Theresa May says UK and Japan are "steadfast" on North Korea
In the absence of more TV coverage of the statements after the May-Abe meeting, No 10 has sent the text of her comments.
The most notable section covers her words on North Korea, said just before Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, was addressing the UN on the same issue. May said:
As we meet today, North Korea continues to take provocative action in the Asia-Pacific region. And the United Nations Security Council is meeting to discuss this very issue.
In the face of this belligerence we stand steadfast in our condemnation of such destabilising activity. Their nuclear and missile tests are a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and international obligations, and a risk to global peace and stability.
Prime Minister Abe and I have agreed that we will continue to work with our international partners to maintain pressure on North Korea and counter the security threat posed by its illegal pursuit of nuclear weapons and work towards a peaceful solution.0
May also had this to say on trade and Brexit:
The United Kingdom’s relationship with Japan is vital to our prosperity and security. And the fact that prime minister Abe is the first world leader I have hosted at Chequers underlines that fact....
Throughout our talks, I have been clear that this is not the time for the UK to step back from the world but rather to step up, and continue to stand tall alongside our friends and allies.
During our discussions, I updated prime minister Abe on our preparations for Brexit and reiterated our determination to make sure the UK remains the best place in Europe to run and grow a business, whether it’s one operating at home or abroad.
And we are building from a position of strength. Japanese companies have already invested a total of more than £40bn in the UK.
The UK is the second most popular destination for Japanese investment after the US. And around 1,000 Japanese companies including Honda, Hitachi and Mitsubishi employ 140,000 people in the UK.
Since the vote for Brexit, Japanese businesses have continued to show confidence in the UK, with Japan’s Softbank making a record £24bn purchase of ARM Holdings and committing to double the number of jobs, Nissan announcing that they will build the new Qashqai model at their plant in Sunderland, and Toyota committing to a £240m investment at its plant in Derby.
Theresa May is currently giving a joint statement with the visiting Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, at the PM’s country retreat of Chequers, following a meeting between the pair.
May was mainly talking about the trade opportunities of Brexit, and hailing new Japanese investment in the UK. before the TV coverage cut away from it.
This was scheduled to be just statements from the pair, not a press conference with questions from the media.
Summary
Here’s a summary of what’s happened so far today:
Ukip
- Ukip has formally launched its general election campaign with a pledge to be the “backbone” in ensuring Britain fully leaves the EU. He said the party would stop backsliding on Brexit.
- Nuttall confirmed that he would be standing in the election but wouldn’t say where. He did not rule out reports that he plans to stand in the Lincolnshire seat of Boston and Skegness which recorded the highest leave vote in last year’s referendum.
- Nuttall said he would not resign as leader if Ukip failed to secure a single seat. He said the party would campaign for proportional representation, an English parliament, and an elected House of Lords.
- Three people were ejected from Ukip’s general election campaign launch after accusing the party of racism and spreading division in society as they were ushered out of the room.
- Shadow chancellor John McDonnell says today’s slow down in economic growth will help Labour tempt back Ukip supporters. “If they take today’s economic results they will be as concerned as we are about the long term prospects of our economy if the Tories get back,” he said.
Economy
-
The UK economy endured a worse-than-expected slowdown in the first three months of the year with the growth in GDP down from 0.7% to 0.3%.
- The LibDems and the SNP said the figures could herald a Brexit slowdown. Nicola Sturgeon said: “I don’t think there is any doubt that we are starting to see the signs of Brexit on the economy. The GDP figures should be setting alarm bells ringing.
- Labour blamed the government’s approach to Brexit. McDonnell urged the prime minister to focus on secure tariff free access to the single market. “She’s got engage in these discussions in the form of looking for the mutual interest we have between us and the other EU countries in maintaining that trade,” he said.
- Chancellor Philip Hammond claimed the economy was resilientbut would be threatened by a coalition led by Jeremy Corbyn.
Other news
- The Green Party has agreed an electoral pact with the Women’s Equality Party in the Yorkshire seat of Shipley, in a bid to unseat the sitting Conservative MP Philip Davies. The Women’s Equality Party has agreed not to stand in five seats being contested by female Green canidates: Brighton Pavilion, Bristol West, Bath, Isle of Wight and Sheffield.
- Jeremy Corbyn has criticised Theresa May for speaking at a Leeds community regeneration project to a crowd of Conservative activists, rather than users of the building who said they had left for the day before she arrived.
- The Sikh Federation is hoping that Britain could have its first female Sikhs MP after Labour selected Preet Kaur Gill to replace Gisela Stuart as the party’s candidate for Birmingham Edgbaston.
- Conservative MP David Mackintosh, who is at the centre of a row about council loan to a local football club, has announced he will not be seeking re-election after only two years as MP for Northampton South MP.
- Housing Minister Gavin Barwell has attacked Jeremy Corbyn for pledging to build more homes for rent claiming this would be at the expense of giving more people the chance to get on the housing ladder. Portraying the Conservatives as the party of home ownership, he said: “Jeremy Corbyn will put our economy at risk and plans to build less homes for people to buy.”
Updated
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell says today’s slow down in economic growth will help Labour tempt back Ukip supporters.
Speaking to Sky News from Preston, McDonnell said:
There is a large number of Ukip supporters who voted Ukip because they have had enough of the British establishment. I think large numbers of them feel the same way we do about what’s been happening to our economy on issue like low wages and exploitation...
The ideas we are putting forward about growing our economy, sharing in our economy and making sure we have proper protections at work, I’m hoping that Ukip supporters will look at Labour again. If they take today’s economic results they will be as concerned as we are about the long term prospects of our economy if the Tories get back. I think they will be concerned particularly about the regional disparities in infrastructure investment.
McDonnel said the fall in the rate of growth from 0.7% to 0.3% was one of the reasons the prime minister is refusing to take part in TV debates with Jeremy Corbyn.
You can see why Theresa May is avoiding debates with Jeremy Corbyn when she knew these sort of figures were likely to come out.
This is just not democratic. Lets have a debate about our alternative economic strategies, and then let people decide. We will be able to convince people that you need a Labour government that is committed to a fair taxation system and long term investment in infrastructure and skills that will ensure that we do have a stable and secure economy.
McDonnell said the worse than expected figures were partly due to the way the government was approaching the Brexit negotiations.
What’s very clear is the prime minister’s attitude towards Brexit, this way in which she is playing poker, with the rest of Europe is not working. It is destabilising our economy. Her priority has got to be jobs and the economy. That means making sure we do have tariff free access to the single market. That has got to be the main condition of the negotiations.
She’s got engage in these discussions in the form of looking for the mutual interest we have between us and the other EU countries in maintaining that trade. Stop playing poker with the rights of EU citizens in this country.
Here’s Peter Walker’s take on Ukip’s campaign launch.
Jeremy Corbyn has criticised Theresa May for speaking at a Leeds community regeneration project to a crowd of Conservative activists, rather than users of the building who said they had left for the day before she arrived, write Jessica Elgot and Nadia Khomami
The prime minister spoke to around 150 cheering Tory activists gathered at Shine, which houses small businesses in the local area. Corbyn accused May of “hiding from the public” by speaking only to her activists. Richard Burgon, the area’s Labour MP, said the prime minister had missed an opportunity to speak to users of the project, who include female former prisoners.
“She won’t take part in TV debates and she won’t talk to voters,” Corbyn said. “Refusing to debate Labour in this election isn’t a sign of strength, it’s a sign of weakness. What is she afraid of? Voters deserve to know what political parties are offering.”
One staff member based in the building, who did not want to be named, said he had been looking forward to hearing May speak, though he said he was not a Conservative supporter.
“I found this deeply disappointing. I had no plans to vote for Mrs May but I’m well aware of the positive effect that seeing a speech in person from such a powerful, motivated public figure can have,” the staff member told the Guardian.
BuzzFeed is keeping count of the times Theresa May has used the phrase “strong and stable leadership”. Good luck with that.
Just 57 times Theresa May Has Said "Strong And Stable Leadership" Since Calling The Election https://t.co/ba13aPah7n via @psmith pic.twitter.com/juDZWfpAyf
— Janine Gibson (@janinegibson) April 28, 2017
Tory MPs on the campaign trail continue to try to stay in Lynton Crosby’s good books
Delighted to campaign with @LeeScott2017#GE2017 in Ilford North to secure the strong, stable leadership the country needs. pic.twitter.com/mX5j1Rfg32
— Priti Patel (@patel4witham) April 28, 2017
Upbeat mood at Windsor Conservative Assoc; looking forward to events & campaigning to support a strong @Conservative Gov led by @TheresaMay
— Adam Afriyie (@AdamAfriyie) April 28, 2017
For strong & stable local government delivering for Great Yarmouth, vote Conservative on May 4th. https://t.co/eI39vvREp3
— Brandon Lewis MP (@BrandonLewis) April 28, 2017
BBC doesn't help itself when otherwise excellent @MishalHusainBBC @BBCr4today sneers at Conservative election slogan #StrongAndStable
— Anna Soubry MP (@Anna_Soubry) April 28, 2017
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said the worse-than-expected GDP figures raised alarm about the impact of Brexit.
Speaking to Sky News, after it was announced that GDP had grown by only 0.3%, in the last quarter, Sturgeon said:
I don’t think there is any doubt that we are starting to see the signs of Brexit on the economy. And particularly given Theresa May’s determination, not just to take the UK out of the EU, but to pursue a very hard Brexit is having that impact on the economy. The GDP figures should be setting alarm bells ringing.
The Green party has tried to exploit the discomfort of LibDem leader on the issue of gay sex by launching its LGBTIQA+ manifesto in a church.
Speaking at London’s Trinity United Reform church, Green co-leader Jonathan Bartley, said: “While other political parties struggle to say what they believe, Greens are clear – we will always stand up for LGBTIQA+ people.”
He added: “We believe in a fairer world, a more equal economy, human rights protected by law, recognition and representation for all gender identities and education and health services which care for and include everyone.”
Aimee Challenor, Green Party LGBTIQA+ spokesperson, who the Greens claim is the only openly trans spokesperson of a British political party, said: “The Green Party is proud to stand against the erosion of LGBITQA+ rights and launch a manifesto which proudly fights for bodily autonomy for intersex people, legal recognition for trans and non-binary people, for PrEP for all that need it, and for greater protection for LGBTIQA+ asylum seekers – and more.”
Bartley comments come after the first week of the LibDems’ campaign was partly over shadowed by questions about Farron’s views on gay sex.
On Tuesday Farron, an evangelical Christian, confirmed that he does not believe gay sex to be a sin, saying that while he had no wish to “pontificate on theological matters”, he also did not want people to misunderstand his religious beliefs.
The Sikh Federation is hoping that Britain could have its first female Sikhs MP after Labour selected Preet Kaur Gill to replace Gisela Stuart as the party’s candidate for Birmingham Edgbaston.
Bhai Amrik Singh, chair of the federation, said:“We have full confidence that she will become the first ever Sikh woman in the House of Commons and we will do all we can to support her succeed. In the last General Election we made a real difference in certain seats and the political parties know we can motivate large numbers on the ground to have an impact.”
Preet said:“I am delighted I have been given the opportunity to become the next MP for Edgbaston where I was born and raised. I want to engage with the people of Edgbaston and with hard work, passion and determination I think we can achieve great things together.”
Theresa May finds her inner Ed Miliband, Scottish voters will get a leaders’ debate and a Johnson insult overshadows a policy launch, writes Andrew Sparrow in his 10 things we’ve learned from the election campaign this week.
Three people were ejected from Ukip’s general election campaign launch. The trio accused Ukip of racism and spreading division in society as they were ushered out of the room.
Summary
Here’s a lunchtime summary:
Ukip
- Party leader Paul Nuttall has launched the party’s campaign with a claim that a vote for Ukip will prevent Brexit backsliding. He said the party would act as the “government’s backbone” in Brexit negotiations.
- Nuttall confirmed that he would be standing in the election but wouldn’t say where. He did not rule out reports that he plans to stand in the Lincolnshire seat of Boston and Skegness which recorded the highest leave vote in last year’s referendum.
- Nuttall said he would not resign as leader if Ukip failed to secure a single seat. He said the party would campaign for proportional representation, an English parliament, and an elected House of Lords.
Economy
-
The UK economy endured a worse-than-expected slowdown in the first three months of the year with the growth in GDP down from 0.7% to 0.3%.
- The LibDems said the figures could herald a Brexit slowdown. Labour did not mention Brexit in its response focusing instead on the threat to living standards under the Tories.
- Chancellor Philip Hammond claimed the economy was resilient but would be threatened by a coalition led by Jeremy Corbyn.
Other news
- The Green Party has agreed an electoral pact with the Women’s Equality Party in the Yorkshire seat of Shipley, in a bid to unseat the sitting Conservative MP Philip Davies. The Women’s Equality Party has agreed not to stand in five seats being contested by female Green canidates: Brighton Pavilion, Bristol West, Bath, Isle of Wight and Sheffield.
- Conservative MP David Mackintosh, who is at the centre of a row about council loan to a local football club, has announced he will not be seeking re-election after only two years as MP for Northampton South MP.
-
Housing Minister Gavin Barwell has attacked Jeremy Corbyn for pledging to build more homes for rent claiming this would be at the expense of giving more people the chance to get on the housing ladder. Portraying the Conservatives as the party of home ownership, he said: “Jeremy Corbyn will put our economy at risk and plans to build less homes for people to buy.”
Nuttall repeated Nichola Sturgeon’s claim that the election was called in part because Theresa May feared that that numerous Tory MPs would be prosecuted for fraud over their election expenses.
In questions after his speech Nuttall paid tribute to Channel 4 News reporter Michael Crick who uncovered allegations that up to 20 Conservative MPs could have broken local spending limits at the last general election.
In calling Crick for a question, Nuttall said: “If it wasn’t for the work that you’ve done, and your investigative prowess then maybe this election wouldn’t have been called in the first place. So we should call this the ‘Crick election’.”
But Nuttall dodged Crick’s question about whether he would stand again in Stoke Central or whether he could name the manager of Boston United football club.
Nuttall also said he would not resign as party leader if Ukip failed to take a single seat.
He said: “If we weren’t successful ...would I resign. No I don’t think I would, because I think Ukip has a successful future ahead.”
Here’s the policy section of Nuttall’s speech:
We will have a clear commitment to slash a foreign aid budget that is costing the British tax payer in the region of £30m every single day.We will redirect the money saved into our NHS.
Under Ukip the NHS will remain in public hands and free at the point of delivery. We will also ensure that that National Health Service is not an international health service.
We will also be committed to rebuilding our beleaguered armed forces and also putting more bobbies on the beat.
We will go into this election committed to tackle the repulsive practice of female genital mutilation. It is a national scandal that there has not been one single successful prosecution, even though this barbaric cultural practice has been illegal for nye on 30 years.
We will also be asking that people show their face in a public place.
We will be the only party in this election with a clear commitment to cutting immigration. Polls clearly show that people want to see the numbers cut. Too many people are coming to our country every year. Last year alone a city the size of Newcastle came to this country net.
We believe that this has led to a stagnation of wages, particularly in working class communities, but it is also bad for community cohesion. We are becoming a more divided society and integration is failing.
We will also campaign to do away with the antiquated first past the post system, which gives the two establishment parties an unfair advantage. We will call for a system that is fair proportional, and one that ensure that every vote matters.
We will also be radical on constitutional reform. The time has come to do away with the antiquated House of Lords and replace it with some form of elected chamber.
There also has to be financial and democratic fairness for England and this will mean an English parliament.
Updated
In his speech Nuttall spelled out the purpose of Ukip after Brexit vote was prevent the government backsliding in the negotiations.
Here’s the most signficant passage:
In many ways it is an election which is on our turf. It is a Brexit election.
A whopping Conservatives majority will only serve to put Brexit in peril. Hordes or Tory lobby fodder will allow the prime minister to backslide safe in the knowledge that she has the votes banked.
We are not convinced that the prime minister who campaigned to remain, in the referendum, will get the deal that the British people want.
She is already beginning to backslide on immigration, with the government now telling us that immigration will run at today’s level for the next decade. She has said nothing to guarantee our waters and protect our fishermen. And she will not rule out paying a huge divorce bill once we have left the European Union.
Ukip goes into this snap election determined to hold this government’s feet to the fire on Brexit. We will act as the government’s backbone in these negotiations.
If voters elect a Ukip MP they can be sure that it will be a true Brexiteer.
The question I get asked most by journalists, is ‘what is the point of Ukip after Brexit?’ I believe we have to see this through to the end. We are only half way through the war. It is a job half done. We must continue the fight.
Thererfore Ukip will be fielding candidates all over the country at this election. We will also be prepared to put country above party. To that end I have asked branches to step aside in seats where a true Brexiteer, regardless of political affiliation, could be replaced by a remain MP.
This will ensure that we get the kind of Brexit we voted for on 23 June last year. It is a Brexit where we control our own borders. It is Brexit that allows us to sign our own trade deals. It is Brexit where we do not pay a divorce bill to the EU. And it is Brexit which ensure that real democracy is returned to the United Kingdom. Finally it is a Brexit whereby our fishing communities are protected.
Updated
“Ukip isn’t broke. Finances aren’t going to be a problem,” Nuttall predicted.
Nuttall insists that Ukip candidates will be standing in the “vast majority” of seats. He said there would only be tens of seats where Ukip would be standing aside in favour of Brexiteers. He dismissed a report that Ukip would stand in only 100 seats as “baloney”.
Asked about Anne Marie Waters, nominated as Ukip candidate in Lewisham East, who has called Islam “evil”, Nuttall said he would be looking into her comments.
Nuttall said his predecessor Nigel Farage would play a “front of house” role in Ukip’s campaign.
He said Ukip would be targeting seats “more sensibly” in this election.
Updated
In the Q&A, Nuttall again refuses to say where he plans to stand. He says reporters will have to wait until tomorrow for his announcement.
He refused to be drawn on whether he will stand again in Stoke or Boston and Skegness.
Nuttall claims that increased immigration makes the UK a more divided society. He claims that net immigration represents an increase in the population the size of the city of Newcastle.
He calls for proportional representation and an English parliament.
Nuttall confirms that Ukip will “put country before party” by standing aside in constituencies where “true Brexiteers” are already MPs.
The Ukip leader, Paul Nuttall, is launching his party’s campaign at London’s County Hall.
Nuttall says calling the election was cynical and one of the biggest U-turns in living memory. “It is flagrant opportunism,” he said.
He insists the election is about Brexit. A big Tory majority will put hard Brexit at risk, he claims. “It is a job half done,” he says.
Updated
The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, did not mention Brexit in his response to the slowdown in GDP.
In a statement he said:
Today’s GDP figures reveal the threat to living standards under the Tories.
Growth for the first three months of 2017 was only half of what was expected. It comes on the back of new forecasts last week from leading independent forecasters showing growth and earnings expectations slashed and inflation revised up.
There is no hiding from the truth. The Tories’ economic plan has undermined the UK economy and is a threat to working people’s living standards.
This general election is a choice between a Labour party who will stand up for the many and a Tory party which only looks after the privileged few.
Today’s GDP figures reveal the threat to living standards under the Tories https://t.co/RPkjnfR9cf
— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) April 28, 2017
Updated
The Lib Dem grandee Vince Cable has dismissed repeated government warnings about a “coalition of chaos” because he said the Conservatives were almost certain to win.
Cable, who was business secretary in the last coalition government, told Sky News: “The coalition of chaos stuff is pathetic. It did work last time. People were frightened of Ed Miliband and the SNP. This [time it] isn’t cutting through, nobody seriously believes Jeremy Corbyn is going to get into government. It is almost certain that we are going get a Conservative government, probably with quite big numbers. What we now need is credible opposition.”
Cable, who is standing in the election to try to regain his old Twickenham seat, also claimed the slowdown in GDP was linked to Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
He said: “I’m pretty certain that that is the case. But I don’t want to get too carried away with short-term results.” Cable added:
There are basically two scenarios. One is that the economy keeps growing quite strongly on the basis of consumer credit and high house prices, and we know where that ends: badly. Or the alternative is that the economy is actually slowing, people can see problems ahead. They can see that Brexit is going to be very messy and that suggests a period of not stagnation, maybe worse, and living standards being squeezed. It is not an great outlook.
Updated
The chancellor, Philip Hammond, has been responding to the figures showing a slowdown in growth. No prizes for guessing which phrase he used twice.
Hammond said: “Employment is at record highs and it is set to go higher still. The British economy is resilient and the choice facing the British people on June 8th is between five more years of strong, stable government under Theresa May, that will lock that economic progress in and get the best possible Brexit deal for Britain, or a coalition of chaos under Jeremy Corbyn that will crash our economy again.”
Asked if the slowdown in growth was due to plans to leave the single market as part of hard Brexit, Hammond said:
These negotiations as we go into our exit from the European Union are going to be tough and complex, that’s why we need strong and stable leadership and a clear mandate to get the best possible deal for Britain we cannot afford a coalition of chaos under Jeremy Corbyn.
Updated
The Lib Dems have seized on the worse-than-expected GDP figures to claim they could herald the start of a “Brexit slowdown”.
Lady Susan Kramer, the party’s finance spokeswoman, said: “This suggests the Brexit slowdown is beginning to take effect, as prices rise and the consumer spending that has buoyed our economy plummets.”
.@BaronessKramer responds to news GDP growth fell to 0.3% in first quarter of 2017, slowest growth in a year pic.twitter.com/zHrIjH1EdA
— Lib Dem Press Office (@LibDemPress) April 28, 2017
The quietest day so far on the Tories election grid, nobody is out - coinciding with bad 0.3% GDP figure. This is no coincidence.
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) April 28, 2017
Updated
The UK economy endured a worse-than-expected slowdown in the first three months of the year as sliding retail sales and a jump in living costs took its toll on growth, PA reports.
The Office for National Statistics said GDP grew by 0.3% in its initial estimate for the first quarter of 2017, down from 0.7% in the fourth quarter of last year.
Economists had been expecting GDP growth to slow as consumers tightened their belts in the face of rising inflation, but they had pencilled in a higher growth figure of 0.4%.
The ONS said: “There were falls in several important consumer-focused industries, such as retail sales and accommodation; this was due in part to prices increasing more than spending.”
The Guardian’s Business Live has more:
The Conservative David Mackintosh has announced he will not be seeking re-election after only two years as MP for Northampton South.
In a statement he said: “It has been an honour and privilege but I have decided not to seek re-election as an MP.”
Note: he even managed to sneak in the phrase “strong, stable leadership” to announce the move.
It has been an honour and privilege but I have decided not to seek re-election as an MP but wish @theresa_may the best of luck on 8th June pic.twitter.com/N81YpQlwXq
— David Mackintosh MP (@davidmackintosh) April 27, 2017
Earlier this month Mackintosh had said: “I would like to continue that work as the member of parliament for Northampton South after the election in June so will be seeking re-election.”
The 38-year-old backed remain in the EU referendum.
Mackintosh was the leader of Northampton borough council when it loaned more than £10m to Northampton Town FC to improve its Sixfields ground, as the Guardian’s David Conn reported.
The work was never completed and a police investigation into what happened to the money is still continuing.
Mackintosh has always denied any wrongdoing.
It is understood the MP was due to face a selection meeting of the local Conservative association next week. He was elected with a 3,793 majority over Labour.
Julian Sturdy, from BBC East, notes that Mackintosh did not mention the Sixfields investigation in his resignation statement:
David Mackintosh statement on pulling out of Northampton South - no mention of the Sixfields controversy or police investigation pic.twitter.com/c8w89RU0Au
— Julian Sturdy (@juliansturdy1) April 28, 2017
Updated
Green Party pact with Women's Equality Party
The Green Party has agreed an electoral pact with the Women’s Equality Party in the Yorkshire seat of Shipley, in a bid to unseat the sitting Conservative MP Philip Davies.
The Women’s Equality Party has agreed not to stand in five seats being contested by female Green canidates: Brighton Pavilion, Bristol West, Bath, Isle of Wight and Sheffield.
In return, local Green Party members have voted not to field a candidate in Shipley, where the Women’s Equality Party leader Sophie Walker is standing as a candidate in a bid to oust Davies who she brands a “sexist misogynist”.
Caroline Lucas MP, Green Party co-leader and Brighton Pavilion MP, said: “I’m delighted to endorse Sophie in Shipley. Under the Conservative government – the one Mr Davies has supported – we have seen the biggest rise in inequality since Margaret Thatcher was prime minister. Sophie and I are both committed to tackling that – from reversing the cuts that have left women behind and ending the gender pay gap, to increasing women’s representation in parliament and in business.”
Bradford Green Party is calling on the local LibDems and Labour to follow its lead and also stand down in favour of Walker as the single progressive candidate.
Ukip have signalled that it does not plan to stand in Shipley in favour of Brexit-backing Davies, in what Lucas calls a “regressive alliance”.
Walker said: “The Women’s Equality Party and the Greens share a desire to build a caring, tolerant and sustainable country that values women and works to create equal opportunities for all. Caroline’s commitment to challenging the government on its austerity agenda, which has affected women disproportionately, to ending the gender pay gap and to ensuring equal representation of women across political and working life means many of our members and supporters in Brighton will, like me, get behind her campaign for re-election.”
Housing Minister Gavin Barwell has attacked Jeremy Corbyn for pledging to build more homes for rent claiming this would be at the expense of giving more people the chance to get on the housing ladder.
Responding to Labour’s housing plan Barwell portrayed the Conservatives as the party of home ownership. “Jeremy Corbyn will put our economy at risk and plans to build less homes for people to buy,” he told the Today programme.
On Thursday Corbyn visited Harlow to pledge an ambitious house building programme with half of the homes made available for rent.
Barwell said: “Jeremy Corbyn repeated the existing commitment we have to build a million homes, but he said half of them would be council homes, which means he would build fewer homes for people to buy. And you would see higher house price inflation.”
Barwell was reluctant to commit to allowing councils to build more homes. But when pressed on the issue he said: “The housing white paper is very clear that councils can be part of the solution here. They should get back involved in building homes again. And we have also started a programme that we call accelerated construction where where the government has surplus land instead of just selling it off to a large developer we are going into joint ventures with local small builders, and the government directly gets involved in trying to speed up housebuilding. That programme is worth £1.7bn.:
He admitted the government had not done enough to tackle the housing crisis.
“I absolutely accept that we are not building enough homes and we need to do better, but there is a clear record of improvement under this government,” he said.
Barwell claimed housing has been at the “front and centre” of Theresa May’s agenda since she took office.
He said: “The housing capital budget is doubling over the course of this parliament. That is a clear sign not just of talk but of the government’s concrete commitment to taking action to fix this broken housing market.”
Barwell also rejected the idea that more homes should be built on the green belt.
He said: “There is a huge amount of land that we can use to build housing on, so I don’t accept the premise that the only way in which we can solve this housing crisis is building over the green belt, which people value so highly. The green built can be released but only in exceptional circumstances.”
In his interview Barwell twice managed to crowbar in the phrase “strong stable leadership”.
Updated
Here’s PA’s take on that Nuttall interview:
Ukip could be prepared to stand aside in dozens of constituencies in order to help sitting MPs who are “real Brexiteers” hold on to marginal seats.
Party leader Paul Nuttall said that while Ukip candidates would contest the “vast majority” of seats, local branches have been urged to stand aside to give a “free ride” to MPs who share their views on the European Union.
Nuttall also defended his party’s controversial “integration strategy”, insisting Ukip was “not at war with Muslims”.
The Ukip leader has sparked widespread controversy with his proposal to outlaw the full-face veil worn by some Muslim women, as well as banning sharia law and forcing girls at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) to face regular medical checks.
Ukip is launching its general election campaign and Nuttall has confirmed he will do his “duty” as leader by standing for election to the Commons, although he has refused to say which seat he will fight.
Setting out the party’s approach, Nuttall said he had asked “a number” of branches to consider standing aside in favour of Leave-supporting incumbents from all parties, although the majority of pro-Brexit MPs are Conservatives.
“I’m not talking about five-to-midnight Brexiteers, or people who have just come to this opinion recently, I’m talking about people who have campaigned with us for many years, whether that’s on platforms with Vote Leave or Leave.EU or GO,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He insisted that “we are not talking hundreds, we are talking tens” of seats where such an arrangement could be put in place.
“Ukip will be standing in the vast majority of the country, but in a small number of seats where you have real Brexiteers of all political affiliations sitting on slender majorities, I think it would be best if the Ukip branches stood aside to allow them a free ride to get back into the House of Commons.”
The burka-ban policy has seen West Midlands MEP James Carver quit as foreign affairs spokesman, describing the policy as “incompatible” with his desire to represent all of his constituents and to seek a global perspective for the United Kingdom, while former donor Arron Bank accused Nuttall of going to “war” with Muslim communities.
Nuttall said: “We are not at war with Muslims. What we want to see is equality, we want to see integration.”
The Ukip leader said “integration was getting worse” and “communities are becoming more divided”.
He said: “If you want to really enjoy the full fruits of British society you have to show your face. I’ll give you an example - 58% of Muslim women in Britain are economically inactive. If you aren’t prepared to show your face it precludes you from lots of streams of employment.”
Matthew Goodwin, the political academic and Ukip tracker, gives context to Telegraph claims that Paul Nuttall is due to stand in the Lincolnshire seat of Boston and Skegness.
Nuttall to stand in Boston. Highest Brexit vote in country. Was a key Ukip target in 2015 but stacked with Cons. Mega test for Nuttall. https://t.co/VoqxnzSw6T
— Matthew Goodwin (@GoodwinMJ) April 27, 2017
Nuttall didn’t deny the report in his interview with the Today programme and said he would be making an announcement tomorrow on where he is due standing.
“There’s is a strong rumour that it will be Boston and Skegness?” he was asked. Nuttall replied:
There’s been strong rumours about everything. I’ve also heard Hartlepool, I’ve heard Southport. I think branches across the country are being called by journalists, they are throwing things up in the air.
Asked if he had links to Boston and Skegness, Nuttall said:
I’m not going to get into that because all that would do is lead to people asking even more questions about it. Today is about the launch of the campaign.
Nuttall would need a 5% swing from the Tories to Ukip to take the seat.
Paul Nuttall will stand in Boston and Skegness. He needs a 5% swing to gain the seat https://t.co/7DTN9IuDLB #GE2017
— NumbrCrunchrPolitics (@NCPoliticsUK) April 27, 2017
Vauxhall Labour party claims it is 100% behind its Leave-backing MP Kate Hoey in what is set to be a bitterly contested seat which the LibDems are gunning for with the backing of pro-EU campaigners.
Open Britain, the successor organisation to Britain’s pro-EU remain campaign, has placed Hoey’s seat on an attack list of 20 seats it is targeting. It is the only Labour-held seat on the list.
George Turner, the LibDem candidate, told the Guardian: “As far as I’m concerned, there is no Labour candidate in this election. If you are a Labour party member and you want a progressive candidate, I hope I manage to convince people it should be me. I don’t see how in good conscience you can support progressive politics and the EU and vote for Kate Hoey; it just doesn’t work.”
Tonight @KateHoeyMP launched her campaign to be returned to Westminster as our MP for Vauxhall, and we're 100% behind her #VoteLabour pic.twitter.com/VCq1qccLFZ
— Vauxhall Labour (@VauxhallLabour) April 27, 2017
(Apologies for previously muddling Lewisham with Vauxhall)
Updated
Matthew Weaver is now taking the reins of the live blog for the rest of Friday’s action.
Before he does, a swift reminder: should you want to wake up on Monday – and every weekday – with the Snap election briefing in your inbox, do sign up here.
The Ukip leader says the party will contest a similar number of seats as in 2015 – around 600. (There have been reports it could fall to nearer to 100.)
But Nuttall confirms that where the Conservatives, in particular, have put forward hard Brexit candidates, Ukip will likely not contest the seat.
Ukip is not at war with Muslims, Paul Nuttall claims.
He says Ukip wants to see integration. He says the face-covering line isn’t extreme, and would bring the UK in line with some European countries.
We’re not going to go back on that. It was a policy in 2010 and it’s one I believe in.
If you want to enjoy the full fruit of British society, you have to show your face.
Asked about Anne Marie Waters, nominated as Ukip candidate in Lewisham East, who has called Islam “evil”, Nuttall says her candidacy might not be confirmed by the party executive:
She’s been selected by the local branch … We’ll be looking at some of the things this woman has said.
He says Waters has gone “way above and beyond” Ukip policy, and some of the things she has said have “made me feel a bit uncomfortable”.
Here’s Paul Nuttall on the Today programme confirming that he will stand. But:
I’m not going to say where I’m going to stand today.
It’s my duty to lead the party into battle. It’s an election that none of us foresaw, but it’s an election on our turf.
He says he’ll announce tomorrow where he’ll stand, and that the local party in the mysterious seat already knows.
The Snap: your election briefing
Welcome back, at the end of the first full week of election campaigning. Surely the perfect time to sign up for the Snap, our daily briefing email. And here, seamlessly, is today’s.
What’s happening?
It’s Ed Balls day. Happy sixth birthday, inexplicably tenacious tweet!
It’s also, for this year at least, Ukip day, in which the party leader ceremonially emerges from behind his self-imposed barricade to launch their election campaign (consider the other day’s “integration agenda” a mere un-appetiser). Paul Nuttall might even reveal where he’s going to stand for election, now he has finally decided to give it a whirl: Heywood and Middleton, Hartlepool or Bootle are possibilities, although the Telegraph reports it will be Boston and Skegness. Nuttall – MEP for North West England – has so far had five unsuccessful shots at a Westminster seat, closing in tantalisingly on party grandee Nigel Farage’s seven.
It’s been a wobbly start for Ukip, with Theresa May occupying the “Brexit means Brexit” space; Douglas Carswell, its once sole MP, tearing away; and backlash yesterday to the selection of Anne Marie Waters – a fan of Marine Le Pen who has described Islam as evil – in Lewisham East.
Ukip’s north-east regional chairman, Steve Turner, has defected to the Conservatives, calling his old party “unprofessional”:
Ukip is no longer the better option for people who feel they can’t support Labour.
The better option, says the not entirely unbiased prime minister, is the Tories. May pitched up last night in Harehills, in Labour’s heartlands, to try to turn those hearts blue, with glowering warnings that while “it may say Labour on the ballot … it’s Jeremy Corbyn that gets the vote”. Whether any Leeds waverers were on the guest list to be converted is somewhat doubtful:
Members at Leeds community centre where PM spoke today said they were kept out and Tory activists shipped in... https://t.co/5YF1ZKEtve
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) April 27, 2017
Things aren’t all going May’s way, mind, with a rebuke from the the high court yesterday, which ruled that the government cannot delay its air pollution plan until a conveniently quiet moment after the election. Ed Davey, the Lib Dem former climate secretary, told BBC2’s Newsnight: “Conservative ministers should be hanging their heads in shame … They’re trying to hide this from the electorate, when this is a public health scandal.”
There’s pressure, too, for the PM to step away from her promise not to raise taxes. Oh, and there’s Boris Johnson. After galumphing back into the fray yesterday, the foreign secretary – the Telegraph teases today – could be reshuffled out if May gets her landslide.
And will she? Tony Blair seems to think so.
At a glance:
- Tories call on wealthy donors to stump up £19m for election fund.
- Some Labour MPs are distancing themselves from Corbyn in their local campaigns.
- Scottish party leaders will take part in a TV debate on 24 May (but the Greens aren’t invited).
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Rachel Johnson – sister of Tory ministers Boris and Jo – joins the Lib Dems in Brexit protest.
- John Crace’s sketch: love-in for last MPs standing as Commons closes its doors.
- Latest here after police thwart suspected terror attack in Westminster.
Poll position
A fresh YouGov poll for the Times on Scottish voting intentions is cheering morning news for Conservatives who still trust polls: it has the SNP on 41% (down 9 on the 2015 result), with the Tories up to 28% (+13) and Labour slipping yet further from what was already a historic low, to 18% (-6).
That would leave the SNP with 47 seats in Westminster (losing nine), and the Tories with eight (gaining seven). Labour would keep its sole place, while the Lib Dems would skip from one to three MPs.
Diary
- At 11am, Ukip launches its election campaign with leader Paul Nuttall in Westminster.
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Nicola Sturgeon campaigns in East Renfrewshire, where the SNP ousted Jim Murphy in 2015 (former Better Together campaign director Blair McDougall is Scottish Labour’s candidate this time).
- At 3pm, Vince Cable speaks on Brexit at a Lib Dem rally in Twickenham.
- At 6pm, John McDonnell and Labour Liverpool city mayoral candidate Steve Rotherham attend a campaign rally in the city.
- Away from the campaign trail, Boris Johnson attends a UN security council meeting on North Korea.
Talking point
With talks on reviving the power-sharing government at Stormont – already a number of chances past their one last chance – shelved until after the Westminster election, and plans for cross-party pro- and anti-Brexit candidates faltering, in hops the EU with a hint that it could recognise a future united Ireland.
EU leaders meeting on Saturday for the first of many, many Brexit summits will discuss a text – urged by the Irish government – affirming that, if Ireland were to unify, the north would automatically rejoin the EU. There’s no border poll in the offing, and a BBC survey after the Brexit vote (in which Northern Ireland voted 56-44 to remain) found 63% would opt to stay in the UK. The EU’s toe-dipping on the Gibraltar issue led to thunderings about war. Northern Ireland could probably do without that kind of reaction.
Read these
Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality party, sets out her stall in the Times:
[There] is a whole lot of soul searching, particularly for the left, which thinks it has a monopoly on women’s equality. So they politely tell us to go and make that point somewhere else. But we’re not making a point. We’re making a change. And we’re doing it by being a political party for people who want a different kind of opposition.
I’ve been accused this week of being a vote-splitting outsider in Shipley, where I’m standing against the sexist-in-chief Philip Davies. Outsider? You bet. Women always are in politics. Splitting the vote? As if. When the Conservatives are heading for a landslide on the scale of Labour’s in 1997, when Labour is briefing internally that sitting MPs with majorities of 10,000 are on watch to lose their jobs, and when Labour categorically rules out allegiances again and again – well. It’s not the presence of WEP that is heralding a Conservative tsunami.
Charlie Cooper and Tom McTague examine the Corbyn campaign machine for Politico:
Corbyn has been in a state of almost perpetual campaigning – twice for the leadership, and in the EU referendum – since the 2015 election, and is happiest on the stump, the official said. His team hopes that the same grassroots enthusiasm, demonstrated in barnstormer rallies reminiscent of Bernie Sanders in two successful leadership campaigns, will catch on nationwide.
Asked whether the strategy amounted to ‘damage limitation’, given the state of the polls, the official pointed to locations Corbyn has visited during the campaign so far – such as Crewe, Cardiff, Swindon and Bristol – where there are Tory seats the party thinks they can win, and Scotland, where the SNP dominates. They believe they can deliver an upset.
The foreign secretary’s return to the fray was an exercise in “controlled chaos”, writes Isobel Thompson in Vanity Fair:
Johnson’s vivid, theatrical entrance onto the general election stage might seem strangely off-kilter with Theresa May’s tactics thus far. Refusing to engage in dramatics, her method has been one of blunt attrition – a one-size-fits-all approach, promising, simply, strong and steady leadership in the face of a coalition of chaos. The Conservative campaign is acutely managed by Sir Lynton Crosby, who oversaw David Cameron’s 2015 victory, and is notoriously controlled in his strategy. Freeing Boris Johnson might give the illusion of colour but, really, he spoke in shades of May, sounding remarkably like a tactically-timed injection of controlled chaos to an overly dull election campaign.
Crushing revelation of the day
Disappointingly for those who feel the campaign is lacking that essential dash of Alan Partridge, Tim Farron was not encouraging a voter in Cambridge yesterday to “smell my spaniel”. Party spoilsports reveal that while the Lib Dem leader does indeed have a spaniel (black-and-white springer, goes by Jasper), he was merely joshing that the supporter’s dog (sandy terrier, name unknown) could sniff it on his clothes.
The day in a tweet
With the 2015-17 parliament prorogued – though not dissolved till next Wednesday – it was goodbye to some of the MPs who won’t (by their own choice) be back when the Commons meets again on 13 June. In some workplaces you’re sent on your way with an indecipherably scrawled card and a “sorry you’re leaving!” balloon. In Westminster, the 2017 leavers (not to be confused with 2016’s Leavers) – including retiring Eric Pickles – got a hug from speaker John Bercow.
This is the support you need pic.twitter.com/UMvRzXRLZn
— Esther Webber (@estwebber) April 27, 2017
And another thing
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Updated
