Category Archives: Politics

Rishi Sunak denies he is being snubbed after awkward start to G7 summit

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Giorgia Meloni appears to recoil from UK PM, who has no formal bilateral meetings with other G7 leaders on day one

Rishi Sunak has insisted he was not being snubbed by other leaders after his first day at the G7 summit ended without any bilateral meetings with his counterparts and he had an awkward encounter with Giorgia Meloni.

Meloni, the Italian prime minister who is one of Sunak’s closest international allies, appeared to recoil from him after they embraced on his arrival in Puglia for the G7 leaders’ summit on Thursday.

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Keir Starmer faces questions over cost of Labour manifesto

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Leader accused of being part of a ‘conspiracy of silence’ over economic challenges ahead as he launches wealth creation plan for government

Keir Starmer faced new questions over how Labour would pay to fix Britain’s broken public services as he vowed to “turn the page for ever” on held-back potential and to end political “pantomime” during the party’s manifesto launch.

The Labour leader said he saw “potential held back” everywhere he went as a result of a lack of housing, the cost of living crisis, low wages and inadequate healthcare for children.

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Tory welfare reform cost working-age families thousands while pensioners benefited – report

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Retirees or those on disability benefit are biggest annual winners, while large families are £4,600 worse off, says Resolution Foundation

Pensioners and people on disability benefits are the winners from radical changes to the welfare system made by the Tories over the last decade, while working-age families are losing out by thousands of pounds every year, according to a report by the Resolution Foundation.

The Conservatives’ 14-year overhaul of social security has shifted spending away from children and housing to supporting elderly people, and broken the link between entitlement and need for some of the poorest households in the country, the report says.

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Conservative grassroots campaign in ‘disarray’, say insiders and opponents

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Tories struggling in some areas from chronic lack of supporters to canvass and deliver leaflets, say sources

The Conservative on-the-ground election campaign is descending into “disarray” amid a chronic lack of volunteers and strategy and an increasing sense of panic in formerly ultra-safe seats, insiders and opponents have told the Guardian.

Some areas have struggled to muster people to knock on doors and deliver leaflets due to a combination of a shrinking and ageing membership, a calamitous fall in the number of Conservative councillors and disillusionment with the election campaign.

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Starmer promises ‘long-term strategy’ in business-friendly Labour manifesto

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Labour puts economic policy and wealth creation at heart of pitch to win over former Conservative voters

Keir Starmer will put economic growth and wealth creation at the heart of Labour’s offer to voters as he launches a business-friendly manifesto targeted at former Conservative voters.

The Labour leader will launch his election manifesto in Greater Manchester on Thursday, promising to emphasise economic stability in a deliberate contrast to the Conservatives’ more policy-heavy offering earlier this week.

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General election live: Green party defends ‘ambitious’ spending plans at manifesto launch

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The Greens’ spending commitments include £50bn for the NHS and £29bn to insulate homes

In an interview with ITV due to be broadcast on Wednesday evening, Rishi Sunak says he went without “lots of things” as a child, including Sky TV.

Sunak was pressed in the interview by the ITV journalist Paul Brand to give examples of things he didn’t have a child to which he replied: “There’ll be all sorts of things that I would’ve wanted as a kid that I couldn’t have. Famously, Sky TV, so that was something that we never had growing up actually.”

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‘A lot of people won’t vote’: Chingford voters unenthusiastic as Labour does battle with Faiza Shaheen

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Labour is fighting its former candidate in Iain Duncan Smith’s long-held seat, but local residents don’t appear bowled over by their election options

“The Tories really don’t deserve to be in but I’ll struggle to support Labour. I will have to vote. But it will be a struggle to vote.” David Cherry is out walking his dog, Bella, in the spring sunshine in Chingford Green park.

“It’s quite a depressing state, to be honest,” Cherry continues. “Neither of them give you a clear indication. They all talk, we all know nothing’s going to happen.”

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Green party launches election manifesto with ‘honest’ tax proposal

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Leaders outline ideas including wealth levy, rent controls, house-building, and water and energy firm nationalisation

The Greens have launched their election manifesto with an appeal to voters to help them into parliament as a challenge to what they termed the unambitious, “more of the same” policies of Labour.

Setting out their plans in Brighton and Hove, the location of one of the party’s key target seats, the co-leaders, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, said their proposals for higher taxes – mainly on wealthier people – were the only realistic way to improve public services and undertake vital environmental policies.

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UK politics: Anas Sarwar says election is about ‘getting rid of Tories’, not Scottish independence – as it happened

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Leaders of Scotland’s five main political parties clash during live TV debate

Momentum, the leftwing Labour group set up when Jeremy Corbyn was leader, is not happy about Keir Starmer’s jibe about Corbyn’s manifesto.

Labour’s 2019 manifesto was fully costed.

Keir should know, he stood on it as a member of the shadow cabinet.

How about stopping attacking your own side during an election @Keir_Starmer?

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‘Cosplaying Liz Truss’: Rishi Sunak condemned for £17bn tax giveaway

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Critics say funding of Tory manifesto’s policies is ‘implausible’ and they would mainly benefit wealthier voters

Rishi Sunak has presented a £17bn tax giveaway as the centrepiece of the Conservative manifesto, an offer that was immediately condemned for being “implausible” and mainly benefiting wealthier voters.

The policy programme set out by the prime minister, seen by many Tory MPs as probably the party’s last big chance to win over voters, contained few big surprises and was centred on cuts to national insurance and stamp duty, higher thresholds for child benefit and help for pensioners.

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Labour candidate in Liverpool criticises Starmer for advert on Sun homepage

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Kim Johnson said city, much of which still boycotts paper over false Hillsborough reporting, would be disappointed in Labour

Labour has been criticised by one of its own parliamentary candidates for paying the Sun to advertise Keir Starmer’s policies to its readers.

Visitors to the Sun’s homepage on Monday afternoon were greeted with full-site takeover adverts featuring Starmer’s face, urging readers to “vote for change” and listing his “first steps”.

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Top civil servant joins EDF after running department that struck nuclear deal

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Alex Chisholm, who led business office during Hinkley Point C negotiations, appointed UK chair of energy firm

One of the UK’s most senior civil servants, Alex Chisholm, has been revealed as the new UK chair of the energy company EDF, after having previously run the department that struck a deal for it to build a new nuclear power station.

Chisholm was permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, and before that led the business department, which worked on the government deal for EDF to go ahead with the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset. The agreement was struck in 2016 with UK bill payers bearing the cost of the construction over a 35-year period.

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Labour urged to confirm how it will find staff for 100,000 new childcare places

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Party’s proposals involve about £140m to refurbish school classrooms, but nothing extra to increase staffing

Labour has been accused of leaving a gap in its childcare plans after the party confirmed its promise to offer 100,000 new childcare places would not involve extra funding to recruit more staff.

Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, appeared at a primary school in Nuneaton on Monday alongside the shadow education secretary to publicise the party’s pledge to expand childcare places through primary schools.

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Rightwing Tories plan ‘rebel manifesto’ if Sunak’s policy launch falls flat

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Party figures including Braverman and Jenrick waiting to see how public responds to pledges, insiders say

Conservative rightwingers are planning to present Rishi Sunak with demands for tougher action on immigration and human rights law before the election if the prime minister’s manifesto promises on Tuesday fall flat.

Prominent party figures including Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick are said by Tory insiders to be among those waiting to see how the manifesto is received by the public before they act.

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Rishi Sunak’s general election interview with the BBC: the key points

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Taxes, D-day, Farage and NHS waiting lists were all on the agenda as the prime minister jousted with Nick Robinson

Rishi Sunak was the first party leader to sit down with the BBC’s Nick Robinson for the broadcaster’s series of long-form election interviews. Here are the key points from the PM’s grilling.

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Lib Dems launch election manifesto with pledge ‘to save the NHS’

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Party presents ‘fully costed plan to tackle the healthcare crisis from top to bottom’, including guarantees on GPs and dentists and free-to-access social care

The Liberal Democrats have become the first of the big parties to launch their election manifesto, with a pitch to voters based on boosting the NHS and social care.

They also promised that – unlike Labour and the Tories – their plans were fully costed.

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Harder to own your first home under the Tories, Rishi Sunak admits – UK politics as it happened

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PM acknowledges in BBC Panorama interview to air tonight that it is a challenge for people to buy their first home

Davey sums up the Lib Dems’ plans on health and social care

And he says he wants to mention one other policy he is particularly proud of – the proposal to give proper bereavement support to parents whose partners have died.

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Post-Brexit ‘mess’ as Italian driver’s lorry held for 55 hours at UK border post

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Antonio Soprano says he was told to walk to a McDonald’s for food as there was none at Sevington

An Italian lorry driver has described the UK’s new post-Brexit controls as a “mess” after his lorry was held at a government-run border post for more than two days.

Antonio Soprano, 62, who was stopped while bringing plants into the country from central Italy, said he was offered nothing to eat during his 55-hour ordeal and instead was told by border officials that he should walk to a McDonald’s more than a mile away to get a meal.

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Douglas Ross to resign as Scottish Tory leader after election

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Surprise announcement comes amid internal party pressure and fresh allegations over expenses claims

Douglas Ross has announced he will stand down as leader of the Scottish Conservatives on 4 July amid growing internal pressure over his multiple roles in the party and fresh allegations about improper expenses claims.

In the surprise statement on Monday morning, Ross also said he would quit as an MSP at Holyrood should he win the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constituency at the Westminster election.

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Vehicle damage claims in Wales fall 20% since speed limit cut to 20mph, says insurer

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Campaigners say lower speeds reduce casualties but scheme has since been amended to give people more choice to rescind limits

Vehicle damage claims in Wales have fallen by 20% at one leading car insurer since the nationwide 20mph speed limit was introduced there last September.

Wales was one of the first countries in the world, and the first nation in the UK, to introduce legislation for a default 20mph speed limit in built-up areas last year.

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