Labour chair defends admission of Elphicke while Abbott is suspended

Anneliese Dodds backs move to accept Conservative defector Natalie Elphicke as backlash grows

The chair of the Labour party has defended the decision to admit a staunchly rightwing MP while Diane Abbott remains suspended and has been under investigation for more than a year.

Anneliese Dodds said she believed Elphicke was a good fit for Labour because her remarks on border security and housing were “absolutely fundamental to the Labour party”.

Ben Houchen says Tory party in state of chaos and ‘ultimately’ Sunak has to take blame – UK politics live

Tees Valley mayor hailed by PM after re-election says route to Tory electoral recovery is ‘getting narrower by the day’

Having seen a fuller version of what Ben Houchen, the Conservative Tees Valley mayor, said on BBC Radio Tees this morning, I have beefed up the post at 10.16am and changed the headline. Houchen did says Rishi Sunak ultimately had to take the blame for the state of “chaos” the Tory party is in.

Victoria Prentis, the attorney general, told the Commons that Britain continues to view its arms sales to Israel as legal a day after US president Joe Biden warned he would pause the delivery of bombs because they had been previously used to kill Palestinian civilians.

I can say that the foreign secretary has reviewed the most recent advice from the IHL cell, and that has informed his decision that there isn’t a clear risk that the items exported from the UK might be used to commit or to facilitate a serious violation of IHL. That leaves our position on export licences unchanged, but that position is kept under review.

Bank of England ‘optimistic things are moving in right direction’ after leaving UK interest rates on hold at 5.25% – business live

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey is briefing reporters after BoE left UK interest rates on hold again in a dramatic 7-2 split

The pound is slightly lower this morning, dipping by a quarter of a cent to $1.2472 against the US dollar.

It could be more volatile when the Bank of England announces its decision on interest rates at noon, as Fiona Cincotta, senior financial market analyst at City Index, explains:

“The pound is falling for a third straight day amid US dollar strength and ahead of the Bank of England interest rate decision.

The central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates at 5.25% but could start to prepare for a rate cut in the coming months. Inflation in the UK was 3.2% in March YoY and is expected to continue cooling towards the central bank’s target of 2% in April.

Even with overall revenue down, it seems the message is not to panic as most of ITV’s releases are weighted to H2 and the Euros are coming up in the summer which will give a much needed boost to the coffers in terms of viewer numbers and in turn advertising revenue. Investors may be a little wary though as the firm heavily relies on this pipeline of shows to offset this sluggish start to the year, hampered by the US writers’ and actors’ strikes.

“More and more we consume our viewing content on streaming services online and ITV has made some marked improvements in this area with ITVX also a bright spot with growth in online ad revenue there.

End majority jury verdicts to prevent more justice ‘horror’, says Malkinson

Exclusive: Man who spent 17 years in prison after wrongly being convicted of rape says he will ‘shout from the rooftops’ for UK law reform

Andrew Malkinson says he could have been spared “20 years of darkness and despair” if the jury system had not been changed to allow majority verdicts.

Malkinson was exonerated of rape last summer, two decades after a jury wrongly convicted him by a majority of 10 to 2.

Israel-Gaza war live: Israeli officials criticise ‘very disappointing’ threat from Joe Biden to stop arms supplies

Gilad Erdan says move by Joe Biden stems from political pressure after campus protests and with US election coming soon

• Analysis: Biden seeks to pull rank in US-Israel relationship

At least 34,844 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza and 78,404 Palestinians injured, according to the territory’s health ministry. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings. Here are some of the latest images from Gaza:

Israel’s national security minister presented himself before the television cameras to make a statement on Sunday, shortly after leaving a meeting with the country’s prime minister.

Whooping cough: five babies in England die after diagnosis, say officials

Fears of biggest UK outbreak in 20 years as 2,793 cases reported to end of March

The UK may be experiencing its biggest outbreak of whooping cough in two decades, with five infant deaths reported in England between January and March.

According to the latest data published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on Thursday, cases of whooping cough continue to increase, with 1,319 confirmed in March. This brings the total number of confirmed cases during the first quarter of 2024 to 2,793 – although because mild cases are easily confused with other respiratory illnesses in the early stages when the infection can be tested for, the true number of cases is likely to be much higher.

Boeing supplier regularly shipped parts with defects, whistleblower alleges

Santiago Paredes says he raised concerns over defects on fuselages leaving Spirit AeroSystems factory

A former employee of Boeing’s largest supplier has alleged that key aircraft parts regularly left the factory with serious defects.

Santiago Paredes, who worked for Spirit AeroSystems in Kansas between 2010 and 2022, said he was used to finding “anywhere from 50 to 100, 200” defects on fuselages – the main body of the plane – that were being shipped to Boeing, and he felt threatened for raising his concerns.

Russia-Ukraine war live: Putin accuses ‘arrogant’ west of risking global conflict and says his forces are at ‘combat readiness’

Vladimir Putin marks second world war Victory Day as relations with west spiral towards crisis

South Korea’s position remains it will not supply lethal weapons to any country, president Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday, when asked if Seoul was prepared to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.

Yoon also said his government intended to continue managing relations with Moscow to “pursue economic cooperation and mutual benefits” even though the two countries’ ties have become “uncomfortable” since the start of the war in Ukraine.

UK universities must ‘show leadership’ over Gaza protests, says Gillian Keegan

Education secretary says she wants campuses to be safe places and warns vice-chancellors about escalation

• Israel-Gaza war – live updates

University vice-chancellors need to “show leadership” in response to student protests over Israel’s military action in Gaza, the education secretary has said.

Gillian Keegan told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that she wanted “our campuses to be a safe place where students feel welcomed, where students can express different views”.

Elite cyclist seeking UK asylum told he must move to Bibby Stockholm barge

Mohammad Ganjkhanlou cannot take his bike onboard and says he ‘will not have the chance to rebuild’ his racing career

A gold medal-winning elite cyclist who is seeking asylum in the UK fears his career will be derailed because he has been told by the Home Office he must move to the Bibby Stockholm barge and cannot take his bike on board.

Mohammad Ganjkhanlou, 26, an Iranian, has won four gold, two silver and six bronze medals in big competitions and has competed in the world championships.