Tory MP apologises after backing Reform’s Lee Anderson

A Conservative MP has been forced to apologise after he appeared to urge voters to back Reform UK’s Lee Anderson at the next election.

Nick Fletcher will keep the Tory whip despite calls for him to be sacked by the party over his comments.

He faced a backlash after expressing support for his former colleague on social media, describing him as Ashfield’s “greatest champion” and arguing “we both need to be back in Westminster”.

He made the comments after Mr Anderson, who defected to Reform UK last month after being stripped of the Tory whip, said he would not campaign against four Red Wall Conservatives at the election, including Mr Fletcher, because they are friends.

Mr Fletcher, the MP for Don Valley, tweeted in response: “I so wish @‌LeeAndersonMP_ had remained with the Conservatives. However having lost the whip it would mean the Conservative Party would choose someone other than Lee to fight the election in Ashfield.

“I can understand in those circumstances why he joined Reform. Ashfield has its greatest champion and I hope they appreciate what he has done for his home town and his country at the next election.

“I hope my constituents see that a vote for me in Doncaster is also the right thing to do. I am a lone voice in Parliament shouting up for Doncaster.”

The Telegraph understands that Mr Fletcher was spoken to by Tory whips about his comments. In a follow-up statement, he tweeted: “For the avoidance of any doubt of course I want to see a Conservative majority government returned at the next election, with as many Conservative MPs as possible.”

The Liberal Democrats urged Rishi Sunak to “find his backbone and kick Nick Fletcher out of the Conservative Party”, while Labour’s Anneliese Dodds has written to Richard Holden, the Tory chairman, calling on the party to take action.

In her letter, Ms Dodds said: “Surely calling on voters to vote for a party other than your own should be grounds for losing the Conservative whip?”

She added: “Voters already concerned that the Conservative Party is hoping to do a grubby deal with Reform in an effort to cling to power and prolong their own careers will be forgiven for thinking this confirms their suspicions.”

Ms Dodds also asked whether a deal with Reform had been ruled out and for confirmation that Nigel Farage would not be joining the Conservative Party.

A Tory spokesman said: “Nick has made clear he wants to see as many Conservatives as possible elected. A vote for Reform is a vote to let Keir Starmer into No 10.”

A Reform UK spokesman said: “Lee Anderson made it clear from the day he joined Reform UK that he would not personally campaign against a handful of his close friends. The party respect this decision and it shows Lee’s loyalty to his friends, which goes beyond politics.

“Reform will be standing in these constituencies and will be fighting the Conservatives across the board.”

It comes as Arron Banks, a former major Ukip donor, said he believed 10 Tory MPs would defect to Reform if Mr Farage took over as leader.

He also said there were people willing to bankroll the insurgent party with “multiples of £10 million” if the former Brexit Party leader, stepped up to the plate.

Speaking to the GB News Chopper’s Political Podcast, Mr Banks said: “MPs are in contact with him daily about this kind of thing. If he does come back, it will be on the back of something fairly spectacular.”

You can follow the latest updates below and join the conversation in the comments section here. 

04:00 PM BST

That is all for today...

Thank you for joining me for today’s politics live blog.

I will be back tomorrow morning.

03:14 PM BST

1922 chief Sir Graham Brady writes tell-all book

As the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady has a reputation for remaining tight-lipped about what is happening with Tory MPs trying to expel their leaders.

But he is set to break his silence with a new book revealing what has really been happening since 2010 as successive Conservative prime ministers have been ousted.

Sir Graham is writing a new book that will not only detail his political career but also take readers behind the curtain of the influential group.

Kingmaker: Secrets, Lies, and the Truth about Five Prime Ministers is due to be published right after the general election, with a provisional release date of Nov 7 announced.

You can read the full story here. 

03:00 PM BST

Tories: ‘A vote for Reform is a vote to let Keir Starmer into No 10’

The Conservative Party said a vote for Reform UK at the general election would be a “vote to let Keir Starmer into No 10” amid the Nick Fletcher row (see the posts below at 13.14 and at 14.23).

A Tory spokesman said: “Nick has made clear he wants to see as many Conservatives as possible elected. A vote for Reform is a vote to let Keir Starmer into No 10.”

02:50 PM BST

Donelan libel settlement cost taxpayer £34,000

The taxpayer paid more than £34,000 to cover the costs of a libel case that saw Science Secretary Michelle Donelan reach a settlement with an academic she had accused of expressing support for Hamas.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology had already confirmed it had paid £15,000 to settle the libel action brought by Prof Kate Sang “without admitting any liability”.

But in a letter to Labour’s shadow science secretary Peter Kyle, the department’s permanent secretary Sarah Munby admitted the full cost was more than twice that figure, with another £19,385 spent on legal costs.

Opposition figures have called for Ms Donelan to pay back the money herself.

02:44 PM BST

Pictured: Starmer campaigns in Blackpool ahead of by-election on May 2

02:30 PM BST

‘Yes’ overtakes ‘No’ in Scottish independence battle for first time since November 2022

Support for Scottish independence has overtaken support for remaining a part of the United Kingdom north of the border for the first time since November 2022, according to a new poll.

A survey of Scottish voters conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies between April 6-7 found 44 per cent replied “Yes” when asked if Scotland should be an independent country.

Some 42 per cent answered “No”. Redfield said it was the “first lead for ‘Yes’ since November 2022”.

Support for “Yes” was up by one point while support for “No” was down by four points when compared to the company’s previous poll conducted between March 10-11.

02:23 PM BST

Tory MP clarifies comments about Lee Anderson

Tory MP Nick Fletcher said “of course I want to see a Conservative majority Government returned at the next election” after he expressed support for Lee Anderson, the Reform UK MP, to retain his Ashfield seat.

Sources told The Telegraph that Mr Fletcher was spoken to by Tory whips about his original comments after he expressed support for Mr Anderson (see the post below at 13.14).

Mr Fletcher then tweeted: “For the avoidance of any doubt of course I want to see a Conservative majority Government returned at the next election with as many Conservative MPs as possible. Lee is a personal friend but we can’t risk the damage a Labour Government would do to our country. Just look at what the Labour Council has done to Doncaster.”

01:37 PM BST

UK warns Spain not to meddle with Gibraltar RAF base in post-Brexit deal

Britain is demanding that its RAF base on Gibraltar remains unaffected by a post-Brexit border deal with Spain as talks resume on Friday.

UK Government insiders have made clear to The Telegraph that continuing military operational independence at the site is a “red line” in the negotiations.

Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, was set to head to Brussels on Friday to meet his opposite numbers in France and the European Union as well as the leader of Gibraltar.

You can read the full story here. 

01:14 PM BST

Sunak urged to strip Tory MP of whip over support for Lee Anderson

The Liberal Democrats said Rishi Sunak should strip a Tory MP of the party whip after they expressed support for Lee Anderson and said they wanted to see him “back in Westminster”.

Mr Anderson, the Reform UK MP for Ashfield, announced today that Nick Fletcher, the Tory MP for Don Valley, was one of four Conservatives who he would not campaign against (see the post below at 12.37).

Mr Fletcher tweeted: “Ashfield has its greatest champion and I hope they appreciate what he has done for his home town and his country at the next election.”

Mr Fletcher said “we both need to be back in Westminster”.

Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Lib Dems, said: “It seems even Conservative MPs don’t want the Conservatives to win. Voters are sick to the back teeth of this never-ending circus of infighting.

“Rishi Sunak needs to find his backbone and kick Nick Fletcher out of the Conservative Party. Failure to do so would show yet again that he’s too weak to control his party let alone govern the country.”

12:55 PM BST

Pictured: Angela Rayner visits Perry Barr bus depot in Birmingham today

12:50 PM BST

Tice: Tories ‘bottling’ leaving ECHR

Richard Tice accused the Tories of “bottling” quitting the European Court of Human Rights as he responded to the prospect of ministers revolting against Rishi Sunak if he pursues the move.

The leader of Reform UK tweeted that the Tories were “bottling ECHR again” and added: “Only [Reform] will leave the appalling ECHR.”

Mr Sunak hinted earlier this month that he would be willing to withdraw from the ECHR if it blocks the Government’s Rwanda plan.

But at least 12 Cabinet ministers are understood to oppose leaving the ECHR (see the post below at 11.59).

12:37 PM BST

Lee Anderson vows not to campaign against four Red Wall Tory MPs

Lee Anderson has announced he will not campaign in certain Tory-held constituencies ahead of the next general election because of his friendships with the incumbent MPs.

The Reform UK MP, who defected to the party after being stripped of the Tory whip following a row over comments he made about Sadiq Khan, said “friendship means more to me” as he named four MPs he will not campaign against.

He named Ben Bradley (Mansfield), Brendan Clarke-Smith (Bassetlaw), Marco Longhi (Dudley North) and Nick Fletcher (Don Valley) as the Conservative MPs he would not try to oust. But he insisted “every other seat is fair game”.

He said in a Facebook post: “These people are my friends and the ones that reached out to me last month.

“They will always be my friends and because of this I will not campaign against them in their Parliamentary seats. Friendship means more to me. Every other seat is fair game.”

Reform said it respected Mr Anderson’s personal decision but the party will continue with its election campaigns in these seats.

12:18 PM BST

Sunak: Iranian threats against Israel ‘unacceptable’

Rishi Sunak said threats from Iran against Israel are “unacceptable” and the UK “fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself”.

The Prime Minister’s comments came after Israeli officials said they are preparing for an unprecedented attack directly from Iran.

Speaking to broadcasters today, Mr Sunak said: “The threats from Iran are unacceptable and we, like the Americans, fully support Israel’s right to defend itself against that.

“We have already highlighted Iran as a significant risk to regional security and we have always said that we will support Israel’s ability to defend itself and we have taken action ourselves to make sure that we can protect the UK against threats that emanate from Iran.”

You can follow the latest updates on the situation in Israel on our live blog here.

11:59 AM BST

Rishi Sunak faces Cabinet revolt if he quits ECHR

Rishi Sunak will face a Cabinet revolt if he decides to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

At least 12 Cabinet ministers are understood to oppose leaving the ECHR including Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, and Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary.

Since the departure of Suella Braverman as home secretary, and Robert Jenrick as immigration minister, it is believed just a handful of Cabinet members would back quitting the ECHR.

It comes amid growing calls from Tory MPs to quit the ECHR after a landmark ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg earlier this week that governments have a duty to protect people from climate change.

You can read the full story here. 

11:39 AM BST

Labour claims Sunak ‘spinning the stats’ on NHS waiting lists

Wes Streeting accused Rishi Sunak of “spinning the stats” on NHS waiting lists as he claimed the Prime Minister had “failed” on his health service promises.

The shadow health secretary said: “Rishi Sunak has failed on the NHS. He’s missed his own targets to cut ambulance waits and A&E waits. Patients with suspected heart attacks or strokes are waiting almost double the safe amount of time, when every minute matters.

“Waiting lists are still 320,000 longer than when he became Prime Minister, despite his promise to cut them.

“Doctors have said that patients in desperate need of care have been left waiting for 24 hours in A&E, while relatively healthy patients have been seen faster in order to hit this 4-hour target. If only Rishi Sunak was as desperate to turn around the NHS for real as he is to spin the stats.”

11:13 AM BST

Lib Dems claim Sunak ‘living in a parallel universe’ on waiting lists

Sir Ed Davey said NHS waiting lists were still 330,000 higher than when Rishi Sunak made his pledge to cut them in January last year.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats said: “To add insult to injury, the Conservatives have cut NHS spending while millions of patients are suffering in pain on endless waiting lists.

“Rishi Sunak is living in a parallel universe if he thinks our National Health Service is recovering. The Conservative Party and the Prime Minister are out of touch, out of ideas and deserve to be kicked out of office.”

10:54 AM BST

Sunak ‘making headway’ on NHS waiting lists pledge

Rishi Sunak insisted he is “making headway” on his pledge to cut NHS waiting lists after official data published this morning gave the Prime Minister a boost (see the post below at 10.02).

NHS England figures showed the waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England had fallen for the fifth month in a row.

Mr Sunak said in response: “When I became Prime Minister, I made cutting the NHS waiting lists one of my top five priorities. Today’s statistics clearly show we are making headway towards that goal.

“A drop of almost 200,000 in the last five months shows what the NHS can do for patients. Had there been no strike action, an extra 430,000 patients could have been treated.

“We still have more work to do, but our plan is working. On top of this, we’re delivering year-on-year improvements in A&E waiting times for the first time in over a decade outside the pandemic, we’ve invested in a further 5,000 hospital beds, and there are record numbers of staff working in the NHS.

“This Government will continue delivering for patients – cutting waiting lists and making sure they get the care they need, when they need it.”

The Prime Minister conceded during an LBC phone-in yesterday that waiting lists were still higher than when he took office and he had not made as much progress on the issue as he had wanted.

10:37 AM BST

Boris Johnson labels Rishi Sunak’s smoking ban ‘absolutely nuts’

Boris Johnson has attacked Rishi Sunak’s flagship smoking policy as “absolutely nuts” as he criticised the state of the Conservative Party at an event in Canada.

Speaking at a gathering of conservatives in Ottawa, the former prime minister said: “We are, on the whole, in favour of freedom and it is that single Anglo-Saxon idea of freedom that I think unites conservatives, or should unite conservatives.

“And when I look at some of the things that we are doing now, or that are being done in the name of conservatism, I think they are absolutely nuts.”

Mr Johnson singled out Mr Sunak’s policy of increasing the minimum age for buying tobacco every year in an effort to phase out smoking.

He said: “When the party of Winston Churchill wants to ban cigars, donnez-moi un break as they say in Quebec, it’s just mad.”

The smoking ban is expected to be the subject of a free vote when MPs debate the legislation for the first time on April 16. A potential Tory revolt is unlikely to derail the legislation given that Labour has said it will back the move.

10:18 AM BST

Boris Johnson: ‘Ukraine must join Nato’

Boris Johnson has called for Ukraine to be allowed to join Nato and be given the right tools for its fight against Russia.

Speaking at a conservative event in Canada, the former prime minister also warned against appeasing Russian president Vladimir Putin

“The resolution to this problem is the security and the stability that comes with certainty about where Ukraine is and what Ukraine is,” he told an event at the Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference in Ottawa, where he appeared alongside former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott.

“Ukraine has chosen to be a free, independent European nation oriented towards the west, towards the EU, towards Nato.

“And Ukraine must join Nato. That is the only logical way through this.”

10:13 AM BST

More than 300,000 people waiting more than a year for routine treatment

More than 300,000 people in England had been waiting more than 52 weeks to start routine hospital treatment at the end of February, according to official data published this morning by NHS England.

The total waiting for more than a year stood at 305,050 which was down from 321,394 at the end of January.

The Government and NHS England have set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than a year by March 2025.

Meanwhile, the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments from a decision to admit to actually being admitted was 42,968 in March, down from 44,417 in February and 54,308 in January, which was the second highest figure on record.

The number waiting at least four hours from the decision to admit to admission has risen slightly, from 139,458 in February to 140,181 in March.

10:02 AM BST

NHS waiting list falls for fifth month in a row

The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has fallen for the fifth month in a row, figures show.

An estimated 7.54 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of February, relating to 6.29 million patients, down slightly from 7.58 million treatments and 6.29 million patients at the end of January, NHS England said.

The list hit a record high in September 2023 with 7.77 million treatments and 6.50 million patients.

09:58 AM BST

Tories likely to ‘take a pasting’ at general election, says Lord Hammond

The Conservatives are likely to “take a pasting” at the next general election, Lord Hammond has said.

He also warned that whoever wins the contest will have to face the same “excruciating problem” of demands for more public spending at a time when taxation is already high.

He told the BBC’s The Today Podcast: “I think the formidable problem is for our democratic politics because I can easily envisage, and the polls are certainly suggesting, that the Conservative Party will take a pasting at the next election.

“But do I think that the Labour Party has a magic bullet that will solve all the problems we have been talking about today? Not at all.

“And they too will have to deal with this excruciating problem of ever rising demand for ordinary public spending and then on top of it, the need to decarbonise and to rearm the country in the face of big existential threats.”

09:53 AM BST

UK has been ‘underspending on defence for many, many years’, warns Lord Hammond

Lord Hammond said the UK and the rest of Europe have been “underspending on defence for many, many years” and will have to spend “a lot more money” to combat the rising threat from Russia.

The former chancellor who also served as defence secretary said the size of the Armed Forces will have to be increased but  he questioned how that will be delivered given current recruiting challenges.

He told the BBC’s The Today Podcast: “We clearly have been underspending on defence for many, many years, not just the UK but the whole of Europe, depending on the United States to provide all sorts of strategic cover to us.

“And now we have to face the possibility that as the US focuses elsewhere, particularly on the Pacific and China, and Russia is rearming at an alarming pace and turning its economy into a military industrial complex, that if we are going to be safe and secure in the future we will have to up our game.

“That is going to mean spending a lot more money. It is also, by the way, going to mean expanding the size of our Armed Forces and it isn’t very easy to see how we will do that given that even at their current designed size we routinely are unable to recruit enough people through a voluntary approach.”

09:29 AM BST

Tories and Labour not being open enough about state of public finances, suggests Lord Hammond

Lord Hammond suggested the Tories and Labour were not being open enough with voters about the state of the public finances.

But the former chancellor said it was hard for elected politicians to make the case for “big, difficult, long-term decisions” because of the threat of being kicked out at the next election.

He told the BBC’s The Today Podcast: “What would you cut? That is the question to ask any politician. What would you cut? And the politician who tells you we don’t need to cut anything, we are just going to do it by collecting a bit more of the tax that is due, making our public services a bit more efficient, I’m afraid is not being honest and frank with you.”

Asked if he agreed that neither of the big parties were being open enough about the public finances, he replied: “I think we have a problem in this country that the electorate is not really willing to engage with this argument and it is very difficult to ask politicians to present the electorate with choices and challenges which are so stark that their reaction is oh, well I will vote for somebody who offers me a more palatable option.

“And unfortunately that is the challenge of democracy. How do you get big, difficult, long-term decisions made in a world where the politicians who are making them have to put themselves up for election every four or five years?”

09:16 AM BST

Failure to incentivise work allowing benefits to become ‘lifestyle choice’, warns Rees-Mogg

Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said a failure to better incentivise work was allowing people to make a “lifestyle choice” to live on benefits.

The former business secretary said that Universal Credit was “intended to ensure that work always pays but swathes of the country are economically inactive and claiming this benefit”.

He said the benefits bill was costing taxpayers a “fortune” as he urged reform.

He told GB News: “This costs you a fortune: £260 billion a year and it is growing. That’s about 20 per cent of all public expenditure, which falls on rich and poor taxpayers alike.

“And it’s the failure to incentivise people to work that then allows it to become a lifestyle choice paid for by others that seems to me to be the problem.

“Reform is essential and fraud is important but it’s actually a relatively small percentage of the total problem. Only if we get these costs down, reduce that £260 billion can we afford to cut taxes, to unleash Britain’s latent growth and innovation and increase the size of the pie, as Margaret Thatcher used to put it, for everyone. More pie all round.”

08:48 AM BST

Atkins: Some NHS trusts ‘need to do better’ on waiting lists

Some NHS trusts “need to do better” on tackling long waits for treatment, the Health Secretary said.

Victoria Atkins told Times Radio: “We have got to be nuanced about this because there are some trusts that haver done an amazing job of getting rid of the longest waiters.

“There are other trusts… that need help, need support, need to do better and need to get rid of those longest waits so that they are meeting national expectations.”

08:35 AM BST

Progress is being made on NHS waiting lists, insists Health Secretary

The Government is making progress cutting NHS waiting lists, the Health Secretary has insisted ahead of publication of the latest figures later this morning (see the post below at 08.22).

Victoria Atkins told Times Radio: “We’ve seen now for four months in a row a reduction in waiting lists.

“That is a significant achievement, particularly when it is against the background of industrial action by junior doctors.

“We have seen waiting lists fall, we have an unrelenting commitment, determination, to reduce yet further those backlogs and we are seeing progress.”

08:22 AM BST

NHS England to publish latest waiting list data at 9.30am

A wave of the latest NHS waiting list data is due to be published by NHS England at 9.30am this morning.

The publication of the data will reignite scrutiny of Rishi Sunak’s pledge, made in January 2023, to cut waiting lists.

The Prime Minister conceded during an LBC phone-in yesterday that waiting lists are still higher than when he took office and he had not made as much progress on the issue as he had wanted.

But he also pointed out that the numbers had been falling for four months straight.

Will it be good or bad news for the PM? We don’t have long to wait to find out.

08:15 AM BST

Victoria Atkins: ‘Culture of intimidation’ on gender services ‘will stop’

Victoria Atkins said a “culture of intimidation” had been allowed to “trump safety and evidence” on gender services for children and young people in the NHS.

The Health Secretary also said that “nothing is off the table” in terms of reform as the Government now considers the findings of the Cass review.

Asked if the Government will accept all 32 of the review’s recommendations, she told Sky News: “There has been a culture of intimidation and ideology that has trumped safety and evidence for the care of children.

“This has to stop, it will stop, and I am looking at every single one of those recommendations.

“Nothing is off the table.”

08:09 AM BST

Labour fuelled ‘atmosphere of intimidation’ on trans issues, claims Health Secretary

Labour has helped to fuel an “atmosphere of intimidation” on trans issues, the Health Secretary claimed this morning.

Victoria Atkins made the comment following the publication of the Cass review into NHS gender services yesterday which found children had been let down by a lack of research and evidence on the use of puberty blockers and hormones.

Told that Labour had committed to adopting all of the recommendations made by the review, Ms Atkins told Sky News: “Well, Labour has spent the last 10 years trying to shut women up when it comes to this.

“They have been part of the ideology, the culture wars, creating an atmosphere of intimidation for anyone who dared to question this ideology.

“So it is a little bit rich of the Labour Party to be lecturing the rest of us now having been so forthright in their support for this ideology in the past.”

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