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Una serie de ataques contra civiles y bases militares en la región suroccidental de Colombia ha generado preocupaciones de seguridad mientras el país se encamina a las elecciones presidenciales de mayo.(Crédito de la imagen: Santiago Saldarriaga)

Morgan McSweeney se encuentra entre quienes brindarán testimonio ante el comité de asuntos exteriores antes de la votación en los Comunes. Buenos días. Al ex presidente de EE. UU., Lyndon Johnson, se le atribuye haber dicho que la habilidad más importante en la política es saber contar, queriendo decir que, en última instancia, lo que importa es ser capaz de ganar una votación. Pero a veces en la política, lo que importa igual o incluso más, es la capacidad de ganar la discusión. Hoy, Keir Starmer será puesto a prueba en ambas medidas.Ganar la votación debería ser sencillo. Aquí está nuestro avance nocturno escrito por Pippa Crerar sobre los eventos que preparan la votación de hoy sobre una moción presentada por Kemi Badenoch, así como por parlamentarios de otros cinco partidos de la oposición (Lib Dems, SNP, DUP, Restore Britain, TUV) y una serie de independientes, solicitando que Starmer sea remitido al comité de privilegios. Continuar leyendo...

Top aide says SNP leader will seek approval to press for independence even if he fails to win majority on 7 MayJohn Swinney will call a vote seeking independence powers on the first day of the next Scottish parliament even if he fails to win an overall majority, his aides have said.The Scottish National Party leader’s senior adviser indicated that if necessary, he would rely on support from the pro-independence Scottish Greens to win that vote in order to demand the UK government gives Holyrood the legal powers to hold a second referendum. Continue reading...

Commons speaker to grant application by Tories for vote on investigation into whether PM misled MPs, say sourcesUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer will face a vote on whether to launch an investigation into claims he misled the Commons over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.Sources have told the Guardian that the speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, is expected to allow a debate on Tuesday on potentially referring the prime minister to the privileges committee. Continue reading...

Alan Johnson and David Blunkett say Tory proposal for a privileges committee inquiry is a ‘nakedly political stunt’Good morning. Kemi Badenoch is trying to get Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, to give MPs a vote on a proposal to get the Commons privileges committee to investigate allegations that Keir Starmer lied to MPs in statements he made to them about the vetting of Peter Mandelson. Other opposition parties may be backing her, but we don’t know for sure because the process is relatively secret; MPs have to write a private letter to the speaker, who then decides whether this is a serious request that should be decided by the Commons as a whole, or a frivolous complaint that should be ignored. (We do know that Karl Turner has written to the speaker about this too, but only because he was daft enough to post his letter on social media last week.) Today we are likely to find out whether or not Hoyle is agreeing to a Commons vote.Boris Johnson was referred to the privileges committee over allegations that he lied to MPs about Partygate (allegations the committee concluded were justified). Badenoch wants to make the case that Starmer is just as dishonest as Johnson. He isn’t, by any stretch, and the claims that Starmer lied to MPs about Mandelson are spurious; they relate to contest intepretations of political language of the kind that are commonplace in parliamentary debate. But the fact that this has even become a live consideration for the speaker is a big win for the Tories.The fact that Kemi Badenoch has changed the accusations she is levelling against the PM on an almost daily basis as her claims have failed to stand up to scrutiny shows what this is really about. This is a nakedly political stunt with no substance ahead of the May elections.Any comparison with Boris Johnson is absurd. When parliament referred that matter to the privileges committee, a police investigation had directly disproved his categoric statements that he knew nothing about the breach of lockdown rules.I suppose our constituents might ask [if a privileges committee goes ahead], have we got the balance right between holding the government to account and seemingly squabbling amongst ourselves when there is so much else going on that perhaps parliament ought to be focusing on as well.I have to say, a really truthful position is, why the rush at the moment? Has it got anything to do with local elections? Continue reading...

Exclusive: Investigation into campaigning materials for local polls in May challenges tactical voting claims Election leaflets are providing “grotesque” information about how to vote tactically in the May elections, using national polling data, “dodgy” bar charts and doorstep surveys to support claims about parties’ chances of winning.Leaflets distributed by local politicians across England are claiming that either only their party can win, or another party “can’t win here” when “there is no good evidence to show that’s true”, a Full Fact investigation for the Guardian has revealed. Continue reading...

YouGov survey shows cross-party consensus – but that many fear abortion access could be reduced New polling has found that whatever their party political leanings, an overwhelming majority of people support the right to access an abortion – although young people, in particular, fear reproductive rights may be reduced.The YouGov polling, commissioned by MSI Reproductive Choices to mark its 50th anniversary, found nine in 10 people support the right to access an abortion. Continue reading...