claims that the Labour deputy leader broke electoral law over the sale of the property. Ms Rayner has said she had done nothing wrong. 
Asked if he believed Ms Rayner should quit as Labour deputy leader if she is found to have broken any rules, Sir Keir said: “Angela has answered I don’t know how many questions about this. She has not broken any rules, she has in fact taken legal and tax advice which has satisfied her and us and me about the position and I think when I look at this in the round and it goes back to ‘beergate’, the fact that the Tory Party is spending more of its time and energy pursuing this issue rather than answering the question of accountability for what they have done after 14 years as we go to an election, tells you everything you need to know about them.” 
Sir Keir Starmer claimed the Conservative Party had “beat the hope” out of people. 
Speaking in Dudley, he said: “The opposition is the Tories, of course, and we intend to take them on and we are. 
“But one of the terrible things they have done in my view is to beat the hope out of people over the last 14 years.”
Sir Keir Starmer said Angela Rayner has his “full support” and “full confidence” amid a row over the sale of her council house. 
Greater Manchester Police said yesterday that it was looking again at claims that the Labour deputy leader broke electoral law over the sale of the property.
Ms Rayner has said she had done nothing wrong. 
Asked if Ms Rayner had his support, Sir Keir told reporters in Dudley: “Angela has my full support and my full confidence today and everyday as we work together to take the Labour Party back into government so that we can serve the interests of working people and she is vital for that.” 
It was suggested to Sir Keir Starmer that if Labour fails to put up “1996-style numbers” at the local elections on May 2, adding hundreds of new councillors, then perhaps the party is “not in landslide territory” when it comes to the general election. 
Sir Keir said: “Obviously what we have got on May 2 is the mayoral and local elections and later in the year the national elections. 
“But they go together because what we want to do is to make sure that the local and the national are integrated and this is the first part of a two part series, if you like, and that is why May 2 is so important.” 
He added: “We have gone from a party that suffered the worst loss since 1935 to a serious contender as we go into that election. And I say to my shadow cabinet, put the polls to one side, it is the hard yards of focus and discipline and being clear that we are delivering for the country and have one thing in mind that we will restore this country to the service of working people.”
Sir Keir Starmer was told that some voters in areas like Dudley still needed to be convinced that Labour has their best interests at heart. 
Answering questions after his speech, the Labour leader said he believed voters were “screaming out for a government that simply matches their ambition”. 
Sir Keir said that with their levelling up pledge the Tories were “tapping into something real that people yearned for” but they had then failed to do the “hard yards” to deliver change and he believed that was “unforgivable”.
“We intend to turn that around,” he said. 
A Labour government will create a “Britain that serves the interests of working people as they drive this country forward”, Sir Keir Starmer said. 
Speaking in Dudley, the Labour leader said he wanted to “relight the fires of renewal in communities like this”. 
He pledged a “full fat approach to devolution”. 
Sir Keir Starmer said that the “Tory era of politics as performance art is coming to an end”. 
Speaking in Dudley this morning, the Labour leader said: “But to get Britain out of this hole we all need to roll up our sleeves, national renewal is a partnership and I am not here to tell you everything will be easy, that is what happened four years ago. 
“Labour will give you a plan, we will give you new powers to make a difference in your community but look around your country, we need you. After everything you have been through in the past 14 years I know this is a hard request to make.” 
Sir Keir Starmer accused the Tories of “preying” on the “hopes” of voters with their original levelling up pledge as he claimed they had failed to deliver. 
The Labour leader suggested the Conservative Party was guilty of “turning its back once it has counted your vote” in terms of winning support in areas in need of rejuvenation. 
He said there had been “14 wasted years” under the Tories. 
Sir Keir Starmer characterised the Tories’ approach to tax cuts as giving “with one hand” but taking “even more with the other”. 
He claimed Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives “say the right thing, do the exact opposite” and accused them of using the “politics of division”. 
But he argued the “good news” is that “they don’t get to choose, you don’t have to take it any more, you can stop them” as he referred to the local elections on May 2. 
Sir Keir Starmer is now speaking in Dudley as he launches Labour’s local elections campaign. 
He told activists that he had been “hoping we would be launching a different election campaign today” as he claimed Rishi Sunak had “bottled it” in terms of calling a general election. 
The Labour leader said voters needed to show Mr Sunak “another message” that “time is up” and “the date must be set” for the next national contest. 
Angela Rayner claimed the Tories had “taken a sledgehammer to the foundations of a good life so working hard no longer guarantees a decent income, a secure home or a good quality of life”. 
The Labour deputy leader said her party in government would “rebuild those foundations”. 
She said Labour “won’t make promises that we can’t keep”. 
Angela Rayner is now speaking in Dudley as she introduces Sir Keir Starmer at the Labour Party’s local elections campaign launch. 
The Labour deputy leader said that people in Dudley “really know what it means to graft” and the decision to hold the launch there was a “signal of the future we want to build”. 
Ms Rayner said that the ambitions of voters had been “stolen by the greed of a politics that centralises power and wealth”. 
She said the Tory pledge to level up Britain was now nothing more than a “burnt out shell”. 
Sir Keir Starmer will deliver a speech at 10am in the West Midlands to launch the Labour Party’s local elections campaign. My colleague Nick Gutteridge is there and he has sent this update: 
Around a dozen pro-Palestine protesters have gathered outside the venue in the West Midlands where Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner will be launching Labour’s local election campaign. The group, which includes children, are flying Palestinian flags and chanting about Sir Keir supporting “genocide” in Gaza. Inside the building the Labour leader will praise Boris Johnson’s levelling up ambition as he kicks off his party’s campaign. Labour is hoping to win hundreds of seats in the local elections on May 2, the last major poll before the next general election, whilst the Tories are braced for heavy losses.
The Liberal Democrats described today’s economic numbers, confirming the UK entered a recession in the second half of 2023, as “damning”.
Sarah Olney, the Lib Dems’ Treasury spokesperson, said: “These damning figures confirm the damage done to the UK economy by Rishi’s recession. This Conservative government has no plan for growth or to help families paying the price for years of economic chaos through soaring mortgages and rents.
“The Liberal Democrats have a bold plan to get the economy growing again, fix our broken trading relationship with Europe and support small businesses on the brink. It’s clear the best thing for the economy would be a general election, so we can kick the Conservative Party out of power and offer the real change the country needs.”
Rachel Reeves said Rishi Sunak had “broken his promise to grow the economy” as she responded to the confirmation that the UK entered a recession in the second half of 2023 (see the post below at 08.13). 
The shadow chancellor said: “Rishi Sunak has broken his promise to grow the economy and left Britain in recession with working people paying the price. The Conservatives cannot claim that their plan is working or that they have turned the corner on more than fourteen years of economic failure.
“It is time for a change. Rishi Sunak should name the date for the election and give the British people the chance to vote for a changed Labour Party that has a long-term plan to grow the economy.”
Angela Rayner said it would be “ridiculous” to lie about the tax advice she received on the sale of her house. 
The Labour deputy leader has refused to give a commitment to publish the advice and it was suggested to her by BBC Radio 4 Today presenter Nick Robinson that her position was “believe me is what you are saying, trust me”. 
She replied: “I am not saying believe me, I am saying I have got my advice. I can’t lie about my tax advice, that would be ridiculous. 
“Unless I am being accused of being a liar. I am literally saying I have had my tax advice and that is clear and I will comply with HMRC or the police or any authority [that wants to see it]. 
“But if the Conservatives are going down the road of we all have to publish, then if they want to publish theirs I will happily publish mine.”   
Greater Manchester Police said earlier this week it is looking again at claims that Ms Rayner broke electoral law over the sale. She has said she has done nothing wrong.
Jeremy Hunt said last year was “tough” but the Government’s economic plan “is working” as he responded to the new GDP data published this morning which showed the recession was slightly shallower than first estimated. 
The Chancellor said: “Last year was tough as interest rates had to rise to bring down inflation, but we can see our plan is working.
“Inflation has fallen decisively from over 11 per cent to 3.4 per cent, the economy grew in January and real wages have increased for eight months in a row.
“Our cuts to National Insurance will boost growth by rewarding work and putting over £900 a year back into the average earner’s pocket.”
Angela Rayner has refused to give a commitment to publish the tax advice she received in relation to the sale of her council house. 
Greater Manchester Police said yesterday that it was looking again at claims that the Labour deputy leader broke electoral law over the sale of the property.
It was suggested to Ms Rayner this morning that publishing the tax advice she received would clear up questions about the row but she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “I don’t need to publish all of my details”.
Pushed on why she would not publish the tax advice, Ms Rayner said: “Because that is my personal tax advice but I am happy to comply with the necessary authorities that want to see that. 
“But I don’t think we are going down the road of MPs, whenever somebody says well what is happening with your capital gains tax, we want to see all the information and detail. 
“If we are, I am happy. If we are all going to have a level playing field… you show me yours and I’ll show you mine.” 
Ms Rayner has previously labelled the row an attempt to “smear” her and has said she had done nothing wrong.
The recession that the UK entered last year was a little shallower than first thought, revised new figures published by the Office for National Statistics this morning have shown.
The ONS said that the economy shrank by 0.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2023 and 0.3 per cent in the fourth.
That was unrevised from the statisticians’ previous estimates.
However, small revisions not visible in the headline figures, which are rounded to one decimal place, meant that the cumulative decline in the two quarters was 0.4 per cent, rather than a previously estimated 0.5 per cent.
Rishi Sunak said the toughest part of being Prime Minister is trying to balance “being a good dad and doing the job [of PM] well”. 
But he said “you have to prioritise this job”. 
He told The Story podcast, published by The Times: “I’ve got two young girls who mean the world to me and obviously, doing these jobs, it’s hard to balance being a good dad and doing the job well. 
“And obviously, you have to prioritise this job, because it’s an important job and you’re doing it on behalf of the whole country. 
“So, you know, not being there for them as much as any dad would like to be is a challenge.
“And there’s particular moments where you really feel that acutely, because there’s something very difficult going on that you just can’t be there for them and that’s tough.”
Rishi Sunak said pollsters have been wrong before as he responded to a polling expert who claimed Labour now had a “99 per cent chance” of being in power after the next general election. 
Professor Sir John Curtice made the comment to Politico as he highlighted the scale of the challenge facing Mr Sunak as he tries to guide the Tories to their fifth election victory in a row. 
Mr Sunak was asked about it during a podcast interview with Lord Hague, published by The Times, and he said: “We’ve had plenty of predictions about elections and referendums in the past few years which have turned out to be wrong. So we should always remember that.
“What I detect when I am out and about across the country, I understand there is an enormous amount of frustration because it has not been easy but I also detect a very strong sense that people feel things are getting better.”
Rishi Sunak suggested he had inherited the “worst hospital pass” of any new prime minister in decades when he took over from Liz Truss. 
But Mr Sunak said he was “entirely confident that there are better times ahead”. 
He made the comments in a podcast interview published by The Times with Lord Hague, the former Tory Cabinet minister, who said Mr Sunak had become premier at a “very hard time” to be leader of the Conservative Party. 
Mr Sunak replied: “I think someone described it as the worst hospital pass for any incoming prime minister in however many decades. There’s lots of frustrations, we’ve been through a lot as a country over the past few years, which people are understandably frustrated about. 
“It makes the environment trickier but I am entirely confident that there are better times ahead. 
“All the things that I have been working hard on for the last year I think you can start to see are making a difference, that change is starting to become more apparent in people’s lives and that is what gives me optimism about the future.”