General election news – live: Boris Johnson 'did not contact' family of London Bridge terror victim, as PM faces fresh accusations on NHS crisis

Follow all the latest developments

Father of London Bridge victim Jack Merritt says 'instead of seeing a tragedy, Boris Johnson saw an opportunity'

Boris Johnson has faced new questions about the state of the NHS after The Independent revealed a 12-year-old with learning disabilities and mental health issues had to stay in an Essex hospital A&E for 57 hours for a specialist bed to become available.

Mr Johnson remained under fire for his apparent lack of empathy for a four-year-old boy who slept on a hospital floor.

It came as the father of London Bridge attack victim Jack Merritt accused Mr Johnson of using his son’s death as “an opportunity” and said there was “no attempt” to contact the family from Downing Street, despite the insistence of a Number 10 spokesperson to the contrary.

Labour have accused the Conservatives of lying about an alleged assault on health secretary Matt Hancock’s aide in a bid to distract attention from the NHS crisis, while Jeremy Corbyn denied his party was using the case of the four-year-old boy as a “political football”.

Trade experts also uncovered fresh evidence that Boris Johnson is misleading voters about the impact of his Brexit deal on Northern Ireland – leading them to warn it is unlawful. The UK Trade Policy Observatory found tariffs would be charged on around 75 per cent of imports, including those from Britain, under the PM's plan for a customs border in the Irish Sea​

Key Points

• Exclusive: 12-year-old girl waits more than 50 hours in A&E
• Corbyn denies using four-year-old boy's case as 'political football'
• Jack Merritt's father says Johnson saw his son's death as 'an opportunity'
• Tories accused of lying about Labour activist 'punching' aide
• Shadow health secretary dismisses leaked comments as 'banter'

[10 December 2019 20:45 · Andy Gregory]

Father of London Bridge attack victim insists Boris Johnson has not ‘expressed condolences’ over son’s death, despite Tory spokesman claims

David Merritt has rejected claims from Number 10 that the PM contacted him to express condolences after his son was murdered in the London Bridge terror attack.

"No visit, phone call, letter, email, text or any other form of communication whatsoever," Mr Merritt wrote.

He has accused Mr Johnson of using his son's death as a political "opportunity". 

[10 December 2019 21:11 · Andy Gregory]

One in four people wrongly believe they need to bring ID to polling station to vote, poll finds

Campaigners warn that the "dangerous" myth is weakening UK democracy and could depress turnout, while the Electoral Commission says it is important for voters to realise they did not need to bring anything to vote – even a polling card.

The ComRes poll found that 25 per cent of adults thought they needed ID – with the figure rising to 32 per cent for younger people aged 18-24.

The latter age group is also less likely to have photo ID because of low rates of driving – meaning they could be particularly affected.

Jon Stone has all the details here:

[10 December 2019 21:22 · Andy Gregory]

DUP leader absent from debate

Arlene Foster will not be taking part in tonight's BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight election debate, with Lagan Valley candidate Jeffrey Donaldson standing in for his party leader.

Of the other four main parties, Sinn Fein is represented by vice president Michelle O'Neill, the SDLP by its leader Colum Eastwood, the UUP by leader Steve Aiken and Alliance Party by leader Naomi Long.

[10 December 2019 21:32 · Andy Gregory]

Here's Jane Dalton with more details on the accusations against the prime minister by David Merritt, whose son Jack was murdered in the London Bridge terror attack.

[10 December 2019 21:50 · Andy Gregory]

Ashworth claims he was feeding Tory 'a bit of bollocks' during anti-Labour chat

The shadow health secretary has told LBC's Iain Dale he was feeding his friend a "bit of bollocks" in a conversation since been leaked to right-wing blog Guido Fawkes.

He was recorded criticising leader Jeremy Corbyn on security and Brexit during a conversation with Tory supporter Greg Baker.

"Greg had been telling me in a panic that Jeremy Corbyn was going to win and all these terrible things were going to happen and he had been saying this throughout the campaign via text," he told LBC.

"We spoke on the phone and he started asking me all these bizarre questions and I thought I'd take the piss and feed him a bit of bollocks because he was sort of doing my head in with all of this. I gave him a bit of nonsense and said we weren't going to win so don't worry about it.

"In the past he has been very rude about the Conservatives to me and at some points he has given us little bits and pieces to undermine his own Conservative Government."

Mr Ashworth added it was a "dirty trick" to record the conversation and said he had been "too trusting".

"I've been stitched up like a kipper, played like a fiddle - whatever the right metaphor is," Mr Ashworth said.

[10 December 2019 22:04 · Andy Gregory]

Here's some footage from the onslaught of bees faced by the Conservatives earlier.

The Extinction Rebellion protesters were led off in handcuffs by police some 100 minutes after initially gluing themselves to the Tory bus.