Your morning briefing: What you should know for Friday, May 7

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Britain awaits results of Super Thursday’s bumper election day

Votes are being counted in what is the largest test of political opinion outside a general election in the UK.

Labour faces a humiliating loss in the Hartlepool by-election, in a blow to Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, as the Tories look almost certain to steal the Conservative stronghold.

Votes are still being counted in the parliamentary contest but Labour fear Boris Johnson will demolish another brick in the “red wall” of the party’s former northern heartlands.

The result is expected in the next hour.

It comes after voters took part in contests which could shake up British politics and have profound implications for the future of the United Kingdom, on what was dubbed Super Thursday.

Follow the latest updates and results as they come in, HERE.

Holidaymakers to find out quarantine-free destinations after weeks of speculation

Holidaymakers will today discover which destinations they can visit this summer without quarantining.

Portugal, Iceland and Malta are among those expected to be on the travel green list due to be published later following weeks of speculation.

Quarantine and coronavirus testing requirements for people arriving in England once foreign holidays are permitted from May 17 will be based on a new traffic light system, with destinations placed on green, amber and red lists.

UK to step up diplomatic efforts with France amid Jersey fishing row

Diplomatic efforts with France will be stepped up to prevent a repeat of the Jersey fishing dispute.

The Royal Navy will continue to keep a watch on events but the two vessels deployed to the Channel Island were ordered back to port after the French protest ended.

The UK Government will now work with France and Jersey to resolve the dispute before it escalates further.

About 60 French boats took part in the protest around Jersey’s main port, St Helier, in a dispute over post-Brexit fishing rights, before subsequently returning to port yesterday.

India coronavirus strain ‘to be declared variant of concern’

A coronavirus strain first detected in India is likely to be elevated to a “variant of concern” after clusters were found in several areas of England, according to reports.

Cases of the variant have been found in schools, care homes and places of worship in the north-west London and the East Midlands, largely linked to travel, Channel 4 News has reported.

The broadcaster said it is “highly likely” it will be declared a “variant of concern” on Friday, though cases remain relatively low.

Such a change can mean an escalation in response from Public Health England (PHE), including ordering surge testing.

Childish Gambino sued for copyright infringement over This Is America

Singer-songwriter Childish Gambino is being sued over claims that he stole the Grammy award-winning song This Is America from another artist.

Emelike Nwosuocha, known as Kidd Wes, has blamed Gambino, real name is Donald Glover, for copying his single Made in America.

The artist claims Gambino’s This is America’is a copy of his track, which was released on SoundCloud in 2016 and registered with the US Copyright Office in May 2017.

According to court documents filed in New York, he said the “lyrical theme, content and structure” of the two songs’ choruses are “glaringly similar.”

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