Summary
That’s your lot today. Here’s a summary:
- Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry successfully ambushed the defence secretary, Michael Fallon, by highlighting a meeting he had with Syria’s president in Bashar Al-Assad after his reelection in 2007. Challenged by Thornberry about the encounter during the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, Fallon said: “It was 10 years ago. We had a different relationship with Assad.”
- Thornberry dismissed as “bollocks” Fallon’s claim that she would negotiate away the Falkland Islands. She insisted Labour would not compromise on the sovereignty of the islands and would send a taskforce to defend them if necessary.
- A Tory councillor has been suspended for posting racist offence against the Irish during the Eurovision song contest. Warwick council suspended Nick Harrington for six month and apologised for the offence he caused.
- The Conservatives have launched an attack ad that seeks to exploit fears about immigration. It features a clip of Jeremy Corbyn saying he does not think too many Europeans have come to the UK.
- Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland may not rejoin the European Union if she wins a second independence referendum but could instead apply to join the European free trade area. The first minister indicated she may not seek immediate re-entry to the EU after independence, confirming speculation she could instead propose Scotland takes the so-called “Norway option” by joining the Efta free trade area instead.
- Brexit secretary David Davis is warning of a “row of the summer” with Brussels over the timetable for the Brexit negotiations. He said it was “wholly illogical” for the EU to insists progress should be made on the divorce settlement and the Irish border before trade is discussed.
- Labour has dismissed Theresa May’s proposals to increase social housing after Fallon, admitted the policy would be paid for from existing spending plans. The Conservatives announced this weekend that their manifesto, expected to be launched on Thursday, will include a commitment to build what they called a “new generation of social housing”.
- Shadow health secretary, Jon Ashworth, challenged the government to release its risk assessment of cyber attacks against the NHS. Speaking on ITV he said: “If the prime minister says they were taking it seriously then she shouldn’t have any problem in publishing that [risk] register.”
- A leading donor behind the Brexit victory has pledged to fund a campaign to oust almost 140 pro-remain MPs. Jeremy Hosking, the multimillionaire City asset manager, said he was prepared to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds targeting MPs who backed staying in the EU, despite representing areas that voted for Brexit.
Updated
A new video attack advert by the Conservatives seeks to exploit fears about immigration.
The 22-second ad contrasts Theresa May’s promised crackdown on immigration with remarks Jeremy Corbyn made during the referendum campaign.
Spekaing above ominous music, May is quoted saying: “Brexit must mean control of the number of people who come to Britain from Europe and that is what we will deliver.”
The clip of Corbyn shows him being asked if too many people from Europe have come to live and work in the UK. “No I don’t think too many people have come,” Corbyn says before being cut off.
WATCH AND SHARE: Putting Jeremy Corbyn in charge of Britain’s Brexit negotiation - and our immigration system - is too big a risk. #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/58w5ktdBif
— Conservatives (@Conservatives) May 14, 2017
Tory councillor suspended for offensive Eurovision tweet
A Tory councillor who posted offensive remarks about the Irish and gypsies after Ireland gave the UK no points during the Eurovision song contest has been suspended.
Nick Harrington has been suspended from the Conservatives on Warwick District Council for six months, according to the Coventry Telegraph.
After Ireland awarded nil points to the UK’s entry Harrington tweeted: “You can keep your f’king gypsies! Hard border coming folks.”
The tweet has since been deleted but not before being screengrabbed by many users of the network outraged by Harrington’s comments.
Nick Harrington has predictably disappeared from the Twitterverse but I'll still be sharing his bigoted tweet #can'tstopthesignal pic.twitter.com/tmxCTRLZBE
— Lisa Hurst (@LisaDHurst) May 14, 2017
Warwick council confirmed Harrington’s suspension and issued an unreserved apology for the offence his comments caused.
Cllr Nick Harrington has been suspended by Cllr Andrew Mobbs, Leader of Warwick District Council, pending a full investigation (1/2)
— Warwick DC (@Warwick_DC) May 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/Warwick_DC/status/863741140645937153
We apologise unreservedly for the offence and upset that his comments have caused (2/2)
— Warwick DC (@Warwick_DC) May 14, 2017
Updated
The Conservatives are continuing to claim Emily Thornberry has cast doubt on the future of the Falkland islands, despite her robust dismissal of this suggestion.
In her interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, Thornberry made it clear that she would support military action to defend the Falklands and said there should be no compromise on sovereignty of the islands.
She backed comments Jeremy Corbyn made about the need for dialogue over the future of the Falklands dispute with Argentina. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said her remarks showed she was prepared to negotiate away the Falklands.
Thornberry accused him of making “stuff up”. She said: “You’ve just said that I want to negotiate the future of the Falklands. That is bollocks.”
But security minister Ben Wallace has repeated the charge. He said Thornberry had “put the future of the Falklands at risk.”
In her interview Thornberry was careful to avoid suggesting any such thing. Here’s a transcript:
Marr: Do you think a future Labour government would send a taskforce again to the Falklands, if there was a crisis there.
Thornberry: Yes.
Marr: Jeremy Corbyn has said he wants to settle down and negotiate with the Argentine government about the future of Falklands. I wondered if you would be part of that negotiation?
Thornberry: As a matter of last resort, if British citizens are being attacked we defend them. But we don’t want to get into a position whereby, unlike the Conservatives who seem to be so gung-ho, who seem to be so ‘we’ll send in a taskforce, we’ll bomb this, we’ll do that’. No, you have to look at the alternatives first. In the end there is no settlement to international disputes without there being international agreement. It it a question of how do you get there fastest. If we are under attack we defend ourselves.
Marr: Do you think there is an available compromise over the Falklands to be done.
Thornberry: I think that so long as the people of the Falklands wish to remain British, they remain British. So that is not going to be compromised. I think there needs to be a future in terms talking to the neighbours of the Falklands. And I think it is to the economic advantage of both that they are able to work more closely than they are at the moment. But certainly not, under my name, the sovereignty of the Falkland islands.
Marr: Jeremy Corbyn says: ‘It seems to me ridiculous that in the 21st century, we get into some enormous conflict with Argentina about the islands just off it. Yes of course the islanders have an enormous say, but let’s bring about some sensible dialogue’. So in sense he is saying let’s talk about the future of the islands.
Thornberry. What Jeremy just said. Why do I disagree with that? I don’t see why I should disagree with that. You say this is what he says and in effect therefore he is saying something. I don’t agree with you. I think what I’ve said is entirely in line with what Jeremy has said.
Our Scotland editor, Severin Carrell, has a new expert take on Nicola Sturgeon’s interview this morning. Here’s the start:
Nicola Sturgeon has said Scotland may not rejoin the European Union if she wins a second independence referendum but could instead apply to join the European free trade area.
Even though most Scottish voters oppose a referendum before Brexit, the first minister has insisted another vote on independence is needed because Scotland has been taken out of the EU “against its will” after 62% of Scots voted to remain.
Sturgeon has now indicated she may not seek immediate reentry to the EU after independence after all, confirming speculation she could instead propose Scotland takes the so-called “Norway option” by joining the Efta free trade area instead.
Sturgeon also indicated that even if she chose to recommend Scotland immediately seeks membership of the EU, it could be forced to reapply from scratch after independence and after the UK leaves the EU.
In her reference to Scotland “regaining” membership, Sturgeon confirmed previous hints she accepts she may have to retreat from her preferred timescale of staging a referendum between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, before Brexit takes place.
Asked by Andrew Marr on BBC1 on Sunday whether joining Efta would be an acceptable compromise, Sturgeon said a “phased approach” to rejoining the EU may be needed.
The Conservatives have seized on an interview given by Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey to the BBC’s Sunday politics in which struggled to define the term “trend GDP” despite it featuring in the party’s draft manifesto.
It circulated this exchange between Long-Bailey and Andrew Neill
Andrew Neil: The draft manifesto said you will leave debt as a proportion of trend GDP lower at the end of each parliament, you have just said a version of that. What’s trend GDP?
Rebecca Long Bailey: Will as we’ve said in clear terms we will ensure that the debt we acquire will be reduced by the end of the parliament. We won’t leave the Government finances in a worse state than we found them.
Andrew Neil: OK, but what is trend GDP?
Rebecca Long Bailey: Well as I’ve said, and I’ll explain it in clear terms, our rule is we will ensure public sector net debt is less than we found it when we came to power in Government on June the 8th.
Andrew Neil: But with respect that is not what your draft manifesto says, it says as a proportion of – it doesn’t say as a percentage of GDP ... (Interrupted)
Rebecca Long Bailey: Well I’m not going to comment on leaks Andrew. I’m afriaid you are just going to have to wait until Tuesday to look at the finer detail and perhaps we will have another chat then.
Security Minister Ben Wallace said the interview showed Labour was unable to explain its own economic ideas.
Updated
In the sixth of our Voices and votes articles, we hear from the shocked residents in a former Labour Glasgow stronghold that swung SNP in 2015 – and has just elected a 20-year-old Conservative councillor Thomas Kerr.
“A Tory in this area? I can’t believe it. Once they get in, they’ll be lucky to stay in. It’s a ballot box miscount if you ask me,” said Barry O’Hara, an unemployed optician’s technician who met the Guardian’s Lisa O’Carroll on Shettleston Road.
“We’re poor enough without the Tories and their welfare cuts. People around here are living on the breadline as it is. All the Tories will do is cut the welfare and make it difficult for them. Generations here have never voted Tory in their life and those that did should hang their heads in shame,” he said.
It’s fair to say Kerr was equally shocked by his victory. “When you stand as a candidate in the East End of Glasgow for the Conservative party you don’t expect this to happen.”
LibDem grandee Paddy Ashdown has predicted a realignment of British politics after the election.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s World this Weekend, the former LibDem leader said: “It saddens me that we have not been able to make more sense of the progressive centre before this election started. I don’t much believe in alliances against things, I believe in alliances for things. So it now seems very likely, unfortunately, that that process of realignment that I have been seeking for a long time isn’t going to happen before the next election. But there is a very high probability that would happen after it.”
Asked if this would involve a new centre party, Ashdown said:
“I rather doubt it. It will mean that those people who are united by a belief in the things that moderates in Britain are united by: internationalism, being as close to Europe as possible; a belief in human rights; a belief in strong markets but not a market that is our master but becomes our servant; that believes in a juster society – those people will come together and form an effective political force, that will reflect the current voiceless in Britain.”
“Millions of people who are moderate, now don’t find any party that they want to put their voice behind. I would recommend them to vote LibDem, but in their constituency that may not work to achieve what they want to achieve.”
Ashdown praised new French President Emmanuel Macron for bringing in people who felt left out of politics. “That’s what we have to do,” he said.
Ashdown also accused Theresa May of presiding over a rise in hate crime.
“The prime minister is power and she has created a mood of division which is reflected in a rise in hate crimes. If is prepared to do divide our country, move it to the very edge of a cliff as far away from Europe as possible, preside over cuts in health and education. If she can do that with a majority of 15 what she will she do with a larger majority that allowed her to ignore parliament altogether.”
Updated
Ruth Davidson has made a significant switch on health policy by announcing the Scottish Conservatives will endorse free prescriptions in Scotland, as she moves to capture working class unionist votes in the general election, writes Severin Carrell.
The Scottish Tories said they had changed stance because free prescriptions were popular, but added they would launch a review to check it made financial sense for the NHS to always fund cheap generic drugs such as paracetamol at a cost of £10m a year, or to spend £2.9m a year on aspirin.
The Scottish Tories have been arch critics of the policy at Holyrood, introduced by Alex Salmond soon after the Scottish National party’s narrow win in the 2007 Scottish elections, but now costing £1.5bn a year. The policy has since been introduced across the Welsh NHS by the devolved government in Cardiff.
The Tories are putting the policy in their Scottish general election manifesto in an effort to put their opponents under wider pressure, even though health policy and spending is entirely devolved and not directly affected by the UK elections.
Donald Cameron, the Scottish Tories health spokesman, said: “This really about the future of the NHS. Medical technology is making leaps and bounds. Drugs are becoming ever more sophisticated. Pharmacy services have the potential to help reduce the pressure on GPs and hospitals.”
Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labour’s health spokesman, said: “Ruth Davidson has shown once again she will do and say anything to win votes - but even now she won’t fully commit to ensuring everyone has access to the medicine they need.”
The Guardian’s economics editor, Larry Elliot, delivers some rare praise for Labour’s much-bashed draft manifesto.
There are plenty of good things in the manifesto. The employers who whinge constantly about the poor quality of school leavers and graduates will be asked to contribute more to the education budget through higher corporation tax. Labour plans to broaden stamp duty to a wider range of financial instruments, including derivatives, which will raise £5bn and help lessen volatility. There is a recognition that macro-economic policy since the crisis has been flawed, with far too much emphasis on ultra-low interest rates and quantitative easing and too little on tax and spending measures. Austerity has been tested to destruction, with both deficit reduction and growth much weaker than envisaged. There is a strong case, as the International Monetary Fund has noted, for countries to borrow to invest in infrastructure, especially when they can do so at today’s low interest rates.
Indeed, it is sign of how much ground has been ceded by the left over the last decade that these ideas are seen as dangerously radical.
Summary
Here’s a lunchtime summary:
- Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry successfully ambushed Defence Secretary Michael Fallon by highlighting a meeting he had with Syria’s president in Bashar Al-Assad in 2007. She also dismissed Fallon claim that she would negotiate away the Falkland Islands as “bollocks.”
- Brexit secretary David Davis is warning of a “row of the summer” with Brussels over the timetable for the Brexit negotiations. He said it was “wholly illogical” for the EU to insists progress should be made on the divorce settlement and the Irish border before trade is discussed.
- Labour has dismissed Theresa May’s proposals to increase social housing after Fallon, admitted the policy would be paid for from existing spending plans. The Conservatives announced this weekend that their manifesto, expected to be launched on Thursday, will include a commitment to build what they called a “new generation of social housing”.
- Nicola Sturgeon has called for Scotland to have choice on independence at the end of the Brexit talks when the exit terms are clear. “At the end of the Brexit process, I believe people in Scotland should have a choice over our future,” told the BBC.
- Shadow health secretary, Jon Ashworth, challenged the government to release its risk assessment of cyber attacks against the NHS. Speaking on ITV he said: “If the prime minister says they were taking it seriously then she shouldn’t have any problem in publishing that [risk] register.”
- A leading donor behind the Brexit victory has pledged to fund a campaign to oust almost 140 pro-remain MPs. Jeremy Hosking, the multimillionaire City asset manager, said he was prepared to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds targeting MPs who backed staying in the EU, despite representing areas that voted for Brexit.
Reuters has a quick take on Nicola Sturgeon’s call for Scotland to have choice on independence at the end of the Brexit talks when the exit terms are clear.
In an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Sturgeon called on voters to back her Scottish National Party at an election on June 8 to strengthen her hand and make sure that Scotland’s voice is heard in the Brexit negotiations.
“For me this is a question of, at the end of the Brexit process, does Scotland get a choice about our future,” Sturgeon said. “At the end of the Brexit process, I believe people in Scotland should have a choice over our future.”
Updated
Theresa May must give a clear commitment to match EU social protections after Brexit if voters are to trust her promise to put “ordinary working people” first, the TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, has told the Guardian.
As the Conservatives put the final touches to their manifesto for the general election on 8 June, O’Grady, who represents almost 6 million working people, says the document should include a promise to ensure Brexit is not used as an excuse for a race to the bottom.
In particular, she would like to see the final Brexit deal that will determine how Britain trades with the EU in future include a promise not to undercut European social standards. She said:
“This is not about sovereignty; this is about saying there will be a level playing field and nobody will fall below this basic standard.
“Now of course, Theresa May has already said that she won’t just protect rights, she will enhance them – so it should cause no problem whatsoever for the Conservative party to sign up to a commitment that British workers will not fall behind rights in other countries.”
Heather Stewart has more on Labour’s dismissal of the Tory pledge on social housing.
Davis: 'row of the summer' over Brexit talks timetable
PA has more on David Davis’ warning over a “row of the summer” over about the EU’s determination to settle the Irish border issue before discussions on trade.
The Brexit Secretary rejected Brussels’ demands for the UK’s fee for exiting the bloc and the tricky issue of the Irish border to be included in the first stage of talks.
And he insisted that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) would not have a role in adjudicating disputes over the rights of EU citizens in the UK after Brexit, setting up an early showdown in the negotiations.
On ITV’s Peston On Sunday Davis acknowledged there would be a “row” over the sequencing of the talks, with the UK insisting that discussions on a trade deal must feature at an early stage.
Davis indicated he was optimistic that an early deal could be reached on citizens’ rights but said he took offence at the suggestion that UK courts could not rule on any disputes.
“There will be arguments over fine detail. Like whether the European Court of Justice oversees these rights after we have left,” he said.
The UK was not prepared to accept the involvement of the ECJ as “we are going to be outside the reach” of the Luxembourg court after Brexit.
Davis also insisted it was “wholly illogical” for Brussels to argue that progress must be made on agreeing the financial settlement and Ireland before talks can progress to the UK’s future relationship - including the Government’s desired trade deal.
Indicating that there could be a legal dispute, Davis said the position adopted by the EU and its chief negotiator Michel Barnier was based on a “wrong interpretation of the treaty”.
The position set out by Brussels was aimed at ensuring “the negotiating pressure is on us - that’s why it is designed this way” with “the most difficult bit, the funding and Northern Ireland” established as hurdles to be crossed before trade talks can begin.
Davis said: “How on earth do you resolve the issue of the border with Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland unless you know what our general borders policy is, what the customs agreement is, what the free trade agreement is, whether you need to charge tariffs at the border or not? You can’t decide one without the other.”
Negotiations on the structure of the talks “will be the row of the summer”, Davis predicted.
While the preferred outcome was for a comprehensive trade deal taking in “all products and all services”, the UK had to retain the option of walking away if unacceptable conditions were on the table.
He said that in any negotiations “you have to have the other option, the other alternative”.
Rejecting as “propaganda” the terms “hard” and “soft” Brexit, Davis insisted that quitting the single market was “what the public voted for” in the 2016 referendum.
An increased Tory majority was needed because in Parliament there were a “significant number of people who say they accept the referendum but actually try at every turn to tie the hands of the negotiators”.
The Conservatives are being challenged to explain how many new homes Theresa May’s promised “housing revolution” will produce.
Policing minister Brandon Lewis, a former housing minister, refused to say how many homes the plan would deliver and he was vague on the timescale.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Politics, Lewis admitted that there was no new money for the plan. “This is part of the £1.4bn that was announced at the autumn statement,” he said.
Asked to say how many homes it would produce, Lewis said: “That will depend on the negotiations we have with local authorities. I’m not going to put a number on it.”
After he also refused to also give a timescale, Lewis was asked to explain why the Conservatives could be trusted on housing.
He said: “On housing we have delivered, we have got it up to 189,000 a year. We have delivered more social housing, roughly double what Labour did in 13 years in just five years. We want to go further and that’s what this policy is about.”
Lewis also defended the government’s decision to cut corporation tax, claiming the cut had produced more revenue. He said: “The income take on that change from in corporation tax has actually gone up, as the result of having it lower we are getting more income. That’s because more companies are coming here and more companies are paying tax.”
Nurses have voted overwhelmingly to support a ballot for strike action in protest at below-inflation pay rises, the Royal College of Nursing has announced.
Four out of five members of the RCN who took part in the consultative vote backed a walkout, while nine out of 10 favoured industrial action short of a strike.
The large majorities reflect growing dissatisfaction within the nursing profession over wages. More than 50,000 of the RCN’S 270,000 members took part in the ballot.
The union’s annual conference in Liverpool is discussing its next move. A further ballot would have to be held before any industrial action is taken.
Thornberry’s performance has cheered Labour candidates and supporters.
Emily Thornberry just delivered one of the best ever political ambushes.
— John Prescott (@johnprescott) May 14, 2017
Even better, it was on Fallon. 🔥pic.twitter.com/Z11x0zkh4u #GE2017
This is beautiful - @EmilyThornberry gently skewering Michael Fallon earlier #Marr #VoteLabour https://t.co/uu2SB21uhP
— Chuka Umunna (@ChukaUmunna) May 14, 2017
Brilliant - @EmilyThornberry on #Marr highlighting Fallon's hypocrisy and lies: 'You can't just make things up as you go along' #Ge2017 https://t.co/3NiTe9AgV8
— Jennie Formby (@JennieUnite) May 14, 2017
So good. @EmilyThornberry absolutely wiped the floor with Michael Fallon. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/NNiMJ6YS32
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) May 14, 2017
Thornberry ambushes Fallon over Assad meeting
Emily Thornberry successfully ambushed Michael Fallon on his meeting with Bashar Al-Assad in 2007.
Here’s what was said on the Marr programme.
Thornberry:
If you judge people by who it is that you spend time with, the question is do you know where you were on the 27 May, 2007? You were in Syria and you were celebrating at a reception the reelection of President Assad with a 99% of the vote.
I’m not going to judge you on you going to a reception with Assad, and I don’t think people should judge Jeremy by trying to talk to people who might be open to a settlement in Northern Ireland.
Fallon:
I was on all-party visit to Syria, back in 2007. I did meet Assad. I didn’t celebrate his re-election. It was 10 years ago we had a different relationship with Assad.
There’s a huge moral difference between talking to other foreign leaders, and Jeremy Corbyn’s quite open support for the IRA.
Thornberry accused Fallon of “going around making this stuff up”. She added: “You’ve just said that I want to negotiate the future of the Falklands.” Muttering under her breath she added: “That is bollocks.”
Asked to clarify. “It is untrue.”
Updated
Ashworth calls for release of NHS risk register after cyber attack
Labour is keeping up the pressure on the government over the cyber attack on the NHS.
Shadow health secretary, Jon Ashworth, promised that Labour would spend more money on cyber defence and challenged the government to release its risk assessment of the problem.
Speaking on ITV’s Peston on Sunday, he said: “I would say to the government today, publish the department of health’s risk register so we will know how seriously the government were taking a potential cyber attack. If the prime minister says they were taking it seriously then she shouldn’t have any problem in publishing that register.”
He claimed: “The government have been rather complacent, when they were warned about a cyber security attack on the NHS.”
Ashworth added: “More generally we have seen huge investment cuts in the infrastructure of the NHS. In the last year £1m was taken out of infrastructure in order to plug wider gaps in the NHS. A Labour government will put £10bn into the infrastructure needs of the NHS and a big priority of that will go to investing in cybersecurity and upgrading our IT.”
Labour have seized on Michael Fallon’s failure to pledge any new money for housing during his interview with Andrew Marr.
Asked how the Conservatives’ “housing revolution” would be paid for, Fallon said: “The money is coming from the £1.4bn we earmarked for capital expenditure from the autumn statement. It is not new money.”
Shadow housing minister John Healey said Fallon admission proved there was no substance to the government’s housing plan.
He said: “There’s no commitment on the number of new affordable homes or on new funding.”
In a statement he added: “The number of government funded social rented homes being built has fallen to fewer than 1,000 last year from almost 40,000 under Labour in 2009-10.
“Theresa May has been at every cabinet since 2010 and can’t sidestep her share of the blame for the Tory housing crisis. The number of home-owners has fallen by 200,000, homelessness has more than doubled and new affordable housebuilding is at a near-record low.
“After seven years of failure, the Conservatives have no plan to fix the housing crisis. A Labour government will back first-time buyers and build the homes we need, including 100,000 genuinely affordable homes to rent and buy a year by the end of the next Parliament.”
Back on ITV, Davis says it illogical to talk about the Northern Ireland border without talking about trade in the Brexit negotiations. “That will be the row of the summer,” Davis predicts.
Here’s PA’s take on Thornberry’s appearance on Marr.
Jeremy Corbyn has “been on a journey” since his opposition to Nato and now accepts Labour support for the military alliance, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has said.
The Labour leader, who has said he would not “automatically” send UK troops to support a Nato member which came under attack and has previously voices his opposition to the alliance, now accepted the will of the party that the transatlantic group was an essential part of the UK’s foreign policy, his shadow cabinet ally said.
Thornberry said a Labour government would be prepared to stand up to Donald Trump - but would not rescind the invitation for the US President to make a state visit to the UK later this year.
On BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show, Thornberry was challenged about a series of statements on foreign policy made by Mr Corbyn, including his opposition to Nato and comments about the status of the Falkland Islands.
Responding to 2011 footage of Mr Corbyn saying Nato is a “major problem” and a “danger to world peace”, Thornberry said: “That’s a quote from six years ago and Jeremy has been on a journey, to coin a phrase.
“There have been a number of discussions. It is quite clear that the predominance of opinion within the Labour Party is that we are committed to Nato.”
Saying the Labour manifesto would make clear the commitment to Nato, she added: “How would we get our forces off Salisbury Plain at the moment without the assistance of Nato? We don’t have enough frigates to be able to move them onto the continent of Europe if necessary if the Russians were to come rolling over the hill.”
Asked to repudiate Corbyn’s 2011 comments, she said: “I’m not fighting with anybody, I’m telling you that the Labour Party’s position is a clear one.”
She added that “lots of politicians change their minds”.
A government led by Corbyn would only agree to military action on a multilateral basis “which means the UN Security Council”, Thornberry said - acknowledging that would potentially give Russia and China a veto over any deployment of British troops.
“It is very difficult,” she acknowledged, but said the international agreement for action in Kosovo showed that in some cases there were ways around the Russian security council veto.
On the Faklands, Thornberry said Labour would be prepared to send a taskforce in response to a crisis and there was no question of giving up sovereignty while the islanders wished to remain British.
“There needs to be a future in terms of talking to the neighbours of the Falklands”, she said, but “certainly not undermining the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.”
She claimed the Tories were “gung-ho” over the use of force, insisting “you have to look at the alternatives first”.
On Trump, Thornberry said: “I would be prepared to stand up to him. I would be prepared to say ‘I’m sorry Mr President, but you are wrong about that, we are supposed to be good friends and these values are not our values, you are doing the wrong thing’.”
Asked if that meant Trump may decide not to come, Thornberry said: “Well, there we are. I also hear that he doesn’t want to share a carriage with Prince Charles because he doesn’t agree with Prince Charles on climate change.”
She said the visit would be a “bumpy ride” and accused Theresa May of “fawning” over the US President as she insisted that Labour would focus on human rights in its foreign policy.
Thornberry insisted that would not mean “we are going to boycott China” but there is a “middle way” to follow.
Switching channels Brexit secretary David Davis is on ITV being asked by Rober Peston whether a small majority would help Theresa May in the negotiations in Europe.
Nobody wants no deal, Davis says. Every vote for a Conservative strengthens our hand, he adds.
Davis says the issue of rights of citizens should be a priority in the Brexit negotiations. But he does not accept that the talks should settle the Irish border and the divorce settlement before trade is discussed.
Thornberry and Fallon are back on the sofa. Thornberry points out that before the civil war in Syria, Fallon visited Bashar al-Assad after an election victory. Fallon confirms that he did go on a “fact finding” mission to Syria and met Assad. But he denies that he congratulated Assad on his election victory.
Thornberry also accuses Fallon of deliberately misrepresenting what she said about the Falklands. She denies that she would negotiate over the Falklands.
Updated
On the second independence referendum, Sturgeon says Scots should get a say in the Brexit negotiations and at the end of the process.
She says a vote for the SNP will strengthen her case for keeping Scotland in the single market. She claims 80,000 Scottish jobs depend on staying in the single market.
We don’t want to go into the Euro, Sturgeon says.
Sturgeon accepts that it is a scandal that Scottish nurses are having to rely on food banks to supplement pay. A newly qualified nurse is paid £300 more a year in Scotland than their counterparts in England, she says.
It is Sturgeon’s turn now on the Marr sofa. She is challenged on problems in Scotland’s schools. She accepts the need for greater focus on numeracy and literacy in Scottish schools.
She says teaching recruitment is an issue in many countries, including Scotland. We need to be frank about the challenges in schools, Sturgeon admits. It is not all bad, she says.
There are areas where we need to better, and I’m not shying away from that, Sturgeon insists.
She says the Scottish government is introducing more transparency in education policy and more money into schools. I want to see improvement, Sturgeon says. “I want Scotland to be the best on its own terms,” she says.
Fallon repeats the government’s threat not to rule out making first strikes with nuclear weapons.
He attacks Corbyn’s hesitancy on nuclear weapons. He also described Thornberry’s suggestion that Labour would negotiate over the Falklands as “shocking”.
On cyber security, Fallon says the government has spent £50m to defend the NHS against the cyber attacks. “We are spending money on the cyber defence of our hospitals,” he says.
He says the Britain’s nuclear deterrent is “fully protected” against malware.
Fallon insists that the government is meeting the Nato target of spending 2% of GDP on defence, despite complaints of some generals.
Fallon is up next on Marr. The defence secretary says he does not accept the government is failing to meet its target of recruiting more troops. He says the government cannot force people to sign up and that the target was over the whole parliament.
Marr accuses Fallon of “going a bit Diane Abbott” on the how the government will fund extra spending on defence.
Thornberry defends Labour’s plans for a Robin Hood tax on financial deals. She points out that Hillary Clinton backed the idea and the European Union is looking at similar plans. It is not as drastic as some of the doomsayers predict, she says.
Asked about Labour MPs not mentioning Jeremy Corbyn in their campaigns, Thornberry claims that Labour is gaining ground and that the draft manifesto leaked last week is “enormously popular”.
“It is all to play for,” she says.
Thornberry says there is scope for diplomacy over the Falklands but not when it comes to the sovereignty of the islands.
Thornberry says Corbyn gave a clear commitment to Nato at his Chatham House speech on Friday.
She calls on the UK to challenge Trump not to mount unilateral action against Syria as he did in the wake of the chemical weapons attack.
Thornberry says Labour would have launched military action against Argentina over the Falklands.
Thornberry is first up on Marr. She says Labour would not cancel Donald Trump’s visit to the UK, but she says Labour would give him a hard time unlike Theresa May. She accuses the prime minister of “fawning” in front of the US president.
She also claims Labour would challenge Saudi Arabia on bombing Yemen.
Thornberry repeats Labour’s commitment to Nato. She is played an old clip by Corbyn claiming that Nato is danger to the world. Thornberry says “Jeremy has been on a journey” since then.
Summary
Welcome to the fourth week and second half of the snap election campaign. I’m Matthew Weaver standing in for the daunting Andrew Sparrow – apologies in advance for not being him.
What’s happening?
After the alarming distraction of the cyber attack on the NHS it is back to the election campaign today. There’s a wide array of Sunday broadcast interviews to follow and Sunday papers to mull over.
The ghost of Margaret Thatcher is haunting the papers. There is much talk of whether Theresa May can match the Iron Lady in terms of Tory gains and policies.
The Sunday Times has a Thatcherite take on May’s housing plans:
May will also seek to emulate Margaret Thatcher’s dream of a “property owning democracy” in the 1980s, by ensuring a proportion of the new homes will have to be offered for sale to tenants after 10 to 15 years under the Right to Buy scheme.
The plan to adapt Thatcher’s most popular policy to help “Generation Rent” will form the centrepiece of the Conservative election manifesto, due to be published on Thursday.
The paper quotes the prime minister saying: “Giving tenants a new right to buy these homes when they go on the market will help thousands of people get on the first rung of the housing ladder, and fixed terms will make sure money is reinvested so we have a constant supply of new homes for social rent.”
But some Tory grandees are worried that May is not Thatcherite enough, according to the Sunday Telegraph. It cites Tory alarm about May’s state interventionist tendencies such as the energy price caps and workers on boards. Lord Tebbit is quoted as saying: “We know that Thatcher economics worked very successfully and we would be wise to extend that rather than moving away from it.”
No such qualms for the Sunday Express which drools over the prospect of May getting an even bigger majority than Thatcher.
Under the front page headline “May to smash Maggie record” it says:
Theresa May is on course to break Margaret Thatcher’s 1983 record and win 398 seats at next month’s general election, giving her a thumping overall majority of 147.
Labour are predicted to win only 157 seats – the party’s worst result since the 1930s.
Meanwhile, Labour is proposing to launch a Robin Hood tax on financial deals, according to the Independent. It claims Jeremy Corbyn is planning a 0.5% stamp duty on share dealing to raise more than £5bn a year.
Poll Position
The latest polls do suggest that Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson was correct when he warned that Tories were heading for a Thatcher style majority. According to the latest Opinium/Observer poll, the Tories hold a 15-point lead over Labour with less than four weeks to go to the election.
Despite the substantial gap, Labour under Jeremy Corbyn now has a larger share of the vote than that enjoyed by Ed Miliband in 2015.
The Conservatives are on 47% (up 1 point on a week ago), with Labour on 32% (up 2 points).At the 2015 election, Labour took 30.4% of the vote. The Liberal Democrats are in third place on 8% (down 1 point) while Ukip is also down 1 point at 5%.
A YouGov poll for The Sunday Times gives the Conservatives an 18-point lead. May’s party has 49%, the highest mark of the campaign so far with YouGov, with Labour on 31%.
Diary
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon gets main billing on both the BBC Andrew Marr programme at 9 and ITV’s Peston on Sunday at 10am.
On Marr at 9am Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry goes up against Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.
Brexit secretary David Davis is due to appear on Peston after 10am, together with Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth.
At a glance
- Millionaire Brexit donor targets 140 remain MPs in general election
- Cyber-attack sparks bitter political row over NHS spending
- Corbyn downplays Watson claim that Labour has ‘mountain to climb’
- Progressive alliance would not stop Tory majority, study suggests
- Will Hutton: The left must take a lesson from the right and come together to win
Updated
