Boris Johnson latest: By-election ‘neck and neck’ in Tory stronghold

Voting has opened in Tiverton, Honiton and Wakefield for the crucial by-elections which could see Conservative uprooted from the towns.

The competition in Tiverton and Honiton is “neck and neck”, according to the Liberal Democrats, who are aiming for a major political upset in the Devon seat.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer is hoping to reclaim Wakefield for Labour after it fell to the Tories in 2019 for the first time since 1932.

Six years on from the EU referendum, Brexit has left “enduring scars” on European nationals living in the UK, according to a new study.

Two-thirds of UK-resident EU and EEA citizens taking part in the survey said Brexit had “significantly – and mostly negatively – affected their feelings about Britain”, said researchers from the University of Birmingham and Lancaster University.

And many of the 364 people questioned said that Brexit had prompted them to reconsider their future in the UK and undermined their trust in British institutions and politicians.

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports:

A Labour MP is taking time away from work after suffering from “a sustained campaign of misogynistic harassment and abuse”.

Apsana Begum, MP for Poplar and Limehouse, posted a statement on Twitter on Wednesday night that said she attended hospital on 12 June and was subsequently signed off work by her GP.

She said: “For the duration of my time as a Member of Parliament, I have been subjected to a sustained campaign of misogynistic abuse and harassment.

“As a survivor of domestic abuse, it has been particularly painful and difficult. This abusive campaign has had a significant effect on my mental and physical health.”

Ms Begum, who was part of the 2019 intake of MPs, added that her staff and office will still be open to help people in her east London constituency while she is off sick.

David Warburton, who was suspended by the Conservatives over allegations of sexual harassment and cocaine use is facing a fresh Commons inquiry.

Mr Warburton was disciplined by his party and is already being investigated by parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS), it is understood.

Now the MP for Somerton and Frome is also the subject of a probe by the parliamentary standards commissioner into whether he broke the MPs’ code of conduct on three counts.

They are “paid advocacy”, failure to declare an interest, and over rules concerning the declaration of “gifts, benefits and hospitality”.

Harriet Harman has said that it was “downright embarrassing” that the Labour party had never had a woman at its helm and that the next leader should be a woman.

“As and when we do in the far-distant future have a leadership election, it has got to be a woman the next time around, because it’s just downright embarrassing that the Conservatives have had two and we haven’t even had a woman leader in opposition, let alone a woman prime minister,” she told GB News.

Ms Harman added: “I think it’s partly because women in the Labour party are more subversive than the women in the Conservative party. The women in the Conservative party tend to work with men without challenging them in quite the way we do.”

We took our places for Leader of the Opposition’s Questions, expecting Boris Johnson to ask Keir Starmer six times to condemn the rail strikes.

But because everyone expected the prime minister to do it, he was robbed of the element of surprise.

That advantage lay with Starmer instead, who started by praising the “plucky” Conservative candidate in the Wakefield by-election.

The Labour leader had no solutions, but he looked in charge at this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions, writes John Rentoul.

Senior Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood has called striking rail workers Russian president Vladimir Putin’s “friends”.

“The one government in Europe that is actually standing up to [Vladimir] Putin is completely distracted in this way,” Mr Ellwood said.

“I say to the unions, please don’t be Putin’s friend. Return to the talks today so we can get the country moving again.”

A crucial by-election in the Conservative stronghold of Tiverton and Honiton is “neck and neck”, according to the Liberal Democrats, who are aiming for a major political upset in the Devon seat.

As voters prepare to head to the polls on Thursday in two by-elections, Sir Ed Davey suggested his party “could be on the verge of a historic victory” in the southwest constituency overturning a 24,000 Tory majority.

The second ballot will be held in Wakefield, which is a “red wall” seat Sir Keir Starmer is hoping to seize back for Labour after it fell to the Tories at the 2019 election for the first time since the constituency was created in 1932.

Conservative MPs told The Independent that a double by-election defeat on Thursday would be a “disaster” for the embattled Boris Johnson, who narrowly survived a vote of no confidence a fortnight ago.

Ashley Cowburn and Rob Merrick report.

Millions of rail passengers across Britain face fresh disruption on Thursday after the RMT union accused the government of “wrecking” negotiations, my colleague Tom Batchelor reports.

Rail services are being severely disrupted this week after around 40,000 members of the union, working for Network Rail and 13 train operators, voted to stage walkouts in a row over jobs, pay and conditions.

Talks were held on Wednesday between the union and industry bosses in a bid to break the deadlock, but they ended without agreement.

Mick Lynch, the RMT general secretary, said: “Grant Shapps has wrecked these negotiations by not allowing Network Rail to withdraw their letter threatening redundancy for 2,900 of our members.

“Until the government unshackle Network Rail and the train operating companies, it is not going to be possible for a negotiated settlement to be agreed.”

He added: “We will continue with our industrial campaign until we get a negotiated settlement that delivers job security and a pay rise for our members that deals with the escalating cost of living crisis.”

Boris Johnson and the Prince of Wales will meet for talks over tea in Rwanda after the heir to the throne’s reported criticism of his government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to the country on a one-way ticket.

The prime minister will join Charles tomorrow in the country’s capital Kigali, where they are attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

It was understood that Mr Johnson will visit Charles for a cup of tea on Friday morning, but that the Prime Minister is not eager to raise the asylum policy.

“They are due to meet, obviously they will encounter each other during the summit but they are due to have a bilateral discussion as well,” Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said.