Rishi Sunak has accused Keir Starmer of giving in to Angela Rayner and the left of the Labour party over the selection of Diane Abbott as a Labour candidate, and told Conservative activists in Redcar that if Starmer became prime minister, he would give in to them in government. Speaking as the Conservative party launched its election battlebus in Redcar in England, the prime minister said Starmer didn’t stand for anything, and that “if he was happy to abandon every promise that he made to become Labour leader as soon as he got that job, what makes you think that he wouldn’t do exactly the same thing all over again if he became prime minister?” Sunak criticized Starmer for not standing by his promises and accused Angela Rayner of being in charge of the Labour party. He warned that if Starmer gave in to them on the Diane Abbott situation, he would likely give in to other demands as well. Sunak questioned how Starmer could stand up for the people if he didn’t stand for anything himself.
Starmer has given in to the Labour left over Diane Abbott, says Sunak – UK politics live | Politics
Sunak: Starmer has given in to Angela Rayner and the left of the Labour party over Diane Abbott selection row
Rishi Sunak has accused Keir Starmer of giving in to Angela Rayner and the left of the Labour party over the selection of Diane Abbott as a Labour candidate, and told Conservative activists in Redcar that if Starmer became prime minister, he would give in to to them in government.
Speaking as the Conservative party launched its election battlebus in Redcar in England, the prime minister said Starmer didn’t stand for anything, and that “if he was happy to abandon every promise that he made to become Labour leader as soon as he got that job, what makes you think that he wouldn’t do exactly the same thing all over again if he became prime minister?”
Sunak said:
Just see what’s happened over this Diane Abbott situation, right. And it confirms what we know about him. It’s that he doesn’t stick by anything he says. Just constantly changes his mind.
And it’s clear that Angela Rayner is in charge of the Labour party, and not him at the end of the day. And if he’s given into her and the left on that, imagine what he’ll give in to when it comes to higher taxes, the unions’ demands, or weakening our defence and security.
“If he doesn’t stand for anything himself, how can he stand up for all of you?” Sunak asked.
Rishi Sunak with Jacob Young, Conservative candidate for Redcar & Cleveland. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images
Asked again about the selection of Diane Abbott while campaigning in Uxbridge this morning, Starmer refused to be drawn further on the issue, saying “I dealt with that issue yesterday.”
Yesterday the Conservatives used an image of Rayner on her phone in a social media attack on the Labour party over the Diane Abbott row.
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Key events
Rishi Sunak had an awkward encounter earlier this week with 16-year-old singer-songwriter Henry Hassell, who asked the prime minister why he “hates young people so much” in a Devon pub.
‘Why do you hate young people?’: Rishi Sunak confronted over national service plan – video
A clip of the moment went viral on TikTok, and Hassell has now been interviewed about it.
He said of Sunak’s national service announcement: “Obviously there’s been a lot of negative reactions to that from people my age, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to ask Rishi Sunak himself why he was doing it and to be honest, why he hated young people so much.”
Hassell asked the prime minister “I’ve volunteered all my life, why do I have to do it all again when I’m finally coming out of education?” to which Sunak replied “I wouldn’t view it like that. A culture of service is a good thing for our country”
Of Sunak’s response, Hassell added: “I thought he was trying to escape the question”. At the time he said to Sunak “You’re waffling.”
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Rishi Sunak, in questions from broadcasters, was also critical of plans announced by Labour to increase the percentage of people employed from 75% to 80%.
The prime minister told broadcasters “They might say a lot of things but the question is, ‘what are they actually going to do when it comes to people’s standard of living?’
“They’re not going to help anyone build any wealth or have security in retirement. When it comes to getting people back to work, I set out a few weeks ago the most comprehensive set of reforms to our welfare system in an incredibly long time to get people off welfare and into work. And you know what, the Labour party criticised me for those plans, didn’t support any of those plans.”
Rishi Sunak met a baby called George at today’s event. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images
Labour this morning announced a Back to Work plan, which aims to get 2 million more people into work. The initiative would include a combined national jobs and careers service, devolved funding and leadership from mayors to “get more people with health conditions and disabilities into work” and opportunities for 18- to 21-year-olds to access training and apprenticeships.
In a statement, Starmer said: “With Labour, those who can work, will work. We want more people into work, to get on at work and to get the benefits bill down. Under the Tories, there are too many people who are not in work, who should be.
“Too many people stuck in jobs with no promise of earning a better income. Young people who are yet to experience work, at risk of falling off the radar. We can’t go on like this. It’s time for change.”
Labour party leader Keir Starmer holds a card detailing his policy priorities in Uxbridge this morning. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Getty ImagesShare
With the whole D:Ream saga going on, PA noted that the songs played at the Conservatives battlebus launch were “a soundtrack of indie and pop from the 2000s and 2010s” including Mr Brightside by the Killers and Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People.
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Speaking in Redcar, Rishi Sunak has defended his announcement of a promise of new levelling up cash for 30 towns across the UK, saying it was “on top of the 70 towns that have been announced.”
He denied a question from broadcasters that it was just an attempt to buy votes, saying:
100 towns across our country that are going to receive £2m each. Crucially, it will be local people in all those areas that are in charge of how to spend that money, to make sure it’s spent and invested on their priorities – an example of us levelling up everywhere, backing local people and their priorities, and giving them the long-term funding and assurance to do so. I’m not going to make any apology for supporting towns.
Sunak, who party have been in power for 14 years, said towns were “neglected” under the previous Labour government.
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Sunak: Starmer has given in to Angela Rayner and the left of the Labour party over Diane Abbott selection row
Rishi Sunak has accused Keir Starmer of giving in to Angela Rayner and the left of the Labour party over the selection of Diane Abbott as a Labour candidate, and told Conservative activists in Redcar that if Starmer became prime minister, he would give in to to them in government.
Speaking as the Conservative party launched its election battlebus in Redcar in England, the prime minister said Starmer didn’t stand for anything, and that “if he was happy to abandon every promise that he made to become Labour leader as soon as he got that job, what makes you think that he wouldn’t do exactly the same thing all over again if he became prime minister?”
Sunak said:
Just see what’s happened over this Diane Abbott situation, right. And it confirms what we know about him. It’s that he doesn’t stick by anything he says. Just constantly changes his mind.
And it’s clear that Angela Rayner is in charge of the Labour party, and not him at the end of the day. And if he’s given into her and the left on that, imagine what he’ll give in to when it comes to higher taxes, the unions’ demands, or weakening our defence and security.
“If he doesn’t stand for anything himself, how can he stand up for all of you?” Sunak asked.
Rishi Sunak with Jacob Young, Conservative candidate for Redcar & Cleveland. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images
Asked again about the selection of Diane Abbott while campaigning in Uxbridge this morning, Starmer refused to be drawn further on the issue, saying “I dealt with that issue yesterday.”
Yesterday the Conservatives used an image of Rayner on her phone in a social media attack on the Labour party over the Diane Abbott row.
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Sunak launches Conservative battlebus with speech in Redcar
Rishi Sunak’s speech touched on the same themes he was been campaigning on all week, and used several phrases and passages that we have heard at events already.
He spoke specifically about how Russia, Iran, North Korea and China were hostile powers “acting in a way that’s threatening our values and our interests abroad and at home”. He said across Europe that the “penny has dropped” that the Conservatives’ plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda was the right approach, and said “We’re the ones taking bold action, getting the planes off to Rwanda, establishing that deterrent, so that people know that if they come here illegally, they can’t stay.”
He said that Labour would, by contrast, make the UK “a soft touch of Europe when it comes to asylum seekers.”
He again criticised Keir Starmer for wanting people to believe “this election is over before it’s even started” and “the result is a foregone conclusion”, again saying “I’m gonna work my socks off every day of this campaign, talk to as many people as I can, earn the trust of the public.”
The Guardian’s aggregate poll tracker at the moment puts voting intention for Labour on 44.7%, 20.7% ahead of the Tories.
He contrasted the announcements that Conservatives were making on national service, the pension triple lock plus and 100,000 new apprenticeships with the fact, he claimed, “we’ve heard nothing from Keir Starmer, and the Labour party. Not a single new idea about what they would do in the future.”
The Conservatives have previously published a 24 page booklet which they said were costings by Treasury officials of Labour policy promises.
Sunak ends his stump speech by saying:
We’re working for a Britain where we have a renewed sense of confidence in our communities, a pride in our country. A Britain where your hard work, everyone’s hard work, is rewarded. Where the opportunities that were there for the previous generation are there for the next. And a Britain, where above all, your safety, our security is assured. That’s the secure future that we’re fighting for this election.
Conservative activists with their election battlebus in Redcar, England. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty ImagesShare
The Conservative bus has got “Clear plan, bold action, secure future” emblazoned on it. Rishi Sunak finishes his speech by saying “let’s go out there and smash it!” to activists.
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Rishi Sunak is currently talking at an event to launch the Conservative battlebus. I will bring you the key lines that emerge, but it appears to me to be exactly the same stump speech he has delivered several times already this week.
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Regular readers will know that I always enjoy managing to shoehorn some football into a politics live blog, and the Liberal Democrats have obliged me today, by announcing a new manifesto pledge for 10 Premier League games a season available to watch on free-to-air TV.
Speaking on Sky News, former leader Tim Farron immediately conceded it was “the most important of unimportant things” and that football was not “the be-all and end-all”, but he explained:
If you have a comprehensive manifesto, you also cover these issues. I think the slide away from accessible football on our televisions over the last generation is an indicator of unfairness and injustice. And I think government’s job is to act as referee and to bring these things to an end, and bring football back to the people. It’s not the most important thing, I grant you, but it’s not unimportant.
In a statement announcing the pledge, leader Ed Davey accused broadcasters and Premier League clubs of being “money-grabbing” and said “The Conservative government has completely failed football fans, from breaking their promise to create a football regulator, to allowing greedy broadcasters to hide Premier League football away from millions.”
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Scotland’s first minister John Swinney has been campaigning in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine this morning.
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Keir Starmer did take some questions from the media after that event, with the lines dropping on the wires so far that he was asked about Diane Abbott and concerns among Black voters that the row might have caused.
Starmer said “I dealt with that issue yesterday. Today is about taking our argument to the country and getting people back to work. Let me give my message to voters, because I think this is very, very important, which is if you want change, the power is with you. You have to vote for change.”
LBC asked Starmer about the pressing issue of D:Ream saying Labour shouldn’t use their song Things Can Only Get Better and that they regret allowing Tony Blair to have used it. “Well, look, we’re not in 1997. We’re in 2024,” said Starmer, adding “The choice before the country is absolutely stark. We’ve had now 14 years of chaos and division. And if the Tories get back in there’s just going to be more of the same.
“We can turn the page, we can start anew rebuild our country with Labour. And we will have a song for that moment if we’re privileged enough to come in to serve.”
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PA Media have a couple of key facts about Labour’s battlebus, which is going to start a 5,000 mile tour of the country.
Starting in Uxbridge, where Keir Starmer once suggested that London’s expanded ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) cost it a byelection victory, PA notes the bus is Ulez compliant. Someone has also counted up that it says “Change” on the side 15 times.
Rachel Reeves, Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner with the bus in Uxbridge. Photograph: Lucy North/PA
Of the planned tour, Angela Rayner said she had been “looking forward to this day”, adding “I’m going to really enjoy being out and about up and down the country on our bus. We want to send a message to the people of this country – we are a changed Labour party, in the service of working people. And we will never ride high and roughshod on the economy.”
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner takes a selfie at the launch event for Labour’s campaign bus. Photograph: Lucy North/PAShare
Ed Davey has made the most of some photo opportunities this week as a way to attract attention to the Liberal Democrats and their policies, but he has posted a message to social media to point out that he won’t be out campaigning today.
In the message, the Liberal Democrat leader said:
This weekend I get to do the most joyful and important thing I do: being a dad. Together, Emily and I care for our wonderful son John, who has severe physical and learning disabilities.
Carers – paid and unpaid – are the lifeblood of our NHS and our economy. The work they do is undervalued and underappreciated. I’m looking forward to putting them front and centre of the Liberal Democrats campaign next week.
This weekend I get to do the most joyful and important thing I do: being a Dad.
Together, Emily and I care for our wonderful son John, who has severe physical and learning disabilities. pic.twitter.com/zhSaN7QqJg
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) June 1, 2024
Davey added in a further message “I’ve loved every minute of this election campaign so far – meeting people across our United Kingdom and hearing directly about their hopes for the future and their strong desire for change.”
Ed Davey making cake mix with children at a Harpenden primary school yesterday. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty ImagesShare
Keir Starmer appeared in good spirits at this event and attempted a couple of jokes.
Standing beside the red Labour bus with “Change” written down the side, he joked that buses were like Tory defectors, saying “You wait for ages and then three come along in a row.”
In recent weeks the Labour party has welcomed former Tory MPs Dan Poulter and Natalie Elphicke, and this week Mark Logan, who represented Bolton North East, joined them. All three former MPs are stepping down at this election.
Starmer then moved on to say of the bus that “I’m reliably told it has got a fridge in the back of it. So check that Boris Johnson isn’t in there. He used to be around these parts.”
The former prime minister famously ended up hiding inside a fridge during the 2019 election campaign to avoid an interview. The Labour battlebus was being launched in Uxbridge, where Johnson used to be an MP. Angela Rayner will be using it to tour the country.
Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves launch Labour’s battle bus in Uxbridge, West London.
“It’s almost like Tory defectors. You wait for ages and then three come along in a row,” Starmer says of buses. #GE2024 pic.twitter.com/LgZbRmAdBC
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) June 1, 2024
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Starmer: Tories ‘shredding their economic credibility’ during election campaign
Keir Starmer has said that the Conservative campaign has been “shredding their economic credibility” with daily unfunded policy announcements.
Starmer said “They are saying today about some levelling up. I remember them saying that five years ago. Have they done it? No. I don’t think they’ll do it now.
“They say in politics the worst thing you can do is prey on people’s fears. What they’re doing with this is preying on people’s hopes, their hope that things will level up after non-delivery.
“What they’ve done today with this is another unfunded commitment. There’s one a day. They’re using the same money that last week they said was going to pay for a teenage Dad’s Army. They are shredding their economic credibility. The Tories cannot be trusted with the finances of the country.”
He added “We need Rachel [Reeves]. We need a stable economy. And we need to give working people the foundation that they need for the life that they want to build.”
On the subject of the NHS, Starmer said “When Labour left office we had the lowest waiting list and the highest satisfaction in the NHS. They’ve turned that completely on its head. So now we have the highest ever waiting list, and the lowest ever satisfaction. I don’t care what political party you support. If you leave our NHS worse than when you found it in government, you don’t deserve one day more in government.”
“They’re not going to change,” he said. “They’ve already failed. They’ll fail again. And it will be costing every single person in this country.”
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Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves spoke next. She said “I will never play fast and loose with the public finances in the way that the Conservatives have. Because when you do that, you put family finances at peril. And that is why we will bring stability back to our economy.”
She said Labour would “power up Britain … so that our economy can fulfil its potential so that everyone can contribute wherever you live.”
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Angela Rayner has said she is looking forward to being on the campaign bus, and promised to bombard Keir Starmer with pictures from every stop. She said:
This is what this general election is about. It is about putting the country first, about giving people that hope and opportunity that 14 years of the Tories have taken away. They’ve crashed the economy. Nothing works any more. People can’t get appointments for their GP. People waiting on the hospital NHS waiting lists. We’ve got to turn the page, we’ve got to change this country, and on 4 July we can make that change happen together.
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Danny Beales, the Labour candidate for Uxbridge & South Ruislip has opened this event in London for the party, and introduced Angela Rayner, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves.
He said when he spoke on the doorstep to people they were “terrified about the next bill coming through the door, worried about rising waiting lists, the state of the local hospital after 14 years of no progress under the Conservatives, terrified about what the future holds for their children, and whether they’ll ever get on the property ladder.”
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Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves will shortly be launching Labour’s campaign bus. You can watch the event here.
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Read the full story on www.theguardian.com
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/jun/01/uk-general-election-2024-keir-starmer-rishi-sunak-labour-conservatives-tories