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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Nicola Sturgeon tells May blocking Scottish independence referendum would be 'undemocratic' - as it happened

Sturgeon: ‘undemocratic’ for Tories to block independence referendum – video

Afternoon summary

  • Campaign groups have attacked “truly shocking” new figures (pdf) showing four million children are affected by poverty. As the Press Association reports, the Children’s Society said the situation was “clearly getting worse”, estimating that almost a third of children were now living in poverty. Matthew Reed, chief executive of the Children’s Society, said:

Any child living in poverty is one too many, but it is truly shocking that four million children are now affected by poverty.

The situation is clearly getting worse, with nearly a third of children, or around nine in the average classroom, now living in poverty.

  • Pascal Lamy, the former director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has said leaving the EU without a trade deal or a transitional deal would be “terribly bad” for Britain. Speaking on the World at One, he said he did not think it would be possible to conclude a trade deal within two years. He said:

It’s a very, very, very complex issue, at least the number of the issues you’ve got to settle and agree on [is] if not millions, hundreds. Some of them might be reasonably simple, others will be much more complex and take time.

So within the next two years, assuming the British prime minister triggered this famous article 50 now, a few things will have to be settled so that exiting the EU is not the sort of cliff option, which is in some scenarios.

I think that would be terribly bad for both the UK and the continent but issues like regulation of safety standards, and the Erasmus programme, and fisheries, and whether intellectual property is protected in the UK the way it is in the continent or the other way around, will inevitably take a lot of time.

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Heseltine accuses May of abandoning her pro-European beliefs

The Times’ Oliver Wright has posted on Twitter a copy of a letter from Lord Heseltine to Theresa May following his dismissal as a government adviser for voting against the Tory whip on an amendment to the article 50 bill in the Lords.

These letters are often rather bland and formal, but Heseltine’s is sharp and combative. Here are the key points.

  • Heseltine accuses May of abandoning her pro-European beliefs. He ends his letter saying:

The simple fact remains that you have changed your mind since the excellent speech you made in the referendum campaign arguing we should remain in the European Union. I have not.

  • He criticises her for sacking him from his government adviser roles, saying that he was never a member of the government, that her move ran counter to David Cameron’s decision to allow Tories a free vote on Brexit last June and that his vote did not obstruct the bill.

My only vote was designed to give the House of Commons a second chance to enshrine in law a commitment you yourself had already given to allow parliament a vote on any Brexit deal.

May claims Tories 'complied fully' with Electoral Commission investigation

In her interview with Robert Peston Theresa May was asked about the Electoral Commission’s investigation into Conservative election spending. She said:

First of all on the Electoral Commission report, we have complied fully with the Electoral Commission throughout their investigations. They have imposed a fine on the Conservative party and the Conservative party will be meeting that fine, will be paying that fine. In fact there were some issues that the party itself raised with the Electoral Commission through their investigations.

When May said “complied fully with the Electoral commission”, she left out the bit about “after we were taken to court”. (See 10.47am.)

In fact, in its report (pdf), the commission said that the fine it was imposing on the party was higher than it would have been because of the party’s “unreasonable uncooperative conduct”.

It said the party’s tactics “delayed without good reason and for a number of months the provision of information needed to progress the investigation” and that as a result this “increased the public funds incurred by the commission during the investigation.”

Labour accuses Tories of breaking nine manifesto promises

The Labour party has just put out a very odd press release. It is headed “Tory disarray: a government agenda unravelling”, and the main item is just a quote from Andrew Gwynne, the party’s elections chair, saying the Tories are “in a mess, riven by infighting and failure and disarray”. At first glance it looks like response to the budget U-turn sent out 24 hours late.

But, buried in the footnotes, there’s a substantial claim. Labour say the Tories have broken nine of their manifesto promises.

Here are the notes explaining what Labour sees as the broken pledges. The promises all related to things in the manifesto.

Promise: Safeguard British interests in the single market.

Broken: It is official government policy to fully leave the single market.

Promise: Move to a budget surplus in 2019-20.

Broken: Theresa May has admitted this will not happen by the end of the Parliament.

Promise: Keep council taxes low.

Broken: The government have allowed a 5 per cent increase on council tax for the next two years.

Promise: Working to eliminate child poverty.

Broken: The government abolished child poverty targets in the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 and the IFS have forecast nearly a million more children will be pushed into poverty because of the government’s policies.

Promise: Protecting pensioner benefits

Broken: Spending on pensioner benefits is falling in real terms next year

Promise: Halving the disability employment gap

Broken: The disability employment gap has fallen by less than a tenth since 2015.

Promise: Protect per pupil spending.

Broken: Funding per pupil will see a real-terms reduction once inflation is taken into account.

Promise: Keep the size of the army at 82,000.

Broken: In November 2016, the number of trained army regulars fell to 80,640.

Promise: Scrap the Human Rights Act and curtail the role of the European court of human rights.

Broken: Theresa May has ruled out leaving the ECHR in this parliament. Now government sources claim plans to leave the ECHR will feature in the 2020 manifesto, while Liz Truss has admitted there will be no British bill of rights until after Brexit.

UPDATE: James Murray from BusinessGreen.com has suggested some more.

Updated

Sturgeon says trying to block referendum would be 'untenable, undemocratic and totally unsustainable'

Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, has now issued a press statement giving her response to Theresa May’s comments about a second referendum. It reflects what she said on Twitter earlier (see 1.35pm) but her language is slightly stronger. Here’s an excerpt.

It is for the Scottish parliament – not Downing Street – to determine the timing of a referendum, and the decision of the Scottish parliament must be respected.

It would be outrageous for the Scottish parliament to be frozen out of the process.

The Scottish government has a cast-iron democratic mandate to offer people a choice and that mandate must be fulfilled.

Any bid by the UK government to block the people of Scotland from making a choice will be untenable, undemocratic and totally unsustainable – and clearly shows that the UK government recognises it is out of step with the Scottish people.

And here’s one more tweet from Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, about Theresa May’s comments.

UK government will refuse to discuss second referendum with Sturgeon, says Mundell

David Mundell, the Scottish secretary, has said the UK government will not enter into discussions with Edinburgh about holding a second referendum. Speaking at a press conference, he said:

This argument isn’t about mandates, it’s about holding a referendum on established criteria which were set on in the Edinburgh Agreement.

That established that a referendum must be legal, fair and decisive.

The proposal brought forward is not fair, people will not be able to make an informed choice.

Neither is there public or political support for such a referendum.

Therefore we will not be entering into discussions or negotiations about a section 30 agreement and any request at this time will be declined.

David Mundell.
David Mundell. Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP

The Scottish Greens have criticised Theresa May for opposing a second independence referendum. Ross Greer MSP, the party’s external affairs spokesman, said:

Scotland deserves to choose between the isolated, angry Brexit Britain planned by the Tories and putting our future in our own hands with independence. If a Tory Westminster government that Scotland did not elect seriously think they can block our right to choose - and that they can veto a decision of our elected parliament – they will only increase support for independence. Today’s comments underline the contemptuous attitude the Tories have toward Scotland.

It is quite clear that the Brexit deal will be known by autumn 2018, following comments from Europe’s lead negotiators. For a government dragging Scotland through a hard Brexit without a mandate and after an EU referendum where no details were presented, it reeks of hypocrisy to say we have to wait.

“Now is not the time” means no referendum before Brexit, BBC Scotland’s Glenn Campbell reports, confirming what my colleague Severin Carrell reported yesterday.

Here is a pro-independence take on Theresa May’s comment.

The government has firmly rejected calls for the people to have a vote on the final Brexit deal in a referendum. But, as Channel 4 News’ Krishnan Guru-Murthy points out, Theresa May’s comments (see 1.18pm) imply she thinks there is a case for the Scots having a say once we know “what the future partnership will be”.

Blocking second referendum would be 'blunder of epic and historic proportions', says Scottish government

The SNP don’t do understatement. According to BBC Scotland’s Philip Sim, Nicola Sturgeon’s spokesman has said that trying to block a second independence referendum would be a “blunder of epic and historic proportions”.

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Sturgeon tells May blocking Scotland's right to hold independence referendum would be 'undemocratic'

Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, has responded to Theresa May on Twitter. She says that it would be “undemocratic” of May to block the right of Scotland to choose its future.

Alex Salmond, the SNP MP and former Scottish first minister, has just raised Theresa May’s interview in the Commons, the Sun’s Steve Hawkes reports.

What Theresa May said about a second Scottish independence referendum

This is what Theresa May said (in full) when ITV’s Robert Peston asked her if she would approve a second referendum on Scottish independence.

Nothing is more important to me than seeing this United Kingdom thrive. Our precious union of nations is the most successful that the world has ever seen. And we have been joined together as one country for over 300 years. We have worked together, we have prospered together, we have fought wars together. And we have a bright future. I think there’s a bright future for us all.

That’s why as we embark on the process of a new relationship, a future relationship with the European Union, I’m going to be fighting for every person, every family, every business across the whole of the United Kingdom. That’s my focus. And I think it should be the focus of us all.

So when the SNP government say that it’s the time to start talking about a second independence referendum, I say that just at this point, all our energies should be focused on our negotiations with the European Union about our future relation

ship. And to be talking about an independence referendum would, I think, make it more difficult for us to be able to get the right deal for Scotland and the right deal for the UK.

And, more than that, I think it would not be fair to the people of Scotland because they’d be being asked to take a crucial decision without the necessary information, without knowing what the future partnership will be or what the alternative of an independent Scotland would look like.

So I think, just now, we should be putting all our energies into ensuring that we get that right deal for the UK and the right deal for Scotland in our negotiations with the European Union. That is my job as prime minister.

Right now, we should be working together, not pulling apart. We should be working together to get that right deal for Scotland, that right deal for the UK.

And so, for that reason, I say to the SNP now is not the time.

Peston then pressed her, four times by my count, on whether she was ruling out a second referendum for good, or just until after Brexit, or just until after the next general election. But every time May just repeated some of the points she made in her first answer, repeating “now is not the time” as dogmatically as she used to tell us “Brexit means Brexit”.

Peston also asked what May would do if the Scottish parliament went ahead and held its own unofficial referendum anyway. But he did not get very far with that one either. “Now is not the time,” she told him.

‘Now is not the time’: May on second Scottish referendum

Updated

BBC News is playing the clip of ITV’s Robert Peston (it was a pooled interview) interviewing Theresa May about the Scottish independence referendum.

Peston presses May on what she means by saying “now is not the time” for a second referendum. Does that mean no second referendum until after the general election?

May just repeats the line about how “now is not the time”.

This is marginally firmer than what she and her spokespeople were saying earlier in the week, when they refused to accept the need for a referendum. But it does not take us very much further, and it still leaves open the option of her agreeing to a referendum before 2020.

When you think about it, Nicola Sturgeon is also saying “now is not the time”. Sturgeon wants the referendum to be held in autumn 2018 at the earliest.

I will post the full quotes shortly.

May says 'now is not the time' for second Scottish independence referendum

Theresa May has said “now is not the time” for a second independence referendum. This is from the BBC’s Glenn Campbell.

Scottish Tories rule out second independence referendum

This is what Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, said at FMQs about the independence referendum. The Scottish Tories are now firmly opposing the idea. Davidson said:

A referendum cannot happen when the people of Scotland have not been given the opportunity to see how our new relationship with the European Union is working.

And it should not take place when there is no clear political or public consent for it to happen.

Our country does not want to go back to the divisions and uncertainty of the last few years.Another referendum campaign will not solve the challenges this country will face.

We don’t want it. We don’t need it.

There are rumours that Theresa May is about to rule out a second Scottish independence referendum. This is from Sky’s Lewis Goodall.

This is from Elizabeth Lloyd’s, Nicola Sturgeon’s chief of staff.

According to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, the Tories do not believe that most of the police investigations into alleged over-spending in individual constituencies at the 2015 election will lead to prosecutions, but they are worried about South Thanet. In a blog she writes:

On the central charge laid at the Tories’ door - were they deliberately trying to channel national cash into local campaigns to get round the spending rules, the Electoral Commission report is not completely conclusive.

They’ve found no direct evidence of intent to fiddle the system, but the message is essentially, that the party should have known better.

Senior Tory sources tell me they think it’s unlikely the mistakes, and there were plenty of them, will reach the hurdle for the prosecution. The CPS has to believe there is a good chance of a successful conviction, and while this is speculation, senior Tories don’t believe in most of the cases that’s likely.

When it comes to South Thanet however, the seat where the Conservatives were desperate to hold off Nigel Farage, Tory insiders fear the situation may be more fraught for them.

The discrepancies may be more serious, the amounts of money more significant, and therefore, potentially, this could bring a lot more trouble in the coming months.

Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Labour leader, says it was reported this week that Andrew Wilson, the former MSP heading an SNP growth commission, has told Sturgeon that if Scotland leaves the UK, it will take 10 years for the economy to recover.

Sturgeon says Wilson has said those reports were 100% wrong.

Dugdale says if Sturgeon is so confident of the contents of the growth commission, she should publish it. She says there is a history of the SNP saying one thing in public and another in private about independence.

She asks Strugeon to accept that leaving the UK would mean cuts of £15bn.

Sturgeon says the band is back together: the Tories and Labour are united to oppose independence. She says she does not want Tory austerity, yet Labour are backing it.

Davidson says the Scottish Conservatives reject Sturgeon’s proposal for a referendum. It should not take place when people do not want it, and when people would not know what the options would be.

Sturgeon says she was elected on a manifesto saying Scotland should be able to have a second referendum if Westminster tries to take it out of the EU. She says the SNP got 46% of the vote, 10% more than the Tories got at Westminster.

She challenges Davidson to say whether the Conservatives will accept the will of the Scottish parliament if it votes for a second referendum.

Ruth Davidson, the Conservative leader, asks why Surgeon is holding a second referendum when she cannot sort out the problems in schools.

Nicola Sturgeon says schools are a priority.

But she wants to give people in Scotland a choice, she says. She says change is inevitable. People should be able to choose a better future.

Davidson says her question did not come from her, but from a parent in John Swinney, the education minister’s, constituency. How will another referendum, help schools?

Sturgeon says there are challenges in some schools. The Scottish government has taken steps to increase the number of people going into teaching.

She says she sees it as her job to protect Scotland. She says a hard Brexit will be a disaster for Scotland. And Davidson knows that, she says, because Davidson herself used to say that. The impact of Brexit will be “disastrous”, she says.

Nicola Sturgeon.
Nicola Sturgeon. Photograph: Scottish parliament

Nicola Sturgeon starts by announcing that the Scottish government will donate £200,000 to the East Africa appeal.

Nicola Sturgeon takes first minster's questions

In the Scottish parliament Nicola Sturgeon is about to take first minister’s questions.

It is her first FMQs since she announced that she would be demanding a second independence referendum.

Ukip says Electoral Commission findings show why political system is held 'in contempt'

Paul Oakden, the Ukip chairman, has said that today’s report from the Electoral Commission shows people have lost faith in the electoral system. In a statement he said:

As Ukip has always said, the laws are in place in order to ensure that big and wealthy political parties cannot buy British politics. The Electoral Commission has today shown that to be the case. Politicians complain that politics is seen in contempt by the people of this country. They have only themselves to blame.

Culture secretary Karen Bradley tells MPs she is referring Murdoch's bid for Sky to Ofcom

In the Commons Karen Bradley, the culture secretary, is making a statement about 21st Century Fox’s bid for Sky. She has just announced that she will refer this to Ofcom, as she said she was minded to do in a statement earlier this month. 21st Century Fox is owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Here is the Conservative MP Anna Soubry’s take on the Electoral Commission’s report.

On the back of Nicola Sturgeon’s promise of a second independence referendum for Scotland Sinn Fein have been demanding a border poll on the constitutional future of Northern Ireland.

Under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday/Belfast Agreement there is a provision which allows for such a plebiscite but if and only if there is sufficient public demand for one.

Recent opinion surveys over the last 12 months in Northern Ireland have consistently shown a majority in the region are not in favour of holding a border poll but even if there was one a majority would also opt to remain within the UK.

Last September The Sun/Lucid Talk opinion survey showed that 57% of those questioned did not want a border poll.

The opinion polls also found that 68% would vote to stay in the UK if a referendum on breaking the link with Britain or joining in a United Ireland was held.

Lucid Talk were only 1% short of a fully accurate prediction of how Northern Ireland voted in last June’s EU referendum.

Surveys conducted by BBC Northern Ireland have found the trend in opinion to be broadly similar in the last few years.

So while there is a lot of chatter especially in the Dublin media about Brexit somehow being a game changer in terms of shifting opinion towards Irish unity the data continually shows a pro-union majority even while the unionists have lost seats to Sinn Fein and other parties in the last Assembly election.

With these polling results in mind Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire is actually therefore in a far stronger position to rule out a border poll in the region compared to the prime minister and her opposition to another Scottish independence referendum.

Tories understated their election spending in South Thanet, says Electoral Commission

The Tories appear to have understated their campaign spending in the key battleground seat of South Thanet where they successfully fought off the challenge of former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, the Electoral Commission has found.

As the Press Association reports, the commission highlighted the role played by a team of national officials based in the constituency during the 2015 general election, including a senior campaigns office, a senior press adviser and two political advisers.

Although they are not named in the report, the advisers have previously been reported to include Theresa May’s current chief of staff Nick Timothy, who was an adviser to her in the Home Office.

The Conservatives argued that they had, unusually, based their national anti-Ukip campaign in the Kent constituency, mirroring the fact that Ukip’s national campaign was also there.

However, the commission found that a proportion of the party’s national spending actually related to the effort to secure the election of the local candidate, Craig Mackinlay, and should have been declared in his election return.

“The commission cannot determine precisely what proportion of spending on the party’s team in South Thanet should have been apportioned to Mackinlay’s campaign,” it said.

“This is largely as a result of the party failing to keep records sufficient to establish the appropriate apportionment. However, the commission notes that as a consequence of the party reporting these costs, they were missing from Mackinlay’s candidate campaign expenses return.

“Consequently it appears that the party understated the spending it incurred on Mackinlay’s campaign, and as a result there is doubt as to the accuracy and completeness of his election expenses return.”

The spending included £15,641 for rooms in the Royal Harbour Hotel in Ramsgate, which was declared as part of the party’s national spending return.

The commission also found that the party failed to declare a further £3,809.03 in hotel bills for the Premier Inn in the town. The Conservatives blamed “simple human error” but the commission said that was not a “reasonable excuse”.

On the political advisers, the commission said they had played “key roles” in determining Mackinlay’s campaign messages and in drafting campaign material “promoting Mackinlay’s electoral success”.

It found a “number of examples” of them commenting or advising the wording of Mackinlay’s campaign message and digital content, including a comment from one adviser on a YouTube video the other had created.

It stated: “Thanks... This is ok as far as it goes BUT why are we not trying to convey the messages better? Anybody can stand in sandwich saying traffic is bad. The point is that (C)raig brings cabinet ministers here and can get things done.... Every time we communicate without the messages we are at best wasting our time and at worse losing votes.”

The party also listed several other individuals as being part of the team, including volunteers providing further support, such as assisting with national tours and events held in Kent, attending Ukip rallies and events and monitoring the activities of Farage.

Craig Mackinlay (right) and Nigel Farage (left) at the South Thanet count on Friday 8 May, when Mackinlay was elected MP.
Craig Mackinlay (right) and Nigel Farage (left) at the South Thanet count on Friday 8 May, when Mackinlay was elected MP.
 Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP

Article 50 bill gets royal assent

The Press Association has just snapped this.

The Queen has granted royal assent to the European Union (notification of withdrawal) bill, giving Theresa May the legal power to choose when to start formal Brexit talks.

Tories resisted handing over information, says Electoral Commission chief

In their press statement the Conservatives said they “complied fully” with the Electoral Commission’s investigation. (See 9.38am.)

In an interview with the Today programme this morning Claire Bassett, the commission’s chief executive, disputed this. She said the commission had to go to court to get the Conservative party to hand over relevant information. She said:

It has been quite a protracted investigation and some of that has been because we have had some difficulty in getting information from the party and indeed had to resort to seeking a court order at one point.

Tories may have gained 'financial advantage' over opponents in key seats because of over-spending, Electoral Commission says

The Electoral Commission’s report (pdf) also says, in paragraph 150, that there was a “realistic prospect” that the Conservatives gained a “financial advantage” over opponents in some constituencies because battlebus expenditure was not declared as local spending. It says:

The inclusion in the party return of what in the commission’s view should have been reported as candidate spending meant that there was a realistic prospect that this enabled [the Conservative party’s] candidates to gain a financial advantage over opponents.

Election Commission says some of Conservative battlebus spending was candidate spending

The Electoral Commission has also published its 38-page report (pdf) about its investigations into claims the Conservative party did not properly declare election spending.

The Conservative party says the report backs up its claim that money spent on the battlebus during the 2015 election was a national expense, not a local constituency expense. This is a key issue in the police investigations that have results in files being sent to the CPS.

A Conservative party spokesman said:

CCHQ has always taken the view that its nationally directed battlebus campaign – a highly-publicised and visible activity with national branding – was part of its national return, and it would have no reason not to declare it as such, given that the Party was £2m below the national spending threshold.

The Electoral Commission report makes clear that our interpretation of the guidance was correct, stating: ‘The Commission has found no evidence to suggest that the party had funded the Battlebus2015 campaign with the intention that it would promote or procure the electoral success of candidates’ (para. 106).

MPs in constituencies visited by the battlebus would have no reason to consider whether it should be included in their local return – they were directed that the bus would be visiting as part of CCHQ’s national spending.

The ongoing investigations relate to national spending by CCHQ and the national Party will continue to co-operate with the police and other authorities so that the matter can be resolved as soon as possible.

But the Tories are quoting from the report selectively. Here are paragraphs 106, 107 and 108 in full.

The commission has found no evidence to suggest that the party had funded the Battlebus2015 campaign with the intention that it would promote or procure the electoral success of candidates. Nevertheless, coaches of activists were transported to marginal constituencies to campaign alongside or in close proximity to local campaigners. In the commission’s view, there was a clear and inherent risk that activists might engage in candidate campaigning. Further, it is apparent that candidate campaigning did take place during the Battlebus2015 campaign.

There is no evidence to show that either during the campaign or during the compilation of the spending return consideration was given to whether this had occurred. Instead, the party stated that it was “assumed, but not expressly discussed,” that spending on the activity would be reported in the party’s campaign spending return. Consequently an inaccurate assumption was made that the full spending should be reported by the party.

The commission cannot determine from the available evidence what proportion of spending on the Battlebus2015 campaign activity was properly party spending and what was candidate campaign expenditure. This is in large part because no records were kept to show how spending was apportioned, despite the fact that PPERA required spending on the party campaign to be reported separately from any spending the party undertook on behalf of its candidate. Nonetheless the commission is satisfied that a proportion of the reported spending was candidate campaign spending and should not have been included in the Party’s return. That proportion was also, as a result of this, not included in any relevant candidate’s campaign expenses return, casting doubt on the accuracy of those returns.

Here are the key points.

  • Election Commission says some of Conservative battlebus spending was candidate spending and should have been declared as such.
  • Tories claim candidates had “no reason” to think battlebus spending should have been included in local spending returns.
  • Tories say local candidates were “directed” by CCHQ that battlebus visits would count as national spending, not local spending.

Updated

Tories claim Labour & Lib Dems just as bad at failing to report election spending

Here is the statement the Conservative party put out in response to the announcement about the Electoral Commission fine. This is from a party spokesman.

The Conservative party has complied fully with the Electoral Commission’s investigation since it began more than a year ago and will pay the fines they have imposed.

This investigation and these fines relate to national spending by CCHQ, and the Conservative party’s national spending return for the 2015 general election. As we have consistently said, the local agents of Conservative candidates correctly declared all local spending in the 2015 general election.

CCHQ accepted in March 2016 that it had made an administrative error by not declaring a small amount constituting 0.6 per cent of our national spending in the 2015 election campaign. This error was subsequently corrected and the party has since improved its accounting practices, reporting structures and staff guidance. Even taking this into account, the Conservative party still considerably underspent the statutory national spending limits for the 2015 general election.

Political parties of all colours have made reporting mistakes from time to time. The Labour party and Liberal Democrats both failed to declare sums of money which constituted a larger proportion of their national expenditure in the 2015 general election. Both have been fined by the Electoral Commission, and the Liberal Democrats are also under police investigation.

This is the first time the Conservative party has been fined for a reporting error. We regret that and will continue to keep our internal processes under review to ensure this does not happen again. Given the range of technical errors made by a number of political parties and campaign groups, there also needs to be a review of how the Electoral Commission’s processes and requirements could be clarified or improved.

And here are the key points.

  • The Conservatives claim Labour and the Lib Dems have been just as bad at failing to report election spending.
  • They claim Electoral Commission’s rules need to be “clarified”. (They seem to be using “clarified” to mean “relaxed”.)

Updated

What the Electoral Commission says the Conservatives did wrong

Here is the Electoral Commission’s own summary, from its news release, of the findings of its investigations into claims that the Conservative party did not declare election spending properly.

The investigation has now ended and concluded that Mr Simon Day, the registered treasurer of the party until April 2016, committed three contraventions under section 41 and two offences under section 82(4)(b) of PPERA.

The Conservative party has been fined £70,000 under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums (Civil Sanctions) Order 2010. The Party has until 13 April 2017 to pay the fine.

The commission found that:

there was no evidence that the party’s spending return for the 2014 European parliamentary election was incomplete;

it is likely that expense returns delivered by party candidates at three parliamentary by-elections during 2014 understated the value of the party’s spending on their campaigns;

on three instances in 2014, relating to the said three parliamentary by-elections, Mr Day as registered treasurer failed to ensure that the party’s accounting records were sufficient to adequately show and explain the party’s transactions with the candidates and/or their agents, as required by section 41 of PPERA;

the party’s 2015 UK parliamentary general election spending return was not a complete statement of its campaign spending payments, as required by section 80(3) of PPERA. Mr Day had included payments that were not party campaign spending and omitted other party campaign payments; and

the party’s 2015 UK parliamentary general election spending return also failed to include all the required invoices and receipts associated with the party’s campaign spending that were required by section 80(3) of PPERA.

The commission has also referred one matter relating to section 83(3) of PPERA to the Metropolitan Police Service.

Section 83(3) required the party’s treasurer to declare that he has examined the return and that to the best of his knowledge and belief, the return was complete and correct as required by law. A declaration to that effect was delivered alongside its spending return. The investigation established that the Party’s general election return was neither complete nor correct, and the evidence gathered during the course of the investigation has given the Commission reason to suspect that an offence may have been committed.

Knowingly or recklessly making a false declaration under this section of the Act is a criminal offence and falls outside the remit of the commission’s civil sanctioning powers. It will be a matter for the police as to what steps they take following the commission’s referral.

Here is my colleague Rajeev Syal’s Q&A on the Conservative party election expenses controversy.

This morning the Electoral Commission announced that it is imposing a £70,000 fine on the Conservatives for failing accurately to report election spending. It is the largest fine the commission has ever imposed on a party. Here is our story.

Although the Conservative party has said it accepts the decision, the announcement coincides with the news that separate police investigations into allegations that the Tories broke local spending limits at the general election in up to 20 seats have resulted in files being passed to the Crown Prosecution Service.

On the Today programme this morning the Conservative MP Roger Gale claimed that Electoral Commission’s announcement could prejudice future prosecutions. He said:

What I do find astonishing is the timing of this. Because of course we know that a number of cases have been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service and it seems to me that what the Electoral Commission has blundered into is a decision which could well prejudice decisions taken either way.

I will be covering more reaction to this story as the day goes on.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: Annual poverty figures are published by the department for work and pensions.

9.45am: Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem Brexit spokesman and former deputy prime minister, gives a briefing on his latest Brexit paper.

12pm: Nicola Sturgeon takes first minister’s questions in the Scottish parliament.

12.30pm: Pascal Lamy, the former WTO director, gives a speech on Brexit and trade at the Institute for Government.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another in the afternoon.

You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.

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