General election latest: Starmer warns against far right as Tories could ‘sneak through at the end’ to win
Sir Keir Starmer says Left must show only ‘progressives have answers’ if far right wins in France
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With six days to go until the general election, party leaders jump on the final week campaign trail.
Sir Keir Starmer has said only the progressives can beat the far-right and blamed the surge on “disaffection among voters” amid popularity of Marine Le Pen’s nationalist party in France.
The Labour leader said people feel the country is “too broken to be mended” and “can’t trust politicians” after 14 years of “Tory chaos”, but added: “Only progressives have the answers of the challenges that are facing us.”
It comes as Labour holds a strong 24-point lead in latest polls on voter intentions, with the Tories struggling to close the gap.
But candidates insist they will fight for every vote until the last whistle.
Labour’s shadow environment secretary Steve Reed warned the Conservatives could still “sneak through at the end” to win as Thursday’s vote was still all to play for despite the successful polling results.
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Cleverly hits out at Starmer over Bangladeshi migrants comments
Home secretary James Cleverly has labelled Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s comments about returning migrants to Bangladesh a “weird dog whistle attack on the Bangladeshi community”.
He told the BBC: “Labour keep saying they’re going to do less, they’re going to scrap the Rwanda scheme. They are going to scrap the Rwanda scheme, they’ve said they’re going to do that even if it’s working.”
He added: “The only intervention recently that Keir Starmer has had on this is this weird dog whistle attack on the Bangladeshi community where he’s claiming that that we are not returning people to Bangladesh which was, A, not true and, B, not relevant, because the Bangladeshi community make a tiny, tiny, tiny, less than a half a percent of small boat arrivals.”
Ashworth denies Putin happy to see Labour win
Shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth has denied Vladimir Putin would rather see Labour win over the Conservatives.
When asked about comments made by Rishi Sunak on Sunday, Mr Ashworth told Times Radio: “No of course not. This is pretty desperate stuff from the Tories now, really desperate. Labour would always put the defence of our people first.”
Will Cleverly still be Home Secretary on Friday?
James Cleverly has been asked whether he would still be Home Secretary come Friday.
“Well I hope to be - that decision is in the hands of voters in Braintree and nationally,” he told BBC Beakfast.
The Tory minister urged people to “vote to keep their taxes low” adding he hopes to remain in the cabinet because “it’s a privilege to serve”.
Farage: Conservatives ‘screwed’ without Reform UK
Nigel Farage has said the Tories would still be “screwed” at the general election without Reform.
Speaking to the Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots series, the Reform leader said: “If I’d gone to the Bahamas and fished for a month, which was very tempting, the Tories were screwed. They’ve done it to themselves. They’ve broken trust.
“The Conservatives have not delivered Brexit, 5.5 million men and women out there running small businesses feel totally betrayed. Millions of us who’ve wanted lower immigration numbers have seen 2.5 million people over the last two years. You know, the Tories have betrayed Brexit.”
Cleverly criticises Banksy migrant boat artwork at Glastonbury
Jeremy Cleverly has reacted with anger at the Bansky migrant boat artwork at Glastonbury.
The Conservative minister said the stunt is “completely unacceptable” as “people are dying in the Channel”.
He added: “It is not funny, it is vile. It is a celebration of the loss of life in the Channel. And I am determined to break the criminal gangs. We going after their money, we are going after their boats, we are arresting them.”
The inflatable boat was passed around by festival-goers during Idles’ performance on the Other Stage at Worthy Farm on Friday.
It emerged as the Bristol-based band sang the lyrics: “My blood brother is an immigrant, a beautiful immigrant.”
Banksy later posted a video of the boat on his Instagram page appearing to confirm it was his artwork.
Labour seeks to terrify voters into turning up
Labour is taking nothing for granted ahead of Thursday’s vote - pulling out all the stops to scare supporters into showing up, Archie Mitchell reports.
The party has released a scare-inducing POV-poster of what it might be like to wake up in bed with Rishi Sunak.
“Don’t wake up to five more years of the Tories,” it warns.
Cleverly hits out at Labour over taxes
James Cleverly is facing questions on Sky News Breakfast over the cost of living crisis.
Asked whether this was The Tories’ “Achilles heel”, the Home Secretary told Sky News Breakfast: “We’ve got to recognise the unique circumstances over the last couple of years. We had Covid which hit the global economy and of course the UK economy incredibly hard. The Prime Minister, when he was chancellor, put in place the most comprehensive and generous support package this country has ever seen, with the furlough scheme.”
Pressed on tax rises under the Conservatives, Mr Cleverly said: “The reason that taxes have had to go up is we had to pay for furlough, we had to pay for energy support and the question now is what happened next. Independent predictions say under Labour the tax burden is the highest it has ever been.
“Under the Conservatives we have already started bringing taxes down, we’ve committed to abolishing National Insurance. So that’s the choice we’ve got ahead.”
Labour: It’s ‘squeaky bum time’ for party
Shadow secretary Jonathan Ashworth has faced questions on whether Labour is prepared for the pay demands the party is likely to face.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “Well, first of all we’ve got to win an election on Thursday and this is the period now where your co-presenter who is a Manchester United fan would know that Alex Ferguson described as ‘squeaky bum time’.
“There are still people who are making their minds up, still working out what to do. And my message to them is don’t switch on Radio 4 on Friday morning and hear that Rishi Sunak has won five more years. The choice is clear. We’ll see what happens on Thursday.”
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