Farage vows small boats crisis over in first 100 days if Reform in power

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Scottish Labour should challenge Starmer on two-child benefit cap

John Swinney has challenged Scottish Labour to challenge Sir Keir Starmer and demand an end to the two-child benefit cap.

Scotland's First Minister has said the police, which restricts child tax and universal credits to the first two children in most households, was politically “indefensible”.

The policy, which came into effect in 2017, comes with an associated rape clause which allows women who conceived a subsequent child through coercion or abuse to apply for an exemption.

Anas Sarwar has backed axing the limit and is now facing calls to convince his UK party to do the same.

Appealing to Sarwar, SNP leader Mr Swinney said: “If Labour’s manifesto is to be believed, they have the financial headroom to scrap this policy – that they are refusing to do so is clearly an attempt to talk tough on social security as they seek right-wing votes south of the border.

“Politics is about choices – and Labour is choosing to prioritise austerity over lifting thousands of children out of poverty. It is a completely indefensible political decision.

“Anas Sarwar also has a choice – he can choose doing the right thing for vulnerable children in Scotland, or doing what he is told by Keir Starmer. That is a decision that will speak volumes – and the people of Scotland will be watching.”

Labour: Sunak is 'lying to the British public' about his manifesto

Labour has said that Rishi Sunak either does not understand his own manifesto costings or is “again lying to the British public”.

Shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth said: “Rishi Sunak either doesn’t understand the supposed costings in his own manifesto or he is again lying to the British public.

“The simple truth is that as his own chancellor, Jeremy Hunt has today revealed, the money isn’t there for any of his plans.

“He has learnt none of the lessons from Liz Truss and five more years of the Tories will see families hit hard with mortgage increases of £4,800 to pay for the Tories’ economic failures.

“It’s time to turn the page and rebuild Britain with Labour.”

GB News' Camilla Tominey grills into Reform UK's Richard Tice

GB News presenter Camilla Tominey took issue with Reform UK’s "contract with the people", which the party launched today in Wales.

She grilled the party’s former leader, Richard Tice, on the series of pledges by questioning whether they are deliverable.

Nigel Farage today set out plans including cutting interest on reserves, which he believes will save the country £35 billion a year.

Tominey suggested to Tice this is pie in the sky thinking and economists are “completely debating” the figure put forward.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Farage: Extremely unlikely that I will join the Conservatives

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said it is “extremely unlikely” that he will join the Conservative Party.

Asked if his aim was to take over the party, he told GB News’ Political Editor Christopher Hope: “There isn’t a Tory Party.

“There isn’t one. Suella Braverman wants to marry me politically, and David Cameron says you shouldn’t go near me, and Michael Heseltine thinks I’m Oswald Mosley - what Tory Party? I think it’s extremely unlikely.

“My ambition is for this party to establish a beachhead right into Parliament and to use that to build a mass movement over the course of the next five years.”

WATCH HERE

Labour promises to bring forward football governance reforms 

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to bring forward football governance reforms that would stop attempts at breakaway competitions, such as the ill-fated European Super League, if the party wins power.

Their football governance Bill would put fans at the centre of decisions over the future of English football, Starmer said.

“In the face of continued threats of breakaways from some European clubs, we have to do this,” he said whilst visiting Bristol Rovers FC.

Starmer, an Arsenal fan, added: “On my watch, there will be no super league-style breakaways from English football.”

In 2021, six English clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham – announced they would join a new European Super League, which was axed two days later following a wave of backlash.

Starmer has also committed to "establish an independent regulator" in its manifesto.

It pledges that “we will never allow a closed league of select clubs to be siphoned off from the English football pyramid”.

Legislation to create an independent football regulator was set aside after a General Election was called forJuly 4.

Sir Keir added: “We are lucky to have historic football clubs at the heart of communities across our country.

“But too often, clubs and fans are being let down by the wild west within the football pyramid.”

Farage to end 'war on motorists' by banning Ulez and 20mph speed limits

Reform UK has pledged to scrap London's Ultra Low Emission Zone and the ban on petrol and diesel cars in its manifesto announcement.

Party leader Nigel Farage said Reform UK would end the war on motorists and all unfair anti-driver schemes in place.

This includes removing all Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and scrapping net zero goals which have been putting more pressure on drivers to buy an electric car.

The manifesto detailed how their plan would mean the 2035 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars would be scrapped and the removal of legal requirements for manufacturers to sell electric cars.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Starmer refuses to commit to scrapping two-child benefit cap 

Sir Keir Starmer would not commit to scrapping the two-child benefit cap in response to a prediction that the number of children affected by it will rise by a third over the next five years.

He said it was a “tough decision” but said “we’re not going to make commitments that are unfunded”, referring back to decisions made by Liz Truss.

He added: “We’ll drive child poverty down, but I’m not going to make commitments that we can’t fund because of the damage that’s been done to the economy.”

Farage: The UK is 'skint' and 'in real trouble'

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the UK is “skint” and “in real trouble” as he suggested having a “slimmed down public sector” while maintaining services.

On whether his party’s spending pledges would result in cuts to public services, Mr Farage said: “Well cuts to the public sector, I mean, frankly, they’re never in the office anyway are they? It’s work from home, pop into Whitehall a couple of days a week.”

He added: “If you’re running a company and things are tight, you say to your managers and middle managers, ‘Right, I’m sorry, this is the way it is, you’ve got to cut £5 in £100’ – in fact in tough times it might be £10 in £100 or £20 in £100, and you have to find a way of doing that without affecting the product that we’re selling to the public.”

Farage added: “Some of these things we’re proposing are tough but, look, the accumulated national debt is now £2.7 trillion, it was just under £1 trillion when the Tories came to power, we simply cannot go on like this.

“We’re skint. Who else would dare say that in this campaign? We’re skint, we’re in real trouble and the nonsense of economic argument we hear from Rachel Reeves and Jeremy Hunt never acknowledges the fact that both of them expected to be in deficit next year by yet another £100 billion.

“So we’re saying let’s face reality, we have to have a slimmed down public sector, we have to do that whilst maintaining services.”

Farage vows small boats crisis over in first 100 days if Reform in power

Nigel Farage has promised to stop the boats in the first 100 days of government if Reform UK won power.

The party published a "contract" with voters today, in place of a manifesto, which saw them promise to "secure Britain's borders to protect wages, our public services, and British culture and values."

Within the first 100 days of Government, the party has promised to freeze non-essential immigration, stop the boats, introduce secure detention centres for all migrants, bar student dependents, deport foreign criminals and introduce an employer immigration tax.

'Britain is broken!' Farage unveils Reform UK's 'contract with voters'

Nigel Farage has unveiled Reform UK's "contract with voters" today, warning that Britain is "broken".

The contract, which has been presented by the party instead of a manifesto, vows to protect British values, fight left-wing bias and scrap the TV licence fee.

Nigel Farage has unveiled Reform UK's "contract with voters" today, warning that Britain is "broken".

The contract, which has been presented by the party instead of a manifesto, vows to protect British values, fight left-wing bias and scrap the TV licence fee.

WATCH HERE

Farage says 'every party is having problems with candidates' after Reform candidate forced to quit 

Party leader Nigel Farage told the BBC all parties are having problems with candidates as a result of the election being called at short notice.

This came after Grant StClair-Armstrong was forced to resign from Reform UK after it emerged he had previously called on people to vote for the British national party.

Farage said: "This particular case is a chap in his 70s, who 20 years ago said he was thinking of voting BNP as a protest vote, he was never a member of the BNP.

"However, we don’t find that acceptable. Now, we did put in place – with quite a well-known political figure, who runs a professional vetting company – we put in place something, we spent a great deal of money on getting that vetting done, it wasn’t done, and I’ll talk more about that over the next couple of days.

"With a short general election every party is having problems with candidates, but effectively when you vote … the choices are not so much the candidates in the constituencies – we’ve almost got a presidential style now. People are voting for or against Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak, Ed Davey or me. They’re the names that are really on the ballot paper."

DWP 'two-child' benefit cap to plunge 670,000 into poverty

Some 670,000 children will be plunged into poverty by the end of the next Parliament with families set to lose at least £4,300 according to new research from one of the country's biggest think tanks.

Research by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) is highlighting the impact of keeping the "two-child" benefit cap in place by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on payments such as Universal Credit.

The Conservative-led Government policy places a restriction on low-income families applying for Universal Credit and tax credit for their first two children.

According to the IFS, households are expected to miss out on £3,455 per child a year due to this policy with the Tories and Labour Party failing to mention scrapping in their respective election manifestos.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Tactical voting recommendations published 

Tactical voting recommendations have been offered in more than 450 constituencies by campaigners hoping to unseat a series of high-profile Conservatives.

Best For Britain, which is behind the GetVoting campaign, said its recommendations have been made in a bid to deal the “heaviest possible electoral defeat for the Government, to keep them out of power for a decade and to avoid the election of Reform UK MPs”.

They have recommended Labour in 370 seats, Liberal Democrats in 69, the Green Party in three, the SNP in seven and Plaid Cymru in two.

Jonathan Ashworth refuses to rule out council tax, fuel duty or stamp duty hike

Shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth has refused to say whether Labour would increase council tax, fuel duty or stamp duty.

He told Sky News: “No increase in income tax, no increase in national insurance, no increase in VAT or corporation tax. We’re not doing council tax re-banding.”

When pressed on the issue, he said: “We have outlined that all our policies are fully funded, they do not require additional tax increases.”

On Labour’s policy to cap the age of peers in the House of Lords at 80 years old, Ashworth said: “The House of Lords has become so bloated – I can’t remember the figures, but it’s huge numbers of people now in the House of Lords – and we do need to look at reforms to make it a smaller chamber.”

When told that Labour peer Lord Levy is turning 80 next month, he replied: “It is in our manifesto, and I’m sure Lord Levy supports our manifesto.”

Ashworth also told the broadcaster that this is “probably the most desperate Tory campaign” he has ever seen in his political lifetime.

Reform manifesto: Farage vows to protect British values, fight left-wing bias and SCRAP licence fee

Reform UK will vow to protect British values, fight left-wing bias and scrap the TV licence fee in their manifesto, set to be unveiled this afternoon.

The manifesto, billed as a "contract" with voters, will be presented in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales from 1pm.

It includes a number of measures aimed at protecting free speech and maintaining UK sovereignty.

The contract also opposes the decline of cash in society, following warnings it has become increasingly difficult to spend cash on the high street.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Nigel Farage confirms ambitions to be UK prime minister by 2029

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has confirmed he has ambitions to be the UK’s prime minister by 2029.

He said the "thoughts, hopes and aspirations of ordinary people" are "so far apart from where our politics is".

The comments come just days after Reform UK overtook the Conservative Party in a poll for the first time, in what was another major blow for Rishi Sunak in this election campaign.

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

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Shapps admits it is unlikely Tories will win election

Grant Shapps has admitted it is unlikely the Tories will win at the General Election, but it remains a possibility.

The Defence Secretary told Times Radio it is “possible to win the election”, but conceded that it is “not the most likely outcome”, adding: “I’m a realist.”

Asked if a Tory victory was unlikely he replied: “I think that’s the realistic position, isn’t it? I mean, I live in the real world. So you know, let’s not try and pretend black is white.”

Shapps also said he stands by the comments he made last week that Labour could secure a “supermajority”.

He said: “We’re still fighting for absolutely every single vote, which is absolutely the right thing to do and warning of the dangers of Labour. But what I said last week stands, a blank cheque, a supermajority is a dangerous thing, particularly when we already know they have these plans to change the council tax bands.”

Reeves to seek closer trading ties with EU as Labour eyes new Brexit deal

The Labour Party has announced plans to boost investment by breaking down trade barriers with the EU.

Rachel Reeves has suggested she plans to revise parts of Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, signed in 2020, suggesting it would offer an improved trading environment for business.

She said the party could seek closer alignment with EU rules in the chemicals and veterinary sectors, better touring rights for UK artists, and greater mutual recognition of qualifications for financial services workers.