The Last Word is back tonight. On my panel…

🟠 Vikki Slade MP
🔵 Greg Smith MP
🔴 Kevin McKenna MP

Plus interviews with 🟢 Green & ⚪️ Reform leaders.

ITV1 after News at Ten 📺

EXC: South East Water CEO David Hinton tells ITV News Meridian he's declining a bonus this year because he's "let customers down".

He insists he "really understands water" and is staying on in post because "changing the team would delay improvements".

NEW: Tunbridge Wells MP Mike Martin describes South East Water CEO's evidence to Parliament as "utterly pathetic".

The Lib Dem told ITV News Meridian the company is a "disgrace" and that David Hinton "must resign" as chief executive.

Sir Ed Davey told me Tory mismanagement of local authorities and a lack of central government funding was behind Lib Dem council tax rises.

He cited Woking and Windsor & Maidenhead councils as examples of "clearing up Conservative mess".

Full story 👇
www.itv.com/news/meridia...

EXC: Sir Ed Davey has defended Lib Dem councils after new analysis found they were increasing council tax bills on average by more than those run by other parties.

Sir Ed told ITV News Meridian that in many cases it was because the Tories had run the councils "very, very badly".

NEW: Conservative Paul Holmes accuses Labour ministers of 'gerrymandering' over decision to redraw the local council map of Hampshire.

Hamble Valley MP tells ITV News Meridian new big unitary councils will mean local identity is eroded in Southampton, Portsmouth and rural areas.

NEW: Labour’s Darren Paffey defends the government's decision to replace 15 local councils in Hampshire with just five.

The Southampton Itchen MP tells ITV News Meridian that the major shake-up will mean councils 'have enough scale' to deliver public services effectively.

The Lib Dems say there are "serious questions to answer as to how this candidate got approved".

Labour say "Nigel Farage should have booted Chris Parry out of his party months ago".

More reaction on the ITV News website 👇
www.itv.com/news/meridia...

Dr Chris Parry

BREAK: Reform UK has suspended Chris Parry, their mayoral candidate for Hampshire and the Solent, after a string of controversial social media posts.

When he was selected, the party described the retired Rear Admiral as having an "extensive and impressive career".

NEW: Tunbridge Wells MP Mike Martin is calling for Ofwat to waive its £22m fine for South East Water and replace it with an enforced investment plan.

The water regulator proposed the penalty for multiple supply failures in Kent and Sussex from 2020 to 2023.

Full story👇
www.itv.com/news/meridia...

Lots of reaction to this interview...

Labour Chair Anna Turley says both the Tories and Reform are "trying to play the public for fools".

A Reform spokesman says "Kemi's Conservatives left a trail of chaos and financial mismanagement in their wake."

Full story 👇

www.itv.com/news/meridia...

EXC: Kemi Badenoch has denied that a local election slogan to 'lower taxes' meant council tax would actually go down.

The Conservative Leader told ITV News Meridian: "Council tax goes up with inflation… We’re not saying people are going to have less [tax] than they paid before."

Dame Sarah Mullally told me it was a "beautiful day" as she set off on her 87 mile pilgrimage from St Paul's to Canterbury.

It's the first time a new Archbishop of Canterbury has made the six day journey along the Becket Way ahead of their enthronement.

NEW: Aldershot MP Alex Baker has written a letter – signed by 18 other Labour MPs – urging the British government to “seize this moment” to engage with the new government of Nepal “to address the longstanding issues that Gurkha veterans have faced”.

Your favourite regional political programme is back!

The Last Word panel:
🔵 Donna Jones
🔴 Chris Ward MP
🟢 Baroness Jenny Jones

Also on this month's show:
🟠 Calum Miller MP
⚪️ Nigel Farage MP

Tonight at 10.45pm on ITV1 in the Meridian region 📺

Bracknell MP Peter Swallow is told to leave the Commons by the Speaker because of his conduct during #PMQs.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle said to the Labour backbencher: "You're going out. I've had enough... week in, week out. Either leave now or I'll name you."

Responding Lib Dem leader on KCC, Cllr Antony Hook, said: "Reform UK told voters in Kent whatever they needed to to get into power."

Labour MP Tris Osborne said: "Nigel has already moved on. Sadly left the consequences for our residents."

Full interview 👇
www.itv.com/news/meridia...

EXC: Nigel Farage defends Reform-run Kent County Council increasing council tax by 3.99% despite election leaflets last year pledging to “reduce waste and cut your taxes”.

Mr Farage told ITV News Meridian: “Cutting taxes can be not putting them up as much, I suppose.”

NEW: Folkestone & Hythe MP Tony Vaughan has co-ordinated a letter from 100 Labour MPs to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood expressing concerns about her asylum reforms.

"We can change our immigration system for the better without forgetting who we are as Labour."

NEW: Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says the government's U-turn over delaying elections in Sussex is "a victory for democracy in this country".

NEW: Local elections "should never have been cancelled in the first place", says Lib Dem MP Jess Brown-Fuller.

Chichester MP tells ITV News Meridian that the U-turn "shows the Government does not have a strategic vision for this country".

NEW: Labour MP Peter Lamb calls on Sir Keir Starmer to do the “responsible thing” and set out a “timetable for departure in May”.

The Crawley MP tells ITV News Meridian this would allow the party to “get on with electing a new leader”.

The Last Word. After Mandelson: How do we restore trust in politics? YouTube video by ITV News In Full

Could the Mandelson scandal spell the end of Keir Starmer’s premiership?

We debate that, plus Suella Braverman’s defection, assisted dying bill stalemate in the Lords and celebrating food and drink from the South.

ITV's The Last Word is available now on YouTube 👇
youtu.be/VAwDDfzRJb8?...

NEW: Chair of the National Maternity Investigation tells ITV News Meridian she "remains committed" to publishing her final report in the Spring.

Baroness Amos admits meeting the deadline will "take a lot of hard work" as she calls for more women to share their experiences.

EXCL: South East Water's under-fire CEO is refusing to attend Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's scrutiny meeting on Monday.

In a letter seen by ITV News Meridian, David Hinton argues it's “happening too soon” for him to be able to give the committee “the answers they understandably want”.

BREAK: The Government cancels East and West Sussex County Council elections – for a second year in a row. Polls originally due in 2025, now won’t happen until 2027 at the earliest.

If you missed January's The Last Word on ITV1, you can get your fix of regional political discussion anytime on ITVX and YouTube!

We discuss government U-turns, cancelling local elections and South East Water failures.

📺 www.itv.com/watch/news/t...
💻 www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2B-...

NEW: Lib Dem MP Layla Moran says South East Water "seems to have done the extraordinary thing of making Thames Water look good".

The Oxford West & Abingdon MP says water firms should be run as "public benefit companies".

📺 'The Last Word' tonight on ITV1, ITVX & YouTube

NEW: Poole Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan tells me the party’s leadership sees backbenchers like him as a "nuisance not an asset".

His advice for the PM: "Listen to backbench MPs more".

📺 'The Last Word' tonight on ITV1, ITVX & YouTube

NEW: Conservative MP Kit Malthouse tells me Robert Jenrick's sacking "doesn't come as any surprise" and that Kemi Badenoch has been "decisive".

"You need an ideological coherence within a political party."

📺 'The Last Word' tonight on ITV1, ITVX & YouTube