Labour claims Reform UK won’t protect women, as poll suggests Farage’s party heading for ‘seismic’ wins in May – UK politics live

Poll projects major political earthquake across Britain with Labour losing Wales and England’s Red Wall

Good morning. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, is publishing a revised women’s health strategy for England today. As Andrew Gregory reports, the strategy implicitly accepts that women have been let down by a (largely male) medical establishment which has not always taken their health concerns seriously.

But, for Labour, this is not just a health announcement. The English local elections are just over three weeks away, and Labour is using this announcement as a platform to attack Reform UK, saying that Nigel Farage’s party can’t be trusted to stand up for women.

1. Reform want to reopen the debate on abortion limits

Nigel Farage has described the current 24-week abortion limit as “utterly ludicrous” and called for Parliament to revisit it - raising concerns about rolling back long-established reproductive rights.

Today Labour is taking action to fix a system that has too often ignored women - cutting waiting lists, improving care and putting women’s voices at the centre.

But Reform’s record speaks for itself. From attacking reproductive rights to undermining protections at work, they simply can’t be trusted to stand up for women.

If these results come to pass, we will be looking at a major political earthquake across Britain.

It could be the worst local election ever for Labour in England, a collapse for the Conservatives in their historic Blue Wall heartlands, and a brutal third place for Starmer’s party in Wales.