TV Election Debate: Nigel Farage claims Reform UK is 'official opposition' to Labour as they overtake Tories in poll

Farage: A vote for the Tories is a vote to enable a Labour government

A vote for the Tories is now a vote to enable a Labour government, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said in a flip of Conservatives’ campaign rhetoric.

As the political panellists were given a chance to ask each other questions, Mr Farage cited the Conservatives’ record on migration in a question to Penny Mordaunt, asking: “Why on earth should anybody believe the fifth manifesto that promises cuts to net migration?”

Ms Mordaunt replied: “Because of the record of this Prime Minister.”

After being laughed at by the audience for this answer, the Conservative frontbencher warned: “Nigel is a Labour enabler. He is enabling no cap, no target, and no plan.”

Mr Farage responded: “I don’t believe a single word that you say, you have deceived us in the last four manifestos. I don’t believe you at the fifth.

“And as for being a Labour enabler, we are now ahead of you in the national polls. A vote for you is actually now a vote for Labour.”

Rayner asked Mordaunt if she would let Farage into the Tory party

Angela Rayner asked Penny Mordaunt if she would let Nigel Farage into the Tory party, to which Mordaunt said Farage would "let Labour into power".

Mordaunt said: "I'm a Brexiteer. I believe that if you can't reform EU institutions you should be prepared to leave them. I set up a business before getting into parliament, which is why I always back business.

"I believe we should reward personal responsibility. You might think we have lots in common.

"But what I'm standing against, is letting you in and letting you tax people. And Nigel is going to let you in."

Farage: 'Why should anyone trust the Tories on migration'

Farage asks Mordaunt why anyone should trust her party to bring down immigration.

The audience erupted into laughter when the Tory minister pointed to Sunak's record in Government.

Flynn dubs Rayner 'shameful' for saying Labour would not rejoin EU

Angela Rayner faced calls of “shameful” from Stephen Flynn when she suggested Labour would not seek to rejoin the EU.

An audience question from Ken from Caerphilly asked the political parties if they would seek to rejoin the EU or single market.

“No,” Angela Rayner said and suggested Labour respected the result of the referendum.

“Shameful, shameful,” Stephen Flynn could be heard to say. He later added that his party would “yes absolutely” seek to rejoin, as did the Greens, Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru.

For the Tories, Penny Mordaunt added: “No, and if you have a Labour government they will take you back in, they will tie you on defence, on migration, on regulation, without any of the benefits of membership.”

Nigel Farage said: “No, we are free. Unfortunately we are governed incompetently, but at least they are our mistakes and not somebody else’s.”

Four out of seven politicians in this evening's debate said immigration is too high

Four out of seven politicians taking part in an ITV General Election debate raised their hands when asked whether immigration is too high – Reform UK’s Nigel Farage (who raised both his hands), the Conservatives’ Penny Mordaunt, the Liberal Democrats’ Daisy Cooper and Labour’s Angela Rayner.

But the SNP’s Stephen Flynn accused them of playing into “the Westminster status quo”

Mordaunt claims Labour would take the UK back into the single market 

Rayner said the UK would never rejoin the single market. But Penny Mordaunt said: "If you have a Labour government they will take you back in, they will tie you on defence, legislation, economy without any of the benefit."

Stephen Flynn and Rhun ap Iorwerth said theywould rejoin the European Union.

'I've never been called timid in my life!', Rayner says 

Angela Rayner said she had “never been called timid in my life” when the Greens accused Labour of being too careful with its tax plans.

As the parties debated investment in public services, Green co-leader Carl Denyer told the ITV debate: “I would like to know from Angela: why so timid? Why wait for economic growth when you could introduce a tax that doesn’t affect those on average incomes or lower incomes, it only affects the billionaires and multi-millionaires?

“It could raise tens of millions of pounds. Why won’t Labour even consider it?”

Rayner replied: “I have never been called timid in my life.”

She pointed to reforms rather than extra tax and spend as the solution, adding: “We gutted our home care services, it costs so much more money now that people are stuck on trollies in A&E for 40 hours plus.

“These are our elderly relatives that are treated really poorly and it costs us more money, so if we put the money in the right place, we can actually make savings.”

Mordaunt says the public 'don't care what colour the cat is, they just want mice caught' 

“Most of the public don’t care what colour the cat is, they just want some mice caught,” the Conservatives’ Penny Mordaunt has said in reference to “dogma”, while answering a question about the NHS.

Answering the first question during ITV’s seven-way debate, Ms Mordaunt said: “They (the public) want results and in my experience, listening to people who are actually doing these jobs – police officers who have reduced crime by half over the time we’ve been in office, healthcare professionals who are coming up with amazing initiatives in our hospitals and in our GP surgeries, teachers who are responsible now have 90% of our schools good or outstanding. Listen to the professionals in those services, keep political dogma out of it.”

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper addressed the issue of private involvement in the NHS and said: “To be honest, where there is capacity in the private sector, we could be using some of it in order to bring down waiting lists, but let’s not kid ourselves, there is very limited capacity in the private sector and we shouldn’t be using it if it guts more capacity from the NHS.”

Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “I have to draw attention to the analogy with the cats and the mice here. What we’ve seen under the Conservatives and 14 years is the fat cats getting rich and getting the cream. I fear that with privatisation of the NHS, we’re going to see the same under Labour.”

Mordaunt says Labour had 'fourteen years' to come up with a migration plan 

Penny Mordaunt hit out at Angela Rayner, saying Labour has had "fourteen years" to come up with a plan to crack down on net migration.

But the audience erupted into laughter when Rayner pushed back, saying: "You've had fourteen years in Government!".

Mourdaunt responded: "You have no idea, you have no workforce strategy, you have no industrial strategy."

Nigel Farage says the issue with schools is 'exploding population' 

Nigel Farage has claimed that the issue with schools stems from the “exploding population”. He said the other parties are not addressing the issue.

But Penny Mordaunt said the UK's education system is "world class".

Meanwhile, Carla Denyer claimed the UK's education system has been “run into the ground”.

She said Labour will invest more in schools and teachers.

Leaders clash over migration as Farage accused of 'dogwhistling' 

Rhun Ap Iowerth accused Farage of being on a "dog whistle tour of the UK", claiming he is capitalising on anxiety.

But Farage hit back that migration is "making us poorer".

Meanwhile, Penny Mordaunt said the UK each year should cap the number of people arriving in the UK.

She said: "On our plans, we are due to halve that number, halve migration by next summer.

"With us, you have a cap. With Labour, they have no cap, no number and no plan."

Penny Mordaunt claims Labour have 'only declared a quarter of the taxes they will put up'

Penny Mordaunt has suggested Labour isn't being transparent about their plan for taxation.

Speaking about Labour's manifesto, published today, she said: "Public spending is going to have to go up. The only waytheyaregoingtobeabletodothatistoraisetaxes."

She added: "Theyonlydeclaredaboutaquarterofthetaxesthey'regoingtoputup.They'regoingtohavetoputupalotmore,andtheyhaven'tyettoldyou".

Farage says Reform UK is the 'official opposition'

Farage, taking part in a seven-way debate on ITV1, said in his introduction: “I am Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK.

"Just before we came on air we overtook the Conservatives in the national opinion polls. We are now the opposition to Labour.”

Mordaunt says the only way to cut NHS waiting lists is to keep the budget strong

The debate opened with a question about the NHS, with an audience member saying the health service is "now on its knees".

They said: "So many public services are not working as they used to. Do any of you have any ideas that are big enough to make things work again?"

Responding, Mordaunt said the “only way” to reduce the NHS waiting lists is to keep the NHS budget strong.

She claimed Labour is the only party on tonight’s platform to cut that, claiming they have cut the NHS budget three times in Wales.

Reform UK OVERTAKES Tory party in bombshell new poll

Reform UK has overtaken the Conservative Party in a poll for the first time, in what is another major blow for Rishi Sunak in this election campaign.

A YouGov survey saw Reform's increase by two points to 19 per cent. The Tories remained unchanged on 18 per cent.

The polling was conducted after the Conservative Party published its manifesto on Tuesday.

Anthony Wells, head of European political and social research at YouGov, noted that the poll is the first to reach the “politically important point of showing Reform ahead of the Conservatives”.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Labour pledges 'trans-inclusive' conversion therapy ban

Labour has promised to introduce a trans-inclusive ban on conversion therapy, despite fears it could stop children questioning their gender from getting help.

Starmer's party, which unveiled its manifesto today, promised to introduce a "fully trans-inclusive ban" - which would come into force should they win the election.

The Conservatives rejected a conversion therapy ban earlier this year. Some argued that the law was unecessary as coercion is already illegal.

Conversion therapy is the practice of trying to change a person’s sexuality or preferred gender.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

'My father would be turning in his grave!' - Starmer fumes at 'disrespect' from TV debate audience

An angry Sir Keir Starmer has said that his father would be "turning in his grave" at the way a many members of the audience in a Sky News election event laughed when he said that he had worked in a factory.

There was laughter from several members audience at the Sky News leaders' event in Grimsby when the Labour leader - who was being grilled by journalists on the channel - said that his father was a tool maker.

Speaking to GB News the 61-year-old hit out at the broadcaster's audience for "disrespecting" his father's background and said that it showed disrespect "for working people".

Read the full interview HERE.

Greens warn of Labour 'fiscal straitjacket'

Sir Keir Starmer’s plans for government would place Labour in a “fiscal straitjacket which means very little will change”, the Green Party has said.

Green co-leader Carla Denyer said: “Keir Starmer has today promised a change in direction. But he’s bound a future Labour government in a fiscal straitjacket which means very little will change. And there’s a glaring hole in Labour’s budget. Their refusal to increase taxes on the super-rich means they will be forced to resort to more public spending cuts. With our public services already on their knees after 14 years of Conservative government, we can’t afford to let this happen.

“Labour is gambling on economic growth but failing to say how wealth will be shared out more fairly. Trickle-down economics will not fix Broken Britain.”

She added: “What a contrast to our own manifesto launched yesterday where we pledged a fairer, greener tax system, to raise the funds needed to invest in nursing our NHS back to health, tackle the housing and climate crises, and transition to a green economy.

“We would abolish the cruel two-child benefit cap; Labour won’t. We’d end tuition fees and bring back grants for higher education; Labour won’t. And while Labour say they will hold the door open for the private sector in the NHS, Greens have made a cast-iron guarantee that we will fight privatisation and invest an extra £50 billion per year by 2030 into health and social care.

“The launch of Labour’s business-as-usual manifesto confirms the urgent need to elect a group of Green MPs to parliament so we can push a Labour government to be bolder and more ambitious.”

Labour hits back at analysis which suggests taxes would rise

Labour has hit back at think tank and media analysis which suggests the party would raise tax in government.

“You are dealing with measures like tax avoidance, for example, that is money that should already be coming into the exchequer,” a spokesperson said.

The party spokesperson said claims the tax burden would go up under Labour are based on growth estimates produced under the Conservatives, and that they do not account for Labour’s growth plan.

“The whole purpose of what we’ve set out today is the fundamentally different way in which we want to run the economy, which means we will ensure that we get the higher levels of growth, and so therefore that obviously affects the numbers that you have there,” they added.

“I fundamentally don’t accept that we are only going to have Conservative Party-projected levels of growth in the next parliament.”

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.”

Where will Labour's manifesto deliver growth?

Asked by journalists what area of the manifesto is most likely to deliver growth, a Labour spokesperson said: “Take your pick.”

They added: “I would say planning reform is probably the thing that would have the biggest impact – if you look at whether that’s for housing, for the infrastructure that we need, for those gigafactories and laboratories that we need, for the core infrastructure that is required.

“I would say the reform of skills is another way that we would get growth.”

Hunt repeats Tory claim that Labour’s plans would result in tax rises of £2,094 per working household

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt repeated the Tory claim that Labour’s plans would result in tax rises of £2,094 per working household over the parliament – something Labour has rejected.

Responding to the manifesto, Hunt 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.”

Sunak is repeating unfunded tax cuts of Liz Truss, Starmer suggests

Rishi Sunak is repeating the unfunded tax cuts of Liz Truss, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said.

He said: “You can see what Conservatives are doing, every day they are desperately putting a new policy, a new gimmick, on the table which is unfunded. If there’s one lesson from Liz Truss and what happened to the economy, is if you make unfunded tax cuts then it damages the economy and working people pay the price.”

He added: “Rishi Sunak, if there’s one thing that he was supposed to do, it was to provide the stability after Liz Truss, and here he is repeating it.”

Asked about whether he believed Jeremy Corbyn would have been a great prime minister, Sir Keir said: “I didn’t think we would win the last election.”

He continued: “I didn’t think that we were in a state for winning, that is reinforced by the work that we have now done. We were rejected by the country and the first decision I took is, if you get rejected that badly by the country, you don’t look at the voter and say ‘what on earth are you doing?’ You look at your party and you change it.

“And I’ve led this party through that change and Jeremy Corbyn is not just not a Labour candidate, he’s expelled from this party. That is how much change we have brought around.”

No socialist state under a Labour Government vows Starmer

With the Conservative campaign dwindling and polls indicating that Labour is likely on course of a huge majority, Tories have warned that Sir Keir Starmer may unleash a socialist state on Britain.

Asked by GB News' Christopher Hope if voters should "prepare for a one party socialist state", the Labour leader replied: "Let's reject the cynicism of the Tory campaign.

"All they want to do in a General Election is suppress the vote.

"I know that not a single vote has been cast in this election. Polls don't predict the future and every single vote has to be earned. And we will earn it with out plan for growth, our plan for creation and wealth in the future."

Starmer's grand plan: £7 BILLION tax raid, a Palestine state and an EU security deal

As is usually the case with manifesto launches, Sir Keir Starmer's speech was light on detail.

The Labour leader set out his vision for the country while letting the physical manifesto document provide the details.

The document shows that Labour plans to make £7billion through extra taxation, recognise a Palestine state and also secure a new EU security deal.

You can read more about the full policies HERE.

Starmer takes swipe at Farage 'pantomime'

Vowing a return of serious politics, Sir Keir Starmer said there would be no rabbits or unexpected surprises in the Labour manifesto.

"We don’t have a magic wand," he said adding that challenges will not "disappear overnight".

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."

Labour's plan to overhaul House of Lords

A quick glance at Labour's manifesto, which has just been published, shows that a Keir Starmer Government would bring forward legislation to abolish “indefensible” hereditary peers from the House of Lords.

The document reads: “Too many peers do not play a proper role in our democracy. Hereditary peers remain indefensible.”

It adds: “The next Labour government will therefore bring about an immediate modernisation, by introducing legislation to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords.

“Labour will also introduce a mandatory retirement age. At the end of the parliament in which a member reaches 80 years of age, they will be required to retire from the House of Lords.”

'You're offering the same old Tory polices!' - Heckler interrupts Starmer

Just minutes into his speech, Starmer has been interrupted by a heckler.

Someone at the back of the crowd in Manchester chants: "You're offering change but it's the same old Tory policies."

Brushing off the shouting, the Labour leader responds: "We stopped being a party of protest five years ago."

The heckler has now been removed from the venue by security.

Read the full story HERE.

Starmer takes to the stage as he unveils Labour's plan for Government

Sir Keir Starmer has taken to the stage.

Sleeves rolled up, tie on, he's now outlining exactly what his party would do in office.

Angela Rayner addresses party members

Labour's Angela Rayner has addressed Labour supporters ahead of Sir Keir Starmer's keynote speech to coincide with the party's manifesto launch.

The deputy leader vowed that under a Labour Government growth would be delivered "in every corner of the country."

"We have changed the Labour Party, and with this manifesto, we can change Britain," she said.

"Our chance to end the chaos, turn the page and start a new chapter. What we now ask is to make that change a reality."

Starmer will likely be on his feet in the next 10 minutes.

Starmer to launch 'manifesto for wealth creation'

Sir Keir Starmer is gearing up to launch a "manifesto for wealth creation" in just minutes.

The Labour leader last night said: "Previous Labour leaders have pulled the tax lever every single time and driven up spending, I want to grow our economy. The manifesto tomorrow will be a manifesto for wealth creation.

"I'm not going to do what other Labour leaders have done and say 'We're going to pull the tax lever'."

David Cameron refuses to say what he'd do next if Tories lose election

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

Dawn Butler publishes campaign video for Brent East constituency 

🚨 URGENT 🚨

🎶We’ve got 21 days before they’ve got to go🎶😎

Vote for @UKLabour. Vote for me as your MP for Brent East on Thursday 4th July. #Dawn4BrentEast pic.twitter.com/2AjR6ei1X6

— Dawn Butler ✊🏾💙 (@DawnButlerBrent) June 13, 2024

Sunak was 'totally in command' during last night's sit down interviews, Cameron says 

The PM was "totally in command" during last night's Battle for Number 10 show, the Foreign Secretary said.

He told Sky: "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."

Cameron said the Prime Minister is "always the best-briefed person in the room" during Cabinet meetings.

He added: "It is if you think about it, an extraordinary story, his parents came to this country and in one generation he is Prime Minister of our country, that’s an extraordinary story about him and his family, it’s also an extraordinary story about our democracy."

Labour not planning to reform council tax bands, McFadden says

Labour's national campaign co-ordinator said the party is not planning to reform council tax.

Pressed on why Labour is deciding not to recalculate council tax bands, Pat McFadden told the BBC: "Because the priority for us is to get the economy moving, to get our first steps in place, which are economic stability, cutting NHS waiting times, secure border plans, setting up GB Energy, cracking down on antisocial behaviour and having more teachers in our schools.”

Asked if the public should expect spending cuts in future if Labour is elected, McFadden said: “We refuse to accept defeat on these things. So we do believe, for example, reform to the planning rules to get the infrastructure we need, the roads, the railways, the labs, the data centres, the one-and-a-half million new homes, that can make a difference to growth.

“Labour market reforms, to make a better childcare offer to working parents so that they come back to work, that can make a difference to growth. Getting more of the long-term sick off benefits and into work could mean hundreds of thousands more people at work, matching emigration and skills policy, so that we do more to train our own workers, that can make a difference to growth.

“An industrial strategy, to take advantage of the opportunities of AI and new technology, that can make a difference to growth. So we are not going to sit back and accept the role of bystanders in this and just have a politics dictated by estimates for the future.”

Cameron defends Sunak's decision to leave D-Day early

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron 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: “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 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’.”

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

Farage: 'I won't surrender to the mob'

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said he was “not going to surrender to the mob” after being hit with a milkshake in Clacton and having objects thrown at him in Barnsley.

Farage told LBC Radio he was more targeted than other politicians because he was prepared to walk into crowds and because he dared to “break the consensus” by talking about mass migration unlike his rivals.

He said: “They are scared of the mob. And do you know something? I am not going to surrender to the mob. Never.”