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As it happenedended1575677306

BBC leaders debate - live: Corbyn and Boris Johnson clash on racism, security and Brexit as snap poll finds viewers thought PM edged encounter

Follow all the latest developments as they happened

Adam Forrest,Lizzy Buchan,Benjamin Kentish
Friday 06 December 2019 21:50 GMT
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Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn debate racism and antisemitism during BBC debate

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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.

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I'm voting Labour, Blair confirms, but urges people to vote tactically

Blair says it is "horrible" election, more like 650 small battles. He continued: "Some groan at the idea of a hung parliament. But better a parliament that's hung for want of a majority than a country hung for want of leadership."

He confirms he is backing his old party - but he urges voters to make the right choice, whoever it is.

"I beg you, choose wisely," he adds.

Lizzy Buchan6 December 2019 17:46
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Watch the full Tony Blair speech

Lizzy Buchan6 December 2019 17:56
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Tory majority not so certain

Christian Broughton, the editor of The Independent, addresses the crowd on why our paper has been calling for a Final Say referendum since 2018.

He urges voters to turn out to vote and to think tactically, as the Tory majority is not certain.

He says: "Don't let anyone you know sit on the sidelines now. Encourage your family and friends, on social media, any way you can, to get out and vote."

Lizzy Buchan6 December 2019 18:03
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Alastair Campbell says voters deserved better than the collapse of People's Vote campaign

Campbell, Blair's former spinner who was a stalwart of the campaign, apologises to members for the collapse of the campaign at the start of the election - due to 'circumstances outside our control'.

He also appeals to people to vote tactically or risk everything. He says he told a Lib Dem in Keighley (a marginal seat) - "If I can vote Labour after being kicked out of the party for voting Lib Dem - so can you".

Lizzy Buchan6 December 2019 18:05
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Heseltine condemns party leaders for promising 'forest of magic money trees'

Lord Heseltine, a Tory grandee, says the only certainty in this election is Jeremy Corbyn will not win. He says the future relationship with Europe is the most important thing.

The parties are all promising a 'forest of magic money trees' and this is causing widespread public distrust, he says.

He condemns Boris Johnson for refusing to publish the report into possible interference by the Russians into UK elections, for refusing to give details on his Brexit deal and refusing to answer questions from the BBC's Andrew Neil and Andrew Marr.

He says this "stimulates public distrust " and asks if this is the shape of things to come?

"The only sound is the slow dripping of the ice block or the scrape of our empty chair to the sidelines of history," he says.

Lizzy Buchan6 December 2019 18:19
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"Get Brexit Done" is the greatest delusion of all, says Heseltine

The Tory peer tears into Boris Johnson's campaign slogan and takes apart the pledge to get a trade deal within 12 months.

"As soon as we voted yes in the referendum, we set the country off on a path littered by rocks," he says, and calls for a second referendum.

"The timescale for that is far shorter than the Brexit alternative," he adds.

Lord Heseltine also warns that Brexit threatens the future of the union of the UK and says he would deplore the departure of Scotland or Northern Ireland from the partnership.

He says the nations are better together and compared is to drawing lines between Yorkshire and Lancashire such as in the Wars of the Roses.

Lizzy Buchan6 December 2019 18:25
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Heseltine urges voters to back exiled Tories and the Lib Dems

"I would weigh my judgement in the scales of history," he says. He is weighing up his loyalty to his former party and on the other side, the advice of every Tory PM he has ever served, the integrity of every speech made, and the interest of this country.

He says: "I would never vote to make this country poorer, I would never vote to exclude this country from the corridors of Europe."

He says the only way to do this is to back the exiled Tories and the Lib Dems.

Lizzy Buchan6 December 2019 18:31
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That's it for the Final Say rally but you can watch clips of Lord Heseltine's full speech here.

Stick around as Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are going head to head in a crucial final BBC debate later.

Lizzy Buchan6 December 2019 18:38
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Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn go head-to-head in final TV debate

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn will go head-to-head for their second and final televised debate of the General Election campaign on Friday.

The debate will be held in front of a studio audience in Maidstone, Kent, and will run for an hour live on BBC1 from 8.30pm to 9.30pm.

Nick Robinson, one of the Radio 4 Today programme's regular presenters and former BBC political editor, will be the moderator, putting questions and keeping order.

Each leader will make a 60 second opening statement. They will then debate questions put by members of the audience and sent in by BBC viewers online. There will be final closing statements of 30 seconds each.

Again following a toss of coins, Labour got to choose the order of the opening statements and opted to go first, while the Conservatives chose to go second in the closing statements.

The audience has been selected to include equal numbers of Conservative and Labour supporters, with a smaller number of undecided voters and supporters of other parties.

It has also been weighted to include a slim majority of Leave voters over Remainers in the EU referendum, apart from a few younger voters who were not old enough to vote in 2016.

Lizzy Buchan6 December 2019 18:53
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Is Boris Johnson about to fall into an election panic?

Everything’s still to play for in the final week before the vote, writes John Rentoul.

Lizzy Buchan6 December 2019 19:12

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