First minister says voters being disfranchised because some ballots yet to arrive with school holidays due to begin

John Swinney, the Scottish first minister, has raised concerns that voters are being disfranchised because of delays in receiving postal votes.

Voters in some parts of the UK, particularly Scotland, have not received their postal ballots ahead of the election on 4 July. Postal vote requests are particularly high in Scotland because schools are on holiday next week.

Essex police say they are ‘urgently assessing’ racist and homophobic remarks made by party’s volunteers

Rishi Sunak has said he was hurt and angry to hear a Reform UK canvasser using a racial slur against him, saying Nigel Farage “has some questions to answer”.

The prime minister responded after a Channel 4 undercover investigation found a Reform campaigner had called him a “fucking [P-word]”. Sunak repeated the slur and said he had done so because it was important to call it out for what it was.