Key points
- Half of Britons think Tories will lose seats in local elections
- Local election victory of 10% 'could indicate Labour future' - pollster
- Nurses are on strike today - here's what you need to know
- Staff 'could be on strike until Christmas' - RCN chief
- Truss contests '£12,000' bill relating to grace-and-favour home
- Rob Powell:Starmer risks making grisly accusations about his past fair game with defence of Labour's attack ads
- Live reporting by Ben Bloch and (earlier) Faith Ridler
Eurovision rail strike workers should show solidarity with Ukraine colleagues - transport secretary
Striking rail staff should want to stand in solidarity with fellow Ukrainian workers rather than "cynically target" the Eurovision Song Contest, which the UK is hosting on behalf of the war-torn nation, the transport secretary has said.
Speaking to Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, Mark Harper argued the stricken country's train network has been the specific focus of attacks by invading Russian forces on the orders of Vladimir Putin.
But the cabinet minister's comments have been derided as "bizarre" by a union leader at the centre of the rail dispute, who highlighted his group's support for Ukraine and argued seeking a pay rise had nothing to do with the conflict.
Ukraine latest: Troops being 'placed in hole in ground as punishment'
Mr Harper was speaking after it was announced members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at 14 train operators would walkout on the day of the Eurovision final being staged in Liverpool on 13 May.
Read the full story here:
Watch: Huge crowds march through London on May Day
May Day, or International Workers' Day, first started as a struggle for an eight hour working day in the US, but it formed as a wider celebration of labour movements and workers across the world, Sky News correspondent Milena Veselinovic reports.
In London, the theme today is support for the trade unions, many of which are in dispute with the government.
On Friday, civil servants walked out, today it's nurses, and tomorrow it's ambulance workers from Unite.
A couple of thousand people have taken to the streets today in support.
But it is also more than just support the unions - a lot of it is support for international workers unions across the world, and they are represented here today.
WatchMilena's full report from central London here:
Local elections 2023: What to expect and how to judge who's won
By Dr Hannah Bunting and Professor Michael Thrasher, Sky News election analysts
It's the biggest test of public opinion this side of the next general election and Labour's chance to prove it's on course to form the next government.
On 4 May, seven in 10 voters in England will choose more than 8,000 councillors on 230 councils.
With 152 of those local authorities selecting every seat, expect some dramatic results and considerable change.
The Conservatives could lose one third of their seats and control of half their councils.
Labour could, and arguably should, finally become the largest party of local government, a position it hasn't held for more than 20 years.
Both parties could take a hit from the Liberal Democrats and Greens but pay attention too to the number of Independent councillors re-elected.
That could tell us much about people's enthusiasm for the two most likely contenders for power.
Read what to expect at the local elections here...
In pictures: Striking NHS staff march through Westminster
NHS services across England are facing major disruption today as nurses walk out in a 28-hour strike over pay.
The strike will end just before midnight after a High Court judge ruled it would be unlawful for the industrial action to continue into Tuesday as originally planned.
Striking workers have marched through central London this afternoon, and the general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) Mick Lynch addressed the crowds after they marched past Parliament and reached Trafalgar Square.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has said the 28-hour nursing strike is "premature" and "disrespectful" to other unions.
The comments come ahead of a meeting of the NHS Staff Council, made up of health unions, employers and government representatives, which will discuss the government's 5% pay offer.
"I think this strike is premature and is disrespectful to those trade unions that will be meeting on Tuesday," he added.
ICYMI: Liz Truss contests '£12,000' bill relating to her use of grace-and-favour home
Liz Truss is disputing a bill she has been asked to pay relating to a country house which she had use of as foreign secretary.
The bill is reportedly for £12,000 but the former prime minister's spokesman claims the actual figure is lower.
The invoice, first reported in The Mail on Sunday, covers the period in August 2022 when she used Chevening House in Kent, during the time she was running to be Conservative leader before being elected to No 10 the following month.
Ms Trussclaims most of the invoice relates to using the grace-and-favour home for government business and she maintains she should not be liable for the majority of it.
The official business included meetings with cabinet secretary Simon Case when they were planning a transition to a Truss government.
If she did pay, there would have been a breach of civil service protocol because civil servants are not allowed to accept hospitality from a political candidate, her team argues.
Ms Truss has asked for this part to be billed separately.
You can read more from Sky News in the link below...
'Pattern of behaviour' emerging about interests of Rishi Sunak's wife, says Sir Keir Starmer
Labour says there is an emerging "pattern of behaviour" after a company partially owned by the prime minister’s wife was revealed to have received taxpayer cash.
It comes after it was revealed that Akshata Murty held shares in a childcare company which stands to benefit from policy announced in the budget.
Ms Murty, who is the daughter of an Indian billionaire and was independently wealthy before marrying Rishi Sunak, controls an investment company called Catamaran Ventures Ltd.
As first reported by The Times, Catamaran has a stake in Study Hall - an education/technology start-up.
In 2022, Study Hall received a £349,976 government grant through a body called Innovate UK, which is at an arm's length from the national administration and helps companies developing new products or services.
Sir Keir Starmerwas speaking from Blackpool as he campaigned ahead of Thursday's local elections.
He said: "I think there are questions to answer in relation to this, there seems to be an emerging pattern of behaviour here, so I think the sooner those questions are answered the better."
You can read more from Sky News in the link below...
Health secretary has 'lost any respect' from nursing staff - RCN
Pat Cullen, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, has been doing the media rounds today.
In her latest, she has claimed that Health Secretary Steve Barclay has "lost the public and certainly lost any respect that our nursing staff had for him and this government".
Outside the University College Hospital in London, she said Mr Barclay should "spend less time writing papers for the Royal Court of Justice to take our nursing staff to court and get round a table and start to do the decent thing for them".
She added: "Steve Barclay may have won the legal argument that day last Thursday but what he did was he lost the public and certainly lost any respect that our nursing staff had for him and this government."
Ms Cullen also said nurses will be re-balloted in May for further industrial action later in the year as the pay dispute rumbles on.
She added: "It will end when our government will do the decent thing for nurses, does the decent thing for the people of England and actually does the decent thing for the NHS.
"Until he does that, our nursing staff will continue to stand on picket lines, losing pay and making sure that their voices are heard for their patients."
In pictures: NHS staff strike in central London
Workers from the Royal College of Nursing and Unite members have gathered on picket lines across the country today, as a dispute over pay rumbles on.
The photographs capture the scene outside St Thomas' Hospital, taken ahead of a march from the hospital to Trafalgar Square.
Terrorists face tougher prison rules to prevent the spreading of extremist views behind bars
Convicted terrorists will be banned from taking a leading role in religious services and face more rigorous checks for extremist literature.
The new rules are part of a government plan to crack down on dangerous radicalisers behind bars.
Terrorist prisoners will not be able to lead the call to prayer or deliver sermons.
This is in addition to existing measures preventing the most dangerous prisoners leading Friday prayers by extending the ban to all faiths and not just those in high-security prisons.
The government has also confirmed limits on prisoners' property that will prevent extremists dodging prison rules to hide and spread extremist texts.
You can read more from Sky News below...
Red Wall may start to abandon Tories in local elections, projection shows
Labour will perform strongest in the Midlands and north of England this week, according to an exclusive new local election projection for Sky News, which suggests the "Red Wall" is starting to abandon the Conservatives.
The Tories are also likely to struggle in key bellwether seats elsewhere in England - although the pollster did not expect quite so many Labour gains in key general election battlegrounds further south.
The performance of Conservative councils in the "Blue Wall" is also likely to prompt concern for Tory chiefs, where the Liberal Democrat advances look likely to end years of Tory control of key councils - with Ed Davey's party on course to make potential gain themselves.
YouGov is projecting the likely result and voting patterns in 18 key battleground councils for the local elections on 4 May, reflecting different types of electoral fights in different parts of the country.
Read more from Sam Coates below: