Politics latest: Tories hit historic low in new poll - but there's bad news for Sir Keir Starmer as well (2024)

Scotland's net zero secretary Mairi McAllan has insisted her climate plan remains "pragmatic and ambitious" after confirming a flagship target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030 has been scrapped (see post at 2.52pm).

MsMcAllan told Sky News the "minor adjustment" to the 2030 target is "about making sure that we can continue to make progress so we have a trajectory ... which is pragmatic and ambitious".

In a statement earlier, Ms McAllan said she had accepted the 2030 target was "out of reach".

However, she saidScotland's target to reach net zero by 2045 - five years earlier than the UK - will remain.

The move followed a report by theindependent Climate Change Committee (CCC) last month which said Scotlandwas so far behind that meeting the 2030 target it was no longercredible.

"In this challenging context of cuts, UK backtracking, we accept the Climate Change Committee's recent re-articulation that this parliament's interim 2030 target is out of reach," Ms McAllan told MSPs.

"We must now act to chart a course to 2045 at a pace and scale that is feasible, fair and just."

Climate campaigners have called the move the "worst environmental decision in the history of the Scottish Parliament".

Senior Tory Ruth Davidson says she'll be "surprised" if MP Mark Menzies lasts the week, following allegations - which he denies - that he misused campaign funds.

On the latest episode of Sky'sElectoral Dysfunctionpodcast, Baroness Davidson says the claims against him are "utterly jaw dropping".

"It is so out with the bounds of what being a responsible, elected member is and how you treat your constituency association. It is staggering, like utterly staggering," she says.

"I would find it difficult to believe that an investigation can be held and he can be cleared in time to stand a general election.

"In fact, I would be surprised if he survives the week here and doesn't just resign."

Mr Menzies is alleged to have used thousands of pounds given by donors to fund medical expenses and to have made a late-night call to a party volunteer asking for help because he had been locked up by "bad people" demanding money for his release, according to The Times.

He has been suspended by the parliamentary party while it investigates the allegations.

The MP for Fylde in Lancashire, who was one of Rishi Sunak's trade envoys, disputes the allegations but the Conservative Party said it is taking them "seriously" and "will always investigate matters put to them".

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News earlier: "There's a process in place. He has had the whip withdrawn.

"There's further information that the chief whip I understand became familiar with yesterday and actions being swiftly taken on the basis of that further information.

"I think it is important to stress that the MP in question here denies the allegations and so on basis of sort of fairness and proper justice, I think it’s important to mention that."

To hear more from Baroness Davidson's conversation with Sky's political editorBeth Rigbyand Labour MP Jess Phillips, tune into the full episode of Electoral Dysfunction from 6am on Friday.

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The Sky News live poll tracker - collated and updated by our Data and Forensics team - aggregates various surveys to indicate how voters feel about the different political parties.

With the local election campaign well under way, Labour is still sitting comfortably on a roughly 20-point lead, averaging at 43.5% in the polls, with the Tories on 23.4%.

In third is Reform UK on 12.3%, followed by the Lib Dems on 9.3%.

The Green Party stands at 6.3%, and the SNP on 3.1%.

See the latest update below - and you can read more about the methodology behind the trackerhere.

Faye Brown, political reporter

A Conservative MP has been suspended by the parliamentary party while it investigates newspaper claims he misused campaign funds.

Mark Menzies is alleged to have used thousands of pounds given by donors to fund medical expenses and to have made a late-night call to an elderly aide asking for help because he had been locked up by "bad people" demanding money for his release, according to the Times.

The MP for Fylde in Lancashire, who was one of Rishi Sunak's trade envoys, disputes the allegations but the Conservative Partysaid it is taking them "seriously" and "will always investigate matters put to them".

The party's chief whip Simon Hart is said to have been made aware of the claims in January, when the former campaign manager reported what had happened.

Sky News understands there has been an investigation ongoing by Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) since the allegations were first raised but further information came to light yesterday and Mr Hart acted immediately.

A spokesperson for the chief whip said: "Following a call with the chief whip, Mark Menzies has agreed to relinquish the Conservative whip, pending the outcome of an investigation."

Read more here:

By Beth Rigby, political editor

This was the week it was meant to be done.

Having forced the House of Commons to vote down the Lords' amendments to the prime minister's flagship illegal immigration bill three times, peers would typically have bowed out of the battle this time around and passed the Rwanda bill.

Instead, they sought to amend the legislation again.

There is obvious frustration in government, with one senior figure saying: "We wanted to get it done today, but it shows Labour for their true colours."

The Rwanda bill now comes back to the Commons next week, and could finally be passed on Monday.

All the while, the clock is ticking down on the prime minister'spromise to get flights away by the end of spring.

With that timetable already in doubt, at least this ping pong can help ministers pin this on peers should that deadline be missed.

But there is also huge frustration amongst some MPs with Number 10.

Read more here:

The UK and US have unveiled a raft of new sanctions on Iran following its unprecedented attack on Israel.

The Foreign Office confirmed the UK has added seven individuals and six entities to its sanctions list "who have enabled Iran to conduct destabilising regional activity, including its direct attack on Israel".

They are now subject to an asset freeze.

The new measures add to more than 400 sanctions already imposed on Iran.

The US, meanwhile, has targeted 16 people and two entities.

"At a time of great tension in the Middle East, Iran's decision to launch hundreds of drones and missiles towards Israel carried with it a serious risk of thousands of civilian casualties and wider escalation for the region," Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said, as he announced the sanctions at the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Capri.

"The sanctions announced today alongside the US demonstrate our unequivocal condemnation of Iran's attack on a sovereign state."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak added: "The Iranian regime's attack against Israel was a reckless act and a dangerous escalation.

"Today we have sanctioned the ringleaders of the Iranian military and forces responsible for the weekend’s attack.

"These sanctions - announced with the US - show we unequivocally condemn this behaviour, and they will further limit Iran's ability to destabilise the region."

Iran's strike over the weekend was the first direct Iranian military attack on Israel and has raised fears of further escalation in the Middle East.

Tel Aviv has vowed to respond, despite calls for restraint from allies, including the UK.

By Adele Robinson, business correspondent

The government has agreed to have an independent IT expert review of a Post Office software system predating Horizon, amid claims dozens more sub-postmasters may have been wrongly convicted.

The Capture software was rolled out across branches in the 1990s, years before the notorious Horizon systemwas introduced.

Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake has met with a former sub-postmaster and a lawyer representing 35 people who believe they were wrongly accused of stealing.

It was agreed between MPs and the Post Office minister that an independent IT expert would assess evidence claiming to "prove" Capture software was prone to glitches.

Steve Marston, 68, believes he was wrongly convicted of theft and false accounting after errors caused by Capture accounting software.

Auditors found shortfalls of £79,000 at his branch in Greater Manchester in 1998. He subsequently pleaded guilty to theft and false accounting.

Read more here:

Scotland has confirmed it is scrapping its flagship climate change target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030.

In a statement, net zero secretary Mairi McAllan said she accepts the target is "out of reach".

But she said Scotland still intends to meet a 2045 net zero target.

The move follows a report by theindependent Climate Change Committee (CCC) last month which said Scotlandwas so far behind that meeting the 2030 target it was no longercredible.

"In this challenging context of cuts, UK backtracking, we accept the Climate Change Committee's recent re-articulation that this parliament's interim 2030 target is out of reach," Ms McAllan told MSPs.

"We must now act to chart a course to 2045 at a pace and scale that is feasible, fair and just."

Sky's Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies says this had become a "huge political issue".

He says Scotland put itself "front and centre" in the global fight against climate change, with former first minister Nicola Sturgeon pledging at the COP26 climate conference to make Scotland the first country in the world to declare a climate emergency.

"Fast forward a couple of years and we have this climate climbdown from the Scottish government," he says.

The number of pupil suspensions in England has risen by nearly a third in a year to more than 260,000, government figures show.

Data from the department for education shows there were 263,904 suspensions in the spring term of 2022/23, compared to 201,090 during the spring term of 2021/22 - a rise of 31%.

The number of suspensions in spring 2023 is the "highest" termly figure recorded, the DfE said.

Suspensions are typically higher in the autumn term, but the figures show the number rose by 7% from autumn 2022 (when there were 247,366 suspensions) to spring 2023.

The rise of suspensions - which are when a pupil is excluded from a school for a set period of time - comes amid warnings of challenging behaviour in classrooms following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of permanent exclusions also increased in the spring term of last year compared to the same period in 2022.

There were 3,039 permanent exclusions in spring 2023, compared to 2,179 in spring 2022 - a rise of 39%, the figures show.

The most common reason for suspensions and permanent exclusions was persistent disruptive behaviour, the DfE said.

"Absolutely nuts" was how former prime minister Boris Johnson described Rishi Sunak's plan to gradually phase out smoking - banning anyone born since the start of 2009 from ever being able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products like vapes.

Liz Truss, who was also briefly prime minister in between the two men, is also among some critical of the proposal - which she described as "profoundly un-conservative".

Tories were given a free vote in the Commons - allowing them to vote with their conscience, not necessarily the government.

But will the policy create a smoke-free generation? And what will it mean for Conservative Party ideology?

Niall Paterson looks at the health implications with Alice Wiseman, vice president of The Association of Directors of Public Health, and the politics of the policy with Sky's political editor Beth Rigby and Tory peer Lord Frost, who disagrees with the planned legislation.

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