General election live: Labour launches ‘manifesto for wealth creation’ and ‘plan to change Britain’ | Politics
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Labor launches ‘wealth creation manifesto’ and ‘plan to change Britain’
Starmer describes the manifesto and “manifesto to create wealth, a plan to change Britain”.
Labor will begin to rebuild Britain, served by the old argument – that we serve working people, he says.
He sees so much potential in Britain. He means dating someone who can’t afford to buy their own home. And he again tells the story of his visit to Alder Hey Hospital, where he was told that the most common reason for operations on children was tooth decay.
Imagine what would happen if a Labor government solved these problems, he says.
Key events
The The Green New Deal is rising group says it is behind the disruption of Keir Starmer’s speech at the Labor manifesto launch.
BREAKING: We just broke @Keir_Starmer because his manifesto fails to deliver results for our generation.
When it comes to tackling the climate crisis and improving the quality of life for everyone in this country, Labour’s plans do not cut corners.#YouthDeserveBetter.
Sunak aide Craig Williams apologizes for betting on July election, says it was ‘huge error of judgement’
Craig WilliamsTory candidate and Rishi Sunak aide apologized for betting £100 on July election just three days before the prime minister named the date.
Speaking in front of the BBCWilliams said:
I obviously made a huge error in judgment, that’s for sure, and I apologize.
But Williams declined to say whether he made the bet based on inside information about when Sunak planned to hold the election. Asked about this, he told the BBC:
I will not expand on my statement because this is an independent process.
The Gambling Commission is looking into it now.
This morning David Cameronthe foreign secretary, condemned Williams’ bet as “very stupid”.
John Sweeney attacked by Tories and Labor over NHS failings at Holyrood FMQ
Libby Brooks
With all party leaders wishing the Scotland team well for their Euro opener against Germany on Friday, the First Minister’s questions were far less heated than the BBC Scottish Leaders’ Debate on Tuesday, but Douglas Ross picked up one of tonight’s audience questions to press John Sweeney about ambulance wait times.
Ross, the leader of the Scottish Tories, accused Sweeney of failing to take responsibility for Scotland’s NHS, telling him there was a “crisis at every level” of the service. Sweeney insisted there was a “focused effort” on NHS reform and recruitment.
Labor leader Anas Sarwar also tapped into NHS gaps. It’s not uncommon for both opposition leaders to attack the Scottish Government for failings in public services, but I wonder if they were particularly spurred on this week by the BBC debate, where the audience was clearly frustrated with waiting times and accused the First Minister of “shifting the blame ‘ of the UK Government.
Both Labor and Tory officials I spoke to afterwards compared the mood to a year ago, when the public was more inclined to listen to the SNP.
How Labor will raise £8.6bn in taxes and spend it
The Labor manifesto is now on the party website.
And here’s the graph that shows that Labor will raise taxes by £7.4 billion by 2028-29.
Another table shows Labor will also raise £1.2bn from its energy tax for its green prosperity plan.
Alert readers will note that there is a difference between the amount Labor plans to raise in extra taxes (£7.4bn, rounded up) and the amount of extra spending it plans (£4.8bn).
Labor is reported to be saying that the planned extra tax revenue is higher than the planned extra spending because it is being cautious.
But coincidentally (or not?) the difference between the two figures is very close to the price of £2.5bn in this financial year on the two-child benefit ceiling.
Labor has refused to commit to removing the cap, which is a major contributor to child poverty, on the grounds that it has to make tough choices and will only make promises it can afford.
But Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator, gave an intriguing answer when asked about this by Amol Rajan on the Today program this morning. Instead of talking directly about politics, McFadden mentioned Gordon Brown and he told the programme:
I remember when [Brown] was shadow chancellor in the run-up to the 1997 election and was very careful about what to promise and he was right to be careful.
But I also remember another thing; when he became chancellor and had the power to change things, he had a fantastic record on child poverty. And we share the ambition, when elected, to attack child poverty and do more about it.
Q: [From Jim Pickard from the FT] The private equity industry lobbied hard against the interest tax hike. Are you still committed to it or is there room for hesitation?
Starmer says the plans are ready. He says that Rachel Reeves highlights the page in the manifesto that everything is fully funded. She wrote every word of it, he says.
And that was the last question.
Q: [From the Guardian’s Pippa Crerar] Sunak is struggling to lead a government of integrity. Will you do better?
Yes, he says Starmer. He is determined to do better. He will tackle changing the codes of ethics from day one.
But you don’t just need codes; you need action, he says.
We will turn this around and put politics back in the service of working people.
Q: [From Kitty Donaldson from the i] What will you do in the first week of a Labor government?
Starmer says the first thing he will do is insist that politics is about service, about putting country first, before party.
Q: [From Jason Groves from the Daily Mail] Are you happy to fight the election promising £8 billion in higher taxes while the Tories promise £17 billion in cuts?
Starmer says every day the Tories make false promises. But the less Liz Truss thing is that if you make unsecured promises, working people pay the price.
Q: Did you really think Jeremy Corbyn would make a great Prime Minister?
Starmer says he never thought Labor will win the next election.
He then realized that Labor needed to change. Corbyn is no longer in the party. Here’s how many changes he’s made.
Q: [From Ben Riley-Smith from the Telegraph] Can you confirm that taxes will increase under your plans?
Starmer says there are no tax increases in the manifesto, which has not yet been announced.
There is no plan in the manifesto to call for tax increases beyond those, he says.
Q: What is the plan for new asylum seekers who arrive in the UK illegally? Can they apply? And if they can, isn’t that an incentive for them to come?
Starmer says asylum seekers cannot be processed at this time. This means they cannot be removed. “We have to fix this,” he says.
He says the new Border Security Command will crack down on the gangs running this trade.
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