Labour leader accused of ‘cull’ and picking close allies to contest safe seats as others are blocked from standing for party in UK election

Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure to end what his critics say is a “purge” of those on the Labour left before a meeting of the party’s governing body next week.

Party members on Thursday accused the Labour leader of orchestrating a “cull of leftwingers” after several high-profile figures were told they would not be selected as candidates for seats they held or had previously contested.

Shaheen claims party has ‘problem with black and brown people’ after panel stops her standing in London seat

Faiza Shaheen, the candidate blocked by Labour from standing in Chingford and Woodford Green, has announced she will challenge the decision in the courts, claiming she has faced “a systematic campaign of racism, Islamophobia and bullying”.

Citing a series of recent issues, including having a local organiser removed from her team and being blocked from producing videos blaming inflation on “corporate greed,” Shaheen claimed Keir Starmer’s party had “a problem with black and brown people”.

Labour leader’s key campaign message is low on content but chimes with public attitudes in recent polling

Change. The word was emblazoned on the lectern as Keir Starmer responded to Rishi Sunak’s rain-soaked speech on Wednesday and, lest there were any doubts about Labour’s key campaign message, he said it eight times in his brief address.

A one-word slogan has the merit of being simple and clear – and Labour believes that “Change” will chime with the public’s widespread sense of exasperation at the state of the country.

Jobs and communities dependent on oil and gas sector must be considered in plan to ban North Sea licences, say GMB and Unite

Peace may have broken out between Labour and its union backers over workers’ rights, but shadow ministers face fierce lobbying in another key policy area: how to make the switch from fossil fuels without causing deep economic scarring.

Unions representing tens of thousands of oil and gas workers – in particular GMB and Unite – are demanding urgent answers about what will happen to members’ jobs as the UK switches to cleaner energy sources.

Chancellor seems to cherrypick data as he tries to outline how the Tories have got the country back on its feet

Jeremy Hunt called a press conference on Friday to outline why the electorate should trust the Conservatives with the economy, but some of his claims appear to have used cherrypicked facts and figures. He gave his speech just over a week after the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, accused the Conservatives of “gaslighting” the UK over the state of the economy by presenting too rosy a picture of what is actually going on.

Here are some of Hunt’s statements on the economy, and some context for his claims.