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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Politics
Peter Walker (now) and Andrew Sparrow and Claire Phipps (earlier)

Election 2017: Theresa May tells Labour voters in Leeds they should support her – as it happened

The Ukip leader, Paul Nuttall.
The Ukip leader, Paul Nuttall. Photograph: SilverHub/REX/Shutterstock

That loss of TV coverage of May’s speech means it’s time to bring this blog to a close for the night - many thanks to all for reading. Andrew will be back tomorrow.

May is now saying, “we must not be complacent”, reiterating her admittedly unconvincing argument that the polls could be wrong and Labour could win power. I’ve lost count of the number of uses of “strong and stable leadership”.

BBC News has just cut away from the speech to the weather, so that might be it for my coverage.

May begins by promising that, if she is returned to power, she will do all she can to secure a good Brexit.

Then she wheels out one of the key lines from her speech, saying Leeds is a traditionally Labour area: “Although it may say Labour on the ballot, it will be Jeremy Corbyn who gets the votes.” Every vote counts, she adds.

May says the Brexit negotiations “could get tough”, meaning she needs as big a mandate as possible.

We’ve already had three uses of “strong and stable leadership” and one of “coalition of chaos”. And two of “in the national interest”.

Theresa May in Leeds.
Theresa May in Leeds. Photograph: BBC News

Theresa May is about to speak in Leeds. To remind you, we’ve already previewed elements of her speech.

My colleagues, Rajeev Syal and Holly Watt, have written this about the Conservatives’ election fundraising efforts.

Theresa May is parking her election tanks ever further on Labour’s lawn – in a speech soon at Harehills, east Leeds. she is to tell voters to put aside their traditional allegiances and vote “in the national interest”.

My colleague Jessica Elgot is there, and has filed this from parts of the speech released in advance.

Parliament prorogues ahead of the general election

Parliament has prorogued – it’s official. At least it’s on the official Commons Twitter feed.

John Bercow at the prorogation ceremony.
John Bercow at the prorogation ceremony. Photograph: BBC Parliament

Prorogation is a lengthy business. It began in the Lords with the leader of that chamber, Baroness Evans, reading a list of the final bills to be passed. Then it’s a final sit-down in the Commons for some MPs, as the Speaker, John Bercow, makes his equivalent final announcement.

The prorogation ceremony in the Lords.
The prorogation ceremony in the Lords. Photograph: BBC Parliament

The parliamentary session is about the end – the Commons has stopped sitting*, and the Lords is holding the somewhat arcane ceremony of prorogation, ending the business ahead of dissolution next week.

“We’re going to hear some Norman French,” say the commentators on the BBC Parliament channel, not a phrase you hear very often.

* Subsequent note - not officially, as MPs have been summoned to the Lords for the ceremony.

Updated

Ukip's north-east chairman defects to Conservatives

Ukip’s north-east regional chairman, Steve Turner, has defected to the Conservative party after saying that the anti-EU party was riddled with “infighting and poor organisation”.

Turner, who was regional director of Vote Leave ahead of the EU referendum last June, said Ukip was no longer the better option for pro-Brexit voters and that the party would struggle in the snap general election.

He told the Guardian: “I’ve felt quite disappointed for some time in the lack of direction since the referendum. I thought we would adapt and grow and move into a reliable option for a post-Brexit party and I didn’t see any sign of that coming across.”

Turner’s resignation is a huge blow to Paul Nuttall’s party which has pinned its hopes on winning at least two parliamentary seats in the heavily pro-Brexit north-east.

Nuttall, who announced on Thursday that he would stand in this election but did not reveal in which seat, is due to visit Hartlepool on Friday.

Turner said he did not believe Nuttall would stand in Hartlepool, where it came runner-up by 3,000 votes in the 2015 election, because if he lost it could prove “fatal” for the party.

“If Paul Nuttall was to stand in Hartlepool and lose what is the party’s number one or number two target – that on its own would finish Ukip,” Turner said.

“People would say if your leader can’t win in the best chance you have ... I think the risk would be too great.”

Turner said he had spoken to “an awful lot of Ukip supporters” who plan to vote Tory on 8 June and that he believed a “significant number of members” would not renew their membership for another year.

Police investigate letter containing white powder sent to Labour peer, Guardian told

The Metropolitan police is investigating a letter containing“white powder” that was sent to the Houses of Parliament, resulting in fears of a possible terror link, the Guardian can reveal.

The package was addressed to Labour peer Peter Hain, who confirmed that he had been informed of the incident and had been told that the sender had “purported to represent Isil”.

A spokesman for the Met Police said: “Officers and specialist officers attended and the substance was assessed and found not to be noxious. There were no reports of any injuries or illnesses.”

They said they were still investigating the incident, which could be a malicious hoax.

Admitting that the incident had taken place, Hain said: “There is a severe threat level at parliament and has been for some years so all of us are on alert.”

An email sent to the peer said the counter terrorism unit in south Wales, where he is from, had also been informed.

Updated

Ukip leader Paul Nuttall confirms he will stand for parliament

One of the longer-running mysteries of the election has been resolved: Ukip’s leader, Paul Nuttall, has told LBC radio he will stand for a seat, though we have yet to be told where.

He told LBC (quote from PA):

As the leader of the party I will be, obviously, leading the party into battle as I have done many times in the past.

His lack of clarity over the issue brought curious scenes earlier this week as, at a policy launch, Nuttall barricaded himself in a room for 15 minutes to avoid journalists’ questions.

Updated

The House of Lords prepares to vote on the motion.
The House of Lords prepares to vote on the motion. Photograph: BBC Parliament

One of the final pieces of parliamentary business before the election has ended with the government avoiding a narrow defeat over its abolition of bursaries for student nurses and midwives.

A “motion of regret” in the Lords – a non-binding expression of dissatisfaction – about the policy was voted down by 159 to 121.

The Commons is currently not sitting, and but might sit again later today to consider any decisions sent back front he Lords. Both houses will be prorogued, ending the parliamentary session, at the end of today, and formally dissolved ahead of the election just after midnight on 3 May.

Whitehall and Parliament Street have been fully reopened to traffic following the arrest of a man over an alleged terror-related incident, police have said.

Michael Dugher as shadow culture secretary in 2015.
Michael Dugher addresses the Labour conference as shadow culture secretary in 2015. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

Michael Dugher, the Labour MP for Barnsley East who has announced he will not stand again at the election, already has a new job – he will be chief executive of the music industry group UK Music.

It had been reported that Dugher, formerly the shadow culture secretary, had been looking into a possible job outside of parliament even before the snap general election was called.

If you missed this earlier, Ukip has faced criticism for choosing a parliamentary candidate with links to far-right groups, who has previously described Islam as “evil”.

In other news, the government has failed in its bid at the high court to delay publishing plans on how it will tackle illegal levels of air pollution until after the general election.

Here’s our story on this:

Police have put out an updated statement, the only new fact of which seems to be the age of the arrested man – he is identified as being 27.

A man is arrested on Parliament Street.
A man is arrested on Parliament Street. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

The operation that led to the daylight arrest is believed to have followed an intelligence operation that had earlier identified the man detained as of concern to counter-terrorism investigators.

A belated note to say, if you haven’t already noticed: the comments on this blog have been switched off. That’s because of the potential legal implications now we are covering a story in which someone has been arrested.

This update from the BBC’s home affairs correspondent:

Here’s some photographs from the incident.

A man is led away by police in Westminster after an arrest was made near parliament.
A man is led away by police in Westminster after an arrest was made near parliament. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
A forensic investigator recovers knives after man was arrested near parliament.
A forensic investigator recovers knives after man was arrested near parliament. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
A forensic investigator recovers a knife after man was arrested near parliament.
A forensic investigator recovers a knife after man was arrested near parliament. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Met police: "no immediate known threat" following arrest near parliament

Police have just released this tweet, reiterating part of their statement, a seemingly indication that they believe the arrested man was acting alone.

Updated

Man arrested over alleged terrorism offence following incident near parliament

The Met police has released a statement on the incident close to parliament, confirming they believe the incident is connected to suspected terrorism, and that knives were recovered:

A man has been arrested in Whitehall this afternoon, at approximately 14:22, following a stop and search as part of an ongoing operation.

The man was arrested in Parliament Street, junction with Parliament Square, by armed officers from the Met’s specialist firearms command.

The man, aged in his late 20s, was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism. Knives have been recovered from him.

He is being detained under the Terrorism Act and is in custody in a south London police station.

Detectives from the counter terrorism command are continuing their investigation, and as a result of this arrest there is no immediate known threat.

Talks aimed at restoring the power-sharing devolved government in Northern Ireland have been put into cold storage until after the general election, secretary of state James Brokenshire has confirmed.

After roundtable talks involving the British and Irish governments alongside Northern Ireland’s main political parties it was agreed that the negotiations will resume after a new government in formed in London.

The Northern Ireland secretary said the latest deadline on the devolution talks will be 29 June. Brokenshire said:

Over the past seven weeks all the main parties have been engaged in discussions and some progress has been made, including on the development of a programme for government and on legacy. There are, however, a number of outstanding issues.

All the parties involved recognise it is vital devolved government, and all of the institutions established under the Belfast agreement and its successors, resumes in Northern Ireland as soon as possible.

Although formal roundtable talks are paused until after the general election, a range of bilateral discussions will continue, with a view to building on progress.

The presumed suspect has now been taken away in a police car, wearing his hood up. Forensic officers are still examining items on the traffic island.

A man is led away by police in Westminster after an arrest was made on Whitehall in central London.
A man is led away by police in Westminster after an arrest was made on Whitehall in central London. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Updated

The suspect now seems to have been taken from the scene.

We now have a story running with all the details available so far about the arrest close to parliament.

Some more updates from the incident close to parliament.

Police appear to have detained a man on Parliament Street (which is what Whitehall is called near its southern end, by parliament), who is being held facing the wall of the Treasury building.

Armed officers and police tape have blocked off the area but the situation seems under control, with traffic still flowing on the other side of the road into Parliament Square. A forensic officer in a blue suit has been taking pictures of what appears to be a knife on the ground of the traffic island in the middle of the road.

Knives pictured at scene of arrest on Whitehall

There have been reports that knives were involved in the arrest of man in Whitehall by police. This tweeted photo seems to show this was the case.

Police: man arrested in incident near parliament

More on the incident in Whitehall from the Metropolitan police. It sounds like the incident, whatever it was, is over. It seemed to take place close to Downing Street.

Updated

There appears to be some sort of security incident around Whitehall, close to parliament, but there are few details for now.

Sir Patrick Coghlin speaking at the opening of the renewable heat initiative inquiry in Belfast.
Sir Patrick Coghlin speaking at the opening of the renewable heat initiative inquiry in Belfast. Photograph: Colm Lenaghan/PA

An inquiry has opened in Belfast into a botched green energy scheme which resulted in the collapse of power-sharing government in Northern Ireland at the start of this year.

The renewable heat initiative (RHI) was championed by the Democratic Unionist Party, including by its leader and former first minister, Arlene Foster.

It was established in 2012 and provided financial inducements to businesses and farms to move from using fossil fuels to heating based on recyclable fuels. However, the cost of the RHI spiralled out of control, with recipients of the scheme earning millions from the public purse. It is now estimated the scheme could cost the taxpayer up to half a billion pounds.

The DUP’s initial robust defence of the RHI and Foster’s refusal to temporarily stand down as first minister led to the resignation of the late Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Féin deputy first minister just a few months before his death.

Under the strict rules of power sharing, if either leading representative of the nationalist or unionist community resigns from the Northern Ireland executive, then the coalition falls.

Retired judge Sir Patrick Coghlin promised on the opening day of the inquiry, held in the old senate chamber of the Stormont parliament, that it would have “complete independence.

Coghlin said he would probe the failings of the RHI “wherever that may lie”. Although his findings are not expected to be published for several months, the inquiry will be a reminder to voters during the general election campaign as to why Northern Ireland no longer has a power sharing government.

It will be particularly difficult for the DUP, who will have to answer questions once more on the doorstep over why the party vigorously championed and then defended the flawed and highly costly scheme.

Speaking to the BBC in Harlow about his likely opposition to UK involvement in air strikes against the Bashar al-Assad government, Jeremy Corbyn has appeared to say that it remains uncertain who carried out a chemical weapons attack in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhun earlier this month.

French intelligence said yesterday it had identified the chemical “signature” of the Syrian government at the site of the attack, indicating the sarin used came from government stockpiles.

This is what Corbyn said on Syria:

We don’t need unilateral action. We need to work through the UN. But above all, we need to bend ourselves totally to getting a political settlement in Syria, and allow the inspectors space to work, allow them to make sure we know who did that terrible chemical weapons attack, and also recognise that the inspectors there are already destroying any stocks of chemical weapons they find.

A cross-party group of MPs has raised serious concerns about day-to-day operating problems afflicting universal credit, the government’s flagship reform of welfare benefits.

The work and pensions committee warns that the next government must urgently prioritise the resolution of a series of design and practice flaws with the new system.

Problems raised with the committee include long waiting times for benefit payment, which left many claimants in hardship and distress, and issues around housing support, which many landlords are blaming for huge increases in rent arrears.

The committee’s letter to work and pensions secretary Damian Green reflects rising concern about the impact of the much-delayed system originally introduced by Iain Duncan Smith.

The full digital service, currently six years behind schedule is being rolled out at 30 job centre areas a month, a process that is not due to be completed until 2022.

Over 150 councils, housing associations, charities, private landlords and individual claimants have submitted written evidence to the committee since it set up its inquiry into universal credit in February.

The letter says it was struck that although many respondents supported the principle of universal credit to simplify the benefits system, their evidence also “raised a near unanimous set of concerns about how UC is currently operating in practice”.

These included some claimants are waiting 12 weeks or more for their first benefit payment, with the most vulnerable claimants often struggling to adapt to monthly payment schedules, making them reliant on food banks and pay day lenders; and landlords warning that universal credit was adding to problems of rent arrears, with at least a quarter of tenants on universal credit running up debts.

The Queen and Prince Philip walk through the Royal Gallery before the state opening of parliament in May 2016.
The Queen and Prince Philip walk through the Royal Gallery before the state opening of parliament in May 2016. Photograph: WPA Pool/Getty Images

More on the upcoming state opening of parliament - the reason for the scaled-back ceremonial is all around the timing, which sees the state opening now set slap bang in the middle of the royal ceremonial calendar.

Trooping the colour, marking the official celebration of the monarch’s birthday, is set for 17 June, a Saturday. This gives very little time for a full ceremonial rehearsal for state opening on the following Monday. So, it it thought unrealistic to expect the military and royals to undertake a full ceremonial rehearsals for both events within such a short space of time.

The result of this means that the Queen and royal party will arrive at the Houses of Parliament by car , rather than carriages. She will be wearing day dress and hat, rather than robes or crown.

Inside the palace of Westminster, there will be a reduced procession, with fewer members of the royal household, and no heralds.

Because the Queen will not be wearing the imperial state crown, that instead will be carried into the House of Lords by officers of the state together with other instruments of state, which include the sword of state and cap of maintenance .

There is precedent for this. When Edward Heath called a snap election in 1974, which was won by Harold Wilson, the ceremonial for the state opening was also scaled back.

George Osborne, the man of many professions, has dropped another work commitment, soon after announcing he would not re-stand as an MP, according to Sky News.

The former chancellor has called off a speaking engagement at a hedge fund conference in Paris, Sky reported, with the organisers saying Osborne cited “overriding professional engagements”. This is likely to be the fact the event was due to be on the second day of his job editing London’s Evening Standard newspaper.

He still has a six-figure job as part-time adviser to BlackRock, the world’s biggest fund manager, and has a fellowship at a US university, as well as other lucrative speaking engagements.

Jeremy Corbyn address supporters in Harlow park.
Jeremy Corbyn address supporters in Harlow park. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian

Here’s a fuller quote from Jeremy Corbyn about getting a different feel for public opinion on the doorstep than indicated in the polls (see earlier). This was reportedly said in response to Tony Blair’s dismissal of his election chances. Quote from PA:

I’m out on the streets and the doorsteps and the meeting halls every day and that’s not what I’m finding. I’m finding the enthusiasm of people at the prospect of doing things differently to work for everyone and I’m enjoying it.

The Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has said his party will offer young people “a way out” of a hard Brexit, suggesting students should return to the party despite the coalition’s vote for tuition fees.

Farron addressed a rally in Cambridge on Thursday, where his party was ousted by Labour in 2015 in part due to a backlash against the Lib Dems’ vote to increase the fees despite an election promise not to do so.

The seat is now the party’s top target, an ultra-marginal where Labour’s Daniel Zeichner has a majority of just 599. The former Lib DEm MP, Julian Huppert, is contesting the seat again. Cambridge has the second highest number of 18-25 year-old voters in the country, after Oxford.

The Lib Dems are pinning their hopes that strong feelings about Brexit, in the city where 73% voted remain, will trump past grievances about the coalition. “You have two people here, myself and Julian Huppert, who voted against the rise in fees,” he said, speaking at the Hundred Houses regeneration site in the northeast of the town.

“It is also important to remember it is young people’s futures we are talking about here, 73% of the youngest voters voted to remain.

“This is about what happens in the next 40 or 50 years for our country and at the moment Britain is heading off a cliff-edge towards a very, very hard Brexit without a route to remain, except through the Lib Dems.”

Farron said the party had a clear offering to students and young people which was a “way out” of Brexit. “You know the stick I get at PMQs for saying firmly that there has got to be an alternative to this,” he said. “There has to be some hope, some route, for people who think Britaon should be better than this. Which party is offering you some genuine hope, a way out of all this?

“The Labour party are neither fish nor fowl on the biggest issue in generations which will affect them much longer than most people. This is a moment where they choose a better future for themselves.”

Alex Salmond, the SNP’s international affairs spokesman and the former Scottish first minister, has criticised Boris Johnson for floating the idea of the UK backing an American air strike against the Assad regime in Syria. Parliament has not approved this, Salmond said. He told Sky News:

Boris Johnson says it would be difficult to say no to the Trump administration. Well, he never tries to say no to President Trump. He’s a mini-me of President Trump. He does not make the attempt to say no.

They have no parliamentary sanction whatsoever to engage in the sort of conflict that the foreign secretary was so unwisely speculating on.

I’ve got to head off now. My colleague Peter Walker will be taking over the blog for the rest of the day.

Corbyn hints he would oppose any call for UK to join US in air strikes against Assad

Jeremy Corbyn has been talking to reporters this morning. Here are some of the key points he has been making.

  • Corbyn said he would not resort to “personal name calling”, like Boris Johnson, and promised to focus on issue instead. He told Sky News:

We are eight days into the election campaign and the Tories are reduced to personal name calling. I’ve never been involved in that. I never will be.

We’re in this election because we have a serious debate to be held on what the issues facing this country, such as housing, schools, health - what we’re talking about today - but also how we deal with the major issues around the world. We approach this in a responsible, serious way. I leave that kind of language to others.

And this is from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.

  • He signalled his opposition to the idea of the UK joining the US in air strikes against the Assad regime.
  • He claimed Labour was doing better than the polls suggests.
Jeremy Corbyn.
Jeremy Corbyn. Photograph: Sky News

Buckingham Palace has told journalists in a statement that this year’s state opening of parliament will take place with “reduced ceremonial elements” because it is taking place at relatively short notice. On Monday 19 June, when it is taking place, the Queen had been due to attend the annual service for Knights of the Garter at St George’s Chapel in Windsor but that has now had to be cancelled.

The last ministerial questions in the Commons, which took place this morning, involved the Brexit department. David Jones, the Brexit minister, told MPs that the government was willing to leave the EU with no deal if necessary. He said:

The ambition and intention of the government is to achieve the best possible free trade agreement with our EU partners. However, our position also is this - we expect to negotiate toughly and, unlike the opposition, our position will be made clear to the European Union that we are prepared to walk away from the negotiating table if it is not possible to achieve a deal that suits us.

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, has accused Boris Johnson and the Tories of pandering to Donald Trump. Responding to Johnson’s comments this morning about the UK being willing to join the US in air strikes against Assad (see 8.48am), he said:

Johnson’s claims that Theresa May would back further intervention against Assad in Syria by the USA raise serious concerns about the Conservatives’ willingness to pander to Donald Trump.

Assad is a brutal dictator, and the use of chemical weapons is indefensible.

The action taken by Donald Trump earlier this month was a necessary and proportionate response to the horrific use of chemical weapons. However, we were absolutely clear that we disagreed with the way in which he conducted it- unilaterally, without allies, outside of a wider strategy.

That is why the UK must not rush headlong into supporting further unilateral military action in Syria by Trump. Undermining international law and rejecting international cooperation has the potential to create instability on a global scale – seen all too clearly by the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003.

This morning Farron has been campaigning in Cambridge, a key Lib Dem target. The Lib Dems held it until 2015, when Labour took it with a majority of 599. It is also a strongly pro-remain city, which helps to explain why its MP, Daniel Zeichner, was one of the Labour backbenchers who rebelled against the whip and voted against the bill authorising the triggering of article 50.

Farron used his short stump speech to criticise the Tories and Labour ( or “the worst opposition in human history”, as he put it) but viewers may have been distracted by the Lib Dem dog in the background with the rosette.

Tim Farron
Tim Farron campaigning in Cambridge. Photograph: Sky News

Updated

Queen's speech to be held on Monday 19 June

Some post-election administration: we’ve been told at the morning lobby briefing that parliament will reconvene after the election on Tuesday 13 June, when the speaker is elected (or re-elected).

There then follows four days of the MPs taking their oath before the pomp of the state opening of parliament on 19 June, the following Monday.

It is by then, of course, just a month till the Commons summer recess.

Here is my colleague Heather Stewart’s analysis of Boris Johnson “mugwump” attack on Boris Johnson.

Johnson deployed his insult in an article in the Sun. According to the Sun’s political editor, Tom Newton Dunn, it could have been worse.

Corbyn invites people to come with him to create a more decent, fairer society for everyone.

We are for the many, not just for the few, he says.

And that’s it. His speech is over.

Jeremy Corbyn in Harlow.
Jeremy Corbyn in Harlow. Photograph: BBC

Jeremy Corbyn's campaign speech in Harlow

Jeremy Corbyn is giving a campaign speech in Harlow.

He repeats the line he used at PMQs about the Tories: they are strong against the weak, and weak against the strong, he says.

He says things do not need to be like this.

In Harlow, the Labour council is building new homes, he says.

He says he wants everyone to have the chance to have a decent homes.

Labour would build 1m homes over the next parliament, half of them council ones, he says. He wants them to be affordable.

This election is about the future, he says. He wants people to have security.

Of course it is not right that people on zero-hours contracts have to check their phones every morning to see if they will get work.

Boris Johnson's morning interviews - Summary

Here are the main points from Boris Johnson’s various interviews this morning.

  • Johnson, the foreign secretary, said the UK would be willing to join any future American air strikes against Syria if President Bashar al-Assad uses chemical weapons again. (See 8.48am.) He also refused to commit to giving parliament a vote on such an attack, although Foreign Office sources later said that he did not intend to signal any change from the current convention, which is that MPs would get a vote beforehand unless the government had to act in an emergency. (See 9.22am.) In the past Johnson has adopted a more accommodating approach to Assad, suggesting in 2015 that the UK should work with him as part of a “deal with the devil” against Isis.
  • Johnson said that he was opposed to military action against North Korea. Although President Trump’s administration has talked up the prospect of using force to stop Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, saying all options are on the table, Johnson said that “calm, clear heads” were needed to obtain a solution. He said:

The situation in North Korea has changed very substantially over the last few years. What people thought was an almost comical question - the North Korean nuclear threat - has become very real and very dangerous indeed.

We need to address it. I think the White House are entirely right in escalating the seriousness of this question. All North Korea’s neighbours feel this threat very intensely.

To what extent is there a military solution? I have to say I am very, very sceptical and so are most of the experts that I’ve talked to.

I think the military options are not good. The best way forward - and I think this is what the White House wants to pursue - is to keep a calm, clear head and to work particularly with Beijing to try to bring pressure on Pyongyang, try to get them to see that they could have a great economic future if they could agree not to be so threatening, if they could agree a freeze or to denuclearise. That’s got to be the way forward, but as people can see, at the moment the situation is tense.

Asked if British troops could be involved in any allied military action, Johnson said:

All the evidence I have seen suggests to me that the military options are very far from good. Don’t forget that Seoul - the capital of South Korea - is only about 40 minutes from the border with North Korea.

The risk of huge, hideous reprisals against South Korea as a result of any kind of attack on North Korea has got to be very, very severe ...

Military action against North Korea, in my honest opinion, is not a good idea at the moment and I certainly don’t think it’s likely.

  • He refused to commit to saying annual net migration should be cut to below 100,000. When pressed on this, he said immigration was too high but he refused to back the 100,000 target, which the government is officially committed to despite most experts viewing it as highly unrealistic.
  • He said Britain would stop paying “huge sums of money in the long term” to Europe after Brexit. Theresa May and other ministers have said before that after Brexit the UK will not pay “huge sums” to the EU, but Johnson’s reference to “in the long term” could be a tacit admission that the Brexit deal will involve the UK paying a huge sum to the EU in the short term.

Everybody, from the White House down, has been telling us in the last few months they regard the opportunities provided by a free trade deal with the UK as extremely exciting.

  • He admitted that the UK would not be able to conclude trade deals with other countries within the next two years, while it remains a member of the EU. But he said that the government would be able to prepare for these deals.
  • He said the UK would not be willing to pay a Brexit divorce bill to the EU before substantive negotiations on a trade deal start. He said:

If you’re saying that they want the money before they get any substantive talks then that is obviously not going to happen.

  • He said the Germans blocked a deal before Christmas on the rights of EU nationals living in the UK and the rights of Britons living on the continent. He said:

As Theresa May has said, this is a priority for us, we want to guarantee their rights, to give them the maximum possible stability and security. Alas, we made an offer by the way before Christmas that we would do a deal in advance of the negotiations, that was turned down you may recall by Germany, we’re left in a position where we have to do a reciprocal deal, and we’re fine with that.

  • He said the election of Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister would be a threat to Britain.

I do think there is a slight risk that people won’t detect the threat that is hidden behind this sort of Islingtonian herbivorous.

He said there was a “real risk” if the government was led by someone who has been “hostile to Nato” and who would disarm Britain’s nuclear weapons. (Corbyn is opposed to nuclear weapons, and he has criticised Nato in the past, but the Labour party’s policy, which Corbyn accepts, is to support Nato and the nuclear deterrent.)

Boris Johnson outside the Foreign Office.
Boris Johnson outside the Foreign Office. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock

Tony Blair refuses to endorse Jeremy Corbyn for prime minister

Tony Blair, the former Labour prime minister, has given an interview to Sky’s Adam Boulton. He said that he was not advising people not to vote Labour, but he refused to endorse Jeremy Corbyn and he said that Theresa May would win.

Asked if he could put his hand on his heart and say that Jeremy Corbyn was the best person to run the country, Blair replied:

If the polls are right. We know who is going to be prime minister on June 9. That’s not the issue.

It’ll be Theresa May. If the polls are right.

He said people should vote Labour to ensure Britain has a strong opposition. Tellingly, he did not argue that people should vote Labour to make Corbyn prime minister. He said:

I don’t think [who becomes prime minister is] the real issue in this campaign. I think the real issue is blank cheque. It’s what mandate does she claim, both on Brexit and on the health service, education and all the other things. And I think the most powerful argument for Labour in this election, because of the way the polls are and the way the opinion polls are on the leadership issue, the most powerful argument for Labour is to say it is important for our democracy that the government is held properly to account and that she needs a strong opposition.

He also said that keeping Britain in the single market - something May has ruled out - should be a priority in the Brexit talks.

I think the big missing question that has got to be there is a question that might sound extraordinarily technical but is absolutely fundamental to the future prosperity of this country, which is in the Brexit negotiation, are we taking membership of the single market and the customs union off the table, which I think we probably are.

If we are and we’re going for a free trade agreement, rather than membership of the single market, that’s a massive for the prosperity of the British economy. That’s why our currency is down 15% ...

What the Tories have done very cleverly is give people the national interest reason for voting Tory.

What they’ve said is, the patriotic thing irrespective of your politics is to vote Conservative because she needs a strong hand in the negotiation, which is a very persuasive argument, until you realise that she’s tied her hands in the negotiation, the prime minister, by saying I’m not going to put the single market on the table.

People have really got to understand the difference between the single market and a free trade agreement. One’s the Champion’s League, the other’s League One.

Tony Blair
Tony Blair Photograph: Sky News

The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg points out that Boris Johnson has said before that, if the US were to ask the UK to join air strikes against the Assad regime in Syria, it would be hard for the UK to say no. But he said it in the Commons on the the general election was called, which meant that we all missed it.

Johnson defends the Vote Leave claim that leaving the EU would save £350m a week. He still supports the figure. “Of course it’s right,” he says.

Q: Of all the people you have met as foreign secretary, who has impressed you most.

Johnson says one in seven of world leaders was educated in the UK.

And that’s it.

I will post a summary of what we’ve learnt from all Johnson’s interviews this morning soon.

Q: Who decided that you would cancel your trip to Moscow?

Johnson said it was his decision.

Q: Did the prime minister call you first?

Johnson says he won’t discuss calls with colleagues.

Q: So the prime minister decided and told you not to go.

Johnson jokes about Ferrari having Olympian knowledge.

Johnson says we are “virtually certain” the Assad regime was to blame for the chemical weapon attack in Syria.

Q: How certain?

Johnson says “99.9% certain”. New evidence came out yesterday, he says.

He repeats the point he made on Today about how it would very hard to say no to joining a US air strike.

Q: Without parliamentary approval?

That would have to be decided at the time.

Q: You could not consult parliament if you had to make a decision in the middle of the night.

Exactly, says Johnson. He says LBC’s Nick Ferrari (the presenter) has made his point for him.

Boris Johnson's LBC interview

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, is now being interviewed on LBC.

Asked about his comments about Jeremy Corbyn, he says he wants to apologise to mugwumps everywhere for what he said.

He says having Corbyn as prime minister would be a risk to the country.

Q: You say Corbyn would not push the nuclear button. When would you do so?

Johnson says there are protocols governing this. The situation would have to be extremely serious to justify this, he says.

He says North Korea is not hilarious any more. He is a real threat. If North Korea keeps developing missiles, it could be a threat to western Europe.

He says he is not a fan of using military action.

If anyone tried to take out North Korea, the reprisals against South Korea would be terrible.

He says there has to be a diplomatic solution.

  • Johnson signals his opposition to a pre-emptive military strike against North Korea.

It was not entirely clear from what Boris Johnson was saying (see 8.48am) whether he was seriously floating the idea of the government joining a US air strike against Assad in Syria without consulting parliament, or whether he was just caught by surprise by the question. It is also the case that, if the government wants to bomb Syria during the election campaign, there won’t be a parliament to consult anyway.

But a Foreign Office source has given me some clarification. When David Cameron was prime minister he said the Commons should be consulted over decisions like this, except in cases where the government thinks it needs to order military action quickly, because of some sort of emergency. The government ruled out legislating to make this a firm rule, but it accepted this as a convention. According to the source, Johnson was not meant to be indicating that this policy has changed. Johnson was “simply saying that, if asked, the government would need to assess what was necessary or required [in terms of consulting parliament]”.

What Boris Johnson said about UK being willing to join US air strikes against Syria

Here are the key quotes from Boris Johnson about the UK being willing to join the US in a fresh air strike against Syria. John Humphrys was interviewing him.

JH: Can you envisage the circumstances in which we might be involved in the sort of action that has already taken place by America?

BJ: You mean the strike on the Shayrat airport?

JH: Next time around, if it happens again, could it be us?

BJ: Just so people remember, on 4 April there was unquestionably an attack using sarin gas against innocent civilians

JH: And if that happens again, that sort of thing happens again, might we get involved?

BJ: I think it would be very difficult if the United States has a proposal to have some sort of action in response to a chemical weapons attack, and if they come to use and ask for our support, whether it is with submarine-based cruise missiles in the Med or whatever it happens to be, as was the case back in 2013, John, in my view, and I know this is also the view of the prime minister, it would be very difficult for us to say no.

JH: But you would have to go to the Commons?

BJ: Er, I think that needs to be tested.

JH: You are not sure about that?

BJ: I think it would be very difficult for us to say no.

JH: So, going to the Commons is an absolutely necessary precondition?

BJ: As I say, I think it would be very difficult for us to say no. How exactly we were able to implement would be for the government and the prime minister to decide. But if the Americans were once again to be forced by the actions of the Assad regime - and, don’t forget, it was Assad who unleashed murder upon his own citizens, weapons that were banned almost 100 years ago - if the Americans choose to act again, and they ask us to help, I think it will be very difficult to say no.

Johnson says UK willing to join US in future air strike against Assad in Syria

Q: Are there any circumstances in which the UK might get involved in an air strike against Syria similar to the one launched by President Trump?

Johnson says, if the US asked for help for a similar attack, it would be difficult to say no. And that is the view of the prime minister too, he says.

Q: And would MPs get a vote?

Johnson says it would be difficult to say no.

He says he does not know what the exact mechanism for a decision would be.

  • Johnson says UK would be willing to join US in a future air strike against Assad in Syria. He was talking about an air strike in retaliation if Assad were to use chemical weapons again.
  • He refuses to confirm that MPs would get a vote on a possible air strike against Assad.

Updated

Q: Are you still pro-immigration?

Yes, says Johnson.

Q: And do you agree EU citizens in the UK must get full rights?

Yes, says Johnson. This is a priority for the UK. The UK tried to get a deal before Christmas. It was turned down by Germany. He was mayor of London. He was proud of it being attractive to immigrants. It was the fourth largest French city (because of the number of French in London), he says.

Q: So will you cut immigration to the tens of thousands?

Johnson says the UK must get control.

Q: So you are not committing to get it down to the tens of thousands?

Johnson says the numbers are too high at the moment.

He does not want to commit to a number.

Q: And should foreign students be excluded from the numbers?

Johnson says he is very proud of the role of higher education. He values international students. He is in favour of talented people being able to come here. But he also thinks the UK should be able to decide its priorities.

Q: You said the UK was first in line to do a trade deal with the US. But the US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross has said a deal with the UK is low priority.

Johnson says it would be fine if the US can do a trade deal with the EU by 2019. That is unlikely, he says.

He says many in the US administration have spoken in favour of a deal with the UK.

We cannot do the detail now. But we cannot ink it in, but we can pencil it in.

Q: EU negotiators have said, unless the UK pays large sums over, there will not be a negotiation.

Johnson says EU countries want the best possible relationship, a free trade deal coupled with a large measure of cooperation.

There may be some programmes that the UK can continue to support.

We will pay our subs up to when we leave.

Q: And if there is a bad deal, we will walk away.

Johnson says May has always said it is preferable to get a deal.

But he says this is a fantastic country with a strong economy. It would be a tragedy if all that economic success were put at risk by Jeremy Corbyn.

There may be listeners who don’t know there is an election on, Johnson claims.

Q: You says people are burying their heads in the sands over this. But they feel they were fed misleading information. The UK Statistics Authority said that figure was misleading and undermines trust in statistics. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said much the same.

Johnson says Today’s “remaining listeners” will have heard him explain that figure many times.

He says people look at Theresa May. They think her approach is clear. In Europe the mood has changed. EU leaders “get it”. There is a new positive approach. When you look at Labour ...

Q: We will not get into Labour yet. If EU leaders are constructive, why won’t they discuss the UK’s exit bill at the same time as the new trade deal, not before?

Johnson says there will be many aspects to this.

All sorts of demands will be made, he says.

He says the negotiations will require “single-mindedness and concentration”. Jeremy Corbyn won’t ....

Q: We’ll get to Corbyn later. But will we pay the bill?

Johnson says Corbyn won’t negotiate this properly.

Q: Are you going to refuse to pay that money unless ...

Johnson says no one has tabled a request in the negotiations for a sum of money. Let’s see how this unfolds.

If Humphrys is asking if the EU will get the money for substantive talks happen, that won’t happen.

He says there is no reason why the UK should be paying “huge sums of money in the long term” to the EU.

He says his recommendations will be to hang strong.

When it comes to paying huge sums into the EU budget as a matter of course, those days will end when we come out.

John Humphrys is interviewing Boris Johnson.

Humphrys says the election would not be happening if it were not for the vote for Brexit.

Q: Theresa May says this election is about trust. How can we trust you when you peddled some blatant falsehoods during the referendum campaign?

Johnson says the election is a choice between stable government and the chaotic Jeremy Corbyn. If Humphrys is talking about the Vote Leave claim that leaving the EU would save £350m a week, he says our contributions to the EU are £350m a week net that we do not control. He says if Humphrys wants to revive the arguments of the campaign, he is happy to go through that. The £350m a week is money we don’t control.

Q: Half of it we get back.

But we don’t control how it is spent, Johnson says.

He says the government will be able to decide where the money goes. It could go to the NHS.

The government has invested in the NHS. May should get a strong mandate, he says.

Boris Johnson's Today interview

Good morning. I’m taking over from Claire.

Boris Johnson will be on the Today programme in a moment.

Time to hand the live blog to Andrew Sparrow, just as Boris Johnson is about to arrive on the Today programme to say “mugwump” again. With any luck, there might be some substance, too.

Your daily reminder: do sign up here for the Snap, our all-you-need-to-know election briefing delivered direct to your inbox each weekday morning. You can read today’s here.

There was – amid the name-calling and rib-poking – something of a serious point in Boris Johnson’s Sun column on Jeremy Corbyn today. The foreign secretary argues that Labour’s position on global issues is still a mystery to many voters:

Look at the world today, and the problems Britain is grappling with.

We have a revanchist Russia, interfering blatantly with European democracies – countries that Moscow wants to pull back into its sphere of influence.

We have a semi-deranged regime in North Korea, bent on getting nuclear weapons that could one day be used to strike this country.

And we are engaged in a vast struggle against an evil Islamist death cult that is taking lives around the world.

Where is Corbyn on any of these issues?

Greens and Lib Dems try tactics in Brighton

On Wednesday night, the Green party took the significant step of deciding not to run a candidate in Brighton Kemptown, held by Conservative Simon Kirby by a majority of just 690 against Labour.

The decision gives Labour a real possibility of making a gain, as the Greens received 3,167 votes in 2015, which would be enough to beat Kirby if all its voters switched to Labour.

It is the first credible example of a attempt at an anti-Tory progressive alliance – an idea supported by a number of Labour, Lib Dem and Green activists, but which has faltered over the tribal unwillingness of parties to stand down in specific seats. A number of Ukip branches have already declared that they will not stand against pro-Brexit Conservatives.

Caroline Lucas canvassing for Brighton Pavilion in the 2015 general election.
Caroline Lucas canvassing for Brighton Pavilion in the 2015 general election. Photograph: Christopher Ison

The Liberal Democrats have also announced that they will not stand against Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, in Brighton Pavilion, whose nearest challenger is Labour.

Lucas, the co-leader of the Greens said:

In Brighton something amazing is happening. People are putting aside party allegiances and working together so we have the best possible chance of delivering a fairer voting system and beating the Tories at the next election.

Davy Jones, the Green candidate standing down in Brighton Kemptown, who also ran in 2015, said:

We didn’t ask for a deal: we chose instead to step down unilaterally, to help the proudly progressive city of Brighton and Hove to return three progressive MPs.

We also wanted to send a powerful message to other parties that we are prepared to make the first move in order to get progressive alliance talks going.

Updated

Prior to today’s … splash, some had wondered if the Tories would risk letting Boris Johnson anywhere near a battle bus, given his close association with the discredited – and abandoned – “£350m-a-week to the NHS” Vote Leave bus slogan.

But talking this morning, Johnson said he stood by the claim. “Of course I do,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain, adding that the £350m figure was “not disputed”:

[It’s] £350m a week which we do not currently control which could be spent on our priorities, including the NHS.

(Quick fact-check: it’s very much disputed. See here.)

Nigel Farage was one of those who distanced themselves from the claim, saying after the leave vote had been secured that the promise had been “a mistake”.

But Johnson said today:

As far as I remember, the gentleman in question belonged to another party and wasn’t on my bus.

The foreign secretary’s official entrance on the campaign stage came with a speech last night at the lord mayor’s banquet in London, where he confidently predicted a raft of trade deals coming the UK’s way post-Brexit, citing – and I am not making this up – a maker of Toblerone stands in his own constituency.

(Perhaps we shouldn’t mention the great Toblerone scandal of 2016.)

Johnson told his audience:

I was amazed, when walking the backstreets of Uxbridge, to find a little company that makes the wooden display counters that are used to sell the duty-free Toblerones in every Saudi Arabian airport.

If we can crack markets like that, think what we can do when we have free trade deals with America, where they still have a ban on British haggis. Think of our potential whisky sales to India if only we could negotiate a cut in their duty of 150% on Scotch.

Broken Britain: the new Toblerone.
Broken Britain: the new Toblerone.

John Healey says he, like many of us, had to look up the meaning of the word “mugwump”. He says its use reflects more on the writer than the target:

I think this is Boris Johnson feeling left out of the election campaign.

Healey calls it the

look-at-me name-calling that you’d see in the Eton playground.

This kind of attack demeans the office of foreign secretary, he adds:

Don’t attack the person, debate the policies … let the people see a leaders’ debate.

Pressed on his own previous criticisms of Corbyn, Healey says he has served under four Labour leaders, all of whom had strengths and weaknesses:

What you can say about Jeremy Corbyn: he’s a man of principle, he cares very deeply about this country … He will lead a Labour government that will make a real difference to this country.

John Healey, the shadow housing minister, is talking about Labour’s housebuilding pledge on the Today programme.

You’ll have to wait for the manifesto for all the details, he says, but “Labour in government will take big steps” to deal with the housing crisis.

He says, for example, there would be 100,000 new affordable homes each year to rent and buy, with councils playing a big part in that:

You have to have councils building and commissioning new homes as part of a much bigger effort.

Although he’ll now spend the day dealing with mugwump fallout, Jeremy Corbyn is in fact making a policy announcement on housing today, my colleague Peter Walker reports:

The party has released research that it says shows Labour-run councils have built on average around 900 more new homes between 2010 and 2016 than their Conservative counterparts.

The statistics, commissioned by the party from the Commons library, show that Labour-led councils averaged 2,577 new homes each, against 1,679 for Conservative-run authorities and 1,660 for the Liberal Democrats.

In comments to be made in Harlow and released in advance of his visit, Corbyn says:

Britain faces a housing crisis, with runaway rents and unaffordable housing. The system is rigged, with housing treated as an investment for the few, not homes for the many.

With levels of homebuilding at the lowest levels since the 1920s, the Conservatives “will never fix the housing crisis, which is holding so many people back”, he will say.

Read the full story here:

What is a mugwump?

No, I didn’t think this is how I’d be spending my Thursday either. But here we go.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary doesn’t really help us, offering two ill-fitting definitions:

  • a bolter from the Republican party in 1884
  • a person who is independent (as in politics) or who remains undecided or neutral

Wikipedia has plenty on that first definition, with a helpfully inapplicable addendum:

Mugwumps were rightwing similar in view to the British Tory party.

In the world of Harry Potter, the Supreme Mugwump is apparently the title of the head of the International Confederation of Wizards – for which Jeremy Corbyn seems an unlikely candidate.

Another dictionary definition offers:

a person who remains aloof or independent, especially from party politics.

So that might be it. But chances are Boris Johnson just liked how it sounded when matched with “mutton-headed”.

In case you were wondering if Boris Johnson was regretting his verbal onslaught on Jeremy Corbyn – I know you weren’t, but humour me for a moment – then the answer is no.

But speaking just now on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the foreign secretary did have an apology to dole out:

I apologise to mugwumps everywhere.

Johnson will be turning up on the Today programme in just over an hour, so if you’re already sick of the word mugwump, I’m afraid there is nowhere to hide.

The Snap: your election briefing

Good morning and welcome to another day on the stump. I’m Claire Phipps with your daily election rundown; sign up here to have it delivered piping hot to your inbox. Andrew Sparrow joins the live blog later.

What’s happening?

Nobody puts Boris in a corner. After talk that the foreign secretary might be kept away from the election campaign with busywork on North Korea and Russia, Boris Johnson is back, with a speech about selling haggis to the US and a column in the Sun about “mutton-headed old mugwump” Jeremy Corbyn. Just when we thought we’d have to spend the next six weeks on Brexit and the NHS and “strong and stable leadership”.

Johnson’s more serious points – that the electorate can’t be entirely certain of Labour’s position on the nuclear threat or Isis – fade (as is surely the point) in the face of the sedulous insulting of Corbyn, who is “floundering”, “meandering”, “nonsensical” and an “Islingtonian herbivore”. Johnson is, of course, also an Islingtonian, but a carnivorous one, and so definitely not a hypocrite.

EU referendumBoris Johnson MP visits Sam Cole Foods fish processing factory in Lowestoft, Suffolk, where he was campaigning on behalf of the Vote Leave EU campaign. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday June 16, 2016. See PA story POLITICS EU. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
Boris Johnson: not courting the vegetarian vote. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Away from the mutton-slinging, local parties have been choosing more candidates. Runway runaway Zac Goldsmith – who resigned from the Conservatives when they backed Heathrow expansion, and lost the subsequent byelection to Liberal Democrat Sarah Olney – returns to stand in Richmond Park. For the Conservatives, who still back Heathrow expansion. With that 2016 London mayoral election loss already in the net, can he make it a Zac-trick?

Journalist-turned-politician Esther McVey will attempt to succeed politician-turned-journalist George Osborne for the Tories in Tatton. Labour has selected its successors for outgoing Alan Johnson and Michael Dugher: Emma Hardy will stand in Hull West and Hessle; Steph Peacock in Barnsley East. Ellie Reeves gets the nod in Lewisham West. But there’s discontent in Leigh, the Manchester Evening News reports, with constituency party chairman Peter Smith threatening to resign if Corbyn adviser Katy Clark is slotted into Andy Burnham’s empty chair.

Local parties are pushing back, too, against top-level rejection of a progressive alliance, with Lib Dems in Brighton Pavilion deciding not to field a candidate against incumbent Caroline Lucas – a move welcomed by the Green MP, and by Lib Dem party president Sal Brinton, who called it “constructive collaboration”.

General Election 2017Green Party joint leader Caroline Lucas makes a speech during the party’s General Election campaign launch at the Avon Gorge Hotel in Bristol. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday April 20, 2017. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire
Caroline Lucas: yes, Boris Johnson, another vegetarian. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

The Greens will not run a candidate in Tory-held Brighton Kemptown, opening a door to Labour, a close second in 2015; nor in Ealing, currently held by Labour’s Rupa Huq.

In Northern Ireland, the prospect of an anti-Brexit progressive alliance seems to be foundering, with Sinn Féin rejecting an SDLP suggestion that candidates stand without party affiliation.

Will it all add up to much on 9 June? The Tories boast they will be targeting Labour MPs Tom Watson, Liz Kendall, Lilian Greenwood and Vernon Coaker in what would once have been thought of as comfortable – although not kick-your-shoes-off-and-chillax comfortable – seats. But Nottingham South MP Greenwood is battle bus-ready:

They’d better be ready for a fight. People round here haven’t seen a Tory since 2015.

At a glance:

Poll position

A new YouGov poll for the Times has Theresa May’s lead over Labour shrinking to just 16 points – I’ll leave you to argue on the merits of that “just”. But it’s a dip from 23 points last week.

The same poll also has 45% of those surveyed saying the UK was wrong to vote to leave the EU, against 43% who think it was the right decision, and 12% who just don’t know or can’t bring themselves to think about it for one more damned second, OK?

Diary

  • Expect to see more of Boris Johnson in a round of interviews this morning.
  • Theresa May meets business leaders in the Midlands, before a speech in Leeds this evening.
  • Jeremy Corbyn heads to Harlow to talk housing.
  • Tim Farron is in Cambridge – where the Lib Dems have their sights on capturing a remain seat from Labour.
  • Mhairi Black leads today’s SNP charge, campaigning in Paisley.

Talking point

A quirk of election campaigns is that amid the jibes and jostling and soundbites, we sometimes catch a glimpse of a policy. Labour’s focus today is housing, of the elusive affordable type, and Corbyn will be in Essex to highlight his party’s record on getting homes built. Between 2010 and 2016 Labour-run councils have built, on average, around 900 more new homes than Conservative authorities, Corbyn will say, announcing that his government would build a million new houses, half for council rent.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn pretends to use a stethoscope with 2-year-old Haroon, after he met NHS nurses, student nurses and midwives to discuss Labour’s three point election guarantee for NHS staff at the headquarters of UNISON in north London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday April 26, 2017. See PA story ELECTION Main. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
Wednesday NHS, Thursday housing. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

The PM, meanwhile, could downgrade the pensions triple-lock to just the double, potentially freeing up cash to help with social care, an issue she has vowed to “stop ducking”.

Read these

David Aaronovitch in the Times says it’s time to put Tim Farron’s views on gay sex to bed:

Farron was elected leader and everyone forgot about his attitude towards sin. Then along came the election and back came the question and his first response was to dodge. I am not in the business, he said, of making ‘theological pronouncements’. In other words what he did or didn’t consider a sin belonged to a different and separate world to the world of politics. In effect he was arguing the theory of the Two Farrons …

People are messy and contradictory. Most of us are Two Farrons, or even more … But the essential question is not what this person might be thinking or feeling, but will they actually do harm or good? The more generous liberal impulse is the big tent versus the narrow path, the forum versus the flames. And we don’t need to burn St Tim.

In the Guardian, Ellie Mae O’Hagan argues that it shouldn’t take the prospect of an electoral upset to make the media pay attention to Wales:

While it’s good that the Westminster-obsessed press is finally talking about Wales, it is beyond infuriating that it needed Welsh voters turning to the Conservatives for it to happen. The fact is, many of the conditions for this perfect storm have been brewing for some time – but nobody was looking …

There is simply no logical reason why Welsh voters wouldn’t adopt the same voting patterns as Brexit voters in England. The myth that the Welsh electorate, which consumes basically the same media as the English, would somehow hold on to an inherent progressivism in the face of industrial decline was always absurd.

Revelation of the day

Politics Home has been doing a dogged job of logging all incumbent MPs and whether they’re staying to fight or stepping away. With the deadline still a fortnight away, most have now declared themselves in or out, but several have yet to commit – among them Theresa May in Maidenhead and Jeremy Corbyn in Islington North.

The day in a tweet

And another thing

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