Politics live updates: Ministers take nurses to court to stop strike; Cleverly's plea to Britons in Sudan

Teachers take to picket lines in fight over pay

Teachers who are members of the National Education Union are on strike this morning in a dispute with the government over pay.

The government's offer includes a £1,000 one-off payment this year and a 4.3% pay rise for most staff next year.

But unions labelled the offer "insulting" and said it was not fully funded, which could mean schools having to make cuts elsewhere.

Across the country, school gates are closed as teachers take to the picket lines.

Here's the scene on the picket line at Bristol Cathedral School in the city centre:

Betting firms have spent more than £200k wooing MPs since 2020 - will they get what they want?

Gambling was once constrained to smoke-filled betting shops, days at the races and late night casinos - but the internet and the smartphone have transformed the industry.

Now it's available to anyone, at any time of day or night, via a multitude of flashy phone apps.

But while the sector has changed and grown beyond recognition, the laws that regulate it have not.

That's why we are on the brink of a long-awaited overhaul, with the gambling white paper expected today.

For those who have been campaigning for reform, though, it has taken far too long to get here.

Read Liz's full analysis here:

Gambling white paper due this morning - what measures are we expecting?

The government's long-awaited white paper on gambling is set to be published later this morning after being delayed a number of times.

It will set out the policies that ministers plan to implement to crack down on what the culture secretary describes as a "digital wonderland" of online betting that disproportionately affects poorer communities.

In a tweet this morning, Lucy Frazer wrote: "From football accumulators to the Grand National, the odd flutter is something millions enjoy.

"But advances in tech means we all now have a casino in our pockets.

"Today I'll be updating gambling laws for the smartphone age to better protect people from gambling related harm."

According to The Times, the government is set to propose the following measures:

• A levy on gambling firms, potentially to fund addiction treatment;
• Maximum stakes for online slot machines of £2 for those aged under 25 and £15 for those older;
• A "financial vulnerability check" for those who lose more than £125 a day;
• A more extensive "affordability check" for those who lose more than £1,000 in a day and/or £2,000 over 90 days.

Some of these will go to consultations - a move that has been sharply criticised.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith labelled consultations a "cop-out" and said the government would open itself up to accusations of having "caved in" to industry lobbying.

Lord Foster of Bath, chairman of the Peers for Gambling Reform group, said that although he welcomes the reforms, he is "shocked" that some measures are going to further consultation.

There has also been criticism that some proposed measures have been watered down or dropped, including a plan for £5 limits on online slot machines and a ban on VIP schemes offering hospitality and bonuses to people who build up significant losses.

We are expecting the white paper to be published in full later this morning, and there will be a ministerial statement at around 10.30am. We'll bring you all the details as soon as we have them.

Traumatised Sudan evacuees describe 'horrendous' scenes in Khartoum as they arrive in Cyprus

As the evacuation of Britons from Sudan continues apace ahead of the end of the ceasefire this evening, many arriving in Cyprus are utterly traumatised and too upset to talk about what they've been through to get there, our Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall writes.

"We watched 100 or so, slowly walk down the ramp off the back of an RAF Hercules aircraft into the Mediterranean sun on this holiday island. What a culture shock that must be.

"They're met by British government staff from the Foreign Office's rapid reaction team - many of them are pulling 20-hour shifts as aircraft land at all hours of the day.

"Medics and aid workers are on standby for anyone who needs help. The Cypriot authorities have experience of this - the exodus from Lebanon in 2006 - and they're working closely with the British.

"The process is quick once they land. They're taken through immigration and then fast-tracked to a departures lounge away from most passengers, ready for a chartered flight back to the UK.

"Some are giddy with the elation of making it to safety. Most are exhausted, silent and close to tears."

Read his full eyewitness account here:

Lisa Nandy: UK 'right' to evacuate diplomats from Sudan when it did, despite criticism from Germany

Labour's Lisa Nandy has defended the government on the evacuation of diplomats from Sudan.

Senior German sources told the BBC that British efforts to evacuate diplomats and embassy staff at the weekend delayed efforts by other countries to evacuate their own citizens.

But Ms Nandy tells Sky News the foreign secretary was "right" to evacuate diplomats when he did.

"Every country has to do everything that it can, move heaven and earth, to get not just its officials, but its citizens to safety," she says.

The key thing, she adds, is to learn the lessons from the chaotic Afghanistan evacuation by coordinating with allies and across Whitehall.

She says that taking refugees from Sudan must be done "in conjunction with the international community", and adds that the main focus should be on evacuations and ensuring neighbouring countries have resources to deal with a likely influx of refugees from Sudan.

Health secretary 'absolutely not' a bully, minister says

The foreign secretary has denied allegations that Steve Barclay is a bully.

The Guardian newspaper has reported allegations from civil servants in the health department that the health secretary has behaved in a "bullying" way.

Mr Barclay's allies denied the conduct yesterday, and when asked about it this morning, James Cleverly flatly denied the reports.

Asked directly by Sky News if Mr Barclay is a bully, Mr Cleverly said: "Absolutely not."

Dominic Raab resigned last week as deputy prime minister after a report into allegations of bullying - two of which were upheld.

Will the UK accept refugees from Sudan?

Speaking to Sky News, the foreign secretary says: "We cannot host everybody who is in a country plagued by war."

He says the government's Illegal Migration Bill that passed the Commons last night is to give ministers the power to stop "unprecedented levels of illegal migration".

"Picking out Sudan because it happens to be in the news diminishes the suffering of people around the world," he says.

"Millions" are fleeing conflict, he says, holding up the Ukraine scheme as an example of a safe and legal route that the UK has provided.

Asked about the home secretary's statement that illegal migration is "at odds with British values" (see post at 7.30am), Mr Cleverly insists the UK is "hugely compassionate", but there are people "proactively abusing" the generosity of Britons by entering the country illegally.

'Move now': Foreign secretary's plea to Britons still in Sudan

James Cleverly is giving an update on the evacuation of Britons in Sudan - and tells anyone still there: "If you're planning to move, move now."

The foreign secretary tells Sky News that 536 Britons are certain to have been evacuated, which was the figure last night.

"Rather than giving a drip feed, I think it's better to tell you what we know to be accurate," he says - explaining there are evacuatio flights in the air and also some Britons under the protection of the British armed forces in Khartoum.

He says the ceasefire has made evacuation efforts "considerably easier" - thought the UK "had always planned to evacuate under whatever circumstances were on the ground".

But it will be "much, much harder, potentially impossible" when the ceasefire ends - expected at 10pm UK time tonight.

He urges Britons to go to the airbase north of the capital where the flights are taking off from before the ceasefire ends: "There are planes, there is capacity, we will lift you out."

He cannot give any guarantees after the ceasefire ends, though he says he is pushing for it to be extended.

Mr Cleverly also says he and Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, "don't recognise" reports from German sources that the UK did not have permission to fly into Sudan to evacuate diplomats, which then negatively affected other allies - though he does not completely deny the report.

Foreign secretary speaks to Sky News

James Cleverly is speaking to Kay Burley live on Sky News where he'll talk about the situation in Sudan and much more.

Watch live here:

ICYMI: Braverman says illegal immigrants 'at odds with British values'

By Jennifer Scott and Tim Baker, political reporters

The behaviour of people arriving in the UK on small boats is "at odds with British values", the home secretary has claimed.

Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Suella Braverman said people making the dangerous Channel crossing - who include asylum seekers - were "behaving unacceptably" by "breaking our rules" and "abusing the generosity of the British people".

But she also claimed criminality was "very closely linked" to their arrival, telling our political correspondent Ali Fortescue: "We see that there are many people coming here illegally who are then getting involved in drugs, who are getting involved in violent crime, who are getting involved in prostitution.

"All of that is at odds with British values, all of that is unacceptable behaviour."

She was speaking to Sky News hours before the government's Illegal Migration Bill passed the Commons last night - it will now head to the Lords.