UK general election RECAP: Doughnuts at dawn and an unfortunate picture of Rishi Sunak: More eye-catching moments on the campaign trail - while Tory MP Mark Logan defects to Labour

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• Mark Logan, MP for Bolton North East since 2019 has defected to Labour because of his opposition to the governments stance on Gaza and his belief that Labour can better represent his constituents
• Angela Rayner said Diane Abbott, the veteran leftwinger should be allowed to represent Labour at the next election, defying Sie Kier Starmer
• Sir Ed Davey was up to his usual antics by being interviewed on a slip and slide in Somerset, where he unveiled the Lib Dem plans to boost mental health in schools
• Diane Abbott attacked Starmer after Faiza Shaheen was barred from standing for Labour at the election.
• Nigel Farage, the honorary President of Reform UK claimed the “election is over” and that Reform UK will be the main opposition to a Labour government
• Rishi Sunak came under fire at the Niftylift factory in Milton Keynes and apologised to a worker over his part in Partygate: 'I’m sorry for what was going on in Downing Street.'
• The Green Party opened it election campaign trail in Bristol this morning, branding their plans as the 'most ambitious' yet.

Read more from MailOnline's political correspondent here:

Former Tory MP Mark Logan DEFECTS to Labour in latest blow to Rishi Sunak ahead of the general election as he claims Keir Starmer's party will 'bring back optimism into British life'

The Conservative party has slammed the former Tory MP Mark Logan who announced tonight that he was defecting to Labour as they could better represent his constituents.

The party said it will select a new candidate for Logan's constituency in due course.

A Tory spokesperson says:

It's notable that Mark Logan has defected to a party he can't even name a single policy of.

We wish Mark Logan well with the Labour Party - a party that has no plan for the country and would take us back to square one.

The people of Bolton North East now have the choice to vote to stick with the plan by choosing bold action for a safer, more prosperous future with the Conservatives, or go back to square one with Keir Starmer and the same old Labour.

The MP for Bolton North East has said that a Labour government will serve his area better.

This comes as he defected to the Labour party earlier tonight, sparked significantly by his opposition to the governments position on Gaza.

Speaking to BBC News, he said:

I believe, as a politician, it’s incumbent upon me to be able to say, to look people in the eyes in Bolton and say that I believe that a Labour government is going to serve you better, your interests better, it’s going to be better for your pockets, it’s better for the economy, it’s going to be better for the UK.

It’s more about not the the push factor of Conservatives, but the pull factor of Keir Starmer, the new cabinet that would come in, the fresh faces, the fresh ideas.

Mark Logan the Conservative MP for Bolton North East since 2019, has urged people to vote Labour in the general election on 4 July.

He is the third tory defection in recent months, putting Sunak under significant pressure.

Speaking to the BBC he said Labour has been on a 'journey' and now offered 'centrist politics', adding that the Tory Party was now 'unrecognisable' from the party he joined a decade ago.

Mr Logan has heavily critisced the government over its stance on Gaza, and has personally called on the UK to recognise Palestine as a country.

He won his seat from Labour in the 2019 general election with a tiny majority of just 378. It had been Labour since 1997 but was previously held by the Tories.

Mr Logan had been due to defend the seat in the general election, but after his shock defection, he hopes to become a Labour candidate in another constituency.

He wrote in a statement:

Labour is back, and given how things have been, I believe things can only get better.

After much soul-searching throughout my first term in parliament, brought to a head with the calling of a snap election last week, I have concluded that we need a new government and I believe the UK will be best served with that government being a Labour government.

We need renewed enthusiasm and optimism in both tone and in policy, and I believe that we are already seeing this through Keir Starmer and the team.

I am resigning from the Conservative Party with immediate effect. Regrettably, I will therefore not contest our constituency at the upcoming general election.

The Conservatives say that Labour’s election campaign has “descended into complete chaos”.

It comes after Kier Starmer is under significant pressure from within his party to decide whether Diane Abbott can stand as a Labour candidate.

A Tory spokesman said:

Today the Labour Party campaign has descended into complete chaos. Keir Starmer changed major tax policy overnight in response to a press release, and today he’s being undermined by his own deputy.

Starmer’s central claim is that he has ‘changed’ the Labour Party has been exposed as nothing more than a con which is falling apart before the the public’s eyes.

Rishi Sunak has apologised for the ‘Partygate’ scandal while taking questions in a Milton Keynes factory.

During the event at the factory Niftylift, the Prime Minister was asked about trust by a worker whose mother died during the pandemic.

'I’m sorry for what was going on in Downing Street,' he said adding 'he did everything by to protect you and your family' during the pandemic.

'When the country goes through tough times, I will always be there.'

Mr Sunak was fined over lockdown parties at Number 10 during lockdown.

Our Deputy Political Editor David Wilcock reports a former Labour election candidate is threatening the party with legal action after she was dropped at the last minute in a 'purge' of leftwingers.

Read the story here:

The Prime Minister has been asked about how he plans to reach net zero.

He insisted he wanted to reach the target but that he didn't want to force people into expensive lifestyle changes 'right now'.

He told workers at the Niftylift factory:

I want us to get to net zero because that's the right thing to do for my kids, your kids, or grandkids, making sure that we leave the environment in a better state than we found it.

The questions is how do we get there. I want to prioritise our countries energy security.

I also want to prioritise your bills. What I don’t want to do is force you prematurely to rip out your boiler, change your car. We don’t need to do them right now. We will do them slowly over time in a measured way.

Rishi Sunak has reiterated his suggestion that his national service plan would become a new 'rite of passage' for 18-year-olds which could restore a sense of pride in the UK.

Answering questions at a factory in Milton Keynes, he said:

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, about how do we restore that sense of patriotism, pride and cohesiveness in our society.”

It will become a new rite of passage that everyone goes through and bring us closer together.

It could help develop 'a greater sense of pride in what we stand for and what we are as a country', he said.

Talk about a tough opener...Rishi Sunak has been asked about Downing Streets and the £50 fixed penalty notice he received for breaching Covid regulations.

After opening the floor to workers at the Niftylift factory in Milton Keynes, the Prime Minister was asked how voters could trust him and the Conservatives.

The questioner said his mother died during the pandemic in 2020 at the same time parties were being thrown in Downing Street, while Mr Sunak was .fined by police along with Boris and Carrie Johnson for breaching Covid rules over an event in June that year.

The man asked:

How can anyone trust you or the party after things like this?

Mr Sunak responded by offering his condolences to the man before insisting he did "everything" he could to protect the public during the pandemic, citing his furlough scheme when he was chancellor

He said:

I’m sorry for what was going on in Downing Street. For my part, I apologise that I showed up to a meeting earlier.

As you know, I was working on things to help you and your business, and many other families like that.

In fact, it was probably in that same period of time that you got to know me as chancellor. Most of you didn’t know who I was before then and I popped up on your TV screens, announced the furlough scheme… hopefully some of you here benefited from some of the support that we put in place.

Rishi Sunak is in Milton Keynes about to host a Q&A.

We will bring you news and reaction when we get it.

Here are the best photographs so far from day eight of the campaign trail:

Femail reporter Alanah Khosla writes Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer may disagree about how to run the country, but they see eye to eye when it comes to wearing expensive clothing.

Both candidates have flexed their designer wardrobes as they attempt to relate to hard-working voters.

Read Alanah's report here:

One of the left-wingers complaining they have been blocked from standing for Labour at the general election is Faiza Shaheen - who was previously selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green.

Ms Shaheen told Newsnight she was told Labour were pulling her candidacy for allegedly liking a series of tweets that downplayed anti-Semitism accusations.

Retweeting a post from Owen Jones, a critic of Sir Keir Starmer, on X, Ms Shaheen told the Labour leader 'haven't you hurt me enough already?'.

See her post here:

Matt Wrack, the Fire Brigades Union general secretary (pictured), has claimed Diane Abbott and other left-wingers are victims of double standards in they way they are dealt with.

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer faces intense pressure from the Labour left over whether Ms Abbott will represent the party at the upcoming election.

Mr Wrack said:

Diane Abbott is a powerful, popular advocate for Labour. She and other candidates have been treated in an appalling manner.

There are clearly double standards in how they have been treated as left-wingers and as women of colour when compared to more centrist MPs.

It is only a matter of weeks since hard-right Tory Natalie Elphicke was welcomed with open arms.

This has all been an embarrassing distraction. The Labour leadership must now act decisively to reinstate the affected candidates and ensure that no-one is barred from standing at the last minute with no due process.

We can now bring you footage of the moment Sir Ed Davey and Sky News political journalist Matthew Thompson went down a waterslide together in Somerset.

Asked by Mr Thompson if he felt afraid of looking silly before their descent, Sir Ed said: 'No, no this is fun. Enjoy yourself.'

Mr Thompson previously interviewed Sir Ed on paddleboard in the Lake District earlier this week.

See the video below:

Our Deputy Political Editor David Wilcock reports Angela Rayner has risked defying Sir Keir Starmer on Diane Abbott after she intervened in the row to say the veteran leftwinger should be allowed to represent Labour at the next election.

Read David's piece here:

It's been another busy day on the election trail with campaign launches, major speeches and Sir Ed Davey interviewed on a waterslide.

With more events taking place this afternoon including an appearance in Buckinghamshire by Rishi Sunak, here's what you need to know:

• Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he wants Labour to field the 'best quality candidates' at the election as he addressed the Diane Abbott row as more left-wingers complain they have been blocked by the leadership
• Jeremy Hunt has questioned how Mr Starmer would deal with Vladimir Putin in wake of the Diane Abbott row as he taunted Labour over its stance on VAT
• Nigel Farage suggested French workers were lazy in a speech also attacking Rishi Sunak and Mr Starmer while setting out Reform UK's immigration policy
• Sir Ed Davey has visited Somerset where he was interviewed on a waterslide while unveiling Lib Dem plans to boost mental health in schools

We will bring you more throughout the afternoon.

Sir Ed Davey has insisted he's not afraid of looking silly as he was interviewed on a waterslide by a journalist on the campaign trail in Somerset.

Sky News political correspondent Matthew Thompson spoke to the Lib Dem leader in Frome before they both went down a Slip N Slide on an inflatable.

Asked by Mr Thompson if he felt afraid of looking silly before their descent, Sir Ed said: 'No, no this is fun. Enjoy yourself.'

Sir Ed is in Somerset to unveil plans for a mental health professional to work in every school, as data shows that 336,886 children are on mental health waiting lists.

We can bring you some lines from Reform UK's campaign event in South London where Nigel Farage and Richard Tice have launched the party's immigration policy.

In his address, he described Rishi Sunak as 'slippery' and added he 'zones out' when Sir Keir Starmer speaks as he reiterated the election campaign had been 'dull'

Here are the main takeaways:

• Mr Farage described Reform UK’s employer immigration tax plan, which will see businesses pay a higher national insurance rate if they decide to employ foreign workers instead of British citizens, as a 'bold, innovative policy'

I can hear the multinationals wailing already because, you’re quite right we have become addicted to cheap, foreign labour

• Moving onto the economy, he dismisses the argument immigration is good for the economy, insisting people are 'getting poorer' and that productivity levels are lower than France's

Given what I know about the French work ethic I find that very, very difficult to believe.

• He also said immigration is putting huge pressure on the NHS

I genuinely believe that out there in the country people are beginning to join the dots.

Reform UK leader Richard Tice and honorary president Nigel Farage are in South London today to launch the party's immigration policy.

We will bring you the highlights from the speeches, but in the meantime here's our reporter Jon Brady's report of Mr Farage's fiery clash with Robert Peston on ITV last night over controversial claims that young Muslims 'do not subscribe to British values'

Read Jon's report here:

Quick word on the Greens after its former MP Caroline Lucas opened the party's general election campaign in Bristol earlier this morning.

Ms Lucas, who has represented Brighton, Pavilion since 2010 but is not standing at the election, branded the campaign the 'most ambitious' yet.

Co-leaders Adrian Ramsay and Carla Denyer said the party is offering “real hope and real change” to voters and that it was important to push Labour beyond 'timid changes' they've pledged so far.

Mr Ramsay said:

Real change means not cosying up to the fossil fuel lobby and abandoning commitments on climate targets.

With Rishi Sunak expected in Buckinghamshire this afternoon, his Chancellor Jeremy Hunt went on the airwaves this morning to press the case for the Conservatives in the general election.

Here are the highlights from his morning round:

• Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Hunt questioned how Keir Starmer would deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin and he connected the Diane Abbott row to a Tory attack on Labour's security record

If Keir Starmer can’t deal with Diane Abbott, how on Earth is he going to deal with Vladimir Putin

• The Chancellor claimed Labour was flip-flopping when it comes to their economic strategy as he responded to Rachel Reeves' commitment that income tax, national insurance or VAT would not be raised under a Sir Keir Starmer government

She said that last night, but four times this week, her and Keir Starmer refused to rule out increasing VAT. What you have is a party that when it comes to the basic questions, cannot make up its mind.

• He also told BBC Breakfast the Conservatives want to avoid austerity-style cuts if they are elected and instead make public services more efficient, citing a £3.4 billion investment into improving IT systems across the NHS

That’s not something that’s a big vote-winner but it will make the NHS more efficient, meaning it can do more operations and mean that we can run our public services more efficiently with similar amounts of money, or in fact with a small increase in the amount of funding we put in.

• And finally...in perhaps the most bizarre question Mr Hunt received today, he declined to say how much dog foo costs when asked how much people were paying for a tin by Sky News.

There are lots of different tins of dog food.

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed the UK will not return to austerity after it was put to him that there would need to be public spending cuts after the election unless taxes are increased.

Speaking to Sky News at a campaign event in Wales, he said:

We are not returning to austerity. That did huge damage, so we’re not going to return to austerity.

Tough decisions will have to be made, of course they will. And we’ll make sure that everything that we put forward is fully costed and fully funded.

But I’m absolutely determined – and that’s why I’ve made economic growth our number one mission and our number one first step – to pull the lever that is economic growth. Because there’s a reason that we’ve got very high tax over the last 14 years, the highest tax burden since the Second World War, the reason for that is because we’ve got low growth.

As of today, Parliament has dissolved.

Dissolution is the official term for the end of a Parliament and takes place whenever there's a general election in the UK.

It means we no longer have MPs with representatives across the country losing their seats in the House of Commons, while all parliamentary business such as passing new laws comes to an end.

The Prime Minister and his team of government ministers will remain in their jobs to run the country until the general election takes place.

After the general election, a new Parliament will start with a State Opening following the election of the Commons speaker and the swearing-in of members.

Mr Starmer has now spoken about Diane Abbott for the first time today.

He described the veteran MP who became the first black woman to be elected to Parliament as a 'trailblazer' who had overcome 'incredible challenges' in her career.

But he insisted he wanted Labour to have the 'best quality candidates' heading into the election, amid confusion over whether Ms Abbott will stand for or against the party.

Asked if he was blocking left-wingers from standing, he said:

No. I’ve said repeatedly over the last two years as we’ve selected our candidates that I want the highest-quality candidates.

That’s been the position for a very long time.

The situation in relation to Diane Abbott is that no decision has been taken to bar her and you have to remember that she was a trailblazer as an MP, she overcame incredible challenges to achieve what she achieved in her political career.

She carved out a path for others to come into politics and she did all that whilst also being one of the most abused MPs across all political parties.

But I’ve always had the aspiration that we will have the best quality candidates as we go into this election.

After falling off his paddleboard in the Lake District and riding his bike in Wales, Sir Ed Davey is at it again by visiting a slip and slide in Somerset.

The Lib Dem leader has proved he's always game for a photo opportunity with his party looking to make waves in the election by targeting 80 Conservative-held seats.

Here are some pictures we can show you of Sir Ed's visit. We will bring you further reaction when we have it.

Sir Keir Starmer has appeared at a campaign event in Wales today alongside Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething who faces a motion of no confidence in the Senedd next week.

Here are the highlights of his speech in which he accused Rishi Sunak of 'rummaging round in the toy box of bad ideas':

Mr Starmer pledged to fight for Welsh steel and protect jobs as he said the Tories were 'too divided to take industries forward'

I’ve been there, I’ve looked them in the eyes and I’ve told those workers I will fight for every single job that they have there and for the future of steel in Wales. We must fight.

He joked the Prime Minister ambushed himself by calling a July election after thinking he was 'laying a careful trap'

He didn’t catch us, he caught himself in his own ambush

He repeated attacks on the Government's flagship Rwanda scheme which he said Mr Sunak 'knew wouldn't work' before £600 million of taxpayers money was spent

He knew it wouldn’t work. £600 million later of taxpayers’ money, it’s not working. And what’s he done? He’s called an election before it can be tested. Weakness upon weakness.

Our deputy political editor David Wilcock reports Sir Keir Starmer and his team are trying to dampen the fires of a major Labour election row today over moves to block veteran MP Diane Abbott and a slew of other leftwingers from standing on July 4.

Read his story here:

If you're just joining us let us bring you up to speed with what has happened so far on day eight of the campaign trail.

• Jeremy Hunt has questioned how secure the country would be under a Labour government following the Diane Abbott row, telling the BBC, 'if Keir Starmer can’t deal with Diane Abbott, how on Earth is he going to deal with Vladimir Putin.'
• Mr Hunt also restated his party’s pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT if the Tories win the general election, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats making similar pledges
• Keir Starmer has been accused of 'hiding behind technicalities' during the Diane Abbott investigation by a member of his party's National Executive Committee (NEC)
• Mr Starmer claimed the Tories were 'rummaging round in the toy box of bad ideas' as he appeared in Wales alongside Vaughan Gething

Welcome to our live coverage of the general election campaign trail.

Labour will be hoping to move on from the Diane Abbott row which deepened last night when it emerged a slew of other left-wing candidates have been blocked from standing in the election for the party.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been busy stirring the pot by claiming Labour are planning to raise VAT if elected, though his remarks have been dismissed as 'nonsense' by his shadow Rachel Reeves.

We will bring you the latest news and reaction from campaign events across the country on the day Parliament is dissolved - meaning there are no MPs until after the election.