BBC leaders debate - live: Corbyn and Boris Johnson clash on racism, security and Brexit as snap poll finds viewers thought PM edged encounter
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn will go head to head for a final TV clash as both leaders scramble to turn the tide of the election campaign in the final week.
The BBC debate comes as Labour narrowed the Tory poll lead with a four-point bounce and Jeremy Corbyn unveiled leaked Northern Ireland-related Brexit documents, claiming they show the public has been misled.
Meanwhile, Sir John Major urged traditional Conservative voters to ditch Boris Johnson's party in favour of independent rebels, as hundreds gathered at a rally in London to demand a Final Say referendum.
Boris Johnson cancels speech after five protesters turn up
The PM’s cancelled campaign stop in Rochester featured a group of five anti-Tory protesters, according our correspondent Benjamin Kentish – out of the campaign trail in Kent today.
The tiny group could be seen among a larger group of roughly 50 Tory activists, plus several Conservative MPs – holding up signs which read “Tories out” and “Austerity killed over 130,000, the blood is on your hands”.
Conservative officials said the stop had been cancelled on police advice after the late-running of the event prompted security concerns.
Is Boris Johnson about to fall into election panic?
Conservative election HQ is reportedly concerned about poll numbers as we enter the home stretch of the campaign. But is this just an attempt by the Tory campaign chiefs to warn their activists against complacency, or are there good reasons for them to be worried?
John Rentoul has taken a look at why everything’s still to play in the final days.
Broadcasters combine forces for 2019 election night exit poll
Three major television broadcasters have confirmed they will combine forces to release the same exit poll once voting ends on election night.
BBC News, ITV News and Sky News have announced that they will jointly publish the 2019 general election exit poll at 10pm on Thursday – estimating the total number of Commons seats expected to be won.
It will be the fourth exit poll to be produced by the three broadcasters following similar exercises in 2010, 2015 and 2017. Polling experts contracted to each channel will help to produce the results.
Professor Sir John Curtice, political commentator for BBC News, said: “By comparing the actual results with the forecast of the exit poll, we will be able to point to the political direction in which Britain is now apparently headed.”
Exit polls, based on interviews with people as they come out of polling stations, have in the past successfully predicted the exact outcome of general elections, even correctly working out the number of seats the major parties will win.
Leaders’ failure to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia shames our politics
If you haven’t read our editorial, it argues that both the Conservatives and Labour have substantial racism problems that warrant serious attention.
“While both are forms of racism, each has its unique roots and features; each demands separate and special attention; and each of our two main parties has its own history and methods of addressing it – or of not doing so, as the case may be.”
More here:
Labour campaigners urged not to cry on election night, says report
Do Labour activists expect to lose? According to the Evening Standard, officials have been giving them advice on how not to cry on election night when the exit polls come in.
On staffer told the newspaper: “When we heard that there was going to be a new strategy in the final weeks I had no idea ‘lose, but don’t cry about it’ was what they had in mind.”
Is Corbyn wrong about the ‘threat’ to the NHS from Trump?
The columnist Mary Dejevsky argues that there would likely be much less interest in the NHS from America than is feared by Labour supporters, as the system requires large reforms.
Tory officials claim PM’s public appearance in Kent abandoned on security advice
More details on the prime minister’s cancelled speech in Rochester.
Ahead of the visit, a handful of anti-Tory protesters mingled among the roughly 50 Tory activists, plus several Conservative MPs.
The crowd grew as Boris Johnson’s scheduled arrival neared, and police moved the protesters outside the small pub car park where he had been due to speak.
It soon emerged that the PM was delayed, and Tory officials were seen holding close discussions with Johnson’s security team.
Watch video of it here:
EU drops commitment to get trade deal done quickly
Leaders in Brussels have scrapped plans to finalise a trade deal with the UK by the end of 2020 – a major blow to the PM’s claims that he can “get Brexit done”.
An early draft of the EU’s negotiating guidelines seen by The Independent had said that “negotiations should be organised in a way that makes the best possible use of the limited time available for negotiation and ratification by the end of the transition”.
But a new leaked version of the European Council conclusions, due to be published by leaders at a summit in Brussels next week, has had the stipulation to complete the deal fast completely removed.
Our Europe correspondent Jon Stone has all the details.
Top UK diplomat quits over Brexit policy
Alexandra Hall Hall, the lead envoy for Brexit in the British Embassy in the US, has quit in protest over the government’s policy.
In a resignation letter, Hall Hall she could no longer “peddle half-truths” on behalf of leaders she did not “trust”, according to CNN.
TV broadcasters combine forces for exit poll
BBC News, ITV News and Sky News have announced that they will jointly publish the 2019 General Election exit poll at 10pm on Thursday.
It will be the fourth exit poll to be produced by the three broadcasters following similar exercises in 2010, 2015 and 2017.
Polling experts contracted to each channel will help to produce the results.
The poll will estimate the total number of Commons seats expected to be won by the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, the Brexit Party, SNP, Plaid Cymru, and others.
Professor Sir John Curtice, political commentator for BBC News, said: "The principal aim of the exit poll is to help viewers and listeners to navigate the initial hours of election night as the first results come in.
"By comparing the actual results with the forecast of the exit poll, we will be able to point to the political direction in which Britain is now apparently headed."
Exit polls, based on interviews with people as they come out of polling stations, have in the past successfully predicted the exact outcome of general elections, even correctly working out the number of seats the major parties will win.
In 2017, audiences were shocked by the exit poll when it predicted a hung parliament, despite Theresa May's Tories being ahead in the opinion polls throughout the campaign.
But the result bore out, with the Tories taking 317 seats - only three more than the exit poll predicted - and Labour taking 262, four fewer than estimated.
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