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Labour, Tories and Lib Dems refuse to stand in byelection with Farage’s resignation labelled ‘desperate stunt’ – as it happened

From 7d agoBadenoch says Tories won't stand in 'fake' Clacton byelection, but will stand in likely recall one over Farage's 'fishy finances'Andrew SparrowKemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives won’t put up a ...

From

7d ago

Badenoch says Tories won't stand in 'fake' Clacton byelection, but will stand in likely recall one over Farage's 'fishy finances'

Andrew Sparrow

Andrew Sparrow

Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives won’t put up a candidate in the Clacton byelection. They came second in the seat in 2024, and held it with a majority of almost 25,000 in 2019.

She said:

double quotation markWe will be standing a candidate in the real byelection, which will follow the standards investigation into Nigel Farage’s fishy finances

We will not be standing a candidate in the fake byelection that Farage is causing to distract people from what is happening. We need to let that investigation run its course, and I think the reason why Nigel Farage has resigned is because he’s terrified that he’s going to be found to have done something wrong.

The best thing for him to have done would have been to call a press conference and explain what he did with the money, apologise if needs be, and that would have been the end of it. Instead, he has been running away from scrutiny. No one is bigger than parliament. We all have to register our interests.

This probably makes it even more likely that Labour will decide to do the same. (See 5.47pm.)

That is all from me for today. Nadeem Badshah is now taking over.

Key events

A summary of today's developments

Housing ministers face a backbench rebellion amid warnings their bid to speed up planning decisions will silence communities.

The Government has proposed regulations to strip elected councillors of their power to rule on some small or technical planning applications.

Instead, local authority planning officers would make the decision to approve or reject these schemes.

If MPs back the new rules in a vote on Wednesday, council committees would be unable to block plans for home extensions and schemes for fewer than 10 new build houses.

Where outline plans for up to 500 homes have been approved, planning officers would be tasked with judging the detailed designs later on in the process against local and national policies, rather than councillors in public meetings.

£5m gift to Farage was reported to National Crime Agency by concerned bankers

Anna Isaac

Anna Isaac

The £5m gift to Nigel Farage by a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it may have been laundered money, the Guardian can reveal.

The disclosure will put further pressure on the Reform UK leader, who is awaiting a decision by the standards commissioner over whether his failure to declare the money breached parliamentary rules.

Farage was given a deadline of 1pm on Tuesday to respond to the Guardian about this article. He gave a video address at 2pm announcing he would force a byelection in his seat of Clacton-on-Sea.

That attempt to shake off the deepening scandal over his finances appeared to have backfired on Tuesday night as the Conservatives, Labour, Restore Britain and the Lib Dems all announced that they would not stand candidates in a contest described as a “media circus” and “vanity project”.

If Farage is reelected, he is still likely to face the parliamentary investigation and any reprimand that might follow.

The Guardian first revealed in April that Farage had been given £5m by the Reform donor Christopher Harborne.

Since then Farage has given differing explanations over what the money was for, and insisted he had no obligation to disclose it because he was not a politician at the time, claiming it had no bearing on his decision to stand in the 2024 general election.

Daniel Boffey

Daniel Boffey

Flanked by union jack flags, with a spectacular view of the City of London behind him, Nigel Farage said he had “never been angrier”.

In an address that was billed as a “statement on my future in public life”, the leader of Reform UK, the rightwing, anti-immigration party that remains ahead in most national polls but which has been dipping recently, said he would not tolerate any more of it.

“It seems to me that the establishment have now decided that they can’t beat us fairly, so they’ve chosen to use foul means,” Farage said.

He was referring to the Guardian’s revelation that he had received an undeclared £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne as well as the more recent allegations – not denied – that Farage had also taken undeclared funding for his staffing, security and housing from George Cottrell, a convicted criminal and Gloucester-born aristocrat.

Parliament is investigating whether the £5m gift, made to Farage within 12 months of him becoming an MP in summer 2024, could reasonably be thought by others to relate to his “parliamentary or political activities” and was therefore in need of being declared. He denies it. There is pressure for the authorities to look into the Cottrell money too on the same grounds.

Justice minister refuses to say if killers and rapists will be freed early

A justice minister has refused to say whether killers, rapists and child sex offenders will be let out of prison early under government plans to ease overcrowding.

Jake Richards was pressed on the issue in the Commons after reports suggested perpetrators of these crimes could be among the 6,000 criminals to be released from September.

MPs demanded answers from him during a Conservative opposition day debate on Tuesday. But, when asked directly if dangerous criminals will be released, Richards did not respond to the question.

He told the Commons: “What we will not do is put our head in the sand, which would lead to another prison capacity crisis, which would lead to another urgent, chaotic early release scheme, as we saw under the last Conservative government time and time again.

“I cannot look victims in the eye and tell them that is good for them or the country.”

Some victims have received letters from the Government telling them their abusers or attackers are due to be let out of prison under the early release scheme.

Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman Jess Brown-Fuller said: “No victim should have to endure being told that their perpetrator is being released earlier than expected for any offence.

“When a sentence is handed down, victims deserve the certainty of knowing where they stand and how long their perpetrator will remain behind bars.”

Responding to the debate, justice minister Catherine Atkinson said “release does not mean freedom”, adding: “No one in government takes decisions about release from custody lightly.

“These decisions affect public confidence, victims, communities and those responsible for managing offenders in the community, and that is why at every stage our overriding priority has been clear – protecting the public while ensuring that the criminal justice system remains able to function effectively.”

A Tory motion which “calls on the government to exempt any offender who has been convicted of any sexual offence against an adult or a child, including rape and grooming, or convicted of the attempt, conspiracy, or incitement to commit such offences” was passed by the Commons.

Mahmood sees military sites as 'the future' of asylum accommodation

Rajeev Syal

Rajeev Syal

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood told peers on Tuesday that she sees military sites as “the future” of asylum accommodation.

Appearing before the House of Lords’ justice and home affairs committee, she also sought to reassure critics that the government may temporarily exempt some people such as spouses and older people from a crackdown on settlement in the UK.

She told peers: “Military bases we see as the future of asylum accommodation. We think that can actually have better impact with the ability of crowding services on a site as opposed to other models.

“We have seen the stresses and strains of other accommodation, such as hotel use. The expansion of use of military sites is a key plank of government policy in this area.”

Following criticism of her plans to make it harder for people to settle in the UK – including asking people already living in the UK to wait 10 years instead of five before being able to apply – she said the government must maintain the right to do so.

A departure from this would be a “very big change” and “would drive a coach and horses through a government’s legitimate ability to control the border”.

She added that there will be “transitional arrangements” that will be decided once a public consulation has concluded.

“All aspects of the policy are yet to be settled, this hasn’t been a fake consultation exercise where the government already knows all of the policy and is just sort of looking like we ask for views.

“There will be lots of transitional arrangements that haven’t had a lot of airtime and debate publicly on spouses, on older household members, on whether you look at household income or individual income, and of course the policy on children remains to be settled,” she said.

Peter Walker

Peter Walker

Nigel Farage’s “statement on my future” video address was lengthy and had a lot to say about his apparent sacrifices for the sake of politics. But do his claims stand up?

The latest podcast has dropped and today’s episode is on Nigel Farage’s resignation.

Nigel Farage resigns to stand in ‘people vs establishment’ byelection - The Latest

Mainstream’s Interim Council, a pro-Andy Burnham group, has released a statement on Nigel Farage’s resignation and triggering of a byelection in Clacton.

It said: “With new leadership of the Labour party on the horizon, Reform has nowhere to run but spectacle.

“Farage knows that a Labour party that ends business-as-usual would spell the end of the Reform party too.

“This is a political stunt designed to distract from Labour’s potential to make big change under new leadership.”

Labour will not field candidate in Clacton byelection

From my colleague Jessica Elgot, who wrote on X: “BREAKING – Labour will not stand a candidate in Clacton byelection, NEC confirms

“Tories, Restore, Lib Dems also won’t stand against Nigel Farage.

“Has the stunt backfired?”

A Labour party spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage is engulfed in a sleaze scandal and he’s desperately trying to change the subject.

“It’s pathetic, and the Labour party is not going to indulge it.

“Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee, has decided not to stand a candidate in this circus.

“Instead, Labour will remain focused on delivering for working people and holding Reform to account.

“Farage should let the parliamentary investigation into his finances run its course and face the consequences.”

The Foreign Office has summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires after two men were jailed last week for a stabbing attack on Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati in Wimbledon, south-west London, that a judge said was undertaken “on behalf of the Iranian state”.

Badenoch says Tories won't stand in 'fake' Clacton byelection, but will stand in likely recall one over Farage's 'fishy finances'

Andrew Sparrow

Andrew Sparrow

Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives won’t put up a candidate in the Clacton byelection. They came second in the seat in 2024, and held it with a majority of almost 25,000 in 2019.

She said:

double quotation markWe will be standing a candidate in the real byelection, which will follow the standards investigation into Nigel Farage’s fishy finances

We will not be standing a candidate in the fake byelection that Farage is causing to distract people from what is happening. We need to let that investigation run its course, and I think the reason why Nigel Farage has resigned is because he’s terrified that he’s going to be found to have done something wrong.

The best thing for him to have done would have been to call a press conference and explain what he did with the money, apologise if needs be, and that would have been the end of it. Instead, he has been running away from scrutiny. No one is bigger than parliament. We all have to register our interests.

This probably makes it even more likely that Labour will decide to do the same. (See 5.47pm.)

That is all from me for today. Nadeem Badshah is now taking over.

Matthew England, a Hansard Society researcher, says that the government could refuse to allow an MP to resign (see 5.38pm) but that this has not happened since the 1840s.

The Lib Dems may not be standing in Clacton, but Count Binface (see 5.19am) says he is up for it.

double quotation markLabour, Tories, Lib Dems and Greens: I demand you stand down in Clacton.

I will be a unity candidate and pledge to build at least one affordable house.

Nigel Farage says he wants The People versus the Establishment.

So be it. Leave him to me.

Labour chair Anna Turley says party's NEC will tonight discuss not putting up candidate in Clacton byelection

On Radio 4’s PM programme, Anna Turley, the Labour chair, has just confirmed that Labour’s national executive committee will meet tonight to discuss the Clacton byelection. She said one option being discussed would be not putting up a candidate. “Why should we all dance to [Nigel] Farage’s tune,” she said. She went on:

double quotation markHe’s using this to create some kind of smoke and mirrors and a distraction from the real questions he has to answer about the money he’s received [and] why he hasn’t declared it.