As we've been reporting today, Sky News understands that China is behind a mayor data breach at the Ministry of Defence, which impacted a third-party payroll system.

The Chinese government has dismissed this as "absurd".

Asked about this, Rishi Sunak said: "There are indications malign actor has compromised the Armed Forces payment network. 

"But I do want to reassure people the Ministry of Defence has already taken action, removing the network and taking it offline and making sure the people affected are supported in the right way. 

"Now, there's a limit to what I can say about this now, but the defence secretary will be making a full statement to parliament later today."

The lead story from our team in Westminster today is that of a Chinese government hacking attack on the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Our deputy political editor Sam Coates broke the story late last night and can help you get up to speed…

What's happened?

According to Sam's sources, the Chinese government has managed to hack one of the MoD's contractors.

This is the one that deals with its payroll.

Sam explains this means "more than a quarter of a million service personnel, plus a number of veterans" have been affected.

Their names, bank account details, and "in some cases" their addresses have been exposed.

What's being done about it?

Sam says the MoD worked "for days" to work out how to respond, though this morning a minister said it had "acted swiftly" (see 7.30 post).

Meanwhile, "the government is scrambling to reassure veterans and service personnel they will still be paid and it will be business as normal".

But ministers have been reluctant to publicly blame China, despite government sources telling Sam and other journalists it was Beijing.

Why won't the government blame China?

Sam does note it makes for a "bizarre spectacle" to have the government seemingly "walking this tightrope" between not wanting to anger China and briefing journalists about the hack.

Beijing has also responded to the story today, saying the reports it is responsible are "fabricated" (see 10.14 post).

Sam says it comes down to the importance of Britain's economic relationship with China.

"But it is quite clearly a threat," he adds.

Rishi Sunak's response so far may not be enough for Tory MPs who themselves have been targeted by China because of their criticism of Beijing's regime.

We should hear more from the defence secretary this afternoon.

Ministers are reviewing the operations of a third-party contractor whose systems were hacked in a cyber attack on the Ministry of Defence, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister's spokesman said: "In relation to the specific contractor involved in this incident, a security review of that contractor's operations is under way and appropriate steps will be taken after that."

Downing Street has declined to attribute the reported cyber attack on the Ministry of Defence to a specific state or actor.

However, Sky News understands the hack is linked to China.

Asked whether China was responsible for the attack, the prime minister's official spokesman said: "The defence secretary (Grant Shapps) is going to give an update to parliament on this this afternoon.

"You will appreciate I'm obviously limited in what I can say until then, other than the Ministry of Defence has already taken immediate action, isolating the network and supporting personnel affected.

"I can't get into any further speculation around the origination of the attack."

Two of Westminster's best-connected journalists, Sky News's Sam Coates and Politico's Jack Blanchard, guide you through their top predictions for the next seven days in British politics. 

Following the local and mayoral elections, Jack and Sam discuss how Rishi Sunak will try to get back onto the front foot and whether the Conservative rebels will continue to plot against him.     

They also predict that the country will come out of recession and look forward to a new SNP leader in Scotland following the resignation of Humza Yousaf. 

 Email with your thoughts and rate how their predictions play out: jackandsam@sky.uk or jackandsam@politico.co.uk         

Over to Scotland, where Humza Yousaf has just signed his resignation letter as first minister.

His successor as SNP party leader, John Swinney, could take over the top job as soon as today, pending a vote in Holyrood.

The Scottish Government said the King has accepted Mr Yousaf's letter of resignation and the Scottish parliament has been notified.

Mr Yousaf said: "Being the first minister of the country I love, the country I am raising my family in, and the only country I will ever call home has been a phenomenal honour."

'I could never have dreamed of leading Scotland'

"As a young Muslim boy, born and raised in Scotland, I could never have dreamt that one day I would have the privilege of leading my country," he added. 

"People who looked like me, were not in positions of political influence, let alone leading governments when I was younger."

Mr Yousaf said he was proud of his record, pointing to action on railway fares and a council tax freeze.

He said he would "continue to champion the rights and voices of those who are often not heard" as a backbench MSP.

Sadiq Khan has just signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office to begin his historic third term as the mayor of London.

He received 1,088,225 votes (43.8%) to be re-elected, a majority of nearly 276,000 over Tory rival Susan Hall, who secured 812,397 votes (32.7%).

Continuing his conversation with Sky News, Iain Duncan Smith said bluntly: "China is a threat."

The former Tory leader said: "It threatens the way we live our lives, it threatens who we are

"It's part now, a key part of the axis of totalitarian states - which is China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia.

"They're busy in the Middle East, it was through knowledge of that Iran created this problem in Gaza by encouraging Hamas to make their attacks, knowing full well the attention of the US would turn to Israel and not Ukraine, and give Russia some breathing room.

"Until we wake up to the fact everything we do with China has a very big price tag, until we actually get down to saying this is what is happening, and we're calling China out.

"If we're robust with them, they will understand, and be more malleable in the end."

The results of the local elections made for grim reading for the Conservative Party.

Last Thursday, polls opened in 107 English councils, with thousands of seats up for grabs. 

Ultimately, the Tories lost 474 seats and 12 councils, while Labour gained 186 and eight respectively.

You can see the results in full below:

There were also a number of mayoral elections.

In total, 11 mayors were elected. Here are the results in full:

• Tees Valley, Conservative Ben Houchen re-elected
• York and North Yorkshire, Labour's David Skaith 
• North East, Labour's Kim McGuinness elected
• East Midlands, Labour's Claire Ward elected
• Liverpool City Region, Labour's Steve Rotheram re-elected
• South Yorkshire, Labour's Oliver Coppard re-elected 
• Greater Manchester, Labour's Andy Burnham re-elected 
• West Yorkshire, Labour's Tracey Brabin re-elected 
• London, Labour's Sadiq Khan re-elected 
• Salford, Labour's Paul Dennett re-elected 
• West Midlands, Labour's Richard Parker defeated Conservative incumbent Andy Street

You can have a look at the results in more detail here:

The Sky News live poll tracker - collated and updated by our Data and Forensics team - aggregates various surveys to indicate how voters feel about the different political parties.

With the local elections complete, Labour is still sitting comfortably ahead, with the Tories trailing behind.

See the latest update below - and you can read more about the methodology behind the tracker here.