Category Archives: Labour

Jewish figures criticise ‘stigmatising’ Tory attack on Starmer family time

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Conservatives push out ‘final warnings’ amid backlash over targeting of Labour leader’s Friday night ‘protected time’

Keir Starmer has accused the Conservatives of desperate tactics amid claims that Tory criticism of his defence of family time was insensitive and had antisemitic undertones.

With Rishi Sunak embarking on a marathon day of campaigning, beginning with a pre-dawn visit to a distribution centre and closing with a late-night rally, Tory ministers and aides sought to contrast these efforts with what they termed Starmer’s “part-time” approach.

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Tory jibes about Keir Starmer and family time show how out of touch party is

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MPs and others have stressed how important time away from work is for those in top jobs

“Increasing desperation, bordering on hysterical” is how Keir Starmer responded to the Conservatives’ claim that his decision to spend Friday nights with his family is a threat to national security.

But a man cannot live on cabinet briefings alone – and online attacks on Starmer by Conservatives have been largely met with deadpan resistance by politicians and the public alike.

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From conflict to the climate – what are the UK parties’ international plans?

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As the election nears, we scrutinise how each of the main contenders would deal with problems around the world

Conflicts and environmental disasters are stretching humanitarian resources, and a new UK government will have to decide what role it will play on the world stage in dealing with global problems, especially after budget cuts and closure of the Department for International Development by the Conservatives, and with priorities so focused on Ukraine. We’ve talked to the main parties and looked at their manifestos to see what their plans are.

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Labour will take global lead on climate action, Ed Miliband vows

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Exclusive: shadow energy security secretary promises to fill ‘vacuum’ left by Rishi Sunak’s U-turn on net zero

Labour will promise to take the lead on global efforts to tackle the climate crisis, filling a “vacuum of leadership” on the world stage and proving Rishi Sunak’s U-turn on net zero has been a “historic mistake”, Ed Miliband has said.

The shadow energy security and net zero secretary said the UK needed to change course and was “off track”.

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Rishi Sunak hints he might not quit as Tory leader immediately if he loses election – as it happened

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PM says he ‘loves this party dearly’ and would always put himself at the service of it’

Rishi Sunak is speaking at a campaign event in Staffordshire. As the advance briefing predicted, he has just told his audience.

I tell you this: once you have handed Keir Starmer and Labour a blank cheque, you won’t be able to get it back.

We’ve had a strategy in place and we’ll try to keep to it, which is to carve out really protected time for the kids, so on a Friday – I’ve been doing this for years – I will not do a work-related thing after six o’clock, pretty well come what may.

There are a few exceptions, but that’s what we do.

[In politics] some people think, if you fill your diary 24/7 and don’t do anything else, that makes you a much better decision maker. I don’t agree with that, I think you’ve got to make space, so we do it …

Actually, it helps me, it takes me away from the pressure, it relaxes me, and I think, actually, not only is it what I want to do as a dad, it is better.

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Starmer says far-right win in France would not stop Labour trying to forge better EU deal

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Labour leader hopes to gain closer economic ties with EU if he becomes PM and says he would work with ‘whoever’

Keir Starmer has said that a government in France led by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) party would not hamper a Labour government’s intention to negotiate a better EU deal.

The RN made historic gains in the first round of France’s snap elections on Sunday with 33% of the vote, bringing the possibility the party could emerge as the largest in the final round of voting next Sunday.

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Sunak to warn Labour would use landslide to shift politics to the left

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Tories make last-ditch attempt to persuade their voters to turn out for Thursday’s election

Labour would use a landslide victory to shift politics to the left and stay in power for decades, Rishi Sunak will warn on Monday, as he launches a last-ditch attempt to persuade Conservative voters to turn out for Thursday’s election.

The prime minister will address a rally at the beginning of the final week of the election campaign, which polls suggest will end in the Conservatives being ousted from power.

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More than £320m spent on Rwanda policy will be lost if Tories lose election

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Costs of trying to deport asylum seekers cannot be recovered if Labour wins and disbands policy

More than £320m spent by the government on the controversial scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is likely to be lost if the Conservatives are voted out of power at Thursday’s general election.

The sum has been spent on economic development money for Rwanda, along with set-up costs for the scheme, which cannot be recovered if it does not go ahead.

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UK general election live: Rishi Sunak says he believes he will win despite poll projections

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Prime minister says he’s ‘fighting very hard’ as campaigning reaches final days with Labour retaining the lead in polling for the Observer

Rishi Sunak said the slur used about him by a Reform UK canvasser was “deeply inappropriate and racist”.

The prime minister told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show that anyone becoming a politician expects a degree of criticism because it “comes with the territory”.

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‘Good news for all parties’: Ireland relishes prospect of Labour victory

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Northern Ireland’s politicians and the Irish government hopeful of a post-Brexit reset and an end to Tory turmoil

The prospect of a Labour government has united Northern Ireland’s political parties and the Irish government in hope of a reset in relations with London after the convulsions of Brexit.

Unionists and nationalists expect Keir Starmer to bring stability and focus to Downing Street’s approach to Northern Ireland and to mend frayed ties with Dublin.

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Elton John among stars pledging support for Labour in general election

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Celebrities including Kit Harington, Deborah Meaden and Jason Manford back Keir Starmer’s party

Elton John has led a lineup of celebrities who have announced their support for Labour at the general election.

The singer-songwriter and his husband, David Furnish, joined actors Kit Harington and James Norton, singer Beverley Knight, comedian Jason Manford and businesswoman Deborah Meaden in bringing some stardust to a Labour supporters’ meeting held in the final days before next week’s poll.

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Starmer’s promise to voters: ‘I will relight the fire of optimism’ in Britain

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Writing in the Observer, the Labour leader vows to restore the bond of trust with politics if his party wins Thursday’s general election

Keir Starmer pledges to “relight the fire” of optimism and hope among the British people – and rekindle their faith in politicians as public servants - if they come out in sufficient numbers and vote for a Labour government in Thursday’s general election.

Writing exclusively for the Observer with just days to go until polling day, the Labour leader says that after 14 years of the Tories “serving themselves”, restoring the “bond of respect between people and politics” will be the precondition for a Labour government’s success.

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General election – as it happened: Farage says he is boycotting BBC as more Reform candidates dropped over past comments

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The Reform leader complained of a ‘dishonest Question Time audience’, while his party also reported Channel 4 to the Electoral Commission

The Conservative party deputy chair Angela Richardson called the sewage crisis a “political football” and claimed opposition parties and activists had put Tory MPs in physical danger by campaigning on the issue.

Richardson, who is standing for re-election in Guildford, where the River Wey was recently found to have 10 times the safe limit of E coli, also suggested the only reason people were talking about the problem was “because the Conservatives let everyone know it was happening”.

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Rishi Sunak speaks of ‘hurt and anger’ at daughters having to hear Reform activist’s racist slur about him – UK general election live

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PM responds to comments by Reform activists, who were filmed by Channel 4 reporter while canvassing in Clacton

Here’s the latest in the Guardian’s series on The broken years: Tory Britain 2010-24:

Unless the polls are wildly inaccurate, the Conservative party is heading towards a catastrophic defeat in the coming election.

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Nigel Farage ‘has questions to answer’ over Reform racism, says Rishi Sunak

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Essex police say they are ‘urgently assessing’ racist and homophobic remarks made by party’s volunteers

Rishi Sunak has said he was hurt and angry to hear a Reform UK canvasser calling him a racial slur, saying Nigel Farage “has some questions to answer”.

The prime minister responded after a Channel 4 undercover investigation found a Reform campaigner had called him a “fucking [P-word]”. Sunak repeated the slur and said he had done so because it was important to call it out for what it was.

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Election betting scandal revealed the niche market of political gambling in UK

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Though the betting often interests few outside Westminster, leaders must be clear on where opportunity for impropriety really lies

Until the past few weeks, online casinos and bookmakers have made handy villains for an under-pressure government.

Ministers could legitimately claim to be cleaning up Labour’s mess with reforms that partially roll back the permissive regulatory regime ushered in under Tony Blair.

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Sunak cites ‘confidential’ inquiry as he refuses to answer questions over aide and election date bet – live

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PM again declines to say whether he told Craig Williams in advance about his decision to hold the election in July

Rishi Sunak is returning to the campaign trail on Thursday, PA reports, after a two-day hiatus for the Emperor and Empress of Japan’s state visit and preparations for the final head-to-head debate with Sir Keir Starmer.

With one week to go until polling day, the deepening gambling scandal is still likely to feature heavily when he faces the media during a tour of the East Midlands and Yorkshire.

He is expected to visit a factory in Derbyshire and hold an evening campaign event in Leeds.

Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of using transgender issues “as a political football to divide people” during their head-to-head debate on Wednesday.

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Labour to seek ‘stable position’ with Europe rather than reopen Brexit debate

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Shadow business secretary says trying to rejoin single market or customs union would cause ‘more difficulties’

Labour would rather have stability in the UK’s relationship with Europe than try to seek accelerated economic growth by rejoining the EU’s single market or customs union, the shadow business secretary has said.

Addressing the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) conference on Thursday, Jonathan Reynolds acknowledged that Brexit had been “very difficult for businesses” because it had erected trade barriers, but said reopening the debate would be worse.

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Sunak and Starmer clash over tax, borders and Brexit deal in final head-to-head before polling day – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed, you can read our full report on this debate here

YouGov will have a snap poll on who won the debate, with the results available minutes after it finishes.

This is what Labour is putting out ahead of the debate, in a stateement from Pat McFadden, the national campaign coordinator.

Tonight, the British people will witness the choice at this election: five more years of chaos with Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives or change with Keir Starmer and Labour.

On 4 July, the British people will have the chance to vote for change. To stop the chaos, turn the page and start to rebuild our country with Keir Starmer and a changed Labour party.

Tonight, Keir Starmer has the opportunity to announce loud and clear to the British public what his intentions are.

Throughout this campaign we have challenged the Labour party, time and time again, to come clean on their plans for taxes. Time and time again they have declined to do so.

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Met police to take bigger role in investigating election betting scandal

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A number of political figures have been accused of placing suspicious bets in the lead-up to the election

The Metropolitan police are to take an expanded role in investigating the criminal allegations triggered by the Westminster betting scandal, which is continuing to overshadow the election campaign.

Sources confirmed that talks between the Gambling Commission, which has been investigating multiple suspicious bets on the election date, and Scotland Yard have been continuing for days.

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