UK politics live: Starmer could make ‘pragmatic’ U-turn over £1bn tax plan, as PM warned after Trump meeting

The Scottish Conservatives must come together after a bruising period, the party’s new leader Russell Findlay has said.

Speaking immediately after his win was announced, Mr Findlay said: “Everyone must come together as one united team.

“Let us start the hard work right now to win back public trust.

“I want to deliver the message to people across Scotland who do not feel that anyone represents them, who are scunnered by the divisiveness and fringe obsessions of the Scottish Parliament who feel let down and failed by politicians of every single party, including ours, who think politicians are all the same.

“I feel that way – I get it, but I’m not the same.”

Read the full report from our political editor David Maddox:

Boris Johnson had a “manly pep talk” with the Duke of Sussex to try to persuade him not to leave the UK and move to the United States.

According to the then-prime minister, Downing Street and Buckingham Palace asked him to talk to Harry in January 2020, hours after his speech announcing that he and his wife Meghan planned to step away from royal life.

Mr Johnson writes in his forthcoming memoir that there was “a ridiculous business … when they made me try to persuade Harry to stay. Kind of manly pep talk. Totally hopeless”, The Daily Mail reported, ahead of a serialisation of the book.

The men met for 20 minutes on the sidelines of a UK-Africa investment summit in London’s Docklands, according to the newspaper.

Read the full report below:

James Cleverly has hit back at Baroness Warsi after the party had launched an investigation into the peer as a result of tweets about a court case where a protester had held a sign using derogatory languages about Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman, suggesting they were “coconuts”.

For context, the former cabinet minister Sayeeda Warsi resigned the Conservative whip last night, saying the party had moved too far to the right from when she was in government.

In a post on X, Mr Cleverly said: ”You’re not properly black if you’re a Tory’ is a particularly pernicious attack.

“I’ve been called a coconut too many times to laugh it off. It hasn’t held me back or brought me down, but a Conservative peer not recognising the abuse of other black colleagues is unacceptable.”

Russell Findlay has been elected as the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives, beating Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher.

The new leader won 2,565 votes, the party’s returning officer Leonard Wallace announced on Friday, with Murdo Fraser coming second with 1,187 votes and Meghan Gallacher in third with 403 votes.

The turnout was 60%, with Mr Wallace announcing the party has just shy of 7,000 members, 4,155 of whom voted in the leadership contest.

The leader of the Scottish Conservatives will be announced on Friday.

Russell Findlay, Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher are on the ballot paper, with one of the three set to take over from Douglas Ross in Holyrood.

The field narrowed from six to three after Brian Whittle, Jamie Greene and Liam Kerr dropped their bid for the top job.

Polls closed for Scottish Tory members – of which there are believed to be around 7,000 – at noon on Thursday, with the result due to be announced at around 10am on Friday.

Read the full report from my colleague Alexander Butler below:

The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman has warned a ground invasion by Israel into Lebanon could favour Hezbollah and its legitimacy.

Asked about escalating conflict in the Middle East, Emily Thornberry told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think that we need to be aware that we have perhaps more clout than we have done recently, and I think we’re in a fairly unique position, so… we are in a position to be able to pull people together.

“I think that the UN General Assembly meeting at this time means that I think that many other nations can be pulled behind the declaration that has been made, and that will make it stronger.

“We don’t know whether or not Israel is bluffing about a ground war. We do know that in 2006 that they got very bogged down, that at the moment they may be ahead because they’re using air power and surprise, but a ground war may well be different.

“And actually, the poor Lebanese, who you know many of whom do not want Hezbollah in the bottom of their country, certainly don’t want to have the Israelis. And Hezbollah may well end up with more legitimacy as a result of that ground invasion.”