A sitting mayor who was blocked by Labour from standing for a new regional role has quit the party in protest at Sir Keir Starmer's leadership. Jamie Driscoll, who was Labour's North of Tyne mayor, said he had "no other choice" but to quit the party after he was barred from running as North East mayor last month. He said he would now serve the region as an independent mayor. In a letter to the Labour leader, Mr Driscoll accused Sir Keir of breaking "so many promises", including plans to scrap tuition fees, watering down a £28bn commitment to tackle...