General election live: planned opportunity for media to question Sunak ‘cancelled’ as D-day fallout continues
Planned opportunity for media to question Sunak ‘cancelled’
The prime minister visited a walled garden at Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, on Saturday’s campaign trail.
According to the Press Association (PA), an opportunity for the media to ask questions of Rishi Sunak did not take place as was originally planned, likely following the fallout on Friday of his early return from D-day commemorations in Normandy.
Earlier, the BBC’s Tom Symonds who is reporting from the Conservative election bus, said he’d been told that Sunak would not be talking to “the national media, and there will be no interviews”.
Symonds wrote: “A possible ‘huddle’ – when the PM takes a few questions from reporters off camera – has been cancelled. We’ve been told this is due to time pressure.”
At the garden, Sunak spoke with volunteers Margaret Lambert and Hilary Bellwood, who encouraged him to apply for an allotment garden, reports the PA.
Sunak also watered plants with Jane MacBean, Conservative candidate for Bishop Auckland.
The PA reports that members of the public could be seen gathered at a hillside above the garden to try to catch a glimpse of the prime minister within.
Key events
Viewer poll of Friday’s seven-party debate places Nigel Farage top
A snap viewer poll taken after last night’s seven-party TV debate placed Nigel Farage as the winner, reports the Press Association (PA).
The poll, conducted by researchers More In Common, asked more than 1,000 viewers who won the debate, with 25% of those surveyed opting for Farage. Among those who voted Conservative in 2019, 47% placed the Reform leader at the top of the pile.
Labour deputy leader, Angela Rayner, was favoured by 19% of the respondents while 14% said there was no winner. Just 7% of those surveyed said Penny Mordaunt was the winner of the debate.
The ITV debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer was watched by an average of 5 million viewers, including those who watched on streaming service ITVX, the broadcaster said.
The head-to-head, moderated by Julie Etchingham, had a peak of 5.5 million across devices, according to overnight ratings.
This marked a sharp drop in ratings since the 2019 general election debate on ITV between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, which was the only occasion the two leaders went head-to-head on TV during the campaign, and had an average audience of 6.7 million based on overnight ratings.
According to the PA, the record for the highest-ever TV ratings for an election debate in the UK was set in 2010, by the first leaders’ debate between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, which was broadcast by ITV and had an average overnight audience of 9.4 million.
Rishi Sunak received a largely warm welcome from punters at a village fete in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, on Saturday afternoon reports the Press Association (PA).
At the fete, taking place in a village in his Richmond constituency, the prime minister met stall holders, chatted with members of the public and played a game of splat-the-rat.
The PA reports that Sunak was welcomed by applause from some who appeared to be local Conservative members, but a consultant who identified herself as only Chloe to the news agency asked the prime minister about the NHS backlog as he arrived.
The doctor, who told the PA that she had recently rejoined Labour ahead of the election, said she “wanted to know what his plan is for waiting lists” and said the government had left the NHS “completely unprepared” for the pandemic.
Tom Wilson, Labour’s candidate for the reorganised Richmond and Northallerton constituency that Sunak is seeking to hold, was also at the village event and at one point could be seen following the prime minister’s party at a distance, according to the PA’s reporting.
Finally, here is that promised picture of Ed Davey out on the general election campaign trail today playing adventure golf while a Tyrannosaurus rex looks on.
Wokingham Family Golf in Berkshire advertise the spot as “a brand new 18-hole course taking golfers back to the drama and excitement of the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous ages”.
The BBC general election debate between seven senior political party figures was watched by more than 3 million viewers, the broadcaster has said.
An average audience of 3.2 million tuned in across BBC One and the BBC news channel on Friday evening to watch the politicians clash, according to overnight ratings.
The lineup for the first multiparty debate in this year’s campaign featured Penny Mordaunt, the Conservative leader of the House of Commons, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer and Reform UK’s Nigel Farage.
This might be the first TikTok general election, but it probably won’t be the first election decided by it for one simple reason: the video app’s British users are already likely to vote Labour.
“The problem is that almost everyone on TikTok is already on our side,” said one Labour campaign source. “We need to reach swing voters.”
TikTok’s relatively youthful user base and Labour’s enormous poll lead among younger voters has given the app a strange role in this election. There’s no doubt that tens of millions of Britons are consuming election content on the platform. It is an excellent place for memes to spread, embarrassing videos to go viral, and passionate political opinions to find an audience. And all the parties feel they have to engage with it.
Yet it is also seen within Labour as an unreliable way of carrying Keir Starmer’s core messages on economic or education policy to “Whitby Women” and the other precise groups of undecided voters who will decide dozens of marginal constituencies over the UK.
Even being on TikTok is a strong indicator that someone is already inclined to vote Labour, according to research by Deltapoll. They found TikTok users are 31% more likely to vote for Keir Starmer’s party than people of the same age and background who do not use the video app.
“The conclusion you can take from that is that you’re more likely to be a Labour voter if you use TikTok,” said Mike Joslin, a veteran digital campaigner who commissioned the research for his artificial intelligence start-up Bombe. “Other channels offer you more control over reaching undecided voters.”
You can read Jim Waterson’s full piece here:
On a sunny afternoon in the picturesque Hertfordshire town of Berkhamsted, recent graduate Sadie Bond is making an unusual apology to the local Lib Dem candidate, Victoria Collins. Bond says she is going to vote for Collins next month, but feels compelled to disclose her motivation. “It’s tactical, I’m afraid,” she says. “I’ve only ever really known a Tory government and I’m very much fed up with it. Everything feels a bit hopeless. I want Labour to come into power, but I know that isn’t going to happen in this constituency, so I’m voting Lib Dem.”
Far from being offended, the confession is music to the ears of Collins, who has been working to convince voters that she and the Lib Dems are the best vehicle for anyone simply wanting to stop the Tories here. While Harpenden and Berkhamsted is a new seat, it would be a solid brick in the Conservative blue wall in more normal political times. What makes the Lib Dem task here more intriguing is that this seat is sandwiched between two Labour targets – Hemel Hemstead and Welwyn and Hatfield. In the latter, Keir Starmer’s party hopes to fell cabinet minister Grant Shapps.
As a result, this corner of the county has become a testing ground for a tactical voting drive that could help turn a bad result for the Tories into an outright disaster. To pull it off, Lib Dems want voters in Wheathampstead to be clued up enough to back them, while anyone wanting to register an anti-Conservative vote a short amble away in Lemsford will have to know Labour is the best bet.
Alarmingly for Conservative HQ, many polling experts believe the conditions are ripe for a repeat of 1997, when tactical voting benefited Labour and the Lib Dems and cost the Tories dozens of seats, most notably the toppling of Michael Portillo in Enfield Southgate. This time, Shapps is among the big beasts who could suffer their own polling night infamy.
Tactical efforts came to little at the last election. Hopes among pro-Remain campaigners of an anti-Brexit tactical vote were dashed as Boris Johnson won an 80-strong majority. But conditions have changed. Peter Kellner, the veteran pollster, wrote in the Observer before the 1997 election that while he detected little “positive enthusiasm” for Labour, an electorate with “a burning desire to end 18 years of Tory rule” made for receptive tactical voting conditions. He believes similar ingredients are present today.
You can read Michael Savage’s full news feature for the Observer here:
After trying his hand at tennis in Newbury, Berkshire, Ed Davey has arrived at an adventure golf course in Wokingham.
Davey is using the weekend to speak to voters in and around London and the home counties.
According to the Press Association, the Liberal Democrat leader was two over par on the first hole, flanked by a triceratops and a Tyrannosaurus rex.
Here is a photograph of Davey playing tennis earlier. Sadly, there are no images of him playing dinosaur-themed adventure golf on the newswires yet, but when they do arrive I will let you know.
Sturgeon has a ‘huge’ contribution to make in SNP election campaign, says Swinney
John Swinney has said former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has a “huge” contribution to make in the SNP’s general election campaign, report the Press Association (PA).
Sturgeon has kept a relatively low profile amid Police Scotland’s Operation Branchform investigation, which saw her arrested and later released without charge as officers probe the spending of £600,000 of SNP funds.
Her husband and former party chief executive Peter Murrell was charged with embezzlement as part of the probe. Former party treasurer and current MSP Colin Beattie was also arrested and released pending further investigation.
Charges have not been brought against Sturgeon or Beattie, and Police Scotland say the investigation “remains ongoing”.
In May, Sturgeon was quizzed by journalists on why she had not yet joined her former deputy – now first minister – to campaign for the party as part of the election.
Sturgeon replied: “I will be campaigning in the election from time to time, yes.” When pressed on whether she will campaign alongside the first minister, she added: “John will have his own programme and I will campaign in ways that I think are helpful to candidates.”
Swinney would not be drawn on why his former boss had not been seen alongside him on the campaign trail so far, reports the PA
Speaking as he visited the Reconnect Howden Park Centre, where he met young performers, Swinney told the PA news agency:
I welcome very much Nicola’s contribution to our election campaign. She is supporting a range of different candidates around the country and that’s good.
I work collaboratively and closely with Nicola, and welcome her participation in the campaign.
I think Nicola has got a huge amount to contribute to the SNP and the cause of Scottish independence.”
Planned opportunity for media to question Sunak ‘cancelled’
The prime minister visited a walled garden at Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, on Saturday’s campaign trail.
According to the Press Association (PA), an opportunity for the media to ask questions of Rishi Sunak did not take place as was originally planned, likely following the fallout on Friday of his early return from D-day commemorations in Normandy.
Earlier, the BBC’s Tom Symonds who is reporting from the Conservative election bus, said he’d been told that Sunak would not be talking to “the national media, and there will be no interviews”.
Symonds wrote: “A possible ‘huddle’ – when the PM takes a few questions from reporters off camera – has been cancelled. We’ve been told this is due to time pressure.”
At the garden, Sunak spoke with volunteers Margaret Lambert and Hilary Bellwood, who encouraged him to apply for an allotment garden, reports the PA.
Sunak also watered plants with Jane MacBean, Conservative candidate for Bishop Auckland.
The PA reports that members of the public could be seen gathered at a hillside above the garden to try to catch a glimpse of the prime minister within.
Asked if he would be cutting taxes as part of Labour’s manifesto, Starmer said there “won’t be any surprises on tax”.
During a visit to Camden, north London, on Saturday, the Labour leader said: “All of our plans are fully costed, fully funded, none of them involving tax rises over and above those that we have already set out.”
Keir Starmer has said he wants to level the playing filed for small businesses as he pledged to overhaul the business rates system.
The Labour leader said:
We want to replace them with a system that works better, because at the moment there’s not a level playing field between businesses that are online and those that are sort of bricks and mortar.
It’s been a problem for a long time, the government hasn’t fixed it and small businesses have all gone through a really hard time in recent years.
So, that’s our plan, we want small businesses to thrive because they are the backbone of our economy and they need that stability in our economy, and they need to know that their energy bills are actually going to be lower and stable.”
Starmer was joined by Dragons’ Den star Deborah Meaden in Camden, where she voiced her support for the party’s Great British Energy plans.
She told PA news agency:
I think GB Energy is absolutely brilliant, I think it does everything that I care about.
Businesses don’t like being out of control of costs and energy is one of those costs that simply fluctuates beyond your control.”
Starmer says Labour’s GB Energy plan is ‘very popular’ with small businesses
Labour’s GB Energy plan is “very popular” with small businesses, Keir Starmer has claimed.
Great British Energy, with £8bn of investment, forms the centrepiece of Labour’s promise to decarbonise the electricity supply by 2030. This would stop well short of any form of renationalisation: GB Energy would be a state-owned investment vehicle and company working alongside and often in partnership with the existing private sector suppliers.
Speaking during his visit to the 3 Locks Brewery in Camden, the Labour leader said:
Everybody must remember for a small business you put your money in, you put yourself in, you put your whole self in, and they take risks.
They’ve had a really hard time with this government in recent years, so our plan is to support small businesses and give them that chance that they need.
That does involve replacing rates, because business rates put a real drag on businesses. It also involves stabilising the economy, of course, and Great British Energy, because what’s come up here, comes up with all small businesses, energy is too expensive.
What you can’t have if you run a small business is sort of costs that you can’t control, so Great British Energy, a publicly owned company for renewables, is very, very popular with small businesses.”
Keir Starmer has said it was his “duty” to thank veterans at the international D-day event which the prime minister skipped.
The Press Association (PA) reports that Starmer did not answer a question on whether Rishi Sunak’s apology was enough.
On a campaign visit to 3 Locks Brewing Company, a canal-side craft brewery in Camden, the Labour leader told broadcasters:
I thought it was very important to be there myself as leader of the Labour party.
I took a little bit of time on Thursday just to contemplate what it must have been like for those young men to run up the beach at 17, 18, 19 years old, into gunfire.
And of course, this was allied troops. This was different countries all working together, that international effort, and to consider that they didn’t share a uniform, they didn’t share flags, they didn’t share a language, but what they did share was a determination to carry out the task that was asked of them, which led to the liberation of Europe.
I found that very, very moving. I thought it was my duty to thank the veterans who were there on their own behalf, but also on behalf of those that didn’t return.”
Keir Starmer has met young people who are voting for the first time this year.
The Labour leader pulled the first pint of the day at 10.55am at 3 Locks Brewery in Camden.
Scrapping the Rwanda scheme, helping young adults through the cost-of-living crisis and bettering education were key priorities for the students he spoke to, the Press Association (PA) reports.
According to the news agency, Starmer was heard saying “if all else fails”, he will be back at the brewery on 5 July.
Asked if Sunak should consider his position, Swinney said: “The prime minister has been totally and utterly damaged, and rendered useless by the actions he took in Normandy.”
According to the Press Association, Swinney said that the Tory party’s campaign was “over”, adding: “It’s finished for the Conservatives and it’s finished for Rishi Sunak.”
Scottish first minister says Sunak has “completely destroyed” credibility as PM over D-day absence
Scottish first minister John Swinney said Rishi Sunak had “completely destroyed” his credibility as prime minister by leaving D-day commemorations early.
Speaking to journalists on the campaign trail in Livingston, West Lothian, the Press Association (PA) reports Swinney as saying:
I think Rishi Sunak’s credibility is completely destroyed by his departure from D-day early and the insult he delivered to the veterans who had travelled to Normandy for that solemn occasion.
It also, frankly, was a desertion of the international responsibilities of the prime minister.
The prime minister and especially the Conservative election campaign is now utterly in tatters.”
The prime minister is not the first party leader to make bad decisions during the heat of a general election campaign, writes Tom Ambrose.
In fact, Rishi Sunak’s early departure is just one of a long list of political gaffes made during a general election campaign, says Ambrose, who has helpfully put together a list of some of the most memorable election gaffes.
You can read it here:
Ed Davey has denied that the Liberal Democrats are the party of nimbys for focusing on national parks amid a housing crisis and low economic growth.
The Lib Dems vowed to plough £50m a year into maintaining three new national parks in their latest policy offer.
He told the PA news agency:
No, far from it. You’ll see when we publish our manifesto we’ve got ambitious plans on housing as well, but the right houses in the right places.
But people don’t just want houses, they want to know that there’s the environment there to enjoy. And investing in the environment is right to deal with the nature crisis.”
Davey accused the Conservatives of being the party of nimbys, “but they’re also the party of developers”. He added: “They have a developer-led approach. We have a community-led approach.”
Source link
