‘I learnt one thing from Liz Truss,’ admits Keir Starmer

Boris demands Starmer 'revokes' Corbyn claim

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged Sir Keir Starmer to "revoke" his claim comparing him and Jeremy Corbyn.

Johnson also claimed Starmer's original claim was "utterly terrifying".

He said: “It shows that we may now be only days from electing a Labour Government that has simply no idea how dangerous the world is today, and how important it is that Britain is strong in the face of our adversaries."

Johnson added: “Starmer must now be put remorselessly on the spot. He must take it back. You can’t back Corbyn and back Ukraine at the same time.

“Unless he revokes his endorsement of a Corbyn premiership, and makes explicit his support for Ukraine, Keir Starmer is simply not fit to be Prime Minister.”

Nigel Farage blames West for Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has blamed the West for Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Farage said that he had been saying since the fall of the Berlin Wall that there would be a war in Ukraine due to the "ever-eastward expansion of Nato and the European Union".

He confirmed his belief the West "provoked" the conflict.

However, the Brexit stalwart insisted was "of course" the Russian president's "fault".

Home Secretary James Cleverly responded by claiming that Farage was "echoing Putin's vile justification for the brutal invasion of Ukraine".

Farage claims net migration 'exploded' since Brexit

Nigel Farage has claimed the number of migrants arriving in the UK "exploded" following the Brexit referendum.

The Reform UK leader said: "My point is this, there were two realistic expectations from Brexit; one, we control our borders and reduce the numbers coming in; they’ve exploded, they’ve trebled, to numbers you can’t even believe.

“And secondly – and that’s because of a Conservative Government that didn’t even try, because their big backers want cheap foreign labour.”

Ex-Tory minister says he is voting Labour for the first time as Winston Churchill’s great nephew throws support behind Reform UK

Former Tory minister Chris Skidmore has said he would vote Labour for the first time and Winston Churchill's great nephew has endorsed Nigel Farage and Reform UK.

It comes as the parties are set to resume campaigning throughout today as the General Election looms less than two weeks away.

While Keir Starmer heads to Scotland to campaign on the party's industrial policy, the Liberal Democrats are calling for urgent reform to end the 'appalling situation' in NHS dentistry.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who had complained he was not included in last night's BBC Question Time special, will face a grilling from BBC Panorama later today. A similar special with co-leader of the Green Party Adrian Ramsay will be broadcast on Monday.

Farage accuses Ofcom on 'election interference' over radio coverage

Nigel Farage has accused broadcasting regulator Ofcom of "election interference" over the BBC's radio coverage of Reform UK.

The populist party, which is polling second in the popular vote in some surveys, is putting pressure on broadcasters to improve its coverage.

Farage said: "I listened to BBC Radio 4 this morning.

"You would not think that Reform UK were in this election at all, let alone polling second.

"Ofcom have recently changed the broadcasting rules to try to squeeze us out. This is serious election interference."

BBC pull Question Time from iPlayer after 'explicit' Sunak comment airs

The BBC has been forced to pull its Question Time coverage from iPlayer after an "explicit" comment about Rishi Sunak aired.

As the Prime Minister took to the stage in York, a cameraman was heard saying: "F*****g hate him."

Starmer refuses to repeat 'Corbyn better than Boris' claim

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has refused to repeat last night's claim that Jeremy Corbyn would have made a better Prime Minister than Boris Johnson.

Starmer, who served as Corbyn's Shadow Brexit Secretary, came under fire after suggesting the now expelled ex-Labour MP would have been a better premier than the former Prime Minister.

Speaking earlier today, the Leader of the Opposition said: “The choice at the last election before the electorate was not a good choice.

"You had Boris Johnson, who won and then three years later was thrown out of Parliament for breaking the rules, you had Jeremy Corbyn who is now expelled from the Labour Party.”

He added: “I have changed the Labour Party because after that election result, we needed to ensure we were a party which proudly said: ‘Country first, party second’, with a manifesto for change, and that’s what we have put before the electorate.

“There is a real choice this time around between carrying on with what we’ve got, the failure of the last 14 years, or starting to rebuild the country with a Labour Government.”

Starmer rejects calls from SNP and Scottish Greens to lift block on gender reforms

The Scottish Government’s controversial gender reforms would not be lifted under a Labour government according to Sir Keir Starmer, despite calls from the SNP and the Scottish Greens.

He said: "No, there would be no change of position on that,” he said.

"I think there’s a lot to learn about gender self-ID from the way in which it’s been dealt with here Scotland, which is why we’ve got a different proposition in our manifesto."

Winston Churchill's great nephew throws support behind Reform UK

Delighted to have the support of Winston Churchill’s great nephew, the Duke of Marlborough. 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/BUWdUeutKm

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 21, 2024

The great nephew of Sir Winston Churchill has announced he is backing Reform UK for the General Election.

The Duke of Marlborough, also known as Jamie Blandford or Jamie Churchill, hailed Nigel Farage and said he "could end up in the same league" as his famous relative.

Read the full story here.

Sir Keir Starmer defends Labour's plan for renters

The Labour leader told reporters: "We’ve got a really good plan for protecting those who are renting because at the moment rents are far too high."

He added: "One of the things we want to stop is the bidding where landlords effectively get renters to bid up, and up, and up, which pushes the rents up. We will stop that from happening.”

Sir Keir said he also wanted to deal with deposits and no-fault evictions, describing his plans as a “really strong package of reforms to protect those who are renting."

WATCH: Former Minister for London tells GB News the Conservative Party needs to 'stop shooting itself in the foot'

Read the full story here.

Sunak urges voters not to 'sleepwalk' to July 4

Speaking at the launch of the Conservatives’ manifesto for Wales, the Prime Minister said: “I warn you, don’t fall into Labour’s trap, don’t sleepwalk to July 4. I know you want to send us a message, but this is not a by-election. It will determine who governs our country for the next five years and potentially much longer.

"For if Labour get in they will change the rules so it’s much harder to ever get them out. They want to give 16-year-olds a vote not because on principle they think that they are adults, but because they think they’ll vote for them.

"Once they have got power they will change every rule to make sure that they keep it. We can’t let that happen, friends, and it’s only we Conservatives who can stop it."

Rishi Sunak's national service plan could see Britons stripped of driving licences

The Prime Minister hinted that driving licences could be removed from young Britons if they refuse to take part in the new national service plan.

Speaking last night, Sunak defended the controversial Tory scheme, saying it would help give young people the "opportunities they deserve".

Read the full story here.

David TC Davies admits concerns over fallout from allegations about betting over general election date

The Welsh Secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: "On the morning that the election was called I was talking to civil servants and they said ‘Oh, have you heard this rumour?’ or words to that effect.

"But we didn’t know and very often in the past I’ve had conversations like that, so I didn’t know and I wasn’t certain, I think, until the PM called us in that afternoon, and I am in the Cabinet so you might have thought I’d have had some advance notice."

Asked if he was worried about the reputation of the Tory Party on questions of ethics and integrity, particularly given the impact of the Partygate scandal, Mr Davies replied: “Well, of course I am.

"I took a decision when I entered the Wales Office as Secretary of State that I’d do two things immediately to set an example.

"The first was to get rid of the ministerial car, so I’ve been happily travelling around on the Tube ever since, which I don’t think is appropriate for all Cabinet ministers, by the way, because some of them have more security issues than I do.

"The second thing I did was to look round, notice there was alcohol in the building and ask for it all to be removed within 48 hours, for there to be no alcohol to be served at any official Wales Office events at all, and for nobody – including and of course especially myself – to be drinking alcohol at any official functions at any time of the day or night."

New poll puts Greens ahead of Conservatives in two key rural seats

New polling from WeThink has put the Green Party ahead of the Tories in the rural seats of Waveney Valley and North Herefordshire.

In Waveney Valley, a new seat made up of parts of former constituencies straddling the Norfolk and Suffolk border, if people unlikely to vote and don’t knows are excluded, the Green Party is on 37 per cent support compared to the Tories on 24 per cent.

In North Herefordshire, the Greens have 39 per cent support, against 28 per cent for the long-term Tory incumbent, Bill Wiggin.

Party co-leader and candidate in Waveney Valley Adrian Ramsay told The Guardian: "Time after time I’ve spoken to Conservative voters who say they’re thinking about what the future is going to be like for their children or grandchildren and that they’re voting Green for the first time."

FULL LIST OF CANDIDATES STANDING IN WAVENEY VALLEY

• Scott Huggins - Reform UK
• Gurpreet Padda - Labour Party
• Adrian Ramsay - Green Party
• Richard Rout - Conservative Party
• Maya Severyn - Social Democratic Party
• John Richard Shreeve - Liberal Democrats

• Jon Browning - Labour Party
• Ellie Chowns - Green Party
• Andrew Dye - Reform UK
• Michael Guest - Social Democratic Party
• Cat Hornsey - Liberal Democrats
• Bill Wiggin - Conservative Party

Former Conservative minister says he is voting Labour for first time

Chris Skidmore, former energy minister, launched a scathing attack on Rishi Sunak, accusing the PM of seeking 'division and polarisation' over climate change.

He said: "Rishi Sunak’s decision instead to side with climate deniers and to deliberately politicise the energy transition, breaking the consensus of the past to seek division and polarisation, is perhaps the greatest tragedy of his premiership.

"It has cost the UK not just environmentally, but economically, and it has cost the Conservative party the ability to demonstrate that it is the party of the environment and nature.

"It is a decision that will cost votes, including my own. For the first time, I cannot vote for my party that has boasted of new oil and gas licences in its manifesto, or that now argues that net zero is a burden and not a benefit."

Liberal Democrats call for 'urgent reform' to NHS Dentistry

The party has announced a dental rescue plan, worth £750 million each year, which aims to give more patients access to care, ensure free check-ups for children and to prevent the "exodus" of NHS dentists.

Sir Ed Davey, who is expected to hit the campaign trail in Yorkshire and Norfolk, said "the Conservative Government has pushed dentistry to the brink."

The Tories hit back, saying the "huge unfunded spending commitment" was "just another an empty promise."

Angela Rayner says Labour 'takes some responsibility' for the 'chaos' caused by the Boris Johnson government 

The Labour deputy leader told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: "I think the 2019 general election result, we got hammered by the electorate, I’m not going to put it any plainer than that, and we saw the devastation after that where Boris Johnson was elected and I think some of the feedback I got was that Labour didn’t offer an alternative.

"That period of time was not good for Labour, we didn’t get elected...We all feel a lot of guilt over the fact that we didn’t put a programme forward that the electorate would vote for and I think that’s why Keir feels uncomfortable.

"We’ve changed the Labour Party since then because we need a Labour Party that’s going to serve the British people because we’ve seen what happens when we had the Tory chaos and we take some responsibility for that because we lost the election."

Sunak stands by decision to call July general election

The Prime Minister told the BBC Question Time audience: "It was the right moment to call the election, for the reasons that I have outlined."

Asked if he was glad to have called the election, he added: "I am."

Starmer slams 'toxic' nature of the Trans debate

The Labour leader, who earlier this week said he agreed with Sir Tony Blair’s recent comment that a woman has a vagina and a man has a penis hit out at Rishi Sunak’s trans joke at PMQ's, allegedly linked to murdered transgender teenager Brianna Ghey.

Sir Keir said: "There are many people who don’t identify with the gender they are born into and they go through a lot of anxiety and distress.

"My view in life is to give dignity and respect to everyone, whatever their position. I was worried at the time in which the debate was being conducted, it got very toxic, very divided. We lost sight of people in that.

"The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom made a trans joke in Parliament when the mother of a murdered trans teenager was watching on. That is a shocking place to get to."

Sunak met with chants of 'shame' over ECHR stance

Audience members chanted "shame on you" when Rishi Sunak said he would prioritise the UK’s security over the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Prime Minister said he was "prepared to do what it takes" to begin sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, adding that the country does not need a "foreign court" to issue instructions on border security. "I will put our country first," he added.

As the credits for the special continued, further cries of "shame" could be heard coming from the audience.

Starmer admits he did not think Labour would win the 2019 General Election

Speaking at a BBC Question Time special, Sir Keir was grilled over his one-time statement Corbyn would make a great prime minister.

He said: "It wasn’t a question that really arose because I didn’t think we were going to win the election."

When host Fiona Bruce asked for a yes or no answer to whether he meant it, there was laughter from the audience when he did not give one, instead saying that Mr Corbyn would be a better premier than Boris Johnson.

While Sir Keir said he did not think they would win the 2019 election, the former shadow Brexit secretary still thought Corbyn would make a better PM than Johnson. Corbyn, who is standing as an independent candidate in Islington North, was expelled from Labour in May.