Starmer takes responsibility for election and completes reshuffle

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he takes full responsibility for the party’s crushing losses in last week’s elections, as his new shadow cabinet met for the first time.

His comments came after he was accused of trying to blame his deputy Angela Rayner for Labour’s poor showing.

In Scotland, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove insisted that the UK’s priority had to be recovery from Covid rather than an independence referendum.