Rochdale byelection: Keir Starmer apologises after George Galloway wins but says he was right to disown Labour candidate – as it happened

• Rishi Sunak has hinted that there could be further cuts in national insurance rates in next week’s budget because it allowed Westminster to help workers in Scotland hit by Holyrood’s income tax rises. (See 3.49pm.) But, speaking at the Scottish Conservative conference in Aberdeen, he suggested the government was unlikely to extend the windfall tax on energy profits, even though this option is reportedly being considered. (See 3.06pm.)

Sunak hints at further cuts to national insurance in budget next week

Severin Carrell

Rishi Sunak has hinted there could be further cuts in national insurance rates in next week’s budget because it allowed Westminster to help workers in Scotland hit by Holyrood’s income tax rises.

The prime minister told reporters in Aberdeen he was “very conscious” that he wanted to make life easier for people across the UK while the Scottish National party government at Holyrood wanted “to make life harder”.

Sunak said Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary, had been pressing the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, to cut national insurance again in next week’s budget. “For the very reasons outlined, I press hard that it is national insurance as opposed to income tax,” Jack said.

In a signal that tax policy will also be a key general election battleground in Scotland, Sunak said the UK government’s cut of 2p in national insurance rates in January helped workers in Scotland while ministers in Edinburgh were raising income tax for everyone earning above £28,850 from April.

That national insurance reduction was a “significant tax cut worth £450 for someone on average earnings of £35,000,” Sunak said. He went on:

I believe in a country and a society where hard work is rewarded. That’s something that’s really important to me.

The prime minister was asked whether it was fair for Scottish employees if the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, cut income rates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, since that decision would simply widen the tax gap between Scotland and the rest of the UK. He replied:

It’s also important to us to be a government that delivers for people in every part of the United Kingdom. And I’m very conscious that, whilst the SNP is making life harder for hardworking people by putting their taxes up, I want to make life easier for people.

It is a union tax cut. It’s a tax cut for everyone in work and the contrast between what we’re doing and what the SNP government is doing could not be starker.

Robyn Vinter

Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, accused the Tories of “crashing the economy and expecting the north to pay for it” at the Conference of the North in Leeds.

She said the government had “never followed through” on their commitment to levelling up. “They’re all talk with nothing to show for it.”

Speaking about the north, Rayner said: “We don’t want to be on our knees asking for something.”

Asked by an audience member about local authority funding, she also reiterated a pledge to provide more long-term funding to local councils and ending the “Dragon’s Den approach” where councils bid for small pots of money.

Sunak says poll putting Tory support at 15% in Scotland ‘not reflective of what we’re hearing on ground’

Severin Carrell

Rishi Sunak fielded 16 minutes of questions from a group of 20 Scottish political journalists before his conference speech, in marked contrast to the chaotic and angry scenes at last year’s event when reporters rebelled against attempts by Downing Street officials to hand-pick just six newspaper reporters to meet and interview him.

The Sun asked Sunak whether he would like to congratulate Humza Yousaf, the Scottish National party leader and first minister, on the news that he and his wife Nadia El-Nakla are expecting their first child. (See 2.46pm.) The Sun said the latest opinion poll, which puts the Scottish Tories on 15% for Westminster voting intention, suggested the child would grow up “in a Tory-free Scotland”.

Sunak laughed. He said Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary, had texted his and Sunak’s congratulations to Yousaf earlier on Friday on the “wonderful news” about the pregnancy.

On the Survation poll’s 15% finding, Sunak said:

[This] is just not reflective of what we’re hearing on the ground, the recent success that we’re having in council byelections. And I think come the election, because that’s ultimately the only one that matters, I think we expect to gain when it comes to Scotland. And that’s because our messages resonate.

Sunak defends accepting controversial air travel donations

Severin Carrell

Questioned further by reporters in Aberdeen, Rishi Sunak refused to say whether the Tories would return a donation of £38,500 in kind from a medical devices entrepreneur, Akhil Tripathi, who is reportedly being sued by investors, if the allegations against him are upheld.

Tripathi, who has denied all the allegations, donated flights to Sunak to attend last year’s Scottish Conservative conference in Glasgow last April and to the Welsh Conservative conference the same day.

Sunak later updated his register of interests amid questions about the accuracy of original entries in a row which added to the complaints about the prime minister’s use of private helicopters and jets for party business.

Sunak said:

All the donations to the Conservative party are transparently declared, as of course they should be, and they’re all in line with the established processes and regulations that govern those things.

Sunak hints government unlikely to extend windfall tax on energy companies in budget

Severin Carrell

Rishi Sunak has refused to comment on reports from Bloomberg that the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is considering extending the windfall tax on energy profits in next week’s budget. Yet he hinted it was highly unlikely by insisting the Tories were “the only major party that has backed the North Sea oil and gas industry”.

Speaking to reporters in Aberdeen before his speech to the Scottish Conservative conference, Sunak said no prime minister or chancellor would ever comment on speculation about a budget. He said:

I’m sure you and everyone else will understand why it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment on any speculation or fiscal policy ahead of the budget.

But what I can say is that we have consistently been the only major party that has backed the North Sea oil and gas industry, and you can see that most recently with the move to annual licensing, which we’re legislating for, opposed by everybody else. And the reason we’re doing that is because our country is going to need all gas for decades to come. And my view and our government’s view is that it’s right to get that from here at home.

Sunak says the SNP “would take Scotland back literally 300 years” (before the Acts of Union).

He says they have been in power in Holyrood since before the invention of the smartphone. But their record is poor, he claims.

If you want to see better schools, more economic growth, safer streets, and a government that works for the whole of Scotland, then every day that the SNP remain in power is a wasted day.

He goes on:

Their obsession with tearing Scotland out of the United Kingdom is all consuming and it simply crowds out everything else.

In fact, they’re so obsessed with difference for different sake, that when we banned XL bullies, they said no, we’ll go our own way.

This political posturing has tragic consequences. And it just shows you that they put division above even the safety of our streets.

This passage is confusing, because the Scottish government has broadly adopted the UK government’s approach.

Sunak also accuses the SNP of not being able to answer basic questions about independence.

Astonishingly, after even 16 different papers on independent independence, they still can’t answer the basic questions. What’s the currency going to be? What happens to pensions? What happens to trade?it’s their obsession with independence that is holding Scotland back.

Rishi Sunak is now giving his speech to the Scottish Conservative party’s conference in Aberdeen.

He defends the party’s record. He says his party blocked the SNP’s gender recognition (reform) bill and it was Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary, who vetoed it.

The UK govenrment is cutting taxes, he says. But the SNP government is putting up taxes for anyone earning more than £28,000 a year.

And he claims the Conservatives are the only party defending the oil and gas industry.

It’s only the Scottish conservatives who are defending our energy security and the thousands of jobs here in the north-east that depend on the oil and gas sector. A vote for anyone else is a vote to shut down this industry.

As for Labour, it says so much about them that they don’t want to ban oil and gas – they just want to ban British oil and gas, with a ban on North sea exploration.

It shows so clearly that their values are not our country’s values, that they put virtue signalling ahead of our nation’s energy security.

Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, has announced he and his wife are expecting a baby this summer, saying they are “delighted” to be adding to their family, PA Media reports. PA says:

Yousaf said his wife Nadia El-Nakla is due to give birth in July.

It will be the first time a Scottish first minister has had a child while in office.

The couple already have two children – their daughter Amal is four and Mr Yousaf is stepfather to 14-year-old Maya.

Yousaf has previously spoken publicly about miscarriages the couple have suffered.

As he spoke about his desire to improve miscarriage care last September, he revealed he and El-Nakla have lost four pregnancies – “two before our daughter was born and another two after”.

Announcing his wife is expecting again today, he thanked staff at the early pregnancy unit at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee for the “wonderful support” they have provided.

In his TV clip for broadcasters Rishi Sunak refused to comment on reports saying the government is considering lifting Labour’s plan to abolish non-dom status as a means of raising revenue to fund a general tax cut in the budget.

Sunak said it would not be appropriate to comment on tax matters ahead of a budget.

This counts as a non-denial, because budget “purdah” has never stopped the government ruling out potential tax increases ahead of a budget if it wants to.

Asked about the report in an interview on Sky News this morning, Ellie Reeves, the party’s deputy national campaign coordinator (and sister of Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor), said that if the Treasury did adopt the Labour plan, it would be further proof the government was “out of ideas after 14 years”.

She said the government had already borrowed other Labour ideas, like the windfall tax on energy companies and the dental recovery plan.

Rishi Sunak’s flagship plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda will cost taxpayers £1.8m for each of the first 300 people the government deports to Kigali, the National Audit Office has revealed. The NAO report is here, and here is Rajeev Syal’s story.

In his broadcast clip, Rishi Sunak was asked if he still thought the Rwanda deportation policy was a good deal in the light of what the NAO said about how much it would cost. Sunak insisted it was a “worthwhile investment”. He said:

The current situation is unsustainable and unfair. Taxpayers are already forking out millions of pounds a day to house illegal migrants in hotels across the country. That’s not right. And that’s why I made stopping the boats one of my priorities.

I’m pleased that we’ve made progress last year, the numbers were down by a third. That’s never happened before, shows that the plans are working. But in order to fully resolve this issue, we need to have a deterrent, we need to be able to say if you come here illegally, you won’t be able to stay, we can remove you to a safe country.

That’s why the Rwanda scheme is so important. It’s a worthwhile investment, and I’m determined to see it through.

Rishi Sunak has described the Rochdale byelection as “one of the most divisive in recent times” and claimed he was pleased his party at last ran a positive campaign.

Speaking in Scotland, where he will be addressing the Scottish Conservative party’s conference in Aberdeen this afternoon, Sunak said:

It was very concerning to see the reports of intimidation through the byelection, and by all accounts one of the most divisive campaigns that we’ve seen in recent times.

I’m pleased the Conservative party was the only party to run a really positive campaign focused on local issues with a great local candidate, Paul Ellison.

Keir Starmer has restated Labour’s apology to the people of Rochdale for what happened in the byelection. But, in a clip for broadcasters, he sought to extract a positive message from the saga, suggesting that his decision to disown Azhar Ali, the candidate, over antisemitism at a point where it was too late to replace him showed his determination to transform the party.

Starmer said:

Galloway only won because Labour didn’t stand a candidate.

I regret that we had to withdraw candidate and apologise to voters in Rochdale.

But I took that decision. It was the right decision. And when I say I changed the Labour party, I mean it.

Obviously we will put a first class candidate, a unifier, before the voters in Rochdale, or the general election.