Keir Starmer campaigns in Milton Keynes ahead of local elections

Sir Keir Starmer addressed a Sunday Times report suggesting he is about to replace shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds.

Speaking outside of Milton Keynes police station, Sir Keir said: "Anneliese Dodds has my confidence, she has my full confidence, she is doing a fantastic job.

“And we are one team, and we have got really important elections in May.”

Starmer's presence in Milton Keynes is part of his ongoing campaign tour around the country, today (March 30) he is in Hartlepool.

Politicians are allowed to campaign in a Covid-secure way, meaning they can deliver leaflets and engage in communities as long as their socially-distanced and not entering people's homes.

He also used Milton Keynes police station as a setting to attack the government's record on convictions, the Labour leader added:"Today we are calling on the Government to take urgent action because what we have seen over recent months is a plummeting of the conviction rates for robbery, for theft, for criminal damage down by 50%, 60% even 70%.”

There are elections in all 19 borough wards - with one vacancy in each ward except Woughton and Fishermead and Central Milton Keynes.

A number of parish council elections will also be taking place.

People will also be asked to vote for the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner - along with voters from elsewhere in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire.