Fatima Ibrahim, who is co-director of the youth movement Green New Deal Rising, has been speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about Labour's green energy policy announcement.

Labour says the plans will ensure the UK’s transition away from oil and gas does not repeat mistakes from the phase-out of coal.

Ibrahim says Labour's plan deals with one of the issues facing the UK's energy system: "the British public are being forced to pay three times", she says, through "extortionate subsidies that take away from the public purse".

She adds that people also have to pay "ridiculous prices" while energy companies "make record profits" and she emphasises the damage oil and gas is doing to our environment.

She says GB Energy is "potentially transformative" but warns that the UK needs to bring down carbon emissions and adds that Labour doesn't have an answer to the need to invest in good housing and energy efficiency, as well as creating jobs in the green sector - "which reduces the impact of GB energy".

The battle for Scotland will be very interestingpublished at 18:20 British Summer Time 31 May 2024

18:20 BST 31 May 2024

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

Image source, PA Media

A lot has changed in recent years in Scotland. I made a BBC Radio 4 documentary about it earlier this year. If you fancy a refresher on the past decade, have a listen here.

Labour are convinced they are on the brink of a major breakthrough (they won just one seat in 2019). Senior figures in the party talk of 20 plus seats.

Some talk about it publicly, others say it privately so as not to be seen getting carried away.

The SNP are fighting hard, but senior figures acknowledge maintaining the support they have at the moment is a big ask.

Here’s the bit that I think could be crucial.

Both Labour and the SNP think large parts of central Scotland are in the balance. Glasgow, parts of the west of Scotland, the towns between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The margins could be slim in some of these seats; senior nationalists who I talk to think that in many seats there could be just a few hundred votes in it.

That’s why you’re seeing Sir Keir Starmer in Scotland a lot.

He’s previously told me he needs to win a good number of seats for “legitimacy” (I asked him, but he wouldn’t put a number on it).

You’re going to see more of that in the coming weeks. Expect the SNP to focus some of their fire on Labour too.

Here's another date you can add to your diary.

Earlier this week, the first major TV debate of the general election campaign was announced - a head-to-head between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on ITV at 21:00 BST on Tuesday 4 June.

Now, ITV has confirmed a multi-party debate for Thursday 13 June. It will feature "leaders or senior representatives" from the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party, Reform UK, Greens and Plaid Cymru.

And while you're jotting those down, don't forget to make a note of these other key dates:

• Tuesday 18 June: The deadline is midnight on this day to get on the electoral register, which is needed to vote in any election or referendum
• Wednesday 19 June: The deadline for applications for postal votes in the general election is 17:00 BST on this day
• Thursday 4 July: General election day. Registered voters in each constituency vote for their preferred candidate in their local polling station

There are slightly different deadlines for voters in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but you can find out everything you need to know here.

Image source, UK Pool

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been giving his latest take on Labour's row over Diane Abbott, saying "it is clear Angela Rayner is in charge of his party, and not him [Keir Starmer]".

Earlier today, Sir Keir Starmer said veteran MP Diane Abbott was "free" to run as a Labour candidate after days of uncertainty.

"It just reconfirms what we know about Keir Starmer, and that is that he constantly changes his mind," Sunak says during a campaign visit to a cafe in Burrs Country Park. Bury.

The prime minister says if Starmer gave into Rayner on the Abbott decision, then who knows what the Labour leader's stance will be on defence and dealing with trade unions if he were elected.

Hannah Miller
Political correspondent

The tone of the Liberal Democrats' general election campaign was pretty evident from the moment we first stepped on to the bus.

Party poppers, crossword puzzles, and a mini bottle of prosecco - all neatly packaged in an orange gift bag that said "Welcome Aboard".

If Sir Ed Davey’s campaign continues as it has begun, it’s going to be quite a ride.

Many of the political parties have a "battle bus" - swathed in their logo, with a slogan branded on the side, carrying a pack of journalists (and often the party leader) from place to place.

The so-called "maiden voyage" for the Lib Dem bus started, forgive me, with a splash. Ed Davey paddle-boarding on Windermere in the Lake District to highlight his policies around illegal sewage dumping, in pictures that are among the most iconic of the campaign so far.

• You can read more about the Lib Dems' campaign stunts here

Is Labour's 2030 green energy goal realistic?published at 17:44 British Summer Time 31 May 2024

17:44 BST 31 May 2024

Image source, Getty Images

Keir Starmer's proposals for a publicly-owned company called Great British Energy to invest in clean and renewable energy are a central plank of Labour’s plans to entirely remove fossil fuels from UK electricity production by 2030, five years earlier than current government plans.

But there are two criticisms of this goal.

The first comes from the Conservatives, who argue that this rapid decarbonisation timetable will push up households’ energy bills.

The second comes from some energy analysts who simply don’t think electricity decarbonisation as soon as 2030 is practically achievable.

So are these criticisms fair?

According to estimates from Aurora Energy, external (who were commissioned by the right-leaning think tank Policy Exchange to carry out the research), it would require the total installed UK offshore wind generating capacity to more than triple over the next six years.

Solar electricity generation and onshore wind generating capacity would need to roughly double.

• Read more here

So what exactly is Labour's GB Energy?published at 17:35 British Summer Time 31 May 2024

17:35 BST 31 May 2024

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

Sir Keir Starmer seemed to struggle a bit with this question himself on the radio this morning.

He got into a slight muddle with BBC Radio Scotland, stressing it was an "investment vehicle" that would use public money to encourage more private investment.

Starmer even said it wasn't actually an energy company.

But Labour has insisted for some time that GB Energy would be a "publicly-owned clean energy company".

The party says it will indeed look to trigger private investment and provide funding to local authorities, but they also say it will also produce energy in its own right. This is something Starmer seemed to suggest this morning wouldn't be within its remit.

It's a complicated policy. And one that even senior Labour figures can stumble over. But nonetheless, one they think is proving popular with voters.

We've just heard from Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey, who says Scotland is "critical" to his party.

"We have four MPs [in Scotland], we think we can have many more after the election. We can beat a lot of SNP MPs," Davey says. The Scottish National Party (SNP) held the majority of Scottish seats in Parliament ahead of the election.

Asked how many seats he has his eye on ahead of the election, Davey says: "We never put a number on it." The party had 15 sitting MPs before Parliament was dissolved ahead of the general election.

On energy, Davey says his party, if elected, is committed to investing on renewable energy and insulation, as it would reduce peoples' bills. He adds these "are too high" because the Tories allowed them to "soar".

Chris Mason and Paul O'Hare

Scotland's First Minister John Swinney admits the SNP faces a "tough challenge" in the upcoming general election, speaking to BBC News in a wide-ranging interview.

Swinney says he wants the SNP - which won 48 seats in the last election - to hold on to its current status as the third largest party at Westminster.

And the SNP leader, who was only elected on 6 May, says his party again winning a majority of seats in Scotland would see him attempt to "open up" the process of independence.

Recent opinion polls have suggested his party is facing a tough fight with Labour on 4 July if it is to continue to be Scotland's biggest party at Westminster.

• You can read more here

Jessica Parker
Political correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

You know how you can tell there’s a general election on?

A party leader’s been filmed milk-bottle feeding a lamb. Rishi Sunak arrived at a farm in Cheshire today to talk with farmers and meet the livestock. One of his predecessors, David Cameron, was seen doing something similar back in 2015.

Image source, Getty Images

Margaret Thatcher was famously once pictured carrying a calf.

If you’re wondering why politicians do these photo-ops - well, they want you to see that they are meeting people - and even cute animals.

It’s designed to catch your attention and demonstrate that they’re getting out and about. That isn’t to say that these events aren't tightly controlled - they often are.

Parties want your to see their man or woman on the campaign trail but heaven forbid something might go wrong…

Confusion remains over Diane Abbott election bidpublished at 16:48 British Summer Time 31 May 2024

16:48 BST 31 May 2024

Leila Nathoo
Political correspondent

I’ve been travelling with Keir Starmer and his team for the last few days and questions about Diane Abbott have followed him from the West Midlands to South Wales to the West of Scotland.

Each time he was asked, he insisted she had not been barred from standing and it was a decision for the NEC. Yesterday he added a tribute to her in his answer, saying she had been a trailblazer.

This morning, Sir Keir wanted to focus on his pitch to Scottish voters and his commitments on clean energy.

After the speech, he batted away further questions about the situation with Diane Abbott from reporters - chuckling with Angela Rayner his deputy (who was in the front row) when asked why he didn’t agree with her comments yesterday that she didn’t see why Abbott couldn’t stand.

Then at short notice, we were told there would be a further opportunity to ask him a couple of questions on camera - that suggested he had something more to say.

His statement that Diane Abbott was "free to stand" followed but it wasn’t immediately clear what that meant. After all, he’d been saying for days that it wasn’t true she’d been barred.

A senior Labour source later clarified that it meant she would be the candidate and the NEC would endorse her.

It certainly took a while to get to this point.

Earlier we heard from Dave Doogan, the SNP's energy spokesperson, who was questioned about his party's record in Scotland, and challenged over its stance on fossil fuels.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One, Doogan was asked by presenter Jonny Dymond about record waiting lists in Scotland's NHS and international research suggesting performance slipping in Scotland's high schools.

Doogan defended the SNP's record by arguing that these examples were "just two elements of the public sector delivery regime", and said Scotland had "the highest performing A&E in the whole of the United Kingdom".

Hew as also asked if he's a "friend of fossil fuels" or "dedicated to green transition".

Will Labour's energy plan push up your bills, as the Tories claim?published at 16:34 British Summer Time 31 May 2024

16:34 BST 31 May 2024

Rising energy bills have been a source of anxiety for many people over the past year or so - with the cost of living a key issue among voters.

So will Labour’s ambitious target to get clean electricity by 2030 lead to higher bills, as the Conservatives argue? Let’s look into it.

Most energy experts agree removing carbon from our electricity generation will, in the longer term, be good for bills.

That’s because the UK will be less reliant on natural gas and oil from overseas, where prices can be extremely volatile.

A good example of this is the surge in prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - you’ll have no doubt noticed this if you're the bill-payer.

The up-front investment needed to move to clean electricity will come at a cost. And that cost could be reflected in households’ bills.

All else equal, a faster move to cleaner energy means those costs being passed on faster.

But, if there were to be another 2022-style global fossil-fuel price shock, it might be the case that households will prove better off if the UK transitions to cleaner energy faster.

The former MP for Brighton Kempton says he has been a "sacrificial lamb" for the Labour Party after being suspended over a complaint and told he cannot stand in his former constituency.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle was told earlier this week about the suspension, which he says was based on a “vexatious and politically motivated complaint” about his behaviour eight years ago. The BBC does not know the nature of the complaint.

Speaking to BBC Politics Live after new Labour candidate Chris Ward was selected, Russell-Moyle says the party could have allowed him to stand while conducting an investigation, which he was confident would clear his name.

"There’s no accusation that I’m a current danger to anyone or the campaign," he says.

He says that it shows the party has "one system if you’re at the very top, or in the clique, and it’s another system if you’re not".

Russell-Moyle says that, "we all know that the Labour Party would not have dealt with these complaints in this way if it was Keir, or if was a senior shadow cabinet member", before adding, "I’ve been a sacrificial lamb because of that".

On 29 May, after Russell-Moyle was suspended, a Labour Party spokesperson said: "The Labour Party takes all complaints extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.”

A full list of candidates will be published by the BBC after nominations have closed.

Phil Sim
reporting from Edinburgh

Away from the campaign trail, there was some electoral ceremony this morning.

Following the dissolution of parliament by King Charles III yesterday, his royal proclamation was read by the Lord Lyon King of Arms – at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh.

The ceremonial event dates back before the 1707 Act of Union and acts to formally summon a new UK parliament from Edinburgh ahead of the general election on 4 July.

Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Earlier today, Sir Ed Davey visited a school in Hertfordshire. His extreme sport of choice today is… baking with primary school children.

Davey, in a white chef’s hat, was mixing flour to make biscuits.

The serious side of this visit was to talk about free school meals for primary children in England.

The Lib Dems say their policy to extend provisos could be implemented from this September, expanding provision to 900,000 more children by raising the eligibility criteria.

We’ll update you on the policy and the baking later.

Malu Cursino
Live reporter

After days of speculation and back and forth, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says veteran politician Diane Abbott is "free" to stand as a Labour candidate in the general election - and defend a seat she has held since 1987, when she became the first black female MP.

It comes after a major intervention by deputy leader Angela Rayner, who said yesterday she saw no reason why Abbott should be barred. Abbott's supporters and leading black British actors, professors and authors had signed an open letter urging Labour to “rectify and reverse” the “disrespectful” treatment of Abbott.

Other political parties have capitalised on the row, with a Conservative party spokesperson saying Rayner was "pushing Keir Starmer around", adding that "under pressure, he's showing he's a weak leader who's losing control of the Labour party".

Five weeks out from the general election, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross took to the pitch during his campaign trail, asking voters to "show the SNP the red card".

Meanwhile, SNP leader John Swinney said he didn't have "certainty" of what Labour's energy plans would entail, while the Greens said funding behind plans were "nowhere near enough".

The comments follow Labour unveiling its green energy plans, which it says will ensure the UK’s transition away from oil and gas does not repeat mistakes from the phase-out of coal.

And the Liberal Democrats have said they want to extend free school meals to another 900,000 children in England.

Image source, UK Parliament

Some breaking news for you now.

A former Conservative MP who was suspended over sexual assault allegations says he will be standing as an independent in the election.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Julian Knight said he'd contest the newly created Solihull West and Shirley seat.

He was the Tory MP for Solihull from 2015 until 2022 when he lost the party whip after a police investigation into the allegations.

Knight has denied the alleged offences, and the Metropolitan Police and Essex Police have since dropped their investigations.

Read more here.

Abbott dispute so bitter and public Starmer left with no choicepublished at 14:56 British Summer Time 31 May 2024

14:56 BST 31 May 2024

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

This is an embarrassing moment for Starmer given the three days of difficult headlines he endured, only to end up in a position he could have announced on Tuesday.

Indeed, just this morning he stonewalled and repeated his "holding line" that no decision had been made.

Ultimately, this dispute had become so bitter and so public that Starmer had no choice but to shut it down either way - or risk it continuing to engulf Labour’s campaign messages.

Starmer may be embarrassed but he will hope that this now allows him to draw a line under the affair and move forwards onto other issues.

Plenty in the Labour campaign will bear the scars of these past few difficult days though. There may well be internal recriminations about how the episode developed.

Labour will hope that they have got their biggest campaign wobble out the way in week one, rather than this being a sign of difficulties to come.