TV Leaders' Q&A: Audience members shout 'SHAME' as Rishi Sunak is GRILLED over ECHR

Sunak slaps down Brexit-bashing audience member in tense EU exchange

Rishi Sunak has slapped down a Brexit-bashing BBC audience member in a tense exchange about EU membership.

The audience member suggested Brexit was a disaster and claimed membership of the Brussels bloc benefitted young people.

The Prime Minister, who supported the UK leaving the EU in 2016, said: "We had all these debates several years ago, I will not relitigate them.

"We had a referendum and the country decided. Now, the job is to get on and make sure we realise the benefits of that."

Sunak went on to cite free ports, which face stricter requirements as part of the EU, as a key example of a Brexit benefit.

The Prime Minister also claimed the UK could drive further economic growth by taking advantage of leaving the EU.

Rishi Sunak GRILLED over whether he’s ‘embarassed’ to be leading Tory Party

Rishi Sunak has immediately been grilled about whether he is "embarrassed" to lead the Tory Party into the 2024 General Election.

The Prime Minister, who is languishing behind Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in the opinion polls, took over following Liz Truss' 49-day stint in Number 10.

He told Question Time: “When I first got this job, I stood on the steps of Downing Street and spoke to all of you as prime minister for the first time, and I acknowledge that.

“I said very clearly that mistakes had been made, and that’s why I was standing there in front of you.

"In fact, you may remember I spent the summer before that arguing against the policies that my predecessor had suggested were right.

“I didn’t think they were right for the country, and I said so. But what I’d ask you to do is judge me on my 18 months that I’ve been in office.

"I came in with one primary job, and that was to bring back economic stability after the difficult few years that we’ve had.”

There have been five Tory Prime Ministers since the Conservative Party came to power in 2010.

Brexit, partygate and Truss' mini-budget have all been cited as reasons behind falling confidence in the Conservative Party.

Audience LAUGH at Keir Starmer as he REFUSES to answer question over Corbyn

Sir Keir Starmer has been laughed at by Question Time audience members after the Labour leader refused to answer if he genuinely believed Jeremy Corbyn would make a "great Prime Minister".

Starmer, who served as Corbyn's Shadow Brexit Secretary, was jeered minutes after receiving some boos when he took to the stage in York.

The Leader of the Opposition said: "In 2019, I campaigned for the Labour Party as I always have for the Labour Party.

"I wanted good colleagues to be returned to Parliament, I knew we had a job and a half to do as a Labour Party because I didn't think we were going to win that election.

“Afterwards, because we got the worst results since 1935, the electorate clearly gave their verdict, we did a lot of work on how we needed to change the party.”

Starmer, who previously described Corbyn's manifesto as Labour's "foundational" document, was asked several times if he stands by his claims about his predecessor making a "great" Prime Minister.

He instead slammed former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and continued to reiterate he did not believe Labour could win the 2019 General Election.

Keir Starmer challenged after flip-flopping on trans row

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been challenged after being accused of flip-flopping on trans issues.

Asked about his views on gender, Starmer said: “Look on the biology. I agree what Tony Blair said the other day, in relation to men having penises and women having vaginas.”

The Leader of the Opposition added: “There are some people who don’t identify with the gender that they’re born into, and they go through a lot of anxiety and distress. And my view in life is to respect and give dignity to everyone, whatever their position and I will always do that.”

However, Starmer also voiced concern about the polarisation of British politics.

He said: “I was worried at the time... by the way in which the debate was being conducted, because it got very toxic, very divided, very hard line, and we lost sight of people in that, so much so that that drags you to a place where we end up, as we did, with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom making a trans joke in Parliament when the mother of a murder trans teenager was watching out, that is a shocking place to get to.”

SNP leader John Swinney urges UK to grant IndyRef2

SNP leader John Swinney has urged the UK Government to grant Holyrood with the ability to hold a second independence referendum.

He told voters: “I honestly believe that Scotland would be a stronger country and would have better prospects if we were an independent country.

“That’s been my view, my honest view, for all of my entire adult life but I’m a democrat, so I accept that we can’t be an independent country until the people of Scotland vote for us to be an independent country.

"And I do believe in the right of the people of Scotland to decide their own future.”

However, Scotland voted to stay in the United Kingdom when it held its independence referendum in 2014.

Swinney also argued that the 2016 Brexit referendum justifies calls for a second poll on independence.

He said: “I think it’s a very good point, because in 2016 Scotland voted emphatically to stay in the European Union.

“And one of the things we were told in the 2014 independence referendum in Scotland was that our European Union membership was guaranteed by voting no to independence.

Swinney added: “Two years later, the absolute opposite of what was promised actually came to pass.

"So, for me, that’s a very, very material change in circumstances that merits another referendum on the question of independence, because one of the fundamental building blocks of the arguments against independence was about the continuity of EU membership.”

'Just not helpful!' Scottish audience member slams John Swinney over Brexit

Scottish First Minister John Swinney has faced criticism after claiming he would support rejoining the European Union to boost the manufacturing sector.

An audience member, who works in the manufacturing sector, appeared frustrated about the SNP's Westminster blame-game and stressed leaving the EU has been "disastrous" for the economy.

After Swinney doubled-down on rejoining the Brussels bloc, the audience member said: "We all know how much we all paid in time and money from a Brexit perspective but talking about going back in to that situation for the manufacturing sector is just not helpul. People will take a sharp intake of breath at that."

Ed Davey dodges question on Post Office scandal in cringe-worthy Q&A

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has dodged an audience member's question on whether he was "proud" of his involvement in the Post Office scandal.

Davey, who served as Post Office Minister and met with Alan Bates, instead labelled the Horizon scandal as the "biggest miscarriage of justice in the history of our country".

He added: "I made two big mistakes at that time. It was'nt an issue that cropped up much but it did croup up at the start.

"When Alan Bates had written to me, I had been in office for about two weeks and I wrote to him to say that this is a matter for the Post Office, we don't govern it, and I'm not going to meet you.

"He wrote back furious, he did, and I read his letter and said I better meet him."

When quizzed on whether Davey was proud, the Liberal Democrat leader stressed he received assurances that Bates' account was not true.

"I wish I had seen through the lies," he added.

Ed Davey is 'realistic' about electoral ambitions but doesn't rule out coalition

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has said he is "realistic" about his chances of becoming Prime Minister but refuses to rule out entering into a coalition with Labour.

Davey said: “I’m realistic about our chances. Right, we’ve had three very bad elections… and when I became leader, I said my top priority was to defeat as many Conservative MPs as possible.”

However, the Liberal Democrat leader also stopped short of ruling out a coalition.

Davey, a casualty of the Cameron-Clegg coalition years, said: “I’ll explain why, Fiona.

“I’ve been in politics a little while. I’ve seen a lot of Lib Dem leaders and sometimes they focus on what happens after the election and I’ve noticed that when they do that they don’t focus on the job in hand, which is trying to win local champions and Liberal Democrats across the country. And I’m going to try and do that.”

Davey has already ruled out any agreement with Rishi Sunak's Tories.

Tories release Lib Dem attack ad as Sir Ed Davey faces audience grilling

The Lib Dems aren’t a joke.

If you vote Lib Dem, you’ll end up with Labour. #BBCQT pic.twitter.com/dqwm1gGHAj

— Conservatives (@Conservatives) June 20, 2024

The Tory Party has released a video warning voters about the threat from the Liberal Democrats as Sir Ed Davey fields questions from audience members in York.

"The Lib Dems aren't a joke", the post was captioned.

"If you vote Lib Dem, you'll end up with Labour."

The Tories published the clip as the Liberal Democrats set their sights on winning a number of so-called Blue Wall seats following a number of by-election victories in leafty shire seats.

Party leaders face grilling from live audience as Farage left out of line up

Major party leaders have arrived in York to face a grilling from audience members but Nigel Farage was left out of the line up.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is up first and is being quizzed on his campaign strategy, manifesto commitments and legacy on tuition fees.

Scottish First Minister John Swinney will follow and push the SNP's message to voters north of the border.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who is streaking ahead in the opinion polls, is the penultimate leader taking to the stage.

Rishi Sunak will finish tonight's Question Time special episode in York.

However, Farage was not invited to attend tonight's grilling.

The Reform UK leader, who is performing well in a number of opinion polls, complained about not being invited to the event.

Farage said: "As we are now ahead of the Conservatives in the polls, I demand that Reform UK is a part of this debate. If the BBC want a fight with me on this, they can have one."

The BBC has since announced that it will host an additional Question Time special featuring representatives from Reform UK and the Green Party on June 28.

In response, Farage said: "I am pleased that the BBC acknowledge that support for Reform UK has been growing in this election.

"We must now be included in the head-to-head debate with Sunak and Starmer on June 26."

SNP faces investigation over 'inappropriate' use of public money

The SNP is being investigated by parliamentary authorities over the alleged inappropriate use of public money to fund its general election campaign.

The probe comes amid claims that stamps paid for by expenses have been passed to SNP candidates to distribute leaflets to constituents.T

he complaint, which was made by an SNP staff member, was sent to Holyrood’s presiding officer Alison Johnstone.

A screenshot was also sent showing an internal discussion between some of the party’s office managers.

BBC threatened with being SUED by Tory candidate after election bet claims emerge

A Conservative candidate at the heart of the Tory Party's betting debacle has threatened to sue the BBC in a stinging statement from her solicitor.

Laura Saunders, who is standing against Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones in Bristol North West, will be “cooperating with the Gambling Commission”.

She also claimed she is “considering legal action against the BBC” and other outlets “who infringe her privacy rights”.

Saunders is married to the Conservative Party’s director of campaigning Tony Lee.

Lee took a leave of absence on Wednesday afternoon after the betting regulator announced a probe into the situation.

Craig Williams, who was the Tory MP for Montgomery until the election was called and is standing again in the new constituency of Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr, also claimed he made a "huge error" after placing a £100 bet on a July poll.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “It’s very telling that Rishi Sunak has not already done that.

“If it was one of my candidates, they’d be gone and their feet would not have touched the floor.”

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper added: "It would be an utter disgrace if Conservative politicians were shown to be more focussed on turning a quick buck rather than the needs of the country.”

Saunders is challenging Jones in Bristol North West amid dire polls for the Conservative Party.

The Tories won Bristol North West with a majority of 4,944 in 2015 but the latest MRP polls suggest a comfortable Labour victory.

Tories forced to delete awkward advert after being hit by scandal

The Conservatives have been forced to delete an advert featuring a roulette wheel after allegations of political bets placed.

The video was posted before the revelations about one of Rishi Sunak's protection officers being arrested over alleged political bets. It also predated claims about Bristol North Conservative candidate Laura Saunders and her husband, Director of Campaigning for the Tories, Tony Lee.

The video, which features scenes of a spinning roulette wheel, bears the slogan: "If you bet on Labour, you can never win." The tweet featuring the video has now been deleted from the Conservatives' profile on X (formerly Twitter.)

It comes as top Conservatives have been left in panic mode after polling from Savanta for The Telegraph consulted around 18,000 people between June 7 and June 18 put Labour on 516 seats and an estimated House of Commons majority of 382, with the Tories behind on just 53 seats..

One cabinet minister told The Times: "None of us can believe the polls because it is not what we are seeing on the ground. But we can’t explain them either. Colleagues are understandably concerned about their area but some of these projections are beyond people’s wildest nightmares."

Another added: "The country has made a fundamental decision overall. Anything that is said about tax or anything else is ignored...there is no way of sorting this. You don’t give up locally. But there is no quick fix to this. I hope I can stick to the Nytol [an over-the-counter sleep aid] and not reach for the Valium."

Meanwhile, the Scottish Green Party launched their manifesto today, with co-leader Patrick Harvie saying the party would put compassion at the centre of its economic strategy and warning against the Conservative Party's lurch to 'right-wing extremism.'

Farage effect? Eminem track back in the charts

Eminem's "Without Me" is back in the UK charts amid Nigel Farage using the track regularly during his General Election campaign.

The smash hit, which was first released in 2002, has arrived as a new entry in the UK top 50 songs on Spotify this week, currently sitting at 40.

The current UK No1 is Sabrina Carpenter's “Espresso”, which has not been co-opted by any party leaders during their election campaigns.

The return to the charts comes after Farage uploaded a TikTok video of him singing "guess who's back, back again", to the tune of Eminem's "Without Me."

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Nigel Farage slams 'lying' Tories over Channel crossing crisis

The party that let 140,000 illegal migrants across the Channel are now telling us that Labour would be worse.

They are cheats and liars. https://t.co/enNugegbGf

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 20, 2024

Nigel Farage has slammed Rishi Sunak's Tories over the Channel crossing crisis.

The Reform UK leader, who is standing in Clacton, claimed the Conservative Party were "cheats and liars".

He added: "The party that let 140,000 illegal migrants across the Channel are now telling us that Labour would be worse."

Farage has made immigration a central theme of Reform UK's campaign, with the populist party describing July 4 as an "Immigration Election".

Starmer denies reports that Labour official said they would 'flatten the whole green belt'

Politico’s London Playbook quoted an unnamed party official on Thursday, who said: "I don’t care if we flatten the whole green belt, we just need more houses in this country."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak posted the quote to his feed on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption: "Good to finally get Labour’s real views on Britain’s green belt."

The Labour leader told journalists: "No, that wasn’t Labour Party officials. That wasn’t Labour Party policy.

"What we will do is we will build the one and a half million houses that we need over the next five years on projects like this, with the facilities they need, because what you need here is the schools and the GPs and the facilities that are needed for housing.

"We will get on and do the building we need to do, but we’d of course protect the countryside, as you’d expect."

Nigel Farage says 'something remarkable' is happening with young voters

The Reform UK leader said: "We are not doing well with millennials. The 25 to 35s we’re not doing well with, but Generation Z, Gen Z, the 15 to 25s, something remarkable, I mean truly remarkable, is happening.

"Our support in that age bracket is rapidly, and I mean rapidly, going up. The following I’ve built up on TikTok, Instagram, those sort of accounts is amazing."

"There’s an awakening in a younger generation who’ve had enough of being dictated to, had enough of being lectured to and they’re seeing through the BS they’re getting in schools and universities."

Douglas Ross says using inside information for election date betting is 'completely unacceptable'

The Scottish Conservative leader, who has said he will quit the post after the election said: "The investigation has) been set up to look at these allegations, and if anyone is guilty of using (information) that they were privy to, to place bets, to financially benefit from that, it is completely unacceptable, it is completely wrong and they should no longer have the support.

"But there is an independent process and I think it’s right that due process is allowed to continue."

He added that he does not “in any way condone” what has happened, if the Gambling Commission identifies wrongdoing.

Rachel Reeves says she hopes business chiefs could see their fingerprints "all over the manifesto"

The shadow chancellor told The Times CEO summit in London: "My mission is to make Britain the best place in the world to invest or to start and grow a business, and that’s why I hope when you read our manifesto, or see our priorities, that you see your fingerprints all over them.

“So, the reforms about planning, that’s not something that we came up with in our office, that’s something that was probably first mentioned to me at the first smoked salmon and scrambled eggs breakfast that I had three-and-a-bit years ago where that was raised as an issue, and then raised countless times.”

She added: "I’m not going to be able to create wealth and prosperity from the Treasury, but you are going to be able to create that.

"What is my role is to remove as many of the barriers that are stopping you from investing as I possibly can."

Scottish Greens accuse Tories of moving closer to 'right-wing extremism'

Back on the campaign trail, the Scottish Greens have launched their manifesto in Edinburgh today. In the 56-page manifesto, the Greens outline plans for a wealth tax on the richest people in the UK, an end to oil and gas companies being able to advertise, and a stop on all subsidies for fossil fuels.

All public sector pension funds, the party said, should also fully divest from fossil fuels. The party would also levy a private jet tax of £1,000 per head against those using their own planes to travel to or within the UK.

Co-leader Patrick Harvey said: "In the UK, it seems that a realignment along the far-right looks like an inevitable consequence of this election. Alongside the growth of online radicalism and far-right conspiracy platforms masquerading as news outlets, this is a chilling threat to democracy.

"Even if it ends up wiping them out, the truth is that the Conservative Party itself has helped to create this. Since Brexit, they’ve shifted ever further toward right-wing extremism and their culture war against vulnerable groups has been one of the ugliest expressions of Tory politics in recent years."

Bank of England holds interest rates at 5.25%

The Bank of England has held interest rates at their highest level since 2008, despite UK inflation returning to its official two per cent target last month.

The Bank’s governor, Andrew Bailey, said policymakers "need to be sure that inflation will stay low and that’s why we’ve decided to hold rates at 5.25 per cent for now."

The decision comes a day after official figures showed the rate of inflation hit the Bank’s two per cent target in May for the first time in nearly three years, prompting the Prime Minister to declare “we’ve got there” after the milestone was reached.

BREAKING: Conservative director of campaigning becomes fourth person to be investigated over alleged election bet

The Conservative director of campaigning is being looked into over reports of an election bet, reports the BBC.

Read the full story here.

Tories reportedly moving campaign resources out of constituencies they conclude are 'no longer winnable'

Conservative campaign headquarters told candidates in several constituencies who are defending majorities of over 10,000 votes that their funds and favourable access to party activists was being withdrawn, reports Bloomberg.

According to the people who spoke on condition of anonymity, candidates were told resources would be directed to other Tory-held districts with even larger majorities that the party believes it has a better chance of winning.

Other activists in different parts of Britain would have been told to head to the constituencies of Cabinet ministers seen as under threat.

Jeremy Hunt concedes that a Conservative win is not 'the most likely outcome'

Hunt told the Times CEO Summit in London: "Genuinely in my seat I think it’s too close to call.

"I have a very middle class electorate in Surrey, very highly educated and actually they have been very mobile voters for all my time in Parliament, so I think it’s very hard to call. I still meet a lot of people who say they haven’t yet made up their mind.

"So I genuinely don’t know the answer to that question. I’ve had the conversation with my kids, I may not be an MP after the election, and that’s OK, that’s democracy, all that sort of stuff."

Asked if the Conservatives can win the election, he said: “It’s going to be very tough. I don’t think any of us would pretend that is the most likely outcome. We can certainly do a lot better than the polls are suggesting and we are working very hard to do so."

Green Party co-leader rebuffs comparison to Liz Truss

Adrian Ramsay told Sky News: "Liz Truss borrowed to give tax breaks to the very richest in society. We're talking about investing in a future that will be better for everybody.

"We need to bring about those changes because we have high levels of inequality, we have changes in the climate that are running away with themselves.

"The climate experts are very clear. The costs of not acting on the climate emergency are much greater than the costs of acting."

Labour slams 'pattern of cronyism' after investigation launched into second Tory candidate by the Gambling Commission 

Shadow housing minister Matthew Pennycook told Sky News: "I think it does chip away at trust and confidence in the Government but in politics more widely, and we’ve had too much of that over the last 14 years.

"I sort of hesitate slightly but this appears with each one of these new allegations to be looking like a pattern of cronyism, if you like, with people benefiting directly potentially from information maybe passed on.

"I think it’s really damaging to politics generally. We’ve got to have a different way of doing politics with integrity at its heart."

Liberal Democrats say Conservatives have 'driven us down a motorway of decay'

Sir Ed Davey has unveiled a £300m pledge to carry out up to 1.2 million pothole repairs a year.

The Liberal Democrats has said it would make more of the existing road budget available to local authorities so it could be spent on fixing potholes.

They slammed what the called the "pothole postcode lottery."

Schoolwear industry boss warns Labour's uniform plans will 'cost parents more'

Labour has pledged to “bring down the cost of school" by "limiting the number of branded items of uniform and PE kit that schools can require."

Chairman of the Schoolwear Association Matthew Easter has hit back against the plans, saying they create a number of "unforeseen consequences."

He said: "We strongly feel that it will result in costing parents more rather than less because of pressure from their children to buy branded items, which are a lot more expensive and don’t last as long as school uniform items.

"What happens is the kids then pressure their parents to go and buy Nike or Adidas or another fashion sports brand and the cost goes up massively, and then you create inequality in school where some kids have Nike and some kids don’t. There’s the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’."

Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: "Costs have rocketed, with uniform prices for secondary school pupils increasing by a quarter in the last three years alone. Branded items are driving price rises which are making children poorer not smarter.

"Labour will toughen rules to limit the number of branded items of uniform or PE kit which can be required."

WATCH: Exclusive GB News footage shows Labour canvasser admit they are voting Liberal Democrat

Read the full story here.

Second Tory being investigated over alleged General Election bet

A second Conservative candidate is being investigated over an alleged bet on the date of the general election, it emerged last night.

Laura Saunders, who is standing in Bristol North West, was reported by the BBC to the subject of an inquiry by the Gambling Commission.

A Conservative spokesman said: "We have been contacted by the Gambling Commission about a small number of individuals. As the Gambling Commission is an independent body, it wouldn’t be proper to comment further, until any process is concluded."

The date and value of the alleged bet have not been disclosed.

FULL LIST OF CANDIDATES STANDING IN BRISTOL NORTH WEST

• Caroline Gooch - Liberal Democrats
• Darren Jones - Labour Party
• Scarlett O'Connor - Reform UK
• Mary Page - Green Party
• Laura Saunders - Conservative and Unionist Party
• Ben Smith - Social Democratic Party

Michael Gove insists there is 'still time' for the Tories to turn around the polls

The Cabinet minister told Sky News: "There are opinion polls, as I’ve acknowledged and as we both know, that are not great, but it’s not the 90th minute, we’re not in ‘Fergie time’ yet.

"There is still an opportunity for us to make these arguments and as we make these arguments my experience, and I know it’s just me and a range of seats, not every seat in the country, my experience is that when you do talk to voters, outline some of the tax dangers, outline some of Labour’s plans for the future, then people do think twice.

"People do recognise that by voting Conservatives you are both ensuring that there is a strong Conservative voice in Parliament, but also you are doing everything you can to prevent a series of tax increases that won’t just hit pensioners and first-time buyers, but also will hit the economy in the guts."

Jeremy Hunt admits he 'faces a fight' in his Surrey seat

The Chancellor told the BBC: "It’s very important, if Labour win, that they have an effective opposition in parliament."

Hunt told voters considering backing Reform: "You will have fewer centre-right MPs and fewer MPs who want to control migration, fewer MPs who want to reduce tax, and that isn’t what those voters want."

FULL LIST OF CANDIDATES STANDING IN GODALMING AND ASH

• Graham Richard Drage - Reform UK
• Paul Follows - Liberal Democrats
• Jeremy Hunt - Conservative and Unionist Party
• Ruby Tucker - Green Party
• James Walsh - Labour Party
• Harriet Williams - Women's Equality Party