Politics latest news: Keir Starmer's reshuffle inflames Labour civil war

• Keir Starmer reshuffles team amid threats over leadership

• Nick Timothy: Sir Keir Starmer isn’t the solution to the Labour Party’s crisis, he’s the cause

• Sturgeon tells Johnson Indyref2 a matter of 'when, not if'

• Angela Rayner claims victory in Starmer's chaotic reshuffle

• Suzanne Moore: Labour is suffering from Long Corbyn, and there's no known cure

• Coronavirus latest news: Britain in 'very strong position' to move forward with roadmap, says Oxford vaccine boss

Sir Keir Starmer's "foolish" attempt to sack Angela Rayner from the party's frontbench has further inflamed Labour's civil war, following the dire election results that filtered out over the weekend.

Ms Rayner was removed as party chair and campaign coordinator but could not be ejected from her elected role as deputy leader, and ended up being handed a swathe of new responsibilities.

Over the course of a botched and protracted reshuffle, other female faces including shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds and shadow leader Valerie Vaz also lost their roles. Rachel Reeves has been promoted to go toe-to-toe with Rishi Sunak.

Veteran MP and Corbyn ally Diane Abbott this morning blasted the leadership for having "tried to sack Angie Rayner to make her carry the can for the weekend".

She told Radio 4's Today programme: "It was a very foolish thing to do - she didn’t take any of the big decisions around Hartlepool. No one up and down the country is saying 'people weren't voting Labour because of Angie Rayner'.

"It was a foolish thing to even think about and he has had to walk it back."

Nia Griffiths, who kept her role as shadow Wales secretary, told BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour: "We would all like to have seen things happen a little more smoothly."

​​Follow the latest updates below.

08:23 AM

Have your say: Can Keir Starmer cling on?

Sir Keir Starmer might have hoped to draw a line under Labour's terrible showing at the polls last week - but his protracted reshuffle has only served to inflame tensions further.

So far, MPs are publicly critical, but stopping short of calling for a new leader (see 9:06am). However, there has already been one frontbench resignation - Khalid Mahmood, who explains why in an article for the Telegraph here - and the knives are clearly out.

A key point could be the Batley and Spen by-election triggered by Tracy Brabin's victory in the West Yorkshire mayoral race. If Labour lose that seat, it could be curtains for Sir Keir.

Yet there seems to be little appetite for anyone else to take over, which could keep him safe until the next general election.

So how long will he survive? Have your say in the poll below.

08:11 AM

Batley and Spen by-election will be 'big test', Labour's campaign chief admits

The Batley and Spen by-election will be a "big test", the party's new campaign coordinator has said.

The contest is the last thing Labour needs right now - but is inevitable after current MP Tracy Brabin was named West Yorkshire mayor.

Shabana Mahmood told BBC Breakfast: "It is no doubt going to be a big test. It is an important by-election for us. We have just won in West Yorkshire and that is the base on which we have to build.

"I am in no doubt as to the amount of work that needs to be done."

She will spend time in Batley and Spen to "learn the lessons we need to learn from the places where we have suffered defeat to earn the trust of voters again - that is the only show in town and that is the thing that the whole of our movement has to be focused on".

08:06 AM

Publicly, Starmer's critics are holding back - for now

One-time Corbynites all seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet - suggesting a certain amount of coordination - when it comes to their criticism of Sir Keir Starmer.

So far, the likes of Diane Abbott, John McDonnell and Rebecca Long-Bailey have insisted they are taking the moral high ground in not calling for a leadership contest.

Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme this morning, the former shadow home secretary pointedly said: "I am not calling for Keir Starmer to step down, he is the choice of the members and I am old fashioned - I believe MPs should support the choice of the members.

"If only people had done that when Jeremy as leader we wouldn't be in this position now".

While Mr McDonnell was highly critical of the abortive attempt to sack Angela Rayner, he has also avoided calling for a new leader.

However, behind the scenes, the pressure is building on Sir Keir. The question is whether one of his colleagues will put their head above the parapet.

07:53 AM

'No better person': Boris Johnson thanks David Attenborough for joining Cop26 team

Boris Johnson has thanked David Attenborough for agreeing to become "the Cop26 People's Advocate", ahead of the major climate change summit.

The Prime Minister is throwing much weight behind this delayed conference in a bid to prove his green credentials.

07:42 AM

Rishi Sunak praises sacked 'thoughtful and constructive' shadow chancellor

Rishi Sunak has praised his former counterpart Anneliese Dodds for her "thoughtful and constructive" work, after she was sacked at the weekend.

The pair had some terse clashes over the last year, with Ms Dodds criticising the Chancellor for being slow in confirming the furlough scheme, for not better supporting the "excluded" and, more recently, quizzing him about David Cameron and Greensill.

But today he thanked Ms Dodds for her work as he welcomed her replacement Rachel Reeves.

07:35 AM

Labour Party must grapple with 'seismic changes' in society, says Gordon Brown

Former prime minister Gordon Brown has said the Labour Party needs to change as society is facing "seismic changes", such as widening social inequalities and nationalism.

"Keir Starmer and his leadership have got to deal with all these changes," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"So, the Labour Party has got to change, we can never have the same policies at 1997 - they can't be the same policies at 2019.

"He has got to be given the space and the power and the leaders working with him to change the Labour Party, so that it can deal with these fundamental challenges that have been aggravated by Covid."

07:31 AM

Anneliese Dodds to lead policy review following Labour's dismal election results

Newly demoted Labour MP Anneliese Dodds will be working on a new policy programme that will better "speak to the hopes and dreams of the British public".

Shabana Mahmood, the new campaign coordinator, told Radio 4's Today programme she would work with the woman who until yesterday was shadow chancellor to develop new ideas to win back voters at the next election.

But challenged on whether that would include a change on freedom of movement or benefits, she stressed the changes would come following a review.

"There has to be a policy review process, which we are now going to embark on together as a movement, to work out what is the programme that we need to be offering the country... it can't just be a debate we have with ourselves," she added.

07:27 AM

Labour has 'lost touch' with voters, says newly promoted MP

Labour has "lost touch" with parts of the country that have traditionally backed the party, because it has "lost that emotional connection", the newly-appointed campaign coordinator has said.

Shabana Mahmood told Radio 4's Today programme: "We have got to find a way to rebuild that. I am not one of those people who believes we should just jettison parts of country as if could never win again."

Labour has to "grapple with the question [posed by] the new shape of policies in the 21st century", she said.

"We have had some terrible results in parts of the country where still have a lot more work to do to earn trust of voters. Hartlepool was the biggest and one of the most painful," she added.

07:21 AM

Labour must 'focus on moving forward', says promoted MP

One of the newly-promoted members of Sir Keir Starmer's team has said Labour must "focus on moving forward", after his reshuffle sparked further anger among backbenchers and party members.

Shabana Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Ladywood and new campaign coordinator, said it had been "a very difficult couple of days for all of us in the Labour party.

"There have been results no one wants to see and headlines none of us and our supporters want to read, but we have to focus on moving forward, and what is going to happen next.

"Keir has accepted he has a lot more work to do, and we all have a role to play."

07:14 AM

Who is in and who is out of Labour's top team: The reshuffle in full

Sir Keir Starmer's reshuffle took much of Sunday - and resulted in just a handful of jobs switching.

But who is in and who is out? Here's the list of those who changed job last night:

• Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves has replaced Anneliese Dodds as shadow chancellor.

• Ms Dodds has replaced Angela Rayner as the party chair. Ms Rayner has been named shadow first secretary, shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and shadow secretary for the future of work.

• Alan Campbell has replaced Nick Brown as shadow chief whip.

• Junior business minister Lucy Powell has been promoted to shadow housing secretary.

• That role's former incumbent, Thangam Debbonaire has replaced Valerie Vaz as shadow Commons leader. Ms Vaz leaves the frontbench.

• Wes Streeting's role as shadow minister for schools has been bumped up to child poverty secretary.

07:04 AM

We will be hugging again soon, says health minister, ahead of Boris Johnson's roadmap update

People will be able to hug each other "soon", a minister has confirmed, ahead of Boris Johnson's press conference this afternoon.

Nadine Dorries, the health minister, told Radio 4's Today programme the "data is looking extremely positive", ahea of the lifting of restrictions, which includes up to six people being able to meet indoors.

She said: "We don't legislate about what happens inside people's homes, we expect people to use common sense when inside their own homes, but we have all missed hugs, we have all missed that close and intimate contact with our friends and family.

"I am hopeful that we will be hugging again soon, indoors."

07:03 AM

Social care bill will be included in Queen's Speech, says health minister

The long-awaited legislation to reform social care could be brought forward shortly, after health minister Nadine Dorries confirmed that it would be included in tomorrow's Queen's Speech.

"What is in the Queen's Speech is confined to the Queen's Speech, it will be announced by her majesty," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"There will be mentions, I am sure, of social care in the Queen's Speech."

She added: "What detail I can’t say today but… I am certain the social care bill will be in there."

07:00 AM

Tories know IndyRef2 'is going to happen', says SNP

Conservatives "know" there will be a second Scottish independence referendum, the depute leader of the SNP has said, as the party ratchets up the pressure on Westminster.

Keith Brown told R4 that the "focus for now" should be dealing with the fallout of the pandemic, but that the "best way for that to happen" would be to acknowledge that a referendum is inevitable.

"We need the two governments working together whereby they agree the fact, as most Tories do, that the referendum is going to happen," he said.

He claimed there had been a "change in language" from the Government, noting Michael Gove's push back on the "absurd" idea of blocking a referendum through the courts.

Mr Brown added: "We will proceed with a referendum because that is the instruction of the people of Scotland... There are people in the Conservative party, whether in Westminster or Edinburgh, who know perfectly well it is going to happen."

06:52 AM

Starmer reshuffles team amid threats over leadership

Sunday was full of chaos and confusion for Labour, as a major power struggle between the party’s two most powerful figures - Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy, Angela Rayner - left shadow cabinet ministers waiting until after 9pm to discover whether they would remain in post.

By the end of Sunday evening, it was Ms Rayner who appeared to emerge victorious, having been promoted to the role of shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and wielding, her allies claim, more power over “party and policy”.

When the reshuffle did come, it included a handful of sackings, including of chief whip Nick Brown and shadow commons leader Valerie Vaz, with shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds, the subject of prolonged speculation, also demoted.

Close allies were rewarded, including Rachel Reeves, who replaced Ms Dodds as shadow chancellor, and Wes Streeting, a junior education minister, who became shadow secretary for child poverty.

But elsewhere, the changes were few and far between, appearing to confirm the suspicions of some in the party that what had been built up as a major shuffling of the pack had ended as little more than a “damp squib.”