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Speculation surrounds the future of longstanding Labour MP Diane Abbott, after she apologised for remarks in which she suggested Irish, Jewish and GRT people do not face racism but instead face prejudice similar to “redheads”.
Monday 24 April 2023 14:30, UK
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There has been a small rise in membership of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the last month, despite a police probe into the party’s finances, our Scotland correspondent Conor Gillies reports.
On 24 March – just before the conclusion of the leadership contest – the party said it had 74,151 members.
Today, the party has confirmed that it has 74,889 members as of 21 April.
That marks a rise of 738 members since Humza Yousaf became leader – and since a number of high-profile arrests.
On 5 April, Peter Murrell, former SNP chief executive and husband of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, was arrested and questioned by officers before being released without charge, pending further investigation.
His Glasgow home and the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh were also searched.
On 18 April, the party’s treasurer, Colin Beattie, was also arrested and released without charge, pending further investigation.
Despite this high-profile police inquiry, the party has seen a slight rise in membership numbers, but it is still way down on the 125,534 members in December 2018, and the 104,000 members at the end of December 2021.
SNP deputy leader Keith Brown said: “People across Scotland can see that only the SNP puts Scotland’s priorities first and offers a positive, ambitious and radical vision for their future as an independent country.
“I am pleased to see this reflected in the recent increase in our membership under our new leader Humza Yousaf.”
Essentially, it means that Diane Abbott will now sit in the Commons as an independent MP until the Labour Party decides otherwise.
Being given “the party whip” means, in short, that an MP is an approved representative of that party in parliament.
Now that this has been suspended from Ms Abbott, she is an independent MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.
Labour is typically quick to act in the wake of controversy and complaints, and has suspended the whip from the likes of MPs Nick Brown, Conor McGinn and Rupa Huq in recent months.
This affiliation can be restored by the chief whip – Alan Campbell – pending the results of an investigation into the matter at hand.
In the case of Ms Huq, she had the whip suspended in September last year after describing then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as “superficially black”.
She issued an apology and fully accepted her sanction. The whip was then restored in March, five months later.
Of Ms Abbott, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said earlier today: “In my view, what she said was to be condemned, it was antisemitic.”
He added: “There’s an investigation going on at the moment. That’s the right thing.”
The Liberal Democrats have been granted an Urgent Question in parliament later today about the ministerial code.
The party’s chief whip, Wendy Chamberlain, will today ask the prime minister “if he will make a statement on the Register of Ministerial Interests and the Ministerial Code.”
It comes after it was revealed this morning that a second standards investigation has been opened into Rishi Sunak for a possible breach of paragraph 13 of the MPs’ code of conduct, which says members should not disclose details in relation to an investigation that’s underway.
A probe was first opened on 13 April for a possible failure to declare an interest when first asked.
A Downing Street source said that at time that the investigation relates to the shares Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty holds in a childcare agency that could benefit from a policy announced in the budget.
It also follows the resignation of the deputy prime minister Dominic Raab last Friday after a bullying investigation.
Rishi Sunak is not obliged to answer the Urgent Question himself – he can send another minister to respond in his place.
The question will be put to the government in the House of Commons at around 3.30pm.
Parliament’s standards watchdog has opened a second investigation into the prime minister over a possible breach of the code of conduct for MPs.
In an update to parliament’s website today, it was revealed that on 20 April, parliament’s standard commissioner extended an initial probe opened on 13 April for a possible failure to declare an interest when first asked.
The probe was first opened in relation to paragraph 6 of the MPs’ code of conduct, which states that MPs “must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its committees, and in any communications with ministers, members, public officials or public office holders”.
A Downing Street source said that at time that the investigation relates to the shares Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty holds in a childcare agency that could benefit from a policy announced in the budget.
That inquiry was then extended on 20 April in relation to paragraph 13 of the code, which says members should not disclose details in relation to an investigation that’s underway.
It reads in full: “Members must not disclose details in relation to: (i) any investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards except when required by law to do so, or authorised by the Commissioner; nor (ii) the proceedings of the Committee on Standards or the Independent Expert Panel in relation to a complaint unless required by law to do so, or authorised by the Committee or the Panel respectively.”
By Alix Culbertson, political reporter
Voters across much of England will head to the ballot box for local and mayoral elections on 4 May.
It will be the first time people in England will have to show photographic identification at voting stations before they can cast their ballot.
Sky News takes you through all you need to know about the upcoming local elections.
Read below to find out:
Asked whether the government was doing enough to evacuate Brits from Sudan, the Labour leader paid tribute to British forces involved in the evacuation of diplomats and pledged his support to the government for “any action” they can take to evacuate Brits trapped in the war-torn country.
Sir Keir Starmer said: “First, let me acknowledge it’s a really difficult and fast moving situation in Sudan.
“And let me also pay tribute to our troops and the work they’ve done to bring our diplomats out, again in very difficult circumstances.
“There is a huge concern about British residents who are there and need to be helped to get out of Sudan.
“I do urge the government to do everything they can to help those remaining in Sudan. We’ve heard some of their voices in the last 24 hours.
“But I do acknowledge it’s a really difficult situation, and we will support the government in any action they are able to take.”
Speaking to broadcasters this morning, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer described Diane Abbott’s letter to The Observer newspaper yesterday suggesting that travellers, Jewish and Irish people do not face racism as “antisemitic” – after being asked three times.
Asked if what Ms Abbott wrote was antisemitic, Sir Keir said: “What she wrote yesterday, I utterly condemn.
“And I said we would tear out antisemitism by its roots. I meant it, and that’s why we acted so swiftly yesterday.
“I think it’s a mark of how far the Labour Party has changed that we acted so swiftly and we take it so seriously. But I condemn what she said.”
Pushed a second time on whether it was antisemitic, Sir Keir said: “I condemn what she said.
“There’s an investigation going on now, but look, I don’t think anybody can doubt the change in the Labour Party when you see such swift action and an absolute commitment to zero tolerance.”
Pushed a third time, the Labour leader said: “In my view, what she said was to be condemned, it was antisemitic.
“It’s absolutely right that we acted as swiftly as we did.”
He said that he wants to show the Labour Party takes antisemitism seriously and acts swiftly.
Asked if Ms Abbott can stand as a Labour candidate at the next election, Sir Keir said: “There’s an investigation going on at the moment. That’s the right thing.
“The whip has been suspended; that was done very swiftly, and I have condemned what she said, along with many other people.”
Asked if he was disappointed that this has become an issue, Sir Keir said: “Of course I’m disappointed.
“We should be talking about the cost of living today. That’s what we should be talking out.”
Parliament’s standards commissioner has announced a second investigation into MP Scott Benton.
The MP for Blackpool South, was suspended from the Conservative parliamentary party earlier this month after he was shown in footage appearing to indicate he would be willing to break lobbying rules for money.
His suspension means he sits as an independent.
Daniel Greenberg, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, opened a first investigation into Mr Benton on 11 April for “use of facilities [parliamentary email address] provided from the public purse”.
A second investigation, confirmed today, was opened on 20 April for “actions causing significant damage to the reputation of the House as a whole, or of its Members generally”.
For the first time in England, people turning up at polling stations to vote in May’s local elections will need photographic ID to cast their ballot.
Some argue the move is effectively a form of voter suppression, as it will disproportionately affect people less likely to support the Conservative Party.
On the Sky News Daily, Sally Lockwood examines the debate with our political correspondent Liz Bates, who has been speaking to young people in Hull about what the changes mean to them.
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has released a statement this morning condemning Labour MP Diane Abbott’s letter to The Observer newspaper yesterday in which she suggested that Jewish people do not experience racism.
In a statement, the charity – which seeks to educate people on the Holocaust and subsequent genocides – said her comments on Jewish, Irish and and GRT people were “factually wrong” and showed her “fundamental lack of understanding of racism”.
The charity said: “In the Holocaust, six million men, women and children were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators – only because they were Jewish.
“Between 250,000 – 500,000 Sinti and Roma people were murdered. Again, this was because of their Roma or Sinti heritage.
“To say that white people are not subject to racism is factually wrong, a distortion of history and an insult both to the victims and to those who survived horrific persecution.
It continued: “Antisemitism – anti-Jewish racism – and anti-Gypsyism are forms of racism, ones that are deeply ingrained even today.
“Diane Abbott’s apology for her appalling letter is a start, but the letter shows her fundamental lack of understanding of racism, and the different forms it takes.
“Moreover, to compare different forms of racism is unhelpful and dangerously divisive.
“We urge Ms Abbott to put her apology into action, and learn more about the complexities of each form of racism.”
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