Sir Keir Starmer faced a grilling from voters this morning while Rishi Sunak campaigned in the southwest.
Senior figures from the main parties met for a seven-way debate shown on Channel 4.
Channel 4’s debate on immigration, law and order has drawn to a close in Colchester.
The panel, moderated by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, was asked how British foreign policy contributed to increasing migration in a more unstable world.
Rhun ap Iorwerth, for Plaid Cymru, said that tackling climate change was important to reduce migration flows to the West, and accused a Reform UK representative of promoting “climate denial” in Wales.
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Richard Tice, for Reform UK, said net zero was the “wrong answer”.
Keith Brown, the SNP deputy leader, said Britain had lost its “moral authority” over Brexit and that instead of spending money on Trident the Westminster government should spend more on aid.
From left, Chris Philp, Home Office minister; Rhun ap Iorwerth, leader, Plaid Cymru; Richard Tice, chairman of Reform UK; Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats; Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy; Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party; Keith Brown, the SNP deputy leader; and Nick Thomas-Symonds, shadow minister without portfolio
MATT ALEXANDER/PA
3 hours ago
7.45pm
Immigration lawyer: Migrants being left in limbo
An immigration lawyer in the Channel 4 audience asked the politicians how they would improve conditions for migrants left in “limbo” and return “compassion” to immigration policy.
Nick Thomas-Symonds repeated Labour’s pledge to “smash” smuggling gangs and to end the Conservatives’ flagship Rwanda scheme. Richard Tice, for Reform UK, asked him how he “will actually stop the boats” coming across the Channel.
The audience laughed at Chris Philp, the Tory policing minister, when he pointed out to Tice that no flight to Rwanda had yet taken off, and continued to chuckle as he tried to explain how the deportation policy would act as a deterrent.
3 hours ago
7.32pm
Afghan refugee addresses politicians
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The Channel 4 debate has heard from an Afghan refugee in the audience who said he wanted a “compassionate and humane” approach to immigration. He said it had taken him 15 years to acquire UK citizenship.
“We should be proud of providing sanctuary to people like me,” the man said, to applause from the audience in Colchester.
Carla Denyer, the Green Party leader, said there should be safe passage for refugees, that the system should be sped up and that asylum seekers should be allowed to work.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy, moderating, asked Chris Philp, the Tory policing minister, if he felt “ashamed” by Conservative policies.
Nick Thomas-Symonds said he hoped Labour would change the conversation on immigration if elected to government.
3 hours ago
7.25pm
Phone retailer pips for Labour
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A prominent Tory donor who gave £500,000 to the party in 2019 has switched his allegiance to Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party (Steven Swinford writes).
John Caudwell, the Phones4U founder, criticised Tory “failures” during the pandemic, a “lowering of ethical standards” under Boris Johnson and the “debacle” of Liz Truss’s brief premiership.
The billionaire said he had supported the Tories for 51 years. Read the full story here.
3 hours ago
7.15pm
Immigration takes centre stage in live debate
The speakers were asked in the second section of Channel 4’s broadcast about immigration. They were shown polling which suggested voters did not trust politicians’ promises to reduce numbers.
Philp leapt to defend the government’s record instead of responding to the poll, while Thomas-Symonds said the figures did not come as a “surprise”.
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He said Labour would bring in a “proper plan” to import workers where they were needed in the economy, but Krishnan Guru-Murthy challenged him to outline the details.
The SNP’s Keith Brown received applause for describing the exchange as “depressing”. He said he had hosted Ukrainian refugees and that the Conservatives had to bring back legal routes for asylum seekers.
Tice, from the anti-immigration Reform UK party, said the Tories had allowed mass immigration “deliberately”, despite promises to the contrary.
Daisy Cooper said the Lib Dems would invest in a “skills strategy” and a higher wage for care workers, instead of relying on cheaper foreign labour. “We have the worst of both worlds,” she said.
3 hours ago
7.10pm
Philp criticises Sadiq Khan on crime
Chris Philp told Channel 4 viewers he disagreed with Sadiq Khan’s views on how to tackle violent crime.
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“I believe in stop and search as a way of taking knives off the streets,” the Tory policing minister said.
“Labour’s mayor, Sadiq Khan in London, unfortunately doesn’t — which leads, I think, to London’s streets being less safe.”
4 hours ago
7.00pm
Women ‘no longer trust the police’
The speakers were asked about violence against women.
Polling has been cited which shows that nearly half of women do not trust the police.
Tice said trust in the police was a “disaster” and that the time it took for crimes to go through the system was a “disgrace”.
Philp said the government had recruited 1,000 more judges to speed up cases and that rape prosecutions were 50 per cent higher than under Labour. He said the Tories intended to outlaw drink spiking while the Lib Dems’ Daisy Cooper attempted to interject to disagree.
Thomas-Symonds said Philp should be “apologising to this audience, not boasting”.
4 hours ago
6.50pm
Channel 4 audience homes in on crime
The first question from the audience is about how many crimes police are solving, and what policies the panel would introduce to keep police officers in the job.
Chris Philp for the Conservatives said he wanted to invest in “hot-spot policing” to target where antisocial behaviour was a problem. He said that the government had “got crime down 44 per cent” but ministers “needed to do more”.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, for Labour, paid tribute to police officers’ bravery and said the Conservatives had “failed” on crime prevention. Thomas-Symonds promised thousands of extra police officers to make them more “visible” on the streets.
Richard Tice for Reform UK said knife crime had tripled and called for increased use of stop-and-search. Carla Denyer of the Greens said stop-and-search was a “racist endeavour”.
Rhun ap Iorwerth for Plaid Cymru said he had been attacked by teenagers when he was young and it had left a “deep impact” on him. He called on Westminster to give Wales the powers to control its own policing policy.
4 hours ago
6.41pm
Pollsters used ‘gold standard’ techniques
The survey used the “gold standard” of polling — multilevel with poststratification — to model individual constituency results. It was based on research involving 19,689 adults and took place between June 7 and 12.
Ipsos said the Lib Dems would pick up a slew of seats across the southeast and southwest, upping their tally to 38 seats and regaining their position as the third party in the Commons.
The picture for the SNP was less clear, with the party neck and neck with Labour in Scotland and predicted to win about 15 seats. This would mean a loss of 33 seats from their 48 total.
About 117 seats in total were “too close to call”, the pollster said, with the remaining weeks until July 4 vital in dictating their outcome. Even disregarding those, Ipsos estimated that Labour would still win more than 400 seats.
Beaver said: “This data, in line with most of the evidence that we have seen both in the run-up to this election and since the campaign started, in terms of the mood of the nation and real election results in local elections and by-elections, suggests that the British political scene could be heading for yet another significant shift.”
4 hours ago
6.36pm
Voters think they’d run the country better
Nearly four in ten voters think they would do a better job than the present politicians, new polling for Times Radio suggests today (writes Oliver Wright).
Amid widespread disillusionment with all the main parties, the YouGov survey found that 39 per cent of people thought they would be more effective than political leaders while another 14 per cent said they would be equally good.
The poll also found that one in ten voters had considered running for local political office while 7 per cent had thought of standing as an MP.
Men were about twice as likely as women to aspire to roles such as local councillor (14 per cent versus 7 per cent), and more than three times as likely to aim for the position of MP (10 per cent versus 3 per cent).
The research was commissioned by Times Radio as part of its Election Bus Tour, which is travelling across the UK to listen to people and highlight the issues that matter most to them.
4 hours ago
6.30pm
Corbyn set to lose Islington North seat
In further news that will be cheered at Labour Party HQ, the Ipsos poll suggests that Jeremy Corbyn is set to lose the Islington North constituency he has represented since 1983.
The former party leader is standing as an independent.
The former Labour Party leader is standing as an independent candidate
PETER NICHOLLS/GETTY IMAGES
4 hours ago
6.20pm
Analysis: Tories face a summer washout
The latest widespread constituency-based poll — this time from Ipsos — makes yet more grim reading for the Tories (writes Oliver Wright).
It suggests that the Conservatives’ fortunes are even more dire than they were two weeks ago when YouGov found that the party would be reduced to a rump of 140 MPs.
Now Ipsos suggests that the Tories could win as few as 115 seats, giving Labour a majority of 256. But while all the polls suggest the result is a foregone conclusion, the scale of Labour’s victory or the Conservatives’ defeat is not.
The poll suggests 117 seats are “too close to call”. The question is whether voters in these seats are receptive to the Conservative argument that they should not give Labour a supermajority — and lend their vote to the Tories even if they are furious with them.
So far in this election, little that the Tories have said has cut through. The party’s fate now rests on this last, slightly desperate throw of the dice.
4 hours ago
6.25pm
Ipsos: Tories could dip below 100 seats
The pollster Ipsos has estimated the Conservatives could sink to just 99 seats.
Kelly Beaver, chief executive of Ipsos UK and Ireland, said: “Labour is increasing its 2019 vote share across the country, especially in Scotland and the northeast, while the Conservatives are losing votes in all regions — especially in the east and south of England, and across the Midlands.
“What is perhaps most concerning for them are signs in the data that they are particularly losing vote share in the areas where they were strongest in 2019.”
The poll was conducted after Nigel Farage announced his campaign to become MP for Clacton. It suggests he is on course to win that seat, with his Reform UK party also picking up Lee Anderson’s Ashfield constituency and possibly another, with 12 per cent of the national vote.
It would put the party’s vote share level with the Greens, who Ipsos suggests could win in Bristol Central, North Herefordshire and Waveney Valley, while losing their seat in Brighton Pavilion to Labour.
5 hours ago
6.04pm
Polling predicts record Labour landslide
Labour is on track to command the largest majority of any postwar government and win more than 450 seats, according to a poll of 20,000 people.
The poll by Ipsos predicts Labour would win 43 per cent of the vote and secure 453 seats, granting Sir Keir Starmer’s party a majority of 256 and decimating the Conservatives to just 115 seats.
It would represent a crushing defeat for the Tories, and their worst since 1906, with Grant Shapps, Penny Mordaunt, Gillian Keegan, Johnny Mercer and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg losing their seats.
The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, would come close to losing his Surrey constituency of Godalming & Ash, with the cabinet ministers James Cleverly and Kemi Badenoch — seen as potential future leaders of the party — also clinging on.
5 hours ago
5.53pm
What to expect from tonight’s Channel 4 debate
Krishnan Guru-Murthy will at 6.30pm host seven senior politicians from across the political spectrum to debate in front of a live audience in Colchester.
Leaders of the main parties have left it to shadow minister without portfolio Nick Thomas-Symonds from Labour and the Home Office minister Chris Philp from the Conservatives to take part.
Carla Denyer for the Greens, the Lib Dems’ Daisy Cooper, Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru, Keith Brown for the SNP and Richard Tice for Reform UK will also take part.
The 90-minute broadcast, which we’ll cover live on this blog, will feature questions from Guru-Murthy, then open the discussion up to the studio audience.
Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader, will appear in the Channel 4 programme
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5 hours ago
5.30pm
Dragon breathes fire into Starmer’s campaign
Labour’s business charm offensive continued as Theo Paphitis, a multimillionaire retailer who appears on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den, praised Sir Keir Starmer as “engaging and interesting” when he met him on a train.
5 hours ago
5.22pm
Sunak denies focus on safe seats during visit to Devon
Rishi Sunak has rebutted suggestions that he was prioritising safe seats because he had given up on winning the election.
While visiting the traditional Tory heartlands of North Devon, where Selaine Saxby is defending a majority of almost 15,000, the prime minister was asked whether he had given up on victory.
He replied: “No. It’s because, as I say, whenever someone asks me a question like that I say the same thing, which is I don’t take a single vote for granted and I’m going to be in every single part of our country talking to people about the choice at this election.
“Why have I been in the places I’ve been today in Devon? Well, firstly, I was with fishing communities, because the choice is crystal-clear at this election, the Labour Party did not mention the word fishing once in their manifesto, whereas we’ve made sure there’s an extra billion pounds of cash available for British fishing fleets … again, there’s only one party at this election that’s really on the side of British farmers … that’s what I’m doing in Devon today.”
The prime minister hosts a Q&A at a farm in north Devon while on the General Election campaign trail
BEN BIRCHALL/PA
6 hours ago
4.44pm
Reeves hints at holding the key to power
Rachel Reeves has had a key made with a “No 11?” keyring in a Timpson branch in Staffordshire.
The shadow chancellor set out how her party would back British business.
She was joined by Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary, and Leigh Ingham, Labour’s candidate for Stafford, Eccleshall and Villages.
6 hours ago
4.17pm
Vote Tory to hold Labour to account, says Cameron
Lord Cameron has called for voters to back the Conservative Party if they are worried about the prospect of a future Labour government being held to account.
Attacking the Liberal Democrats while speaking in North Devon, Cameron said: “If you vote for anyone else, if you vote for the Liberal Democrats, they won’t hold Labour to account.”
Cameron argued the Liberal Democrats were “not a force to confront them but simply an echo of them”.
“They would make them [the Labour Party] worse”, he added.
Cameron said voting in Liberal Democrat candidates would lead to “more taxes, more spending, more borrowing, more wokery, more nonsense”.
7 hours ago
3.46pm
Scottish Labour leader launches manifesto
The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, has said change in Scotland will be a “two-stage process” as his party launched its manifesto.
Sarwar said he was looking to 2026, when Scots will next go to the polls in a Holyrood election, as he laid his plans before the general election next month.
He said at the launch in Edinburgh: “The manifesto we have published today of course reflects much of what the UK Labour manifesto outlined last week, demonstrating what a UK Labour government will deliver in office.”
Scottish Labour, he said, would improve policing, reform the planning system, ban second jobs for MSPs and bring in a recall mechanism at Holyrood, as well as reducing the poverty-related attainment gap in education, if it forms the government in 2026.
Sarwar launches Scottish Labour’s general election manifesto at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
IAIN MASTERTON/ALAMY
7 hours ago
3.38pm
Duffield: Cashman’s ‘lazy’ comment was unfortunate
The Labour candidate Rosie Duffield, who pulled out of a local hustings event over safety concerns, has said it was “unfortunate” that Lord Cashman “made it so personal” after he called her “frit or lazy” for not attending.
Cashman was suspended from the Labour Party for his comments. It later emerged that Duffield had not turned up due to “the constant trolling, spite and misrepresentation from certain people”.
She told Times Radio: “He can call me whatever he likes, but I really resent being called lazy because I work very hard and I love my job. I think most MPs work very hard, actually.”
Duffield said she had declined interviews after Cashman’s comments were criticised, adding: “I think all that can do is just incite more sort of hatred and trolling of him, and that’s not fair. He’s absolutely entitled to his views.”
Explaining why she felt unsafe to attend the hustings, she said: “It just got to the stage where the sort of online incitement was just too much. People saying, you know, “let’s get Duffield” at this event or whatever.” She said the “potential violence” “messes with your head”.
Cashman later apologised “unreservedly”.
Duffield has faced abuse for her views on women’s rights
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JACK HILL
7 hours ago
3.30pm
Cameron: Labour will bring more wokery
Sunak and Lord Cameron are struggling to feed sheep on a campaign visit to a farm in the safe seat of North Devon.
“Come on,” the prime minister said as the flock ran to the other side of the pen. “They don’t want to play ball,” a farmer accompanying Sunak said.
The prime minister told farmers later in a Q&A it had been “a real privilege” to understand the contribution they made to society.
He was introduced by Lord David Cameron, who warned the Liberal Democrats would bring more “wokery” to politics.
The visit to North Devon, which has a 15,000 majority, indicates that Sunak is pursuing a defensive strategy to short potential Tory losses in the “Blue Wall”.
7 hours ago
3.12pm
TikTok pushes voter registration
There was a surge in applications to register to vote at midday today which coincided with TikTok sending a push notification to its users via the app.
The social media site sent a push notification urging its users to “register today to vote in the General Election”.
The Gov.uk “register to vote” performance dashboard showed a peak of 3,973 applications had occurred at 12.15pm.
This surge in applications started from noon, rising to 2,954 from 2,295 at 11.55am.
8 hours ago
2.45pm
Shapps’s admission was an ‘extraordinary moment’
Grant Shapps’s admission on Times Radio yesterday that the Conservative Party was “not likely” to win the general election was an “extraordinary moment”, Steven Swinford, The Times’s political editor, has said.
Speaking to Times Radio, Swinford argued the Conservative Party’s pitch was “predicated on the Tories heading for defeat and that they are going to lose” which means it is “not necessarily an attractive and positive pitch”.
Yesterday Shapps insisted he was a “realist” which is why he accepted the Conservative Party winning the election was not the “most likely outcome”.
Swinford told Times Radio that this was “an extraordinary moment” and admitted: “I’ve never seen anything like that during an election campaign.”
8 hours ago
2.40pm
Starmer signals support for frozen beer duty
Frozen beer duty is important for pubs, Sir Keir Starmer has said, as he signalled his support for the tax measure.
The Labour leader said he agreed with comments made by Rachel Reeves, where she hinted that a beer duty freeze would continue under Labour. The shadow chancellor told The Sun it had been “right” to campaign for alcohol duties to remain frozen.
But she would not outright commit to maintaining the freeze ahead of polling day, because of the “state of the public finances”.
Asked about the remarks of his colleague, Starmer said: “I think it is important that we support hospitality and the beer duty is part of the package there.
8 hours ago
2.33pm
Farage repeats demand to be included in head-to-head
Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, has welcomed the BBC’s decision to include Reform in a Question Time leaders’ special event but has called for them to go further.
Farage said he was “pleased” about Reform’s inclusion in the event with the Green Party this Friday, but he repeated his demand that he is included in the BBC’s head-to-head debate between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer.
Farage posted on Twitter/X: “I am pleased that the BBC acknowledge that support for Reform UK has been growing in this election. We must now be included in the head-to-head debate with Sunak and Starmer on June 26.”
8 hours ago
2.10pm
Labour ‘would renew small boat crossing deal’
Labour will renew and “improve” a multimillion pound deal with France to stop small boat crossings, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, struck a deal last year promising €541 million between 2023 and 2026 towards a Franco-British effort to prevent people from crossing the Channel.
Starmer was asked whether he would continue with the deal, which has been criticised for its apparent ineffectiveness. He said a Labour government would renew it but added: “I think we need to improve on that. All of the reports I’ve seen into that initiative show that it’s not proving effective in the way that it should, and I think that’s shown by the numbers.”
8 hours ago
2.05pm
Times campaign to clean waterways ‘really important’
The Labour leader praised the campaign to clean up Britain’s waterways
WIKTOR SZYMANOWICZ/FUTURE PUBLISHING VIA GETTY IMAGES
Sir Keir Starmer has praised The Times’s Clean It Up campaign for raising awareness of the state of rivers, lakes and seas.
The Labour leader said: “Well done to you and the media in this campaign because it’s a really important campaign and it matters … amongst the ways that we can address that is better enforcement. I think we need to look at new regulations on top of that, then liability to the top of the business that’s running the show here.”
9 hours ago
2.02pm
Blair was right on gender comments, says Starmer
Sir Tony Blair was right to say a man has a penis and a woman has a vagina, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
Blair made the comments this weekend when questioning why politicians had got themselves into a “muddle”. Asked about Blair’s remarks, Starmer said: “Tony’s right about that. He put it very well.”
9 hours ago
1.40pm
Sunak: The future of country is at stake
Rishi Sunak and the West Devon MP Geoffrey Cox take a trip on a lobster boat in the harbour at Clovelly
LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES
“The future of our country is at stake,” Rishi Sunak has said on the campaign trail in North Devon as the deadline to register to vote looms.
Asked about the importance of registering to vote, Sunak said: “The future of our country is at stake, we’re living in uncertain times and people need to decide who’s got the clearest plan and the boldest ideas to deliver a more secure future.”
Sunak said he was in North Devon to talk to fishing villages and towns and claimed the Conservatives were the only party that “cares for them”.
He said “fishing” was not mentioned once in Labour’s manifesto. The deadline for registering to vote is 11.59pm this evening. It can be done via the Electoral Commission’s website.
A Labour government would “review” voter ID rules after the general election, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The Labour leader was asked why his party had not pledged to scrap the laws requiring people to present ID to vote. He told Sky News: “The first thing I’d say is, remember, every person who’s watching this, you do need ID going into this election.
“Obviously there’s been a review into the impact, and there will be a review into this general election on the impact of ID. So we’ll look at that in due course. I think we need to review and look at the ID rules. I am concerned about the impact. I won’t shy away from that. But my message today is remember your ID when you go to vote this time around.”
The ID requirement was introduced in 2022 to crack down on possible voter fraud but it was heavily criticised for the potential to disenfranchise parts of the electorate. Previously, voters only needed to give their name and address to be able to vote.
9 hours ago
1.28pm
PM: Johnson endorsements make all the difference
Boris Johnson’s support for Conservative candidates “will make all the difference” and is being organised by party strategists, Rishi Sunak has said.
Praising Johnson’s intervention in the campaign through writing letters endorsing candidates and recording supportive videos, Sunak told broadcasters: “It is great that Boris Johnson is supporting the Conservative Party. He is endorsing many candidates with videos and letters which have been endorsed by the campaign.”
Sunak added: “I know that will make a difference and, of course, every week he is making the case in his column and making sure that everyone understands what the Labour government would do to this country and why it’s important that everyone votes Conservative and I’m glad he’s doing that.”
9 hours ago
1.24pm
Osborne questions Tory tactics
DAVE BENETT/GETTY IMAGES FOR THE AMBASSADORS THEATRE GROUP
Rishi Sunak is fighting the “wrong campaign” and should focus on the so-called blue wall of Conservative seats in the south rather than the threat of Reform, George Osborne has said.
The former chancellor said the Tory campaign had been affected by a YouGov poll for The Times that put Reform ahead of them last week.
“Sunak is being pulled into fighting, in my view, the wrong campaign which is trying to stop Reform coming second whereas he should still be trying to focus on limiting the damage of Labour coming first or limiting the loss for the Conservatives,” he said on his podcast with Ed Balls, Political Currency.
Osborne said Labour was “running riot” in the blue wall and he warned Sunak against personal criticism of Sir Keir Starmer. Taking the advice of “various people in the Tory party” and becoming “the lead negative campaigner for the Conservatives against Keir Starmer” would be a “disaster for the party but also a disaster for him”, he said.
10 hours ago
1.05pm
Starmer: Channel migration is a real test
The migrant crisis in the Channel is “a real test for government and would-be government”, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
Asked about the latest reports of migrants, including children and babies, rescued by Border Force in the Channel, he said: “We have to stop this vile trade of the gangs that are putting vulnerable people into boats to cross that Channel and breaching our border security.
“The only way to stop this is to smash those gangs and that is why we will set up our border security command. This will be a new command with new powers, working with others to smash these gangs.
I used to be the chief prosecutor, I did this in relation to terrorism about certain gangs and I absolutely think that we can do it now.”
10 hours ago
1.00pm
Reform and Greens on extra night of Question Time
A BBC Question Time leaders’ special will run on Friday featuring Reform and the Green Party, after the usual episode on Thursday, which will include Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and the SNP.
The BBC said it had scheduled the Friday show at 8pm because “it is clear from across a broad range of opinion polls that the support for Reform UK has been growing”.
“As a public service broadcaster the BBC recognises that the policies and proposals of the party deserve scrutiny at a time convenient for mass audiences”, a spokesman added. The “same scheduling opportunity” was offered to the Green Party in the interests of fairness.
10 hours ago
12.46pm
Scottish Labour against two-child benefit cap
Scottish Labour is against the two-child benefit cap, Anas Sarwar has said, despite there being no plans to scrap the measure if Labour wins the election.
Asked if he was against the cap, which only allows families to claim benefits for two children, the Scottish Labour leader said: “The short answer is yes. We were right to oppose the two-child limit, we were right to vote against the two-child limit.”
However, he added: “The honest reality is after 14 years of Tory economic carnage, we will not be able to do everything we want to do as fast as we want to do.”
Sir Keir Starmer has not committed himself to scrapping the cap, saying it is a “tough decision” the party had to make “because of the damage to the economy”. Instead he has said Labour will have a child poverty strategy. However, on Monday he said that he was “not immune from just how powerful an argument this is”, adding that he was “not going to put a date on these things”.
10 hours ago
12.40pm
Farage to be interviewed on Panorama
Nigel Farage will be interviewed by Nick Robinson on Friday evening.
The BBC presenter confirmed that the Reform UK leader had agreed to be interviewed for his Panorama interviews series. The interview will air at 7pm on BBC1.
Robinson has already interviewed Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer, John Swinney and Rhun ap Iorwerth. His interview with Adrian Ramsay from the Green Party airs tonight at 10.55pm and the interview with Sir Ed Davey is on June 28 at 8pm.
Sir Ed Davey plays with a frisbee at Crowd Hill Farm, Hampshire
ANDREW MATTHEWS/PA
10 hours ago
12.35pm
Dragons’ Den star says Labour is on the right track
Sir Keir Starmer with Theo Paphitis on a train to Hampshire
STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA
Theo Paphitis, the Dragons’ Den star, joined Sir Keir Starmer on a train in Hampshire after he endorsed the Labour Party for power.
The tycoon has previously donated to the Conservative Party but earlier this year he said that the Conservatives “have no right to stay in power” as they had done “a rubbish job”.
Paphitis also criticised the “appalling” comments which were made about the former Labour MP Diane Abbott by Frank Hester, the Conservative Party’s biggest donor. When asked on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg in March which political party he would invest in if he was still on Dragons’ Den, he said: “The Tories have just done such a rubbish job over the last seven or eight years.
“They’ve spent all their time looking inwards on themselves [rather] than doing the job that we’ve elected them to do. So they have no right to stay in power whatsoever.”
10 hours ago
12.28pm
Reform candidate called King weak and questioned his loyalty
A candidate for Nigel Farage’s Reform party called the King “weak” and claimed he was under the control of global elites.
Angela Carter-Begbie questioned the King’s loyalty to Britain, saying it was “about time King Charles show where he truly lye” [sic], and said she was “not a fan”.
The candidate, who is standing for Reform in the new seat of Queen’s Park and Maida Vale in northwest London at the general election, wrote on her Twitter/X account on April 23 to say that he was “under the WEF”, referring to the World Economic Forum, which organises the annual meeting in Davos of world political and business leaders.
Read the full story here: Reform candidate called King weak and questioned his loyalty
10 hours ago
12.18pm
Farage’s personal life? It’s complicated
There are those who say politicians’ private and public lives belong to such different realms there is no read-across.
This month, hearing Farage complain about British Muslims speaking in foreign tongues in the street, Mishal Husain on Radio 4’s Today pointed out that they may speak English elsewhere. Were Farage’s own children not bilingual?
Farage called the question “pretty poor form” and refused to answer, despite having six years ago told a Guardian interviewer that the two daughters from his also no-longer functioning second marriage to a woman from Hamburg spoke “perfect German”.
Read the full story here: Nigel Farage’s personal life? It’s complicated
11 hours ago
12.05pm
Starmer ‘won’t come clean about tax plans’
Senior Tories sought to again draw attention to Labour’s tax plans, after Sir Keir Starmer said he would not “write the budgets for the next five years”.
Responding to the Labour leader’s phone-in with LBC, Laura Trott, the chief secretary to the treasury, accused Starmer of failing to “come clean” on Labour’s tax plans. She said: “After repeated questioning, Keir Starmer has confirmed higher council tax and other tax rises are on the cards for pensioners and families if Labour win.
“It’s worrying that Keir Starmer won’t come clean about how much money a Labour government will raid from families — especially as Labour will be unaccountable after it locks itself into government for a generation by rigging the system through bringing in votes at 16. Only the Conservatives have a clear plan to cut taxes. Labour’s £2,094 tax raid is just the beginning — they are a generational threat to everyone’s financial security.”
Starmer did not say council tax would rise under Labour, despite Trott’s assertion. However, he would not rule out changes to council tax.
11 hours ago
11.55am
Sunak should be more aggressive, says ex-chancellor
Rishi Sunak on the election campaign trail
LEON NEAL/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Rishi Sunak should fight a “more aggressive campaign” against Sir Keir Starmer, the former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has told GB News.
Kwarteng described Starmer as a “man of the left” and argued that “he’s obviously trying to pretend or portray himself as something more akin to a centrist politician”.
“I think it’s the job of the Conservative Party, and particularly the prime minister, who is going head to head with Sir Keir to point that out”, he added.
Kwarteng told GB News that he believed people would be “very surprised to hear some of the positions” that the Labour leader has taken in the past. Addressing the prospect of Reform picking up more seats than the Conservatives, Kwarteng said: “I don’t think Reform will supplant the Conservative Party.”
11 hours ago
11.45am
‘For this generation and the next’ — Scottish Labour launches manifesto
Anas Sarwar introducing the manifesto for Scottish Labour
ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
A vote for Labour is “for this generation and the next”, Anas Sarwar has said, as he launched Scottish Labour’s general election manifesto.
Sarwar said Scotland will be a “global leader” in the transition to net zero as he touted plans for GB Energy, a publicly-owned clean energy company.
The Scottish Labour leader said the SNP and the Tories are not prepared to: “Protect the northeast of Scotland and give people the skills they need as we transition away from oil and gas. That’s why we need a Labour government to maximise Scotland’s opportunity.”
He continued: “A vote for Scottish Labour on July 4 is a vote to change Scotland for this generation and the next. We will do this by improving access to apprenticeships, supporting first-time buyers, creating those jobs in the industries of the future, and delivering a pay rise for 40,000 young Scots.”
11 hours ago
11.40am
Sex and gender dominates Woman’s Hour debate
Sex and gender emerged as a key issue during a debate between senior women from the UK’s seven biggest parties.
The first question asked of the politicians during a BBC call-in on Woman’s Hour was: “How important is it to your party to clearly and correctly identify what a woman is?” Each participant appeared to struggle with the vexed question of how to balance inclusivity, fairness and safety for women, particularly in relation to trans women.
Mims Davies, the Conservative MP for Mid Sussex, said “protecting” female-only spaces had been an “absolute priority” for the government.
The leaders also grappled with how to regulate the athletic participation of trans women, with Davies pledging to protect the “competitiveness of sport”.
Sarah Jones, the Labour MP for Croydon Central, said that a woman is an “adult female” but that “sex and gender are different”. She said Labour would want to see changes to both the Gender Recognition Act and the Equality Act.
11 hours ago
11.30am
Do Tory claims of blackouts under Labour’s energy plans stack up?
The Conservative claim is simple: Labour’s energy plans will lead to blackouts and a £4.5 billion shortfall in tax receipts. The message is part of Tory attempts to make Rishi Sunak’s “pragmatic” approach to net-zero targets an important election dividing line and seed concerns among undecided voters about the risk of a Labour government.
Labour dismisses the claims as “desperate nonsense” and at root the argument is less one about arithmetic than about each side’s gut sense of where Britain’s future security lies. The Conservatives say that failing to “max out” North Sea oil and gas is foregoing energy that is essential in an increasingly insecure world. Labour says the real risk is failing to quickly enhance domestic renewable energy capacity, which reduces reliance on global oil and gas markets.
The Conservative attack is twofold. Firstly, they attack Labour’s promise not to issue licences to explore new oil and gas fields in the North Sea, claiming it will “destroy” 200,000 energy jobs and lead to more imports.
Read the full story here: Do Tory claims of blackouts under Labour’s energy plans stack up?
11 hours ago
11.15am
Huge Labour majority would be dangerous, Hague warns
The Labour Party would “never lose a vote on anything however bad the laws they draft”, William Hague, the former Conservative Party leader, has told Times Radio.
Warning voters about the dangers of governments having huge majorities without an effective opposition party, Hague warned that if the Labour Party had a majority of about 460 to 470 seats in the next parliament then “no minister would need to resign no matter what they get up to”.
Drawing on his experience of leading the Conservative Party when Tony Blair was in power, Hague said it was a “pretty difficult” time for the party as it was not possible to “shadow in depth any of the departments”.
“The government can do more or less anything it likes without much exposure or questioning,” he added. Hague said he was “worried” about the parliamentary side which “people probably don’t think about much during an election”.
12 hours ago
10.50am
Analysis: Starmer’s rock and a hard place
Sir Keir Starmer has struggled to answer questions on his support for Jeremy Corbyn
BEN STANSALL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The problem with the Corbyn question for Sir Keir Starmer is that there is no politically helpful answer (Geraldine Scott writes).
For years journalists have tried to get a straight yes or no on whether when he said Jeremy Corbyn would make a good prime minister — in two subsequent elections — he meant it.
It turns out all it took was an LBC phone in and a question from Graham in Bushey. Starmer finally admitted that he would have served in a Corbyn cabinet, because there were “important” things to do.
The issue, and the reason Starmer has avoided a clear answer, is that both yes and no are equally damaging. Say yes, and he suggests he supported Corbyn and risks spooking the electorate. Say no, and face accusations of flip-flopping, or not telling the truth at the time.
Either answer — and Starmer’s today — give the Conservatives a new attack line, one we can expect to see used very soon.
12 hours ago
10.40am
Leading women go head-to-head for debate
The UK’s seven biggest political parties are currently going head-to-head once again in a BBC Radio debate.
As the election campaign enters its final weeks, leading woman from the seven biggest political parties are facing 90 minutes of questions during a special edition of the Woman’s Hour programme on BBC Radio 4.
Hosted by Nuala McGovern, the senior politicians are:
• Labour – Sarah Jones
• Conservatives – Mims Davies
• Lib Dems – Daisy Cooper
• SNP – Hannah Bardell
• Green Party – Ellie Chowns
• Plaid Cymru – Liz Saville Roberts
• Reform UK – Maria Bowtell
Voters called in to quiz Sir Keir Starmer over Labour’s policies
AARON CHOWN/PA
Labour would implement a review of arms export licences to Israel, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
Asked if he would stop arms sales to Israel, the Labour leader said this would depend on what is being exported.
During an LBC call-in, Starmer said: “So far as arms are concerned, there are a number of licences that allow arms to be sold to Israel, they need to be reviewed. The government has in fact got legal advice on this in relation to what’s being sold and what it’s being used for.”
He added: “It depends what is actually being exported. Let me give you an example, if something is being exported for purely defensive reasons, you’ve seen the Iran attack on Israel, that is materially different to something which is being used, let’s say, in a Rafah offensive.”
12 hours ago
10.25am
Greens ‘believe our place is within EU’
Adrian Ramsay, the co-leader of the Green Party
CHRIS RADBURN FOR THE TIMES
The UK should rejoin the European Union when the “political and economic circumstances are right”, Adrian Ramsay, the co-leader of the Green Party, has told Nicky Campbell on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Sarah from Doncaster voted for Brexit and asked Ramsay if the Green Party was in favour of reversing Brexit. “Ultimately, we believe that our place is within the EU, we are a party of international co-operation,” Ramsay said.
With the Labour Party far ahead in the polls, Rob from Croydon questioned whether voting for the Green Party was a wasted vote.
Ramsay insisted that it was important for people to “vote with your heart” and promised the party would “push the government beyond the timid promises that Labour is putting forward”.
12 hours ago
10.23am
Labour ‘would tackle gangs behind small boat crossings’
Labour can “make a difference” on small boat crossings, the shadow business secretary has said, and insisted the party would aim to tackle “criminal gangs”.
Asked whether Labour could stop the boats within give years, Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News: “The question should be, do you want real measures to try and improve that situation or are you for gimmicks?”
He added: “If you’re going to spend money, it’s a lot of resources going into the Rwanda scheme already. You’ve got to do it on the things that will make a difference — that’s real action against the criminal gangs behind that; it’s not pretending to the British people there’s some magic solutions at huge cost.”
Reynolds was asked whether there would be any exemptions to adding VAT to private school fees for military families. He told GB News: “No, I believe we said there’ll be an exemption for people who are on an education and health care plan if they’ve got special educational needs.”
12 hours ago
10.20am
No Premier League transfer levy planned
Sir Keir Starmer is a keen football fan
JEREMY SELWYN
Labour will not consider a 10 per cent Premier League transfer levy, Sir Keir Starmer has said, despite his shadow culture secretary suggesting she would back the plan.
Thangam Debbonaire said on Monday she would “look at everything again that was in Tracey Crouch’s fan-led review” when asked about the levy, which was not taken up by the government.
However, Starmer told LBC: “No, no, let me just kill that one. We’re not looking at that. That isn’t part of our plans for football governance, we will get that Football Governance Bill in, it’s much needed for fans, but that isn’t part of it.”
12 hours ago
10.15am
Starmer: My wife cheered me up after first debate
The Labour Party leader and his wife, Victoria
CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY IMAGES
Sir Keir Starmer said his wife cheered him up after he thought that the first televised election debate did not go well.
Starmer said he was “frustrated” by the 45-second limit on answers in the first debate, and said: “I’m not good company when I’m in that place.”
However, he said his wife, Victoria, “cheered me up on that one”. He said she was “very plain speaking and very down to earth,” and added: “She’s the person that gives me the straight advice every time.”
12 hours ago
10.10am
Boosting workers’ right ‘won’t lead to mortgage rises’
HSBC is “wrong” to say that Labour’s plans to boost workers’ rights will lead to a surge in mortgage costs, Sir Keir Starmer said.
Economists at the bank have warned that forcing firms to introduce a “genuine living wage” could trigger an increase in unemployment and push up mortgage costs.
However, Starmer told LBC: “I just don’t agree with that, they’re wrong about that. I have talked to I don’t know how many businesses about this and when I take them through our plans, most of them say that’s stuff we’re already doing.”
Mother of Nottingham stabbing victim questions Starmer
Emma Webber asked the Labour leader about an inquiry into the Nottingham attacks
KEN MCKAY/ITV/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
Sir Keir Starmer has backed a judge-led inquiry into the deaths of two university students and a school caretaker in Nottingham.
Emma Webber, the mother of Barnaby Webber, who along with Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates was killed by Valdo Calocane last June, asked the Labour leader on LBC whether he would back a reform of homicide laws and a public inquiry into the attacks.
Starmer said: “My resolve is to ensure that we have that inquiry and make sure that doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
He said: “I think a judge-led inquiry is the right way forward. I was concerned about the way the system had let her and the family down in terms of the barges, the communication with the families. It was difficult to hear what they’d been through.”
Labour ‘will create two-state solution’ in Israel-Palestinian conflict
It will be part of a Labour government’s “solemn duty” to play its part in creating a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
Starmer said he was already discussing negotiations with world leaders, and said he was “absolutely clear that there needs to be an immediate ceasefire”.
He said: “It will be important to me and to a Labour government that we play our full part in evolving this for the long-term and that means a two-state solution.” He said if Labour wins it would be “our solemn duty to play our full party in resolving this”.
Would Starmer have served in Corbyn’s cabinet?
Sir Keir Starmer refused to give a yes or not answer over whether he would have served in a Jeremy Corbyn cabinet.
Starmer was asked by a caller on LBC to answer yes or no, but he said he did not believe Labour was going to win the election in 2019.
He defended signing off on Corbyn’s manifesto by saying he was responsible for the Brexit section as shadow Brexit secretary. “It was Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto, my manifesto is very different,” he said.
Starmer: Farage hasn’t costed manifesto so can say what he likes
Nigel Farage can put anything he likes in his manifesto because it is not fully costed, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
Starmer was asked why Labour would not scrap the two-child benefit limit, a pledge Reform has made and many Labour MPs back. He told LBC it had been a “difficult decision”.
He said: “We don’t have a magic wand, there isn’t money available, everything has to be fully costed and fully funded, and we’re not able to do that.”
Put to him that Farage had outflanked Labour on the policy, Starmer said: “Nigel Farage, he hasn’t really funded his manifesto, and that’s fine, if you don’t fund your manifesto you just say you can have anything you like.”
‘We should protect single-sex spaces’
The Labour leader responding to questions from voters on LBC
PA
NHS patients with gender recognition certificates can be accommodated in side rooms to keep wards single sex, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The Labour leader was challenged over how his party could make it easier to obtain a gender recognition certificate while also protecting single-sex spaces. He told LBC: “I think we should protect single-sex spaces for women and girls.”
He said that proposals to reform the GRC process do not “cut across safe spaces that are very, very important”.
Asked about the situation in hospitals he said: “It’s actually NHS policy for wards to be single sex.”
He added: “Many, many wards have the traditional beds laid out in that way … many wards these days do have side rooms for general use, and they can be accommodated.”
Labour’s plans ‘don’t require tax rises’
Sir Keir Starmer has not ruled out a rise in council tax under Labour. He said it would be “foolish to write five years worth of budgets” during a call-in on LBC.
He said there would be “no increase in income tax, in national insurance and in VAT” and he said his plans did not require tax rises.
Starmer said tax rises were not the only way to bring in revenue, and said Labour was looking to grow the economy. However, when asked whether he could rule out council tax rises, he said: “What I’m not going to do is sit here two weeks before the election and write the budgets for the next five years. What I can say is that none of our plans require tax rises.”
He added: “I understand this is a different approach and Labour leaders in the past might have come on saying ‘yes, tax, tax, tax’. We’re not going to do that. We’re going for growth, growth, growth.”
Don’t strike during campaign, Starmer urges doctors
Doctors will stay in the NHS if they are given “respect”, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
Starmer was asked on LBC how he would stop NHS doctors moving abroad for better pay and conditions, and how he would stop junior doctors from striking. He said “on the retention crisis we need the have better respect for our doctors and everyone in the NHS”.
Starmer said he “takes a different approach” to the strikes, but that he was asking doctors not to strike during the election campaign.
He said: “We’re very close now to the opportunity for a different approach with a Labour government if we get over the line, so don’t strike because that causes all sorts of issues inevitably for patients.”
Starmer: I have nothing against private schools
The Labour leader said he wanted all children to have good opportunities
STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA
Sir Keir Starmer has said he has “nothing against private schools” as he was challenged over Labour’s plans to tax fees.
Starmer, during a call-in on LBC, said there would be exemptions for pupils with special educational needs. However, he said “all parents have aspiration for their children, including parents who send their children to a state school”.
He said: “I’ve got nothing against private schools and I do understand that many parents save and work hard to send their children to private schools. I want to make sure that every single child wherever they come from, whatever their background, has the opportunity to get on in life.”
Tories have ‘moved on’ from Johnson
The Conservative Party has “moved on” from Boris Johnson, the farming minister has said.
Amid reports the Tories could try to use the former prime minister to boost the party’s prospects in the election, Mark Spencer said Rishi Sunak was the “future”.
He told Times Radio: “Obviously, I’m a huge Boris fan. Boris was fantastic for the country when he was the prime minister. But of course, now we’ve moved on. Now we’re in a different phase of politics. And I think following Covid and Ukraine, we do need that steady management of the economy and of No 10, which Rishi delivers.
“And that sort of competent delivery that Rishi has is certainly something that we need to move forward in the future with.”
Abolish private education, said Reeves
Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves at Southampton Docks
KIN CHEUNG/AP
Rachel Reeves backed a campaign to ban private schools and called for their abolition as recently as 2019. The shadow chancellor said independent schools “segregate children based on parental wealth” and “entrench privilege and divide communities”, the Telegraph reported.
In posts on Twitter/X from 2019, when Reeves was a backbench MP, she said: “We should work to abolish private education.”
She also backed a the Labour Against Private Schools campaign, which called for independent schools to be integrated into the state system. Ed Miliband also backed the campaign.
Labour plans to start charging VAT on private schools if the party wins the general election. A Labour spokesman told The Telegraph that Reeves’s remarks did not reflect Labour policy.
Farage refuses to say if he is proud of Reform candidates
Nigel Farage refused three times to say if he is proud of Reform’s candidates, but said repeatedly on ITV’s Good Morning Britain that he did not agree with the views of some of those standing.
Farage said “most of our candidates are not political sophisticates” after he was asked about an investigation by The Times which found candidates for Reform UK are “friends” on Facebook with Gary Raikes, the British fascist leader. He said: “People like each other on Facebook without knowing who they’re liking.”
Farage was also asked about a candidate who said Britain should have taken up Hitler’s offer of neutrality. He said: “In a free society people are allowed to have different opinions. I disagree vehemently that we should not have participated in World War Two.”
However, he added: “Once your name is on the ballot paper, it can’t be removed.”
Summary of policies in Farage’s ‘contract’
Nigel Farage has published Reform UK’s “contract” with the public, designed to show that the party is not just a one-trick anti-immigration pony.
The party has pledged to cut more than £100 billion of government spending, which it says would allow it to make £88 billion worth of tax cuts.
So what would Britain look like under a Farage-led government? And more importantly, do the polices and the sums behind them in Reform’s manifesto add up?
Read the full story here: Reform UK manifesto 2024: summary of policies in Farage’s ‘contract’
Farage apologises for ‘trouble with one or two candidates’
The Reform leader has said that he is sorry after claiming the party has been “stitched up politically”
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Nigel Farage has claimed that Reform has been “stitched up politically” by a vetting company paid to check the backgrounds of candidates, but dismissed one of his picks calling Hitler “brilliant” as “nonsense”.
The Times revealed on Monday that Jack Aaron, the party’s candidate in Welwyn Hatfield, had described Hitler as “brilliant” and “able to inspire people to action” as part of a pseudoscientific theory that promotes 16 personality types. Aaron said he had been speaking from a psychological perspective.
However, Farage, Reform’s leader, said it was “nonsense”. He told LBC: “If you ask me was Hitler a good public speaker and I say yes, suddenly I’m a supporter, this is nonsense.
“Have we had trouble with one or two candidates? Yes we have and there’s going to be a story breaking later today that explains we paid a large sum of money to a well-known vetting company and they didn’t do the work, we have been stitched up politically, it’s given us problems, I accept that and I’m sorry for that.”
Labour’s plans ‘risk nation’s food security’
The Conservatives have accused Labour of “treating rural communities with contempt” by not including a promise to maintain the farming budget in its manifesto.
The party also claimed that Labour had a “secret plan” to increase taxes on farmers because it had not explicitly ruled out abolishing an exemption from inheritance tax for agricultural properties.
Steve Barclay, the environment secretary, said that Labour is planning a £1 billion inheritance tax raid on farmers that would “risk our nation’s food security.”
Writing for The Telegraph, he claimed that Labour could scrap tax breaks that allow agricultural land to be passed down tax free. Axing existing reliefs, Barclay said, would leave families facing “ruinous” bills of £600,000 for the average farm.
A Labour spokesman said the claims were “yet more desperate nonsense from a Conservative Party that has lied throughout this campaign”.
Boris Johnson to join mail campaign
Carrie Johnson shared images of the family’s recent holiday in Italy
Boris Johnson has been on holiday in Italy, it emerged overnight, after Carrie Johnson posted pictures on her Instagram of the couple with their children in Sardinia.
The former prime minister’s wife posted several pictures on her public account last night alongside the caption: “Beautiful Sardinia. Pasta, ice cream, beach. Repeat.”
Johnson is to participate in a mail campaign aimed at voters who supported the Tory party under his leadership but are now considering Reform. The letters warn that a vote for Farage’s party would risk putting Labour in power for “a generation”.
The summer holiday comes after Rishi Sunak warned Conservative MPs last month that election campaigning is not optional after Steve Baker, a Northern Ireland minister, decided to fly to Greece.
Tories ‘absolutely’ in it to win
The Conservatives are “absolutely” in the election to win it, the farming minister has said.
Mark Spencer was asked on Times Radio whether the Tories were pursuing a strategy of damage limitation, after Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, suggested it was unlikely that his party would win the election.
However, Spencer said: “No one has ever told me to take that line at all. That certainly is not something that I would be comfortable with. I want to fight for every single vote.”
He told Times Radio: “There are three weeks to go, we are fighting for every single vote, we are out there every single day banging on doors trying to get our message across.”
Asked if the Conservatives were still in it to win it, he replied: “Yeah, absolutely. Of course we are.”
Voters sceptical parties will deliver on pledges
Voters remain largely unconvinced of the cost of parties’ manifesto pledges
GEOFF CADDICK/GETTY IMAGES
At least half of voters are sceptical that the main parties can afford their manifesto pledges, a poll has found.
The Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats all published their manifestos last week, claiming to have fully costed their policies to ensure they were affordable.
However, a survey by pollster Ipsos published on Tuesday suggests that most of the public do not share that view. Some 50 per cent said they were not confident that Labour could afford the policies in its manifesto, with just 37 per cent saying they were confident.
Figures for the other main parties were worse. Just a quarter of voters were confident that the Conservatives could afford their policies, while 62 per cent said they were not. For the Lib Dems, 57 per cent said they were not confident their policies were affordable.
High streets ‘reduced to ghost towns’
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has outlined Labour’s plans to reinvigorate high streets with banking hubs
LUCY NORTH/PA
Labour have said they will set up hundreds of banking hubs to help ensure customers can still receive an in-person service in their local high street.
Thousands of bank branches have closed over the last decade with the consumer group Which? putting the figure at over 6,000 since 2015.
The hubs will allow staff from several different banks to operate in the same premises with private rooms where they can discuss more complex and sensitive financial matters.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said many high streets had “been reduced to ghost towns”, but that could be changed by their plan to grow the economy alongside “hundreds of new banking hubs that can support local communities and their businesses”.
Lib Dems pledge to clean up waterways
Sewage and plant debris on the Jubilee River in Dorney Reach
MAUREEN MCLEAN/ALAMY
As part of their pledge to clean up Britain’s rivers, the Liberal Democrats have said they would recruit 100 new water inspectors to tackle companies releasing sewage.
They propose spending £10 million a year on increasing the number of inspectors as well as unannounced visits to facilities belonging to water companies.
The inspectors would be employed by the Clean Water Authority, the party’s proposed new regulator, and they would have the power to force entry to sites where companies had been slow to grant access.
Sir Ed Davey, the party’s leader, said: “A new wave of sewage busters will ensure no water company gets away with polluting our treasured rivers, lakes and coastlines.”
Read more on The Times campaign to clean up the country’s waterways here: Clean It Up campaign one year on: what progress has been made?
SNP attacks Labour’s commitment to child benefit cap
John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, said the party’s pledge is politically indefensible
JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES
Labour are also being attacked by the Scottish National Party over their commitment to keeping the two-child benefit cap. The policy was introduced by the Conservatives in 2017 and restricts child tax and universal credits to the first two children in the majority of households.
John Swinney, the first minister of Scotland, said Labour’s commitment to stick to the pledge was politically indefensible as scrapping it would lift “thousands of children out of poverty”.
Paul O’Kane, Scottish Labour’s social justice spokesman, said their other policies would bring children out of poverty and said his party’s record in government for doing so spoke for itself. He added: “John Swinney, Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon have all broken promises, having presided over virtually static rates for children in poverty.”
Tories target Labour tax rise
In their latest attempt to raise the spectre of a Labour government increasing taxes, the Conservatives are calling on them to rule out scrapping referendums on council tax rises. Under current rules, parliament can set a limit on the amount council tax can rise by — this year it is 4.99 per cent. If a council wants to exceed this, it must have a referendum first.
The Conservatives have said they would keep this rule in place if they were re-elected, whilst it is not mentioned in Labour’s manifesto.
Labour described the claims they might abolish the rule, in order to allow councils to raise more tax revenue, as “hysterical” and “desperate”. Michael Gove, the outgoing communities secretary, said: “If they can rule out higher taxes in one area, they should be able to rule out letting councils increase taxes on hardworking families.”
Debate follows Reform manifesto launch
Richard Tice will bang the drum for his party as he appears in the debate this evening
LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES
In a timely piece of scheduling that comes a day after Reform launched their manifesto, Channel 4 will host the next television debate this evening and focus on the topic of immigration.
Richard Tice, the party’s chairman, will speak for Reform, and will face-off against six other politicians representing their parties.
The debate in Colchester, Essex, will also look at the issue of law and order and is hosted by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, the news presenter. It is to be broadcast at 6.30 and last 85 minutes.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMia2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZXRpbWVzLmNvbS91ay9wb2xpdGljcy9hcnRpY2xlL3VrLWdlbmVyYWwtZWxlY3Rpb24tbGF0ZXN0LW5ld3MtdG9yaWVzLWxhYm91ci1yZWZvcm0taG1mcTg5emt40gEA?oc=5
2024-06-18 18:45:28Z
CBMia2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZXRpbWVzLmNvbS91ay9wb2xpdGljcy9hcnRpY2xlL3VrLWdlbmVyYWwtZWxlY3Rpb24tbGF0ZXN0LW5ld3MtdG9yaWVzLWxhYm91ci1yZWZvcm0taG1mcTg5emt40gEA
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