3 h. ago Senior Starmer adviser quits over offensive Diane Abbott messages

Departure of political strategy director Paul Ovenden is yet another setback for PM after Mandelson and Rayner exitsA senior adviser to Keir Starmer has resigned after it was revealed he sent inappropriate messages about the Labour MP Diane Abbott eight years ago.Paul Ovenden quit on Monday as the prime minister’s director of political strategy after details emerged about a sexually explicit WhatsApp conversation he had in 2017. Continue reading...

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4 h. ago Top Starmer aide quits Government after ‘appalling’ remarks about Diane Abbott

A No 10 spokesperson condemned comments made by Paul Ovenden in a series of messages in 2017.

Politics

6 h. ago Senior Keir Starmer aide resigns over 'explicit messages about Diane Abbott'

The remarks were reportedly made about veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott.

Politics

6 h. ago Top Starmer aide quits over sexually explicit Diane Abbott messages

Paul Ovenden has quit his top Downing Street role after the messages he shared about Diane Abbott emerged

Politics

6 h. ago Top Starmer aide resigns over explicit Diane Abbott messages in further blow to PM – UK politics live

Director of strategy Paul Ovenden quits to avoid becoming ‘distraction’ after details of derogatory emails emergeNigel Farage has announced that Danny Kruger has defected to Reform UK from the Tories. Kruger, MP for East Wiltshire, is a leading social conservative, and co-chaired the New Conservatives group in the last parliament with Miriam Cates.Farage said that Kruger would be in charge of preparing the part for government. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Senior Starmer aide quits over 'sexually explicit messages about Diane Abbott' in new blow to PM

Number 10’s Director of Strategy Paul Ovenden quits after emails he sent in 2017 emerge

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6 h. ago Keir Starmer's senior aide resigns over 'sexually explicit messages about Diane Abbott'

The aide is understood to have resigned after retelling a story he had overheard involving the veteran 71-year-old MP - This is a breaking news story and is constantly being updated as the story develops

Politics

6 h. ago Keir Starmer's senior aide resigns over 'explicit messages about Diane Abbott'

Keir Starmer's director of strategy has resigned from Downing Street after messages were leaked in which he allegedly made lurid and explicitly sexual comments about MP Diane Abbott

Politics

27 h. ago What I saw at Saturday’s rally was racism, pure and simple. Labour won’t tackle it until we can call it what it is | Diane Abbott

Silence about the bigotry inherent in events like Tommy Robinson’s march will be seen by the thugs as tacit approval of their messageI have been on a great many political marches in my time. But Saturday’s rally, facing up to Tommy Robinson’s 110,000-strong “unite the kingdom” march in London, was the only one where I actually felt threatened.I was on the anti-racist counter march and we were outnumbered 20 to one. This was startling: on anti-racist marches, we usually easily outnumber the racists. The march organised by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was billed as “a free speech rally”, but free speech in this case seemed to mean people saying anything they wanted about only one subject: immigration.Diane Abbott has been the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters sectio...

Events

1 week ago Prominent UK women tell rightwingers: stop linking immigration to sexual abuse

Exclusive: Open letter says politicians are exploiting violence against women ‘to fuel hate and division’Prominent women including cultural figures, politicians and campaigners have signed a letter criticising rightwing attempts to link sexual violence in Britain to asylum seekers.Signatories include the musicians Paloma Faith, Charlotte Church and Anoushka Shankar as well as Labour, Green and independent MPs including Kim Johnson, Ellie Chowns, Diane Abbott and Zarah Sultana. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Diane Abbott says she advised Jeremy Corbyn against founding his new political party

Ms Abbott, who was shadow home secretary under Mr Corbyn, said she thought the first-past-the-post system would work against the new party

Politics

3 w. ago Diane Abbott advised Jeremy Corbyn against founding new party, event told

Ms Abbott, who was shadow home secretary under Mr Corbyn, said she thought the first-past-the-post system would work against the new party.

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