BBC Sunday Politics South West

A tweet by Jeremy Corbyn hails Labour MP Diane Abbott, days after she stepped aside as shadow home secretary amid reports of ill health and following some difficult interviews.

The World This Weekend
Radio 4 programme

A leadership or general election would be "immensely disruptive", Lord Michael Howard has said.

Speaking to Mark Mardell on BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend, the former Conservative leader said that Theresa May should continue as leader.

"I think she not only can stay but should stay. It would be immensely disruptive if we had a leadership or general election during the Brexit process."

He denied that Brexit is in peril following the election result, saying: "There is an overwhelming majority in the new House of Commons for Brexit. The parties that oppose Brexit didn't do particularly well in the election."

Tim Iredale
Political editor, East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

The World This Weekend
Radio 4 programme

The chairman of the 1922 committee has said he thinks Theresa May is being driven "absolutely by her sense of duty and responsibility".

Graham Brady added "those qualities are exactly those that we need" in difficult times.

Responding to a question asking how the prime minister was feeling, he said it would be "remarkable if she was turning cartwheels".

And if you missed the high-five attempt on election night, here it is:

John Campbell
BBC News NI Economics and Business Editor

On Brexit, the DUP does not like the idea that "no deal is better than a bad deal".

Crashing out of the EU with no transitional arrangements could be hugely damaging to Northern Ireland's trade with the Republic of Ireland.

The party also wants to kill off the idea of a "special status" which would see Northern Ireland more closely aligned with the Republic of Ireland after Brexit.

One major question for the DUP is whether they want to push for movement on what might be called "cultural issues" like flags and parading.

That would please their base but antagonise nationalists and make the return of a power sharing administration less likely.

It's so far unclear what the DUP might ask for on these issues, or what the Conservatives might concede.

John Campbell
BBC News NI Economics and Business Editor

There are other more specific measures in the DUP's 2017 manifesto, external such as the abolition of air passenger duty (APD) in Northern Ireland.

Previous financial deals between Stormont and the British government could also be revisited and enhanced or made more flexible.

One senior source also put it to me, with some hyperbole, that the DUP could "kill austerity".

By that they meant that DUP manifesto opposes the ending of the "triple lock" on state pensions and the means testing of winter fuel allowance.

Whether they want to see the roll-back of benefit cuts announced, but not yet implemented remains to be seen.

John Campbell
BBC News NI Economics and Business Editor

Image source, PA

Political sources in Belfast say the DUP manifesto and a document they published in 2015 give a guide to what they will be want from any deal.

The 2015 Northern Ireland Plan, external was specifically designed for a hung parliament situation. At that time the DUP hoped to be the kingmakers for either Labour or the Conservatives.

At its heart is a financial package: real terms increases in health and education spending over five years, more money for infrastructure and help with transforming public services.

Those could all come with hefty price tags.

TalkRadio's Julia Hartley-Brewer tries to put the fallout of Thursday into perspective.

John Pienaar
Pienaar’s Politics

Image source, PA

The leader of Unite has suggested the reason Labour lost the election was the fault of the MPs who refused to back Jeremy Corbyn.

Len McCluskey insisted that if the party had been more united, Mr Corbyn would now be the prime minister.

"I'm talking about a cabal of right-wing MPs and grandees who deliberately tried to usurp the democracy of the Labour Party.

"Hundreds of thousands of people voted for Jeremy Corbyn on two occasions. It should have been accepted. And I think now most of them will.

"We will now have a much more unified parliamentary party.

John Pienaar
Pienaar’s Politics

Media strategist Jo Tanner, who has worked with Boris Johnson, says he's not in a position to mount a Conservative leadership bid, because he has baggage from last year's Brexit referendum and Vote Leave's claims about how much the UK sends to the EU.

Speaking on Pienaar's Politics, she said: "We all know Boris has wanted the job, but he has to neutralise the £350m. That's still something that follows him around."

She said the Foreign Secretary was "really bruised by what happened last year", adding: "You don't want to be seen as opportunistic."

BBC Sunday Politics

Scottish MPs are "sustaining" Theresa May in government now, says Labour's Jon Ashworth.

The shadow health secretary said the 2017 results meant his party was now going for seats that looked out of reach after the 2015 election.

He told Andrew Neil: "There is a whole range of seats now with Conservative majorities of a few hundred, which Labour is targeting and going for."

And he added: "Scotland is in play for Labour again, and it is actually Scottish MPs which are sustaining Theresa May in government at the moment."

Mark Devenport
BBC News NI Political Editor

Don't be surprised if things go quiet today in terms of DUP-Conservative discussions.

Not all DUP politicians are Sabbatarians, but enough are to make it party policy to avoid being seen to negotiate on a Sunday.

It was no coincidence that a DUP statement effectively denying that any final deal with Theresa May had been reached was published at midnight exactly, not one minute past.

So far as the discussions with Theresa May are concerned, the moral arguments are likely to be a red herring, even though they create an uncomfortable backdrop for many more liberally minded Tories.

Instead the DUP will concentrate on bread and butter politics. That means inward investment in Northern Ireland and more local infrastructure spending.