UK politics live: Labour set emergency plan for prison overcrowding crisis to stop ‘total breakdown of law and order’

A former SNP MP, who was beaten in Glasgow South by a resurgent Labour party in the recent election, has said that the SNP needs a major reset if it is to avoid further defeat.

Stewart McDonald said that SNP leader John Swinney would need to be a “ruthless bastard” to succeed in turning the party’s fortunes around. Mr McDonald said that the recent results, which saw the SNP drop from 48 to just nine MPs, show that voters had put a pause on the independence agenda.

He added: “The hard pause is here, and we need to think about what we do with that time.”

He said: “I think we have a cultural problem within the SNP and that cultural problem is about seriousness.”

He cited examples of this as being the de facto referendum policy, introduced by former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon which set out how the SNP would fight the election as a “de facto” referendum on independence, in the wake of the refusal of successive prime ministers to permit a second vote on Scotland’s place in the UK.

Mr McDonald also criticised the SNP’s insistence on having a policy of removing Trident nuclear weapons from an independent Scotland within two years, when he as the then defence spokesperson “didn’t think it was possible”.

He said: “This is what needs to go, this is what needs to be a part of our history.

“And if we are to be successful, if we are to not get horsed in 2026 and enjoy a long spell in opposition, this kind of culture cannot last.”

for electoral reform – from both sides of the political spectrum.

The Liberal Democrats have long advocated for proportional representation, arguing it would make “seats won match votes cast” and facilitate “politicians having to work together”.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is also calling for change, as his party’s dispersed voter base meant that 14% of the national vote share only translated into five seats. Meanwhile, the Lib Dems’ 72 seats were won with just 12% of the vote.

Farah Naz, whose niece was murdered by a man who had been out of prison on licence for nine days, warned of the potential consequences if the probation service was unable to cope.

James Cleverly has jokingly sought to dispel a rumour he says has been making its way around Westminster for years, by admitting he is fan of the game Warhammer.

“There have been some rumours about me floating around Westminster for some time. There is no point in trying to hide this any longer. It’s true”, the Lewisham-born father-of-two and MP for Braintree in Essex wrote.

As Labour announced a series of measures to ease the overcrowding crisis facing UK jails, the ex-home secretary said the Tories needed to “take responsibility for what we left undone”.

Households would have to pay even more eye-watering sums in many of the so-called “blue wall” Conservative seats in the south of England Mr Sunak was desperate to save.

But the early poll failed to avoid disaster– as the Tories crashed to the worst general election defeat in their history.

Our Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin has the full story:

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has said he will leave “no stone unturned” in trying to find a future for workers at Grangemouth, after ministers from the Scottish and UK governments met its owners.

It is understood a report called Project Willow, worth around £1.6 million and funded by both governments, will seek to chart a future in low-carbon energy for Grangemouth.

Hundreds of jobs are thought to be at risk after owner Petroineos – a joint venture between PetroChina and Ineos – announced the oil refinery at Grangemouth would be shut after spring next year.