Politics latest: Nadine Dorries to 'prolong pain' for PM by resigning ...

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has given his reaction to the news this morning that the UK economy grew by 0.2% in April, having contracted by 0.3% in March.

Mr Hunt hailed the figures, saying reports from external organisations show "resilience" in the UK economy.

But, he added: "We still have a big issue with inflation."

He said the government and the country must do "everything we can to support the Bank of England in their mission to squeeze inflation out of the economy".

You can watch his comments in full below...

Labour's shadow health secretary has expressed his horror at a case that has seen a mother of three jailed for carrying out a late abortion on her baby of 32 to 34 weeks - 10 weeks later than the legal time limit.

There have been calls from across the political spectrum to fully decriminalise abortion as a result, with many saying a woman should never be jailed for making decisions about her own body.

Asked about the case this morning, Wes Streeting told Kay Burley on Sky News: "I'm horrified that such a late stage termination took place. I'm horrified at what we've already learned about the circumstances in which this occurred."

But he also says he is "horrified at the idea of a mother of three children being behind bars."

He said his mother was born in prison, and therefore understands the impact on families of having parents in the criminal justice system.

Asked if abortion should be decriminalised, he said we should wait to see what the outcome is in this case, and then take a holistic look at the law.

Mr Streeting said: "As someone who wants to be our country's health secretary, I want to make sure, as someone who believes strongly in a woman's right to choose, that every woman is able to exercise that right in a timely way, in a safe way, and in a legal way, so that no woman is ever in a situation where she would even contemplate breaking the law."

But he declined to say if abortion should be decriminalised, but said he himself is not comfortable with abortion being a criminal offence.

He acknowledged the "really difficult ethical issues", saying it is an issue of conscience.

Labour's shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has told Sky News that Labour will invest more cash into the NHS, but cannot yet give a specific figure.

"I know that investment is needed," he said, and pointed out that Labour has already pledged to invest £1.6bn to expand the NHS workforce, funded by abolishing the non-dom tax status.

But alongside investment, modernisation and changes are needed.

"Even if the public finances weren't in a terrible mess which, thanks to the Conservatives, they are - even if the NHS wasn't in the worst crisis in its history, which it objectively is, we would still need some change and modernisation within the NHS," he said.

Mr Streeting also said we are on the cusp of a technology revolution, which should be deployed intelligently to free up staff time and more efficiently run the health service.

But, the shadow health secretary declined to give a specific figure on what investment Labour would inject, saying that will be set out at the next general election.

He cited the economy as the reason Labour won't set out spending pledges more generally, saying they do not know what they may inherit.

The medical director for NHS England has told Sky News that there will be "a lot of disruption to regular care" as a result of the junior doctor strike that is underway today.

Junior doctors walked out at 7am this morning and will strike until 7am on Saturday.

Stephen Powis said that just under 200,000 appointments were disrupted - or around 50,000 per day - in the last strike, and the impact of this action will be "similar".

He also said it will be "a bit harder to get on top of the [NHS] backlog".

But Professor Powis also said that he wants all staff to be "rewarded in pay as much as is affordable" and said it was the service's job to support its workers, whether they were striking or not.

He said working as a junior doctor was the "toughest time of [his] life" and praised the current cohort as a "hugely valued" part of the health service.

"We all want the disputes to be settled," he said, adding: "Our message to junior doctors is that they're a hugely valued part of our workforce."

He also repeated his hopes that ministers will publish the long-promised NHS workforce plan.

"For us the long-term workforce plan, which we've been working on at the request of the chancellor, is really important and we hope that the government will be publishing that very soon," he said.

"It takes a long time to train some staff, particularly doctors, so we need to plan well in advance. I've said previously that I want to see the number of medical school places expand."

Boris Johnson has been pictured out and about this morning as we await the report from the privileges committee into whether he misled parliament over partygate.

The report was initially expected today, but Sky News understands it is more likely to be published tomorrow.

But the former PM wants it published immediately, having called on the committee to go ahead and publish its "nonsense" report, saying it has "no excuse for delay" (see post at 6.46am).

Two by-elections will be announced today, for the seats vacated by Boris Johnson and Nigel Adams, but I understand Nadine Dorries intends to prolong the pain for the prime minister.

An ally of Boris Johnson claimed senior figures in Downing Street are "lying through their teeth" when they say they did not interfere with Mr Johnson’s honours list.

It is claimed that Ms Dorries and others were not informed that they needed to announce their resignations within six months of being put forward for peerages – allowing Downing Street to "run down the clock".

The six month period ended some weeks ago, a source close to Ms Dorries said.

She may now wait until just before the summer recess to formally resign, which would leave the prime minister to fight an autumn by-election in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency where her 24,000 majority is under threat from Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Number 10 say standing down date "is a matter for Nadine". 

It's understood that Downing Street do not believe they had any duty to advise nominees on process, which was a matter for the House of Lords Appointments Commission (Holac).

Downing Street deny the prime minister had any "involvement or input" into the list put forward by Mr Johnson.

Rishi Sunak said on Monday that Mr Johnson had asked him to do something he believed "wasn't right" by asking him to overrule Holac or promise to put the MPs forward for peerages himself.

The government is set to move the writs today to formally trigger by-elections in the former constituency of Boris Johnson and Nigel Adams, who resigned at the end of last week.

The contests are expected to take place in mid to late July - possibly on the same day.

It comes as the former PM continues to row publicly with his successor Rishi Sunak over his honours list that also led to the resignation of former culture secretary Nadine Dorries.

However, Mr Johnson's formal departure from parliament is not the end of the drama as the privileges committee report into whether he misled parliament over partygate.

It is expected to be damning, but publication has been delayed after the former PM sent a last minute letter to the committee.

Nonetheless, Mr Johnson has called on the committee to go ahead and publish its "nonsense" report, saying it has "no excuse for delay".

The UK economy grew by 0.2% in April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.

The group's director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said the update showed GDP had "bounced back after a weak March".

He said April was a "comparatively strong" month for bars and pubs, car sales rebounded, and education "partially recovered" from strikes in March.

But, he added: "These were partially offset by falls in health, which was affected by the junior doctors strikes, along with falls in computer manufacturing and the often-erratic pharmaceuticals industry.

"House builders and estate agents also had a poor month."

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hailed the statistic this morning, saying: "We are growing the economy, with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) saying that from 2025 we will grow faster than Germany, France and Italy.

"But high growth needs low inflation, so we must stick relentlessly to our plan to halve the rate this year to protect family budgets."

Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves was rather less complimentary, saying: "Today is another day in the dismal low-growth record book of this Conservative government."

She added: "The facts remain that families are feeling worse off, facing a soaring Tory mortgage penalty and we’re lagging behind on the global stage."

Junior doctors in England are now officially on strike - they are walking out from now until 7am on Saturday.

Up to 47,600 junior doctors who are members of the British Medical Association (BMA) union will take to picket lines or stay at home.

NHS leaders have warned that the action will have an "enormous impact on routine care for patients".

In April, a similar walkout by junior doctors saw 196,000 hospital appointments and pre-planned operations rescheduled.

The fresh 72-hour walkout is accompanied by warnings doctors will strike throughout summer if the government doesn't budge on its pay offer.

The government had offered a 5% pay rise, which the BMA called "paltry" and said talks had become "unproductive".

The union said junior doctors have suffered a "pay erosion" of 26% over the last 15 years as their wages have failed to keep up with inflation.

They have demanded a 35% pay rise to reverse this.

Four in ten junior doctors are looking to leave the NHS, according to the BMA, citing the current level of pay, deteriorating work conditions and pay erosion.

In a statement overnight, Health Secretary Steve Barclay said it is "extremely disappointing" that the strike is going ahead, saying it will "put patient safety and our efforts to cut waiting lists at risk".

Humza Yousaf wants the SNP to have a "unified voice" and plans to speak to members amid calls for Nicola Sturgeon to be suspended from the party.

The first minister has already said he will not suspend his predecessor after she was arrested and later released without charge following a police probe into the SNP's funding and finances.

Following Ms Sturgeon's arrest, former SNP leadership candidate Ash Regan and SNP MSP Michelle Thomson both called for the 52-year-old to resign the party whip.

SNP MP Angus MacNeil also called for "political distance" amid the "soap opera", claiming Ms Sturgeon "suspended others from the SNP for an awful lot less" during her time in charge.

Speaking to journalists at Holyrood on Tuesday, Mr Yousaf said there was no pressure for Ms Sturgeon to resign.

He denied being "weak" for not taking action against Ms Sturgeon, who he described as Europe's "most impressive" politician.

The SNP has faced some mockery after it emerged yesterday that in the group meeting that took place after that interview, the party's MSPs agreed to send flowers to Ms Sturgeon.

Read the full story from Sky News Scotland reporter Jenness Mitchell here: