Labour’s manifesto puts Starmer in spending ‘straitjacket’, warns Ed Balls

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Labour’s “straitjacket” manifesto would make Sir Keir Starmer’s first year in office very difficult, Ed Balls has warned.

Sir Keir has explicitly ruled out any rises in income tax, National Insurance and VAT under a Labour government.

Speaking on his Political Currency podcast, Mr Balls, a former Labour shadow chancellor, said the Labour leader and Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, face “huge expectations” while giving themselves “little room for manoeuvre”.

“I think people will look back on this manifesto, which is now seen as cautious and careful, and think of it as being something which was very constraining, and a potentially risky thing to do for Labour because this manifesto is absolutely boxing Labour in,” he said.

“It will be seen as a straitjacket, with tough fiscal rules and limits on borrowing, big commitments not to raise income tax or VAT or national insurance.

”For Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves there are huge expectations, no money, little room for manoeuvre, inherited plans which are very tight, and an economy which isn’t growing. So I think that creates a big set of expectations and that is the consequence of the manifesto strategy. This manifesto makes the first year in government for Labour very difficult.”

The party’s plans to raise taxes by more than £8 billion a year, coupled with the £23.5 billion post-election tax hikes already announced by Jeremy Hunt, would leave households facing a £1,100-a-year tax rise, according to the Resolution Foundation, a Left-wing think tank.

You can follow the latest updates below and join the conversation in the comments section here. You can also find the latest general election poll tracker here.

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“So I’m not going to put an arbitrary figure, I am going to say the numbers need to come down, they need to come down substantially. They’re way higher now than they’ve been ever before. They need to come down. The way to bring them down is to make sure the underlying drivers such as the skills shortage is dealt with. So that’s what we want to do.”

7:11PM

Lord Frost: Starmer’s plan for growth is built on a dangerous fantasy

I listened to Sir Keir Starmer claiming the Labour manifesto was about economic growth. Once I’d stopped laughing, I couldn’t help thinking of an old episode of Yes Minister in which Jim Hacker is given the job of “transport supremo”, writes David Frost.

His first set of ideas, to rationalise and reform Britain’s transport system, is spiked by the PM because of the effects on his own constituency. Realising he must get rid of the job, Hacker turns despairingly to Sir Humphrey.

“Don’t worry, minister. We now produce the other kind of proposal – the high cost high bureaucracy one. A British National Transport Authority, regional boards, area councils, committees, the lot. Everyone will have a fit. And the job will go back to the Department of Transport.”

And so Labour will behave. Having scorned Liz Truss’s attempt to jolt the economy into growth, Labour thinks that it can achieve wealth creation by direction and control instead.

One of the many achievements of the Tory governments of the 1980s and 1990s was to ensure that such ideas got the mockery they deserved. But since Gordon Brown’s time, they have crept back, and they reached their zenith in the Labour approach announced yesterday.

David Frost: The world of lockdowns and busybodies is Labour’s inspiration

7:03PM

Taxi for Tice

This from the Reform party chairman:

7:03PM

Green Party takes manifesto offline after HIV backlash

The Green Party has taken its manifesto offline amid a backlash to its depiction of HIV.

An easy-read version of the document accompanied a pledge to end HIV transmissions by 2030 with a photograph of a man looking visibly unwell and coughing.

A Green Party spokesperson told Sky News: “Soon after publication we were alerted to how an image we used in our easy read manifesto could be misinterpreted.

“For clarity we temporarily took the manifesto down to replace this image with a more suitable image that better communicates our policy to work towards no more HIV transmissions by 2030.”

6:58PM

Keir Starmer: We will implement Cass review in full

Sir Keir Starmer has promised to implement the findings of the Cass review in full.

The landmark report by paediatric consultant Dr Hillary Cass was published in April and concluded that children who think they are transgender should not be rushed into treatment they may regret.

Its 32 recommendations included calling for the “unhurried” care of those under 25 who think they may be transgender; an end to the prescribing of powerful hormone drugs to under-18s; and early help for primary school children who want to socially transition.

Asked whether the Cass review would be introduced in its entirety, Sir Keir said: “Yes, and that is what our manifesto says.”

6:52PM

Starmer: ‘Everything’ about Brexit deal will need negotiation

“Everything” about Britain’s deal with the European Union will have to be negotiated, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

Speaking on LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr, Sir Keir said: “I think with the deal that we’ve got that Boris Johnson negotiated, we got a botched deal and that has had an impact. That’s why what you seen in our manifesto today, as part of our growth plan, is a better deal with the EU.

“That is an essential part of our growth plan to make trading easier, to ensure we can do some of the research and development that we need and the education, but also crucially in the area of defence and security. I accept that we’ve got a botched deal that Boris Johnson inflicted on us – we can do better than that and that is essential for the future plans for creating wealth and growing our economy.”

Sir Keir insisted “not all roads lead to a relationship” with Brussels, but when asked if his ambition went beyond a veterinary agreement, he said: “Everything is going to have to be negotiated. I do think we got a botched deal. I think we could do better. A veterinary agreement would make it much easier to trade. That would also lesser the tensions in relation to the situation with Northern Ireland.”

The Labour leader said the UK “should do whatever we can to make it easy for people to travel on holiday, get into the continent and back… Of course we will do anything to make it easier for anybody to holiday, whether it’s in Europe or abroad.”

6:37PM

Sunak on the move

Rishi Sunak arriving with G7 leaders as they gather to watch a parachute drop at San Domenico Golf Club in Puglia, Italy

Credit: Christopher Furlong

6:28PM

Corbyn accuses Starmer of ‘rewriting history’

Jeremy Corbyn has accused Sir Keir Starmer of “rewriting history” after the Labour leader said he did not think his party would win the 2019 general election, writes Natasha Leake.

In an interview with Beth Rigby on Sky on Wednesday, Sir Keir was questioned over his support for his predecessor in 2019 and his subsequent attempts to distance the party from Mr Corbyn. Sir Keir said he was “certain” Labour would lose the election but made “no apology” for backing Mr Corbyn at the time.

Mr Corbyn has now accused Sir Keir of “double standards”, saying: “Well, he never said that to me, at any time. And so I just think rewriting history is no help.”

He added: “It shows double standards, shall we say, that he now says he always thought that, but he never said it at the time, or anything about it. He was part of the campaign. He and I spoke together at events and I find it actually quite sad.

“Get over it and get on with it. He was in the shadow cabinet, he was at the Clause 5 meeting. Both those meetings unanimously agreed the 2019 manifesto, and he was there.”

6:26PM

Corbyn manifesto ‘a smorgasbord of offers we couldn’t afford’

Speaking to The Telegraph’s Kamal Ahmed, David Lammy, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, has admitted the 2019 Labour manifesto was “a smorgasbord of offers we couldn’t afford”:

6:21PM

Labour must not leave anyone behind on net zero journey, urge gas firms

Labour’s green policies must “bring everyone on the net zero journey”, gas networks have urged tonight.

A spokesman for the Gas Distribution Networks said: “We share in Labour’s drive to preserve the UK’s energy security and become a world-leader in cutting-edge technologies of the future like hydrogen and biomethane.

“Our world-class gas network will be vital to achieving both ambitions – plugging the gap when renewables can’t meet demand and carrying hydrogen to power industry and keep homes warm.

“Above all, we need to ensure that plans for our future energy system bring everyone on the net zero journey, no matter their income or circumstances, as we drive towards becoming a world-leader in low-carbon innovation.”

6:11PM

Downing Street readout of Sunak’s meeting with Zelensky

Rishi Sunak has met Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the G7 summit.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this afternoon at the G7 Summit in Italy.

Credit: Christopher Furlong/PA

“Both leaders welcomed G7 efforts to provide Ukraine with significant new funding, enabled by the profits from frozen Russian assets, and to keep working further on avenues to use the frozen assets themselves.

“The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s steadfast support for Ukraine’s right to self-defence in the face of Russia’s illegal invasion. The President thanked the Prime Minister for his support for Ukraine’s peace initiative and the two leaders looked forward to seeing each other at the Peace Summit in Switzerland this weekend.”

6:04PM

Private schools should ‘cut their cloth’, says Bridget Phillipson

Asked whether parents who cannot afford a 20 per cent increase in fees take their children outside of private schools before September, Bridget Phillipson told Sky News: “We’ve made this position clear for some time, it has been Labour Party policy for a long period of time.

“I think this is a straightforward, fair choice in terms of choosing to prioritise investment in state education, where 93 per cent of our children will go to school, the vast majority of your viewers will send their children to the local school. They want investment in more teachers and more mental health support.”

Pressed again on the question she was asked, and challenged on when fees would increase, Ms Phillipson said it was a “matter for a fiscal event”.

“Private schools have had ample time to prepare. There is no requirement for them to pass this on to parents. But I would also just add that fees have gone up year-on-year, way beyond inflation, and there hasn’t been a change in terms of numbers. So I think that private schools should frankly cut their cloth and make decisions around how they manage their budget.”

On her message to parents who cannot send their children to private schools, she replied: “I respect the rights of parents to choose where they send their children to be educated but my focus if I were education secretary would be on driving up standards in the state sector. That’s where the majority of children go, that’s where we make the biggest difference to life chances.”

5:55PM

Shadow education secretary: Labour will have absolute focus on growth

Bridget Phillipson was asked about OECD forecasts predicting economic growth of around one per cent in 2025, below the rest of the G7.

“As things stand they are pretty [dire], on the current trajectory, but what people will have on July 4 is the opportunity to vote for change and the chance for things to be different.”

Asked what would happen if Labour’s growth plan failed, she replied: “Rachel Reeves has set out our fiscal rules that will govern the work of our next Labour government, and we have been clear we will not cut income tax, National Insurance or VAT on working people.

“We will have an absolute focus on growth. We haven’t had that under the Conservatives. I can see no reason why Britain cannot be better than it is right now. Other countries manage to secure economic growth, we’ve done it before and we will do it again.”

5:53PM

Bridget Phillipson: Our manifesto is an ‘ambitious’ plan for Britain

Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, rejected a Sky News interviewer’s claim Labour had “modest spending plans”.

“The plan we set out today with that manifesto is an ambitious programme for how we can get our country’s future back. How we can make sure we are tackling those NHS waiting lists, getting more police on our streets, getting more teachers in our classrooms. But most importantly, to get some hope and optimism back to our country.

“We do believe it’s important that everything we’ve set out in our manifesto is fully-costed and fully-funded with a plan to make it happen…”

Asked about hitting waiting list and early diagnosis targets before the end of the next parliament, and most people in the NHS thinking this needed extra funding, Ms Phillipson replied: “That’s why our priority is to get the economy growing. We’ve got to focus on growing our economy. The answer cannot be, as it has been under the Conservatives, asking working people to pay ever more in taxation.”

5:38PM

Starmer: My toolmaker father would turn in his grave over audience laughter

Sir Keir Starmer said his father would have “turned in his grave” when somebody laughed at the Labour leader mentioning that he was a toolmaker during the Sky leaders’ event last night.

The Labour leader told GB News his father felt “disrespected” by people during his working life because he worked in a factory.

“It hit a nerve last night. He felt that – in the usual conversation when someone says ‘what do you do for a living?’ when socially, he would say ‘I work in a factory’, and there would be a pause, and nobody quite knew what to say.

“And he felt really disrespected. It caused him in his life to withdraw from social engagements. He didn’t do it much later in life, because it was raw to him that he should be disrespected because he worked in a factory. So when someone laughed last night, my Dad that would have turned in his grave.”

Sir Keir has regularly mentioned his dad worked as a toolmaker in the past couple of years.

5:35PM

Tories reach all-time poll low

The Conservatives have reached their all-time polling low with Redfield & Wilton Strategies, falling to 18 per cent and just one point ahead of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Labour is on 42 per cent, the Tories 18 per cent, Reform 17 per cent and the Liberal Democrats 13 per cent in the firm’s latest survey:

Labour leads by 24%.

Lowest EVER Conservative % (worse than Truss).

Highest Lib Dem % in 2024.

🇬🇧 Westminster Voting Intention (12-13 June):

Labour 42% (-3)
Conservative 18% (-1)
Reform 17% (–)
Lib Dem 13% (+3)
Green 5% (–)
SNP 3% (–)
Other 1% (–)

Changes +/- 7-10 June pic.twitter.com/dOZUb82HwK

— Redfield & Wilton Strategies (@RedfieldWilton) June 13, 2024

5:32PM

Nick Clegg: Starmer is ‘right to focus’ on growth

Nick Clegg has said Sir Keir Starmer is “right to focus” on economic growth and creating wealth.

The former Liberal Democrat leader and deputy prime minister, who is now president of global affairs at Meta, said: “It remains to be seen whether he’s got the right answers, but Starmer’s right to focus on growth and wealth creation – the country desperately needs both.

“The last time the UK grew faster than any other country in the G7 was under the Coalition, before the Conservatives crashed the economy with their botched budgets in 2015 and 16, and the disaster of Brexit.

“The next Government has the chance to pick up the pieces and kickstart growth. It’s been done before and can be done again.”

5:20PM

Analysis: The tax hike Starmer hopes people won’t talk about

Our Political Editor Ben Riley-Smith has this analysis from Manchester of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour manifesto:

5:13PM

Sunak’s unfavourability rating at highest ever level

The British public now has a more negative view of Rishi Sunak than at any point in the past, new polling shows.

A YouGov survey found 72 per cent of British adults now have an ‘unfavourable’ opinion of the Prime Minister.

The proportion of adults with a ‘favourable’ opinion of Mr Sunak has now fallen to 21 per cent.

4:58PM

‘From net zero to trans, the loony Left still rules Labour’

Just over halfway through this wisdom-tooth extraction of an election campaign, and it looks like we are on the cusp of one of the bitterest ironies in British political history, writes Allison Pearson. From an 80-seat majority to 80 seats. It’s not easy to squander that much popular support that quickly, but the Tories have given it their best shot.

Cast your minds back four and a half years. Who can forget the surge of joy and relief when the exit poll flashed up on the BBC and we knew that the Corbynbeast was slain? It was the luckiest Friday the 13th ever..

People from every region and all political persuasions had pulled together to save Britain, and it felt amazing. (Apart from Sir Keir Starmer, who said Jeremy Corbyn would make “a great prime minister”, although he now claims he knew that would never happen so endorsing a Marxist mate of Hamas to lead the United Kingdom was no biggie.)

Lots of readers were kind enough to say they cut my piece out of the Telegraph and stuck it on the fridge as a keepsake, a reminder of all that happiness and hope.

No such jubilation will greet the installation of a Labour government on July 5. Rishi Sunak’s personal popularity rating may have sunk even further since the wretched D-Day debacle (“The Shortest Day” as one wag adapted the title on the film poster), but Sir Keir Starmer’s numbers are also deep into negative territory.

Allison Pearson: Starmer will commit to the worst of Leftist excess

4:50PM

Rishi Sunak declines to say whether Craig Williams knew about July election

Asked whether Craig Williams, his parliamentary private secretary, knew he would call a July election before he a placed a £100 bet, Rishi Sunak told Sky News: “It’s very disappointing news and you will have seen Craig Williams say it was a huge error of judgment.

“Now there’s an independent inquiry ongoing which is necessary confidential as well as independent and you’ll appreciate that given that, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment while it’s ongoing.”

Credit: Craig Williams/X

Asked to “clear it up”, Mr Sunak insisted: “Given the nature of the inquiry, which is confidential and independent, it wouldn’t be right for me to comment while that inquiry is ongoing.”

And asked whether he had been spoken to, he replied: “It wouldn’t be right for me to comment on the inquiry while it’s ongoing. You’ll understand that, given the nature of the inquiry, it is necessarily independent and confidential.”

4:47PM

Labour will raise taxes to historic highs, warns Rishi Sunak

Speaking at the G7 summit, Rishi Sunak said: “You’ve seen two manifestos this week and there’s a clear choice at this election.

“We published a manifesto that’s going to cut taxes for people in this country and the Labour manifesto that was published today made it clear that taxes are going to rise.

“Multiple independent sources demonstrate the tax burden under Labour demonstrate will rise to the highest levels in history. And in contrast, if I’m re-elected, we will cut taxes for people at every stage of their life, cutting taxes for people in work, cutting tax for people who are self-employed, cutting tax for people who are buying their first home, cutting tax for pensioners and cutting taxes for families.

“That’s the type of country I want to build because I believe everyone should keep more of their hard-earned money. And the choice is crystal clear at this election. If you want your taxes cut, vote Conservative, and under Labour they’re going to rise to the highest levels we have seen in our nation’s history.”

4:44PM

Sunak: G7’s Ukraine package will make an enormous difference

Rishi Sunak said he had “a productive set of meetings, particularly on Ukraine” at the G7 leaders’ summit to discuss a “game-changing package of support” funded by the profits on seized Russian assets.

“This is something that I and the UK have personally championed and led on for a while now so it’s very positive to see it close to the finish line.

“It will make an enormous difference and demonstrates the UK is absolutely united in doing everything it can to support Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aggression.”

4:36PM

How postal ballots triggered a Tory rush to warn of a Labour super-majority

Barely had the ink dried on the Conservative manifesto before Grant Shapps was out and about warning voters about the danger of a Labour super-majority, writes Gordon Rayner, The Telegraph’s Associate Editor.

Rather than telling voters how the manifesto pledges were going to make their lives better, the Defence Secretary appeared to be conceding that Labour had already won, and it was just a matter of how all-conquering their victory would be.

Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, doubled down on the new message, telling voters that if they backed Reform UK or the Lib Dems they would end up giving Labour “an even bigger majority”.

It seemed a strange tactic to be pursuing after Rishi Sunak had insisted he had not given up on winning the general election on July 4. But Tory strategists are preoccupied with two things right now: voter apathy and the arrival of postal voting slips on the country’s doormats.

Analysis: The Tories fear two million staying at home

4:16PM

Reeves refuses to commit to unfreezing tax thresholds

Rachel Reeves refused to commit to unfreezing tax thresholds in the next three years.

Asked whether thresholds would stay frozen until 2028, a measure the Conservative Government has announced, the shadow chancellor told The Telegraph’s Kamal Ahmed: “Well, I would like for taxes on working people to come down but I’m not going to play fast and loose with the public finances.

“When a Government does that you get a repeat of what Liz Truss does, and frankly it’s what Rishi Sunak offered in the Conservative manifesto this week, a whole bunch of unfunded, uncosted policies that if the Conservatives have a chance to enact will crash our economy in the same way that Liz Truss did.”

4:02PM

Labour’s ‘callous’ attack on rural life

Labour has been accused of a “callous” attack on the rural way of life after its manifesto included promises to end trail hunting and the culling of badgers, writes Emma Gatten, our Environment Editor.

The manifesto on Thursday said the party would work to eradicate bovine TB, so that it could end the culling of badgers, which farming groups say is vital to protect their cattle from the spread of the disease.

The party has repeatedly claimed to be more in tune with the countryside than previous Labour governments and promised a new respect for the rural way of life after the election.

But Victoria Vyvyan, the president of the Country Land and Business Association, said it appeared “strangely callous” of the party to favour the anti-badger cull lobby over the farmers who are forced to see their cattle killed when they become infected.

Read more: ‘Labour is saying it doesn’t like our way of life’

3:56PM

‘So, I’ve called a snap election…’

Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron in conversation at the G7 in Apulia, Italy

Credit: Simon Dawson/10 Downing Street

3:43PM

Tories: Labour manifesto would ‘betray the Brexit vote’

Labour’s manifesto would “unravel Brexit” through plans for a new veterinary agreement, the Conservatives have warned.

The Tory Party said Sir Keir Starmer’s plan for a new veterinary agreement with Brussels “would end up betraying the Brexit vote”.

Steve Barclay, the Environment Secretary and a former Brexit secretary, said: “Today, Keir Starmer has confirmed what he’s been hinting at for months – that Labour would once again make the UK a rule-taker from Brussels.

“If it wasn’t bad enough that Starmer wants to saddle working families with £2,094 of tax rises, he is also lining up to betray the Brexit vote, reopening old wounds and achieving his long-held goal of tying the UK back into the EU.

“Only Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives can be relied upon to continue to deliver Brexit and deliver lower taxes and a more secure future for Britain.”

3:38PM

Allister Heath: Britain is heading for a populist tsunami

Be in no doubt: the next few years are going to be calamitous for Britain, writes Allister Heath.

Almost everything that is bad today will get worse, and everything that, for now, is still working will be vandalised or destroyed. The public is clamouring for change, but there will be no great rupture under Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour, no break with the dismal status quo, just a further acceleration in our national decline.

We should be grateful for small mercies. Jeremy Corbyn would have imposed full-on socialism; many of his allies wanted to ban private schools altogether and savagely expropriate wealth. Starmer will misinterpret his likely super-majority as an endorsement of technocratic rule, giving him carte blanche to double-down on the neo-Blairite consensus that has been hegemonic in the UK since 1997, with an added dollop of class warfare, punitive taxation and wokery.

The Tories, especially those who saw themselves as the heirs to Blair, have only themselves to blame for the fact that Nigel Farage is now polling almost as highly as them. There is no future for the Tory party unless it breaks with today’s pseudo-centrism and invents a new mass market Thatcherism for the modern era.

If that doesn’t happen, Britain will go the way of much of Europe, where the mainstream centre-Right and centre-Left stand utterly discredited for failing to fix any of their countries’ economic or cultural problems, and are being replaced by radical parties, some sensible (such as Giorgia Meloni’s in Italy) and some unpalatable (such as the AfD in Germany, which is rife with extremists).

Chat with Allister in the comments section of his article

3:34PM

Ed Davey quips ‘the campaign is hotting up’

3:31PM

Miriam Cates: Starmer is more dangerous than Blair ever was

Politics can be a frustrating business, writes Miriam Cates.

MPs and ministers have many sensible ideas about how to solve a whole range of challenges, whether that is how to reduce immigration, reform the NHS or boost economic growth.

But, as I have witnessed first hand since I was elected in 2019, achieving meaningful change in any of these areas can be a painfully slow and difficult task.

Sir Tony Blair and Sir Keir Starmer discussing politics at a Tony Blair Institute event last year

Credit: Stefan Rousseau/PA

It’s true that the Conservative Party has had 14 years to repeal Blairite legislation. But fair-minded voters will acknowledge that such reforms would not have been politically possible in coalition, nor practically achievable alongside Brexit, nor a priority during the pandemic.

However, the great irony is that because the Conservatives have been unable to roll back New Labour reforms, Starmer may now get the chance to pick up where Blair left off.

Miriam Cates: There may soon be nothing left for Conservatives to conserve

3:25PM

Keir Starmer announces £8.6bn worth of tax rises

Labour has unveiled plans to hike taxes by £8.6 billion through raids on private schools, overseas property investors and non-doms, writes Genevieve Holl-Allen.

The party’s manifesto says that its planned tax rises will raise a combined £8.6 billion by 2028-29, with the money used to pay for more NHS appointments and teachers.

Despite Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly insisting all his policies would be fully costed, the manifesto only provides a breakdown of costs for the final year of a Labour government.

It contains a summary of the revenues Labour would raise and the cost of delivering its pledges for 2028-29 but does not provide one for any other year.

Read the full story here

3:13PM

Election no obstacle to more Lib Dem stunts

In the latest of his campaign stunts, Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, has taken part in an assault course while visiting Arena Pursuits in Wadsworth, Kent.

Credit: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

3:07PM

Starmer: I’m ready to deliver change

3:01PM

Labour ‘is undermining its own credibility’

The Labour manifesto should have done more to prepare voters for “difficult trade-offs”, the Institute for Government has said.

Nick Davies, programme director at the think tank, said Sir Keir Starmer “acknowledges the scale of the challenges facing public services, but the party doesn’t yet have solutions that are equal to the task”.

“Oppositions understandably only focus on detailed policy development once they are in government, but the manifesto should have done more to prepare the public for difficult trade-offs that will be required,” Mr Davies said.

Dr Gemma Tetlow, the chief economist at the IfG, added: “Like the Conservatives, Labour has done little to row back on the spending cuts already pencilled in for the next parliament.

“This, coupled with its pledge not to raise any of the main taxes, undermines the credibility of its promise to address failing public services.”

2:47PM

Craig Williams: I’ve made a huge error of judgment

Craig Williams has declined to say whether he had any inside information when he bet £100 on a July election three days before Rishi Sunak called a snap poll.

Asked if he knew Rishi Sunak would go to the country, Mr Williams, the Prime Minister’s parliamentary private secretary, told BBC News: “I’ve made a statement, it’s an independent process with the Gambling Commission now. I won’t be expanding on that statement.”

Pressed again on if he had inside information, he replied: “I’ve clearly made a huge error of judgment, that’s for sure, and I’ll be working in Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr on the doors now to make sure I can re-earn their trust.”

Asked for a third time, Mr Williams insisted: “As I said, I will not be expanding on that statement. I’m not expanding because it’s an independent process… I’ve made a huge error of judgment, and I won’t be adding to the statement I’ve already made.”

2:37PM

Farage: I’m amazed Reform’s broadcast got past compliance

Nigel Farage has teased a Reform party political broadcast which airs at 7.55pm on Channel 4.

“The Reform Party will release one of the most exciting party election broadcasts ever produced,” Mr Farage wrote.

“I’m amazed it even got past compliance, but we did it. You won’t want to miss this.”

2:33PM

Your views on Labour’s manifesto: ‘1997 without the excitement’

2:30PM

Ed Balls: This ‘straitjacket’ manifesto is a big risk for Starmer

Labour’s “straitjacket” manifesto would make Sir Keir Starmer’s first year in office very difficult, Ed Balls has warned.

Speaking on his Political Currency podcast, Mr Balls, a former Labour shadow chancellor, said Sir Keir and Rachel Reeves, his shadow chancellor, would face “huge expectations” while giving themselves “little room for manoeuvre”.

“It will be seen as a straitjacket, with tough fiscal rules and limits on borrowing, big commitments not to raise income tax or VAT or national insurance.

2:28PM

Good afternoon

Dominic Penna here, The Telegraph’s Political Correspondent, guiding you through the rest of the day.

2:22PM

Pictured: Rachel Reeves sheds a tear during Labour’s manifesto launch

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, appears to shed a tear during the launch of Labour’s manifesto in Manchester today

Credit: Anthony Devlin /Getty Images Europe

2:15PM

Labour promises economic growth ‘will happen’ under its plans

Economic growth “will happen” under a Labour government, a party spokesperson has insisted.

When asked whether growth could be “guaranteed”, the spokesperson said: “This growth will happen, and if you read the 4,500 words that are dedicated to growth within the manifesto, you will see the clear commitments that we have got there, from whether it’s you know the three pillars that we have of our growth plan – of stability, of investment, and in reform – so therefore if you look at what we want to do around stabilising the economy, where we want to invest, where we want to have the reforms, whether it’s on planning reform, on labour market reform, on ensuring that we can sort of knock down those barriers to growth that we’ve seen previously, we are absolutely confident [the country] can have higher levels of growth than we have seen under the Conservatives.”

2:04PM

Labour economic approach ‘sets the scene’ for tax hikes and spending cuts, says think tank

Labour’s cautious approach to tax and spend mean it could be left implementing sharp tax rises and public service cuts over the next parliament if elected, the Resolution Foundation has warned.

The party’s plans to raise taxes by £8.5 billion-a-year, coupled with the £23.5 billion post-election tax hikes already announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, would leave households facing a £1,100-a-year tax rise, according to the think tank.

It said that Labour’s pledges to increase spending largely affect education and health and social care, while a Labour government would still need to deliver around £18 billion of cuts to unprotected departments such as Transport, Justice and the Home Office.

Mike Brewer, the Resolution Foundation’s interim chief executive, said Labour’s cautious approach to the public finances “sets the scene for a parliament of tax rises and spending cuts for unprotected departments”.

“Even then, a modest dose of bad economic news could force a fresh round of tough fiscal choices if the debt rule is to be met,” he said.

1:56PM

Labour wants tax burden ‘for working people’ to fall

A Labour spokesperson said the party wanted the tax burden “for working people” to fall.

When asked by journalists to “admit that the tax burden will be higher” under a future Labour government, the spokesperson said: “What the costings set out is the ways in which this is a fully-funded, fully-costed manifesto.

“We have said that we are not putting taxes up on working people – there will be no increase in VAT, in income tax, in national insurance. We’ve also said that we won’t be increasing corporation tax.”

They added: “In the revenue that we are raising, there’s obviously the measures that we’ve announced and I’ve seen some of the figures that the Tories are putting around – within that they are including the money that we are getting in from tax avoidance, from the money from non-doms from the other measures that we’ve already announced in terms of raising revenue.”

The spokesperson also said: “Fundamentally, what we want to do is ensure that we are growing the economy and that will mean that we, you know, have the ability to ensure we’ve got more money in the economy through the growth policies that we have.

“But what we want to make sure is that for working people – we don’t want to see the tax burden on working people going up, we want to see the tax burden coming down on working people. That’s what Keir and Rachel have said throughout this campaign, throughout the process, and that remains their position.”

1:47PM

Senior Tory: Labour manifesto only contained tax rises, no tax cuts

Laura Trott said Labour’s manifesto “only contained tax rises, no tax cuts” as she repeated the disputed Tory claim that the rival party’s policies would cost every family £2,000.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury told broadcasters: “What we saw this morning was Labour’s Tax Trap Manifesto. It only contained tax rises, no tax cuts whatsoever.

“Under their own published plans the tax burden in this country will rise to levels never seen before, and that’s not including the £2,000 of tax they want to levy on every working family across the country.”

1:37PM

IFS: No indication Labour has plan to pay for promised ‘change’

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said Labour’s manifesto had provided “no indication that there is a plan for where the money would come” to deliver the change the party is promising.

Paul Johnson, the director of the think tank, said: “This is a manifesto that promises a dizzying number of reviews and strategies to tackle some of the challenges facing the country.

“That is better than a shopping list of half-baked policy announcements. But delivering genuine change will almost certainly also require putting actual resources on the table.

“And Labour’s manifesto offers no indication that there is a plan for where the money would come from to finance this.”

1:28PM

Manifesto protester: Labour only offering ‘warm words’ on climate change

The protester who disrupted Sir Keir Starmer’s manifesto launch said all Labour is offering on tackling climate change is “warm words and tinkering around the edges”.

The Green New Deal Rising campaign group named the activist as 27-year-old Alice, who said in a statement: “I disrupted the Labour Party’s manifesto launch today because I feel so betrayed and disappointed by what the Labour Party is offering at this election…

“The next parliament really is our last chance to put in place the kind of policies that will make a real difference to stopping catastrophic climate change and making people’s quality of life better. But all Labour is offering is warm words and tinkering around the edges.”

1:22PM

Think tank: Labour manifesto has ‘little detail’ and ‘no fireworks’

The Social Market Foundation think tank labelled Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour blueprint a “Ming Vase manifesto”.

Theo Bertram, the director of the SMF, said there was “little detail” and “no fireworks” in the document.

He said: “The Ming Vase manifesto: change but with caution; great determination, little detail. “There are no fireworks, no surprises, no great adventure but plenty of policies that Labour has already announced.

“It’s not fair to say it is without ambition or new ideas but it is light on detail. If the polls are right, Labour will enter Downing St on July 5 with a huge majority in favour of a clear mandate for change that is significantly undefined.”

Britain’s Labour Party leader Keir Starmer with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, after he spoke on stage at the launch of The Labour party’s 2024 general election manifesto in Manchester

Credit: Jon Super /AP

1:16PM

Labour accused of ‘divisive attack’ on countryside after pledge to ban trail hunting

The Countryside Alliance accused Labour of an “unjustified and divisive attack” on rural communities after the party pledged in its manifesto to ban trail hunting.

Tim Bonner, chief executive of the organisation, said: “ Labour can’t ban trail hunting and then claim that it respects the countryside.

“Trail hunting is exactly what they told hunts to do 20 years ago and now they are saying that they want to ban that, too. This is an unjustified and divisive attack on the rural community and one which is out of step with the public’s priorities for the countryside.

“If Labour was truly interested in animal welfare and the effectiveness of the law it would have committed to review the Hunting Act. Instead it is pledging further pointless legislation that will waste hours of parliamentary time and criminalise people for a totally benign activity. It’s not ‘change’ to use the countryside as a political football again”.

Labour claims trail hunting is being used as a “smokescreen” for illegal fox hunting. Fox hunting was banned in England and Wales under the last Labour government in 2005, but trail hunting, in which hounds follow a scented cloth, remained legal.

1:09PM

‘Totally unserious’ Labour manifesto only contains costings for a single year

Labour has been criticised for setting out just one year’s worth of costs for its policies – despite Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly insisting all his plans would be “fully costed”.

The party’s manifesto only provides a breakdown of the revenues it would raise and the amount of money it would spend for 2028-29 – set to be the last year of its first term.

Conservative officials said the lack of detailed figures for the first four years of Labour’s time in power showed that its plan for the country was “totally unserious”.

You can read the full story here.

12:56PM

Sunak: Labour manifesto would mean ‘highest taxes in history’

Rishi Sunak said Labour’s manifesto would result in the “highest taxes in history”.

The Prime Minister, who is in Italy to attend a G7 summit, responded to Labour’s launch event by tweeting:

Confirmed: Labour’s manifesto would mean the highest taxes in history.

If you think they’ll win, start saving.

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) June 13, 2024

12:54PM

Voters will be ‘bitterly disappointed’ by absence of tax cuts in Labour manifesto, says TPA

The TaxPayers’ Alliance said voters hoping for tax cuts will have been left “bitterly disappointed” by the Labour manifesto.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the campaign group, said: “Taxpayers hoping for change from an ever-rising tax burden will be bitterly disappointed by a Labour manifesto that may rule out major tax rises, but leaves the door open to alternative ways of tapping up workers, families and businesses.

“With substantial spending commitments to pay for, a Keir Starmer government will inevitably be looking to find ways to dip deeper and deeper into the pockets of Brits, effectively guaranteeing years of further stagnation.

“No hikes to income tax, National Insurance, and VAT is good news but, as the current government has shown, there are plenty of other ways to raid household budgets.”

12:51PM

GMB union: Labour manifesto ‘offers vision of hope’

The GMB union said the Labour manifesto “offers a vision of hope for the UK”.

Gary Smith, the GMB’s general secretary, said: “Labour’s manifesto offers a vision of hope for the UK after 14 years of disasters.

“The New Deal for Working People is a once in a generation chance to completely transform the lives of working people.

“Equal pay, new collective bargaining structures for care workers and school support staff, trade union access and simplifying union recognition will be life-changing for GMB members.

“Now is the time to make sure Labour wins the election and the legislation is delivered.”

12:44PM

The Labour manifesto at a glance

Immigration: Create a new Border Security Command to go after people smuggling gangs. Hire additional caseworkers to tackle the asylum backlog. Scrap the Rwanda plan. Net migration: Labour “will reduce net migration”.Debt: Debt must be falling as a share of the economy by the fifth year of the next Parliament.Education: Introduce free breakfast clubs in every primary school.Tax: No increase to National Insurance, income tax or VAT. Non-dom status will be abolished. Corporation tax will be capped at the current level of 25 per cent.Fiscal events: There will only be one major fiscal event a year.Housing: Build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years.Energy: Set up a new Great British Energy company to “cut bills for good”.Crime: Introduce a new Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee to restore patrols in local communities.

Angela Rayner, the Labour deputy leader, and Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, point to the costings page in Labour’s manifesto

Credit: Jon Super /AP

12:24PM

Jeremy Hunt labels Labour plans a ‘Tax Trap Manifesto’

Jeremy Hunt said Sir Keir Starmer had unveiled a “Tax Trap Manifesto”.

Responding to the Labour manifesto launch, the Tory chancellor said: “This is Labour’s Tax Trap Manifesto which contains only tax rises and no tax cuts. Under Labour’s published plans, taxes will rise to levels never before seen in this country.

“But that’s only the tax rises they’re telling you about – it doesn’t include the £2,094 of tax rises they’ll need to fill their £38.5 billion unfunded spending commitments.

“So what’s most important is not what’s in Labour’s manifesto, but it’s what they have kept out of it. They are refusing to rule out taxing your job, your home, your pension, your car, your business and they think they can get away with it without anyone holding them to account. Be under no illusion, from cradle to grave you will pay more taxes under Labour.”

12:22PM

Starmer: Wife Victoria ‘thinks I should have stayed’ as a lawyer

Sir Keir Starmer revealed his wife, Victoria, would have preferred him to stay in his career as a lawyer.

Asked what he would do in his first week as PM if he wins the election, Sir Keir said: “The first thing I would do is return politics to service, tpo service, to serve this country. I came into politics to serve.

“I had a career in the law before this. My wife rather thinks I should have stayed with it. But I changed because I wanted to serve my country.”

Sir Keir Starmer unveils the Labour manifesto in Manchester today

Credit: Phil Noble /Reuters

12:17PM

Labour manifesto only includes tax rises previously set out, says Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer was told that the Labour manifesto made clear that the party is fighting the election on a platform of tax rises.

He said that the manifesto only included tax rises that the party had already set out.

He said: “What you won’t see in this manifesto is any plan that requires tax rises over and above those that we have already set out because we have been very, very clear particularly in relation to working people, no increase in income tax, no increase in National Insurance, and no increase in VAT.

“Absolutely clearly set out in this manifesto.”

The Labour shadow cabinet looks on as Sir Keir Starmer launches his party’s manifesto in Manchester

Credit: Anthony Devlin /Getty Images Europe

12:14PM

Starmer rejects ‘defeatist approach’ on tax and spend

Sir Keir Starmer was asked what he would do if his plan to boost economic growth falls flat.

He was asked which option he would choose – borrowing more, cutting spending or putting up taxes – if his sums do not add up.

The Labour leader refused to engage with the premise of the question as he said: “This manifesto is a total rejection of that defeatist approach that the only levers are tax and spend.”

12:10PM

Labour leader won’t be drawn on specifics of pledge to cut net migration

The Labour manifesto pledges to reduce net migration – but it is not specific about any target.

Sir Keir Starmer was asked what the pledge actually means but he would not be drawn as he answered questions in Manchester.

He said that “we do need to have lower immigration” and claimed that the Tories had “lost control” of the nation’s borders. But he did not refer to a target or a more specific aim.

12:06PM

Starmer ‘enjoying’ general election campaign

Sir Keir Starmer said he was enjoying the general election campaign.

Asked how confident he was of victory, the Labour leader said: “I don’t take anything for granted as we go to the final three weeks of this campaign. Yes, we are enjoying the campaign, I won’t deny that.”

12:03PM

No return to austerity under Labour, vows Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer was grilled on his claim that economic growth would be sufficient to find extra money to protect public services.

Asked how he would avoid making cuts to services and a return to austerity, he said: “We are not going to return to austerity.

“I ran a public service for five years, the Crown Prosecution Service, I lived through austerity, I am never going to allow a Labour government to do that to our public services. Never.”

11:58AM

Starmer rejects ‘Captain Caution’ label after unveiling manifesto

Sir Keir Starmer denied that the Labour manifesto showed he was “Captain Caution”.

He was told that the manifesto contained “not a single new policy” that had not already been announced and it appeared to be a “Captain Caution manifesto designed to protect your poll lead”.

But the Labour leader replied: “No. It is a serious plan for the future of our country and every single policy in this document, policy after policy after policy, has been carefully thought through and tested to ensure that we can deliver it.”

He added: “I am running as a candidate to be prime minister, not a candidate to run the circus.”

11:53AM

Starmer urges nation to back Labour to ‘rebuild our country’

Sir Keir Starmer suggested that many parents across the country do not currently believe that the “future will be better for their children”.

But the Labour leader insisted a government led by him “can build” that future.

Concluding his speech in Manchester, Sir Keir said: “That is our plan and I invite you all to join our mission, to stop the chaos, turn the page and start to rebuild our country.”

Sir Keir was given another standing ovation after he finished. The Labour leader will now take questions from the media.

Sir Keir Starmer shares a smile with Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester

Credit: Jon Super /AP

11:47AM

Labour manifesto only sets out one year of costings

The Labour manifesto only explicitly outlines their costs of their tax rises and spending promises for a single year: 2028/29. That would be their fifth year in office if they win, writes Ben Riley-Smith.

The party justifies the approach by saying in the foreword before the costings pages that the final year will see costs at their highest.

The manifesto says: “We have used the last year of the most recent Office for Budget Responsibility forecast (2028-29) which represents the highest annual cost of the policies.”

But it is a different approach to the Tories, who on Tuesday produced a manifesto with costings figures for each of the next five five years.

A Tory source says: “Labour have have not laid out tax and spending plans for the next five years, only showing one year, and that’s in four years time. Says nothing about the next three years. This is totally unserious.”

11:45AM

Labour is the ‘party of wealth creation’, says Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer said that if he can deliver economic growth at “anything like the rate of the last Labour government” there will be tens of billions of pounds of extra money to invest in public services.

He said Labour has a “plan for growth, we are pro-business and pro-worker, the party of wealth creation”.

11:43AM

Starmer takes swipe at Farage

Sir Keir Starmer suggested there would be no rabbits or unexpected surprises in the Labour manifesto.

The Labour leader took a swipe at Nigel Farage, telling activists in Manchester: “If you want politics as pantomime I hear Clacton is nice this time of year.”

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, is pictured today as he unveiled the party’s manifesto in Manchester

Credit: Anthony Devlin /Getty Images Europe

11:40AM

Starmer vows no increase to income tax, NI and VAT

Sir Keir Starmer said that all of Labour’s policy plans have been fully costed and the party knows how it will pay for them.

He said that was “non-negotiable” because “you cannot play fast and loose with the public finances”.

The Labour leader then pledged no increases to income tax, National Insurance and VAT.

“That is a manifesto commitment,” he said.

11:37AM

Labour offering voters a ‘total change of direction’

Sir Keir Starmer argued that “Britain has lost its balance” and “opportunity is not spread evenly enough” across the country.

He said a Labour government would seek to boost prosperity across the board and “turn the page” on some communities being left behind “forever”.

Sir Keir said Labour was offering voters a “total change of direction”.

11:35AM

No magic wand to solve UK’s challenges, says Starmer

There is no “magic wand” to solve the UK’s problems, the Labour leader said.

But Sir Keir Starmer said the party’s manifesto represented a “credible, long term plan” to improve things.

He insisted the blueprint was “much more than a list of policies” but actually a “plan for change”.

11:33AM

Starmer insists Labour government would be on side of voters

Sir Keir Starmer said that everywhere he goes in the UK he sees “potential, held back”.

The Labour leader said many people cannot afford a mortgage to achieve their dream of home ownership. He then referred to a visit to a children’s hospital where he was told that the commonest cause for admissions for young children was tooth decay.

He set out an alternate reality of more affordable homes and better healthcare with a “Labour government on their side”.

Sir Keir Starmer is pictured in Manchester today alongside Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London

Credit: Hollie Adams /Bloomberg

11:30AM

Protester attempts to disrupt Starmer speech

A protester attempted to disrupt Sir Keir Starmer’s speech in Manchester.

They shouted that Labour was offering “the same old Tory policies”.

But Sir Keir said: “We gave up on being a party of protest five years ago. We want to be a party of power.”

11:27AM

Starmer receives standing ovation ahead of speech

Sir Keir Starmer is now on stage in Manchester.

The Labour leader was given a standing ovation and a lengthy round of applause before he started speaking.

11:26AM

Labour’s 2024 manifesto draws comparisons with 1997

Labour’s 2024 general election manifesto features a large black and white image of Sir Keir Starmer on the front cover, along with just one word: “Change.”

The manifesto will inevitably draw comparisons to the party’s offering in 1997 which featured a large picture of Sir Tony Blair:

Meanwhile, it has been swiftly pointed out that the new manifesto includes a picture of Sir Keir Starmer meeting Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, at D-Day commemorations last week – the commemorations that Rishi Sunak left early.

11:21AM

Pictured: Actor Sir Tony Robinson attends Labour manifesto launch

Sir Tony Robinson attends as Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer launches Labour’s general election manifesto in Manchester

Credit: Anthony Devlin /Getty Images Europe

11:18AM

Labour manifesto sets out £8.6bn in tax rises

Taxes will rise by £8.6 billion under a Labour government, with raids on private schools, overseas property investors and non-doms.

The party’s manifesto says that its planned tax rises will raise a combined £8.6bn by 2028-29, with the money used to pay for more NHS appointments and teachers.

Angela Rayner, the Labour deputy leader, speaks in Manchester at the party’s manifesto launch

Credit: Anthony Devlin /Getty Images Europe

11:15AM

Iceland CEO: ‘Tories are out of ideas’

Richard Walker, the CEO of Iceland, is now on stage at Labour’s manifesto launch in Manchester.

He said that under the Tories there had been “endless infighting and broken promises”.

He said: “The Tories are out of ideas. Only Labour can change this country’s trajectory of dismal economic proformance.”

Mr Walker previously backed the Conservative Party but switched his allegiance to Labour in January of this year.

11:11AM

Rayner pledges growth ‘in every corner of the country’

Angela Rayner said that “when we deliver growth it will be in every corner of the country”.

She said Labour’s manifesto will deliver “change worth having and change worth voting for”.

Labour’s deputy leader said voters had a chance to “end the chaos, to turn the page and to start a new chapter” on July 4.

Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood poses for a photograph with Britain’s Labour Party election manifesto ahead of its launch in Manchester

Credit: Phil Noble /Reuters

11:09AM

Rayner: UK is ‘crying out for change’

Angela Rayner is introducing Sir Keir Starmer at Labour’s manifesto launch in Manchester.

The Labour deputy leader said that the nation is “crying out for change after 14 years of chaos” under the Conservative Party.

Ms Rayner said that you “can’t tax your way to growth” as she vowed to “get Britain building”.

11:07AM

Starmer and Rayner arrive

Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner have now arrived.

Activists gave the Labour leader and his deputy a standing ovation.

Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner arrive at the Labour manifesto launch in Manchester

11:06AM

Shadow cabinet arrives at manifesto launch

Labour’s shadow cabinet is now taking its seats at the party’s manifesto launch in Manchester.

Rachel Reeves, Wes Streeting and Yvette Cooper were all sat on the front row.

11:05AM

Photographers wait patiently for Starmer’s arrival

A group of photographers is now huddled on the floor in front of the lectern in Manchester as we wait for Sir Keir Starmer to take to the stage.

11:00AM

Pictured: Starmer and shadow cabinet pose with Labour manifesto in Manchester

Sir Keir Starmer and his shadow cabinet pose with Labour’s general election manifesto in Manchester

Credit: Stefan Rousseau/PA

10:52AM

Analysis: Starmer approaches his moment of maximum danger

Sir Keir Starmer is about to enter what could be the riskiest 30 minutes of the whole general election campaign.

The Labour Party continues to ride high in the opinion polls, consistently 20 or so points ahead of the Tories.

But with his manifesto launch, starting at 11am, he is approaching a moment of maximum danger.

A smooth launch will leave Labour in pole position ahead of July 4 and leave the Tories staring down the barrel.

But Labour figures will know that anything can happen in politics and should a major policy unravel or if Sir Keir should suffer an unexpected slip up, things could move from smooth sailing to stormy seas in a flash.

10:46AM

Pictured: Swinney launches SNP billboard campaign in Edinburgh

John Swinney, the SNP leader, launches a new billboard election campaign in Edinburgh this morning

Credit: Jeff J Mitchell /Getty Images Europe

10:41AM

Labour candidate going viral with ‘21 Seconds’ election song

A Labour candidate is in the process of going viral on social media after tweeting a video of her singing a 2024 general election version of an early-2000s UK garage hit.

Dawn Butler, who is seeking reelection in Brent East, changed the lyrics to So Solid Crew’s 2001 song “21 Seconds” to “21 days to go”.

As of 10.40am the video on Twitter had been viewed more than 132,000 times:

10:35AM

Labour urges voters to ‘turn the page’ and ‘end the chaos’

Labour has published a new social media campaign video urging people to vote for “change” on July 4.

The video states: “To get back economic growth. To get back opportunity. To get back hope. End the chaos. Turn the page. Rebuild Britain. Vote Labour on Thursday 4 July.”

10:23AM

Labour to launch manifesto at 11am

We are now just over 35 minutes away from the launch of Labour’s general election manifesto.

Sir Keir Starmer is due to take to the stage in Manchester at 11am.

10:21AM

Starmer sets the scene for manifesto launch

Wealth creation is my number one priority.

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) June 13, 2024

10:15AM

No comment from Cameron on his future if Tories lose

Lord Cameron has refused to say what his next moves would be if the Tories lose the general election.

Asked what he will do if the Conservatives lose the election, the Foreign Secretary told Sky News: “If my mother had wheels she’d be a bicycle, I don’t answer questions beginning with the word if.”

10:12AM

Sunak aide who bet on July election ‘very foolish’, says Lord Cameron

Lord Cameron said Rishi Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary made a “clearly very foolish decision” when he placed a £100 bet on a July election three days before it was announced.

Craig Williams, who is seeking re-election in Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr, has confirmed he is under investigation by the gambling watchdog after he “put a flutter” on a July poll.

Asked what situation Mr Williams was now in, the Foreign Secretary told BBC Breakfast: “His situation, having made this clearly very foolish decision, is that he is being investigated by the Gambling Commission and they have considerable powers in terms of what the consequences could be.

“I think we have to let that investigation take place and so I can’t really comment any further on it.”

9:58AM

Farage: ‘Penny is beginning to drop’ on impact of mass migration

Nigel Farage said the “penny is beginning to drop” on the impact of mass migration on the UK.

The Reform UK leader also took aim at the Tories and Labour and said neither party could be trusted to bring net migration down.

He told LBC: “If you’ve got net migration running at three quarters of a million a year, it’s not surprising the size of the economy grows.

“But the income per head has fallen for the last six consecutive quarters. The penny is beginning to drop. Mass migration is making us poorer. Mass migration means our kids and grandkids can’t get houses.

“Mass migration means rents are up between 20 and 30 per cent in the last three years alone in this country.”

He added: “This is now the fifth manifesto in a row from the Conservatives that has promised they will reduce net migration. No one believes them. And Labour have almost nothing to say.”

9:42AM

Sunak ‘totally in command’ during TV clash, says Lord Cameron

Rishi Sunak was “totally in command” during last night’s The Battle For No 10 programme, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said.

Speaking to Sky News, the former prime minister said: “You see it in Cabinet, he is absolutely at the top of his game.”

He added: “I saw someone who was totally in command of the detail, of the brief.”

Lord Cameron said Mr Sunak is “always the best briefed person in the room” during Cabinet meetings.

9:29AM

Time to move on from D-Day row, says Foreign Secretary

Lord Cameron has defended Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave D-Day events early and said it is time to move on.

The former prime minister told ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme: “Prime ministers have to make lots of difficult decisions about when to go to things, and when to leave things, and who to see and all the rest of it.

“And to be fair to Rishi, he went to the key event in Portsmouth with all of the D-Day veterans in the UK, and then he went to the key event above the British Normandy beaches, that was again a beautiful event and he met lots of veterans there.

“Then he left to go back to the UK and then immediately said he had made a mistake and he had wished he had stayed, and I think we should leave it there. Because that’s the sort of guy he is, he made a mistake, instead of digging in and defending it, he said: ‘actually, no, no, I got that one wrong I should’ve stayed’.”

Lord Cameron said it was “time to move on to the substance” and pointed to the Government’s track record of supporting veterans.

9:12AM

Starmer says he sees private dentist after insisting he ‘doesn’t use private health’

Sir Keir Starmer has said that he uses a private dentist, despite previously insisting he would not use any private healthcare.

The Labour leader said during an election debate on Sky News on Wednesday night that he uses a private dentist because he is not eligible for NHS care.

His comment came after he used a previous TV debate to say that he would not use private healthcare even if a relative were stuck on an NHS waiting list.

You can read the full story here.

8:59AM

Labour expected to play safe and steer clear of manifesto surprises

My colleague Ben Riley-Smith is on his way to Manchester to attend the Labour manifesto launch. He sent across the following update:

Hello from the 7.33am train from London to Manchester which is zooming towards the location of Labour’s election manifesto launch.

The political watchword for the document is expected to be “reassurance” – an attempt to sooth Middle England and make clear Sir Keir Starmer’s “changed Labour Party” can be trusted with the country’s purse and defence.

The manifesto is understood to be around 23,000 words long, which is shorter than Jeremy Corbyn’s pitch in the 2019 general election. That makes it some 125 pages long.

We are also told there are no fewer than 34 photographs of Sir Keir inside the booklet, so the Labour leader is being put front and centre of the party’s re-election pitch.

Will there be surprises? The message from Labour HQ is no, and certainly not on tax changes. The vast majority of what is contained in the manifesto is expected to be already known.

The political situation explains why. When you are 20-plus percentage points ahead in an election campaign which ends in three weeks, the last thing you want to do is upset the apple cart.

8:53AM

Labour frontbencher won’t be drawn on whether manifesto will have tax cuts

Pat McFadden refused to be drawn on whether there will be any specific tax cuts included in the Labour manifesto.

Labour’s national campaign coordinator told the BBC: “Tax cuts have to be sustainable and affordable. That’s a lesson we should have learned two years ago when Liz Truss crashed the economy.

“Rishi Sunak was supposed to be the antidote to Liz Truss. He’s turned out to be the latest instalment of the same fantasy economics that leads to chaos.

“And where that ends up is you don’t get the tax cuts, but you do get the mortgage rises. And that is exactly the recipe that they are offering. We are not going to make that mistake.”

8:46AM

Starmer called out by Andrew Neil over claim he did not have Sky TV growing up

Andrew Neil has called out Sir Keir Starmer for claiming his family did not have Sky TV when he was a child – because the service launched when he was 27 years old.

The Labour leader said he “certainly” did not have the paid-for channel after Rishi Sunak said it was one of the things he had to go without growing up.

Neil, a broadcaster who was the founding chairman of Sky TV, criticised Sir Keir, 61, for the remarks, saying: “I launched Sky TV in 1989, by which time Starmer was 27 – so obviously he didn’t have Sky growing up. Nobody his age did since it didn’t exist.”

You can read the full story here.

8:43AM

Pat McFadden fails to rule out making changes to council tax bands

Pat McFadden failed to rule out a Labour government making changes to council tax in the future as the party prepares to unveil its manifesto later this morning.

Labour’s national campaign coordinator was asked repeatedly during an interview on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme if the party could opt to recalculate council tax bands.

He said: “There is nothing in the manifesto that we publish today that requires any change in tax rates beyond what we have already announced.”

Asked again on whether Labour could recalculate council tax bands, Mr McFadden said: “There is nothing in our plans that requires a change in that or other taxes.”

8:21AM

Farage: I would be happy to lead merged Reform-Tory party

Nigel Farage said he would be willing to lead a merged Reform-Conservative party.

The Reform leader said he could not lead the Tory party as it “currently is” but predicted a new party is likely to emerge after the general election.

Asked if he could rule out one day leading the Conservative Party, Mr Farage told LBC this morning: “I think something new is going to emerge on the centre right, I don’t know what it is called.

“But do I think I am capable of leading a national opposition to a Labour Party with a big majority where I can stand up and hold them to account on issues? Yes.”

Asked if he would be happy to lead a merged party, he replied: “Yes.”

He added: “They [the Tories] may be dead. They may well be dead. This may well be the end of their journey. I would be prepared to lead the centre right in this country.”

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, conducts a phone-in on LBC this morning

Credit: Aaron Chown/PA

8:19AM

Farage: Reform ‘close to a tipping point’ of overtaking Tories

Nigel Farage said he believed Reform UK is “very close to a tipping point” when it will overtake the Conservative Party in the opinion polls.

A recent YouGov poll put the Tories just one point ahead of Reform.

Mr Farage claimed the “election is over, Labour has won” and the question now is about who will lead the opposition in the House of Commons to Sir Keir Starmer.

The Reform leader told LBC he believed the “Conservatives will be incapable” of providing that opposition because they “hate each other” and he would be best placed to take on Labour.

8:11AM

Foreign Secretary: ‘I don’t feel sorry for him’

Lord Cameron said he does not “feel sorry” for Rishi Sunak.

The former prime minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “What I feel about Rishi Sunak is that he’s a very capable Prime Minister.

“I don’t feel sorry for him because he’s a very effective Prime Minister who wants to go on doing his job.”

Lord Cameron also admitted the polls don’t “look good” for the Conservatives, but added “they didn’t look very good in 2015 when I won the election”.

8:04AM

Lord Cameron blames high levels of immigration on lack of welfare reform

High levels of immigration are due to a lack of welfare reform, Lord Cameron suggested.

The Foreign Secretary told Times Radio: “The biggest thing that we need to get right, and the biggest cause of this increase in migration, is the fact that so many people decided to leave the workforce after Covid, we haven’t been effectively reforming welfare.

“Because ultimately we all want British businesses to be more productive, but ultimately if you lose a million workers from the workforce, they’re going to have to come from somewhere and that’s why I think we have seen such high levels of migration.

“Now in this election, as far as I can see, the Conservative Party has got a plan for reforming welfare, with back to work tests and all the rest of it, and Labour have got no plan for reforming welfare.”

8:01AM

Tories focused on winning over Reform voters, says Lord Cameron

The Conservative Party is focused on trying to win over Reform voters, not insult them, Lord Cameron said.

The Foreign Secretary told Times Radio: “All the things Reform voters want, and I don’t want to insult them in any way, I want to win them over, because I think like me they want to see strong defences in an uncertain world, they want to see a secure border in a dangerous world, they want to see lower taxes in a world where families are struggling and need that extra help.

“The things they want are things only a Conservative government can deliver and by voting Reform you make them less likely, not more likely.”

Lord Cameron was asked if his heart had sunk when Nigel Farage announced his return.

The Tory peer said: “I don’t think my heart did anything particularly. I am very focused on winning for the blue team.”

7:53AM

Lord Cameron won’t say if he warned Sunak over D-Day decision

Lord Cameron refused to say whether he had warned Rishi Sunak against leaving D-Day commemorations in Normandy early.

The Foreign Secretary stood in for the Prime Minister during a gathering of world leaders after the latter chose to return to the UK to do a general election interview last Thursday.

Asked if he had told Mr Sunak that he was making a mistake, Lord Cameron told Times Radio: “I am not going to get into my advice or my department’s advice to the Prime Minister. We are part of a team.”

7:34AM

Lord Cameron declares ‘anything is possible’ and Tories can still win election

Lord Cameron insisted the Conservative Party can still win the general election on July 4 as he declared: “Anything is possible.”

The Foreign Secretary said the 2015 contest when he led the Tories to an unexpected majority victory showed that anything can happen.

He told Times Radio: “I remember fighting the election in 2015 and people said I didn’t have a chance and we were behind in the polls and we kept going and we had a clear plan, we had a strong team, and we came through and won the election.

“So anything is possible. I always think during elections, time spent talking about opinion polls is just time completely wasted because you don’t know whether they are right, I don’t know whether they are right and we will find out in 21 days.”

He added: “I believe anything can happen.”

7:24AM

Streeting refuses to rule out increase in capital gains tax

Wes Streeting refused to rule out a capital gains tax increase if Labour win power.

Asked if he could rule out a rise, the shadow health secretary told Times Radio: “It is true to say when people see our manifesto they will see that there is nothing in there that requires us to raise any of those taxes.

“We are being really careful about the promises we make because the bar for getting into the manifesto has been a bar of is this something we can 100 per cent deliver and is this something we are sure the country can afford.

“So we have been careful on that.”

7:21AM

Streeting accuses Tories of ‘cynical voter suppression tactic’ over ‘super majority’ warning

Wes Streeting accused the Tories of deploying a “cynical voter suppression tactic” after Grant Shapps warned against handing Labour a “super majority” on July 4.

Asked if he believed Labour will secure a “super majority” victory, the shadow health secretary told Times Radio: “Grant Shapps isn’t remotely worried about a super majority. Grant Shapps is looking at the same opinion polls I am but he is also, no doubt, knocking on doors as well and finding the same thing as me which is there are millions of undecided voters in this country.

“Not a single vote has been cast. The only way people will get change is if they vote for it on July 4.

“I think what he did yesterday was a cynical voter suppression tactic to say to people who want the Tories out ‘oh, you don’t actually need to bother to do that because everyone else is doing that, you can either stay at home or vote for one of the smaller parties without consequence or keep your nice, friendly Conservative MP’.”

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, talks to broadcasters this morning

Credit: Sky News

7:13AM

Starmer was trying to influence Labour ‘from within’ under Corbyn leadership, says Streeting

Sir Keir Starmer served in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet and campaigned for him to be prime minister in 2019 because he was trying to influence Labour “from within”, Wes Streeting said.

Sir Keir has faced scrutiny during the current election campaign over his past backing for Mr Corbyn and he has attempted to distance himself from his time under the former Labour leader.

Mr Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said Sir Keir and others had worked under Mr Corbyn as they tried to figure out “how best to try and salvage the Labour Party”.

He said Sir Keir had wanted to “influence from within as best as possible to stop the Labour Party going completely off a cliff”.

7:00AM

Starmer not in the ‘entertainment business’, says Labour frontbencher

Sir Keir Starmer is not in the “entertainment business”, a senior Labour figure said this morning as he countered claims that the party’s leader lacked charisma.

It was suggested to Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, that Sir Keir was “Blair without the flair”.

He replied: “A sober, serious leader is exactly what the country needs right now. I don’t think he is trying to be in the entertainment business.

“He is trying to be a sober, serious leader and that is what he will be if he is elected on July 4.”

6:56AM

Economic growth plan the ‘missing piece’ in election debate so far, says McFadden

Pat McFadden said Labour’s manifesto will be a “plan to change the country” and it will be “responsible” and “costed”.

Labour’s national campaign coordinator said a plan for economic growth had been the “missing piece in this election debate so far”.

It will be “at the heart of the manifesto we are publishing this morning”, he told GB News this morning.

6:52AM

Coming up: Wes Streeting and Lord Cameron on the morning broadcast round

Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, will represent the Conservative Party on the morning media round today.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, will be banging the drum for Labour ahead of its manifesto launch.

Meanwhile, Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is scheduled to be taking part in a phone-in on LBC at 8am.

Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, is pictured this morning in Westminster

Credit: Tayfun Salci /Shutterstock

6:46AM

What is happening in the general election campaign today?

Labour’s manifesto launch will dominate the general election campaign today as Sir Keir Starmer unveils his blueprint for Britain at an event in Manchester this morning.

The Labour leader has promised voters there will be “no tax surprises” in the document, with the party expected to pledge no increases in income tax, National Insurance, VAT and corporation tax.

However, it is not expected to rule out future rises in other levies like capital gains tax and the Tories will be ready to pounce on any ambiguity.

Rishi Sunak is taking a break from campaigning as he attends a G7 summit in Puglia, Italy, where he is set to announce new funding for war-torn Ukraine.

Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, will be campaigning in Kent while Plaid Cymru will launch its manifesto in Cardiff.

ITV will then host a seven-way debate this evening from 8.30pm, featuring representatives from the seven main parties.

The representatives will be Penny Mordaunt for the Conservatives, Angela Rayner for Labour, Daisy Cooper for the Lib Dems, Stephen Flynn for the SNP, Nigel Farage for Reform UK, Carla Denyer for the Green Party and Rhun ap Iorwerth for Plaid Cymru.

6:40AM

Starmer leaves door open to host of tax rises

Labour’s election manifesto will not rule out increases in council tax, fuel duty and capital gains tax, Sir Keir Starmer admitted last night.

The Labour leader repeatedly declined to rule out tax rises if he became prime minister after the general election, during a Sky News election programme.

During the interview with Beth Rigby, Sir Keir was repeatedly asked to explicitly promise that there would be “no tax rises” if he won the general election on July 4. The Labour leader declined to do so.

Instead, he promised “no tax rises for working people”, leaving open the possibility of increasing taxes on wealth.

You can read the full story here.

6:33AM

Tory chairman: Labour ‘aren’t being honest’ about tax plans

Labour is not “being honest” about its tax plans, the Tories claimed today as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to unveil his party’s manifesto at an event in Manchester later this morning.

Richard Holden, the chairman of the Conservative Party, claimed Labour is “refusing to say what they would really do because they know it would lose them votes”.

He repeated a disputed Tory claim that Labour would have to put up taxes by more than £2,000 to pay for its policies and said: “Labour aren’t being honest with the public; they are refusing to say what they would really do because they know it would lose them votes.

“Labour will tax your family home, tax your pension, tax your job and tax your car and drag pensioners into the retirement tax.

“Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner are asking for a blank cheque and it’s becoming clear what he wants to do with it – put up your taxes.”

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