The live blog will now be closing for the night. For a summary of the day’s events, read my colleague’s analysis:
Labour launches its £1bn 'arts for all' charter alongside actors, artists and musicians in east London
Artists, actors and musicians joined Jeremy Corbyn on Sunday night at the Labour campaign’s arts launch in east London, to throw their support behind the party’s manifesto.
Emeli Sandé, MIA, Lily Allen, as well as the filmmaker Ken Loach were among the stars who attended the Arts for All policy charter launch at Theatre Royal Stratford East.
Labour committed to put support for the arts “at the heart of government”, promising £1bn of new investment in upgrading and building new libraries, museums, galleries and other arts venues.
The party also promised to invest £175m a year in an arts pupil premium for primary school children, to launch a new “Town of Culture” competition, invest £1bn in youth services, maintain free access to national museums and galleries, and introduce greater transparency in lottery funding.
Research by the House of Commons library has shown that libraries, museums and art galleries across England have had their funding slashed by at least £640m since 2010.
At the launch, MIA described Corbyn as “the last stand that England has got”, adding that it would be “very hard” to find another candidate who was “not corrupted” to replace him as leader of the opposition should he fail to become prime minister.
Loach, who directed the Bafta-winning film I, Daniel Blake, said Labour faced “the fight of our lives” against the “public school bluster” of the Tories.
Addressing the crowd, Corbyn said: “I love the arts, I love theatre, I love art, music, I love the inspiration that it brings to all our lives.
“Arts, music and culture are not separate from science, engineering and ideas. You need that inspiration in whatever you do.
“Our arts policy is to create a £1bn arts fund, and that will ensure that the libraries, theatres, and the local arts facilities are improved and remain available for all.”
Referring to Boris Johnson’s decision to reveal his Conservative manifesto pledges in Telford, near to where Mr Corbyn grew up, he joked: “Are they trying to insult me or something?”
Read the Guardian’s parliamentary sketch writer John Crace’s take on the Conservative manifesto launch:
Following Jo Swinson confirming last week that she would be prepared to use a nuclear weapon, Nicola Sturgeon writes for the Guardian on why she’d never press the nuclear button.
She writes: “It’s absurd that a willingness to kill millions is now seen as a virility test for leadership, and I want no part.”
Read it here:
The independent charity Full Fact has scrutinised today’s Conservative manifesto launch.
On the cost of new nurses, of which the manifesto promises 50,000, Full Fact calculates that 50,000 extra nurses at pay band 5 (£24,000 per annum) would cost the NHS £2.8bn a year, when factoring in the costs of national insurance, pensions and training. The Conservatives claim their policy will cost the NHS £879m in 2023/24.
On increasing the number of police officers, Full Fact finds that the pledge would return the number of officers to almost, but not quite, the total there was in 2010. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of police officers in England and Wales fell by 20,752 - a 14% drop. But because the country’s population has grown since 2010, the number of police officers per person has fallen by 19%. Recruiting another 20,000 police officers would therefore leave the number of police officers per person at least 6% lower than it was in 2010.
The phrase “Get Brexit done” appears in the Conservative manifesto 22 times, but Brexit is a process, not an event. The UK will stop being a member of the EU if Johnson’s deal goes through, but negotiations with the EU on a future trade deal will take place across a transition period, during which time the UK will still follow EU rules and pay into the EU budget. Based on past deals, this may take years to negotiate.
On increased spending, the manifesto pledges £3bn of extra day-to-day spending by the final years of the next parliament - a figure that looks considerably smaller than pledges from other parties. But these figures aren’t necessarily comparable - the Conservatives did not include costings for every pledge in the manifesto; only for new spending announcements made since the election was called. So while the Conservatives plan to increase annual current spending by £3bn compared to what’s already been announced, the overall annual extra spend will be much higher than that. For example, the manifesto spending list omits its headline pledges on school funding, the NHS, and police officers.
Will Moy, Chief Executive of Full Fact, said:
In less than three weeks’ time, voters will make a decision that will affect their lives and communities. We all deserve information that is accurate and honest, which is why we and others must fully scrutinise the promises made by our politicians.
Candidates and parties are asking voters for their trust for the next five years, and like the other main parties, the Conservatives can do more to meet the standards we expect. Over the next few days we’ll be working with experts to scrutinise today’s claims in depth.
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Tax and pay analysis: Plans to raise minimum wage and end benefits freeze not new
A glaring omission is an increase in the higher-rate income tax threshold, which could anger Tory voters. The prime minister appears to have concluded that this tax cut for the rich would prove an electoral mistake.
The triple tax lock is similar to Labour’s promise not to raise income taxes, VAT and national insurance, although Jeremy Corbyn’s party will target the top 5% of earners.
Such constraints could be unwise if the government finds it needs to raise more money to fund public services. Any chancellor could also be hamstrung in an economic downturn.
The big promise to cut national insurance comes with a £2.5bn price tag, according to the manifesto costing document. However, Johnson has been warned that an ambition to take the threshold all the way up to £12,500 would come with an even heftier price tag of around £6bn more - a figure missing from the five-year plan at present.
Plans to raise the minimum wage are nothing new, nor is a promise to end the benefits freeze. It was always set to lift in 2020 after four years, though has caused significant damage, costing seven million families an average of £560 each per year.
Guardian specialists break down the detail of the Conservative manifesto. Read our analysis on pledges from £34bn extra for the NHS to the “get Brexit done” vow
Transport and energy: Not much of the promised 'transport revolution' is new
The manifesto promises a “transport revolution” but not much of it is new and it was pot holes which made the headlines before the launch, with £2bn pledged to filling them over the next four years. This is considerably more than the £500m allocated to a “reversing Beeching fund” for railways, but to meet that promise experts say they will need more funds. It also dwarfs the money being pledged for infrastructure to support electric vehicles - £600m over six years – and an investment of £350m in cycling.
The £29bn investment in strategic roads sounds very like money pledged back in 2018 by the then chancellor, Philip Hammond, rather than new money, and does not appear in the costings document.
The manifesto pledge on broadband confirms that the Conservatives have rowed back on a previous promise made by Boris Johnson to install full-fibre broadband to every home and business by 2025.
That’s been replaced by the promise of “full-fibre and gigabit-capable” broadband, which is still ambitious but will be easier to achieve than the original plan and still provide faster speeds for consumers.
NHS: Johnson’s key pledges proven to be problematic
The NHS has undoubtedly been the main domestic issue of the campaign so far, with attempts at spending one-upmanship between the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems and claims that a post-Brexit US trade deal would allow the NHS to be put “up for sale” dominating coverage outside of Brexit.
But some of Johnson’s key NHS pledges have proven to be problematic. The prime minister’s claim that the government will build 40 new hospitals rapidly fell apart in late September, although the PM continues to push the misleading assertion. The government has confirmed that six existing hospitals in England are being given £2.7bn by 2025 as part of the programme - an upgrade rather than a fresh build. Another 21 hospital trusts are being given £100m in seed funding to prepare a business case for their hospitals - but no money for any actual building work. The work would then start between 2025 and 2030.
And on manifesto launch day, the pledge to recruit 50,000 nurses was immediately thrown into doubt when it emerged 19,000 of them would be “retained” staff and 12,000 would be from overseas.
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Foreign police and defence: Manifesto lacks firm pledge to maintain overall size of the armed forces
As he presented the manifesto, Boris Johnson moved fast to put to bed reports that troop numbers could be cut under a Conservative government. According to the Sunday Times, defence chiefs are discussing plans to slash the size of the British Army amid fears they will face further cuts. But asked by reporters if troops would be cut, Johnson replied with a firm no.
It is correct, however, that the manifesto does not include a firm pledge to “maintain the overall size of the armed forces”, as it did under Theresa May in 2017. The 2015 Tory manifesto pledged to keep the Army’s strength at minimum of 82,000 but that commitment was dropped - with the Army hovering around 73,000.
The manifesto maintains the commitment to spend 0.7% of GDP on overseas aid but does little to assuage fears that Johnson plans to alter the way in which the aid budget is spent.
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IFS on Conservative manifesto: Lack of significant policy action 'remarkable'
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has accused the Conservatives of pushing a “fundamentally damaging narrative” in promising more money for health, pensions and schools without raising the money in tax, NIC or VAT to pay for them.
Commenting on the Conservative Party manifesto, Paul Johnson, IFS Director, said:
If the Labour and Liberal Democrat manifestos were notable for the scale of their ambitions the Conservative one is not. If a single Budget had contained all these tax and spending proposals we would have been calling it modest. As a blueprint for five years in government the lack of significant policy action is remarkable.
In part that is because the chancellor announced some big spending rises back In September. Other than for health and schools, though, that was a one-off increase. Taken at face value today’s manifesto suggests that for most services, in terms of day-to-day spending, that’s it. Health and school spending will continue to rise. Give or take pennies, other public services, and working age benefits, will see the cuts to their day-to-day budgets of the last decade baked in.
One notable omission is any plan for social care. In his first speech as prime minister Boris Johnson promised to “fix the crisis in social care once and for all”. After two decades of dither by both parties in government it seems we are no further forward.
On the tax side the rise in the National Insurance threshold was well trailed. The ambition for it to get to £12,500 may remain, but only the initial rise to £9,500 has been costed and firmly promised. Most in paid work would benefit, but by less than £2 a week. Another £6 billion would need to be found to get to £12,500 by the end of the parliament. Given the pressures on the spending side that is not surprising.
Perhaps the biggest, and least welcome, announcement is the “triple tax lock”: no increases in rates of income tax, NICs or VAT. That’s a constraint the chancellor may come to regret. It is also part of a fundamentally damaging narrative – that we can have the public services we want, with more money for health and pensions and schools – without paying for them. We can’t.
Business analysis: Company bosses likely to welcome this manifesto
Johnson has not always had the smoothest relationship with business, given his infamous remarks about their Brexit concerns, though company bosses are likely to broadly welcome this manifesto.
The CBI said firms would be “heartened by a pro-enterprise vision” and praised the £3bn national skills fund for training workers. But there are questions about the impact of Brexit for firms that are yet to be answered.
Johnson’s decision to scrap the planned corporation tax cut has gone down badly with some Tory supporters.
Ever since the 1980s the Tories have argued business tax cuts boost the economy and swell the public purse. The headline rate of corporation tax has been slashed since 2010 from 28% to 19% and receipts have increased, but economists believe economic recovery and crackdowns on tax avoidance are the real reasons.
Britain also now has among the lowest corporate tax rates in the developed world. The prime minister has been told further cuts would have little impact beyond damaging the public finances, including from George Osborne’s former special adviser, Rupert Harrison. Labour also has a sharply contrasting plan, promising to raise the headline rate to 26%, in a clear election dividing line.
A review of business rates could be a double-edged sword. Companies could save millions of pounds from reforms to a system widely regarded to be broken. Retailers in particular have lobbied hard for cuts, saying the tax is among reasons for shop closures and job losses on the high street. But councils have grown more reliant on business rates revenue amid cuts to central government funding. Further cuts present additional challenges.
Conservative pledges: Australian-style immigration proposal is light on detail
Along with “the will of the people”, “north London metropolitan elite” and “take back control”, “Australian-style points-based system” has become well established in the lexicon of Brexiter bingo. Nigel Farage has been banging on about the fabled approach for many years. Now the offer has reached the mainstream political offer, with the Tories’ pledging to adopt the framework in the UK.
It is unusual that the party has included this pledge before hearing back from the Migration Advisory Committee (Mac), which has been asked by the home secretary, Priti Patel, to review the feasibility of introducing an Australian-style points-based system in the UK.
Beyond this, the detail remains light. The manifesto states that “most people coming into the country will need a clear job offer”. This already deviates from the Australian system in that one of the key features of that approach is that a job offer is not required. What will points be issued for? The manifesto mentions English language and “good education” - the Australian system is far more complex.
Labour: Tory nurses pledge is deceitful
The shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, has criticised the Conservative manifesto pledge on 50,000 extra nurses.
Of the 50,000, 12,000 would come from abroad, 14,000 would be new undergraduate students, 5,000 would do degree apprenticeships and 19,000 are nurses who would otherwise have left the profession, but who the Conservatives hope to “retain”.
“The Conservatives’ claim on nurses is frankly deceitful – the sums simply don’t add up. First we had Johnson’s fake 40 new hospitals, now we have his fake 50,000 extra nurses’,” said Ashworth.
Matt Hancock and Tory ministers forced through the abolition of the bursary partly causing the nursing crisis afflicting our NHS today. The new damaging Tory nurses’ tax on European nurses will make it impossible to deliver the nurses our NHS needs.
Labour will deliver over 50,000 new nurses through bringing back the bursary and allowing ethical international recruitment.
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Ask our experts a question
As part of a new series you can ask our political team any questions you have about the general election, and we’ll post their responses on the politics live blog between 12.30pm and 1.30pm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until polling week.
Tomorrow, the Guardian’s deputy political editor, Rowena Mason, will answer your questions about the Tory manifesto, campaign and policies, just how realistic the pledges are and what they might mean for you.
You can ask your question via our form here.
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Conservative pledges: Brexit plan not as 'oven-ready' as it appears
The central mantra of “get Brexit done” runs through the Tory manifesto like a stick of rock, but there are major questions about how oven-ready Johnson’s plan really is.
The document commits to negotiating a trade deal with the EU next year, and not to extend the implementation period beyond December 2020 - effectively leaving the prospect of a disruptive no-deal Brexit firmly on the table.
Johnson could argue this strengthens his hand with Brussels, but leading trade experts warn that international agreements are fiendishly complex and can take several years to conclude. The prime minister will argue Britain and the EU are in close alignment, so precedents for lengthy trade talks do not apply. But there are risks to his approach.
Talks cannot legally begin until the UK leaves the EU, currently scheduled for 31 January - leaving only 11 months to strike a deal to avoid no-deal Brexit. Theresa May had originally envisaged two years of talks. Experts say that on average, it takes 48 months to negotiate any trade deal, while a deal between Canada and the EU took seven years.
The manifesto is further complicated by an aim to negotiate free trade deals with countries accounting for 80% of UK trade within three years. Talks with the USA, Australia and Japan are planned first, “negotiated in parallel with our EU deal”. But experts say priorities will need to be made, as a deal with one trade partner could affect what can be negotiated with another.
The recipe for Johnson’s oven-ready Brexit plan extends far beyond this election, to the end of 2020 and beyond.
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And this from our media editor, Jim Waterson.
Not much on media in the Conservative manifesto:
— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) November 24, 2019
*Says BBC is to blame for over-75s licence fee mess
*Confirms no Leveson 2
*New gambling act to address issues around loot boxes in games
*Pledge to regulate web but protect free speech
*This weird bit on BBC as a tool of the state pic.twitter.com/Pc7TywkvKy
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This from the Guardian’s deputy political editor, Rowena Mason.
Boris Johnson pledge for 50,000 more nurses not quite what it seems - 12k from abroad, 14k new undergrad students, 5k degree apprenticeships. Which leaves 19k nurses “retained” who would otherwise have left... so not “new” nurses at all
— Rowena Mason (@rowenamason) November 24, 2019
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Conservative pledges: proposals on law and order contradict evidence
The Tories’ toughened stance on law and order is by now well-known, with Boris Johnson making his pledge to recruit 20,000 police officers one of the first he made as prime minister. Increased use of stop-and-search, longer sentences for some violent and sex offenders, and creating 10,000 new prison places are all in there.
However, much of what they’ve proposed goes against the evidence of what works when attempting to reduce crime and reoffending.
Experts warn stop and search entrenches knife crime. The government’s own serious violent crime strategy states that violent crime has a clear link to “poor life outcomes”, low educational attainment, poor health, unemployment and more. Short prison sentences, which were close to being scrapped before Johnson took office, are proven to be ineffective.
The Tories are getting tough on crime without being so tough on – or interested in – its causes.
Some more criticism of the failure of the Tory manifesto to address the crisis in social care.
Outside No 10, Day 1: “I am announcing now – on the steps of Downing Street – that we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan we have prepared”
— Tom Clark (@prospect_clark) November 24, 2019
Today: the big reveal on that plan.
Turns out it is “a long-term problem” requiring ... a “solution” pic.twitter.com/PJ4eWhf3Cs
It’s a tricky area of policy, I know, and fingers burnt last time
— Tom Clark (@prospect_clark) November 24, 2019
But there is literally nothing in the manifesto on care beyond confirmation of a small, short-term sticking plaster
If this is the “plan we have prepared” I do wonder about that other “oven-ready” plan
And on what appears to be a lack of money for their Northern Powerhouse rail pledge, from the political editor of the Manchester Evening News.
Here's what the Tory costings doc says re infrastructure £. The only thing I can see on there that could be new northern rail links is a total of £1.7bn between 2022 and 2024; this sounds a bit late, and not all that much, or is that just me? More to follow in the budget... pic.twitter.com/5dNK6RpvLg
— Jennifer Williams (@JenWilliamsMEN) November 24, 2019
So financially speaking, the Tories haven't really committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail at all. Unless I've missed something in the document. Oh and nothing in there for Piccadilly Station.
— Jennifer Williams (@JenWilliamsMEN) November 24, 2019
Conservative pledges: Tories offer £1 for every £28 from Labour
The Conservatives are offering a fraction of what the other leading opposition parties are proposing. When it comes to day-to-day spending, the Tory plan would increase the amount spent by just £2.9bn per year by 2023-24, compared to £82.9bn for Labour and £62.9bn for the Lib Dems.
On these grounds, Labour would spend almost £28 more than present for every pound the Conservatives promise, in the clearest attempt by the Tories to put clear blue water between Johnson and Corbyn. The differences are stark.
According to the Resolution Foundation thinktank, the plan would lift government spending as a share of national income a handful of places on the international league table for wealthy nations. Labour plan a German-sized state with spending around 45% of GDP, while the Conservatives aim to match the Netherlands at roughly 41%. Though modest in comparison to Labour, it would still mean the biggest increase in the size of the state under a Tory government since Harold Macmillan.
Johnson will hope the public believe Labour lack credibility with the public finances, with a boom-and-bust spending package to match. But it could backfire. The Tories could be charged with failing to credibly turn the page on a decade of austerity, while committing insufficient funds to tackle the climate emergency. The Tory manifesto therefore offers relative status-quo, versus fundamental reform.
Here’s Corbyn’s full response to the Conservative manifesto:
Boris Johnson has launched a manifesto for billionaires. They bought it and you’ll pay for it. After a decade of the Conservatives cutting our NHS, police and schools, all Boris Johnson is offering is more of the same: more cuts, more failure, and years more of Brexit uncertainty.
Boris Johnson can’t be trusted. Older people face a triple whammy as he has failed to protect free TV licences for over 75s, refused to grant justice to women unfairly affected by the increase in the state pension age, and not offered a plan or extra money to fix the social care crisis.
In contrast, Labour’s manifesto is full of popular policies that the political establishment has blocked for a generation.
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Conservative pledges: schools funding would not reverse cuts
The pledge for more money for schools was first made in the summer but no cash was forthcoming straight away. The schools budget was already set to rise by £1bn a year by 2023 due to an increase in the number of students, and it’s not clear if that’s included in the £14bn. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated that because student numbers are set to rise, and once inflation is taken into account. The extra money for schools adds up to a 7.4% real terms increase in spending per pupil between 2019-20 and 2022-23. This is less than the 8% it has worked out would be needed to reverse cuts in funding since 2009-10.
The Conservative offer on childcare is less generous than Labour’s – it does not explicitly promise free childcare for younger children, and it is unclear how money from the £1bn fund would be allocated.
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Unions have responded to the Conservative party’s manifesto and are, predictably, unimpressed.
Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said:
Tinkering around the edges offers nothing for those in our deindustrialised heartlands, or for those who voted Leave and are thinking of voting Tory or for their Brexit Party bedfellows.
There’s nothing in it for young people, for pensioners, for nurses, for teachers, for car workers, for public sector workers. The Tories will do nothing to rebuild our manufacturing industries or stop the abuses of migrant workers by greedy bosses who use them to undercut pay and conditions.
Manuel Cortes, leader of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, said:
This wafer thin offering from the Tories stands in stark contrast to Labour’s comprehensive and fully costed manifesto to reboot Britain. No serious party would come to the table with so little to say, and on Brexit, Johnson just sounds like a scratched record. He may not be aware but the Tories have been promising to get Brexit done for over three years. Saying it time and time again won’t make it happen and simply makes him look like even more of an Eton-educated buffoon.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said:
No-one should be fooled by the promises for the NHS and public sector. For the past nine years the Tories have slashed funding and let services slide. Now they are trumpeting a reversal of their own bungled policy of scrapping the nursing bursary - a problem of their own making. Social care needs a massive investment and the amounts they propose would barely make a dent. The call for higher wages will ring hollow to the millions of people who have seen their wages frozen under the Conservatives.
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Jeremy Corbyn has responded to the launch of the Conservative party manifesto, pointing out that they chose Shropshire – his home county – to do so.
“It’s a manifesto paid for by billionaires, written for billionaires, and will be delivered for billionaires but the problem is the rest of us will have to pay for it,” he said.
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The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has been speaking to the BBC about the manifesto.
One of the new announcements of the day was a commitment to deliver 50,000 new nurses and the return of the nurse bursary. He was asked about whether his party was wrong to cut nurse bursaries.
“One of the things about coming in as a relatively new health secretary with a new prime minister is that you can review things and work out what is the best way to go forward,” he said.
Asked about why there isn’t a full policy proposal on social care, he says their plan comes in three parts: to put more money into the system as it is now, to find a cross party consensus (“you can only solve a long-term problem like this with a cross-party consensus), and guaranteeing that people won’t have to sell their home to pay for their care.
Hancock is asked if he is open to the idea of making social care free at the point of use and funded by tax-payers.
That idea fits with our commitment that people wouldn’t have to sell their home to pay for their care ... but I don’t want to say anything more than that because I don’t want to put down further red lines, if you like, other than those we’ve set out in this document, because we are absolutely determined – if we are returned with a majority – immediately after the election to get on and get stuck into building that consensus for a solution that the whole country can get behind.
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BuzzFeed’s Alex Wickham has a link to a pdf of the Tory manifesto. You can have a read here.
Here’s the Tory manifesto PDF: https://t.co/OBgnFUwi2e
— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) November 24, 2019
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The Conservative party doesn’t seem to have published the manifesto online yet. This is from Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh, who is at the launch and has a hard copy.
The first page pic.twitter.com/hxDnicW19x
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) November 24, 2019
And here's some of the costings pic.twitter.com/AFnMVuyNzC
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) November 24, 2019
Here's a declaration of intent.
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) November 24, 2019
That iconic photo of workers in north east is reproduced on the back of the manifesto. pic.twitter.com/gVDPgg3TyI
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Paul Johnson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies has been talking to the BBC.
He said that the claim that the Conservatives were promising the biggest ever “cash boost to the NHS” was “broadly true” in cash terms, but not in real terms, so was “misleading”.
“Once you take into account the fact that spending is a lot higher than it was in the past, it’s not such a big increase,” he said. “It’s a substantial increase. It’s bigger than we’ve seen over the past 10 years, but it’s not in line, actually, with what the NHS got in the past 40 or 50 years.”
He said that the big increases in spending in the manifesto were already announced in the last spending round.
“What this seems to imply is that outside of schools and hospitals there’s not going to be much to go around in the remaining four years of parliament,” he said. A lot of the cuts we’ve seen in justice and local government “are pretty much baked in if you take this manifesto at face value”.
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Here are some more points from the manifesto:
- A Conservative government would get rid of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.
- They would aim to have 80% of UK trade covered by free trade agreements within the next three years.
- The party would increase the defence budget by at least 0.5%.
- They would ensure workers have the right to request a more more predictable contract.
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Conservative pledges: housing offer may fuel demand without increasing supply
Mortgage lending rules that came in after the crash are designed to stop people taking on loans they could struggle to repay in future, but the Conservatives appear to be saying they would make changes to free-up lending. Fixing interest rates offsets some of the risk, but if prices fall there will be more people at risk of negative equity. Previous attempts by lenders to offer long-term fixed-rate mortgages have failed, so this would need a big change in the market and homebuyers’ attitudes.
A big problem with cutting deposits for first-time buyers is it is likely to fuel demand for homes without tackling the supply-side problems. Renters will be pleased with the pledges on no-fault evictions, and lifetime deposits, but social housing will be lost with the maintenance of right-to-buy.
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The Guardian’s deputy political editor, Rowena Mason, asks about the Conservative party’s decision to change one of its Twitter pages to resemble a fact-checking site during the first leaders’ debate
“I haven’t followed this Twitter stuff with the attention you would like, Rowena,” he says. “I will apprise myself of the detail of this”.
He then changes the subject to attacking Jeremy Corbyn’s decision to remain neutral on any second EU referendum.
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Asked why a pledge to lift the higher rate income tax threshold – which he promised in his leadership campaign – is not in the manifesto, Johnson says: “I haven’t lost my tax-cutting zeal.”
He says it’s “important to focus tax cuts where people need them most”.
The Daily Mail’s political editor asks him why there is no big plan to deal with the pressures on social care in the manifesto. Johnson repeats the line – used by cabinet ministers over the last few days - that they will be reaching out to other parties to find a way to address the problem. He promises that nobody will have to sell their home to fund their care.
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The Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn asks about maintaining troop numbers. Johnson interrupts him to say they would not cut the armed services. He says there is a “sharp distinction” between his position and that of the leader of the opposition.
He responds to a question about fiscal discipline and he says “we are doing this sensibly” and that a Conservative government would be bringing debt down.
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A journalist from the Shropshire Star asks about the A&E department in Telford. “We will certainly make sure the A&E in Telford is kept open,” says Johnson. He says that he is sure the health secretary, Matt Hancock, would be happy to talk to the reporter about it afterwards.
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Sky’s Beth Rigby asks him about trust. Voters laughed at you in TV debates when you said that truth in politics is important, she says.
Johnson says he was determined to leave the EU by 31 October and parliament prevented this from happening. “That is why we do need to fix this broken parliament, get a working majority and get that deal over the line.”
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The BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, asks whether Johnson acknowledges that people would be making a big leap of faith in voting for him after he broke his promise on taking the UK out of Europe by the end of October. Johnson says that parliament blocked him from doing so. He says that for three and half years people have seen politicians engaged in endless “dither and delay” and that they want to see Brexit done.
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ITV’s Robert Peston says that the Conservatives are pledging £3bn a year of extra public service spending compared to Labour’s £83bn a year, and £8bn of increased investment compared to £80bn a year from Jeremy Corbyn. Why wouldn’t people who want to see improvements in public services vote for Labour?
Johnson says he couldn’t disagree more. By 2033, we will we see a 29% increase in funding in the NHS, he says. Tory plans would include the biggest ever cash boost to the NHS.
“It is true that we are doing it in a sensible way,” he says. Johnson says they are making big commitments and they can only do that because “we have a dynamic and growing economy”.
He says all Labour governments end with an economic crisis. “The only difference with Corbyn and McDonnell is they propose to start with an economic crisis”.
This line gets the biggest cheer yet:
Let’s go carbon neutral by 2050 and Corbyn neutral by Christmas.
That’s it from Johnson’s speech. Now some questions from the media.
The manifesto says a Conservative government would build “Northern Powerhouse Rail” between Leeds and Manchester, and then focus on Liverpool, Tees Valley, Hull, Sheffield and Newcastle. They would make a £28.8bn investment in strategic and local roads.
More from the manifesto. Johnson says the party is proud to have confirmed £34bn per year by the end of the parliament in additional funding for the NHS.
Within the first three months of our new term, we will enshrine in law our fully-funded, long-term NHS plan.
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Johnson mocks Corbyn’s neutral position on Brexit, saying that if the Labour leader doesn’t believe in the deal he will try and agree with the EU “then who does believe in it?”
“It would be farcical and comical if the consequences of that approach weren’t so disastrous,” he says.
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Johnson repeats the claim that “Corbynomics” would mean £2,400 extra in taxes for every person. (We fact checked this claim here.)
PA Media has been pulling announcements from the manifesto.
It pledges to provide £1bn of additional funding for social care in every year of the next parliament, but stops short of providing a plan to solve the social care funding shortage, other than stating that the money raised cannot come from forcing elderly care recipients to sell their homes.
We will build a cross-party consensus to bring forward an answer that solves the problem, commands the widest support, and stands the test of time. That consensus will consider a range of options but one condition we do make is that nobody needing care should be forced to sell their home to pay for it.
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Johnson says the Tories will invest millions more every week in science, education and infrastructure. He says his government set a net zero carbon emissions target of 2050.
And the party will do all of those things without raising VAT, national insurance contributions or income tax, he says.
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He repeats his line that the deal is “oven ready” to go and would allow them to restore confidence and certainty to businesses.
“Get Brexit done and we can focus our hearts and our minds on the priorities of the British people.”
He says the manifesto commits them to providing 50,000 more nurses.
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Johnson is taking to the stage to some pretty dramatic music and chants of “Boris”.
He says the other parties want to frustrate the will of the people. Corbyn “used to be indecisive,” says Johnson. “Now he’s not so sure”.
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Here are some lines from the manifesto, as reported by Reuters.
- The Conservatives will create up to 10 free ports around the UK.
- They will not extend the Brexit deadline implementation period beyond December 2020.
- They will no longer allow people to claim child benefit for children living overseas after Brexit.
- They will deliver 50,000 more nurses.
Jacob Rees-Mogg – who has not been seen in public since his disastrous remarks on Grenfell – is not at the launch.
Jacob Rees-Mogg still not allowed out. Whole cabinet but him are in Telford for manifesto launch
— John Crace (@JohnJCrace) November 24, 2019
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You can watch the live feed of the Conservative party manifesto launch at the top of this blog or here.
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The party’s chairman, James Cleverly, is on the stage repeating the slogan “Get Brexit done”. He says the kind of change Corbyn is offering is not the kind of change the UK needs.
All of their policies are rooted in the past. Ours look to the future. Theirs empower the state. Ours support real people.
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Boris Johnson is about to take to the stage in Telford to launch his party’s manifesto. The cabinet have arrived.
The BBC has defended the broadcast of an edited clip of Boris Johnson’s Question Time performance that sparked a row on Twitter, reports Aaron Walawalkar.
Audience members could be heard laughing after Johnson was asked whether it was important for someone in his position “to always tell the truth” during the live broadcast of the Leaders Special on Friday night.
Twitter user Nick Flaks noticed this laughter was seemingly missing from the clip broadcast during BBC News’ lunchtime bulletin on Saturday.
What the ACTUAL fuck!?
— Nick Flaks 🌹🏳️🌈🇪🇺 (@NickFlaks) November 23, 2019
BBC News edited out the audience laughing at Boris Johnson on the topic of ‘telling the truth’ (and instead shows them clapping wildly him).#LabourForHope #GetJohnsonOut pic.twitter.com/fZyww5LzEY
Veteran columnist Peter Oborne likened the video edit to something that would normally be seen “on state TV in Soviet Russia”, demanding the BBC explain itself. The BBC presenter Huw Edwards hit back, dismissing Oborne as sounding “crackers”.
A BBC News spokesperson said: “This clip, which was played in full on the 10 O’clock News last night, was shortened for timing reasons in today’s lunchtime bulletin. We’ve fully covered Boris Johnson’s appearance on the BBC QT special, and the reaction to it, across our outlets.”
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Lunchtime summary
- Speaking ahead of the Conservative manifesto launch in Telford at 2pm, the chancellor, Sajid Javid, said the party’s manifesto would be published along with “the most detailed most transparent costings that have ever been published in British electoral history by any party”. He said the only way to avoid a no-deal Brexit was to deliver a Conservative majority at the next election, which would allow the UK to leave the EU by the end of January.
- Labour has announced it would spend £58bn on compensating women who have been financially hit by the decision to raise the pension age from 60 to 66 (see full story here). The shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that the government has “failed the women who were born in the 1950s”. The Lib Dem leader, Jo Swinson, criticised the announcement – which doesn’t appear in Labour’s manifesto – as being another item on a wishlist. “Where’s the money coming from is the question that was not answered.” she asked.
- Swinson told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show that the Conservatives were on course to get a majority and that her party was the only one that could stop them. “Who is going to stop Boris Johnson from getting a majority?” she said. “If we look at things as they stand, it is not the Labour party. Even in seats like Grimsby, Labour are not even managing to hold their own.”
- Latest polling suggests Labour is set to lose all but one of its seats in Scotland. A Panelbase study for the Sunday Times suggested that only Ian Murray, a frequent critic of the party’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn, would be returned to the House of Commons. The poll, which surveyed 1,009 people in Scotland, found that support for Labour in Scotland could dip from 27% to 20%.
- The DUP leader, Arlene Foster, has given an interview to PA Media in which she has indicated her party could potentially do business with Labour in a hung parliament if Jeremy Corbyn was not leader.
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Here’s the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent, Jennifer Rankin, responding to Sajid Javid’s comments from this morning:
Sajid Javid tells @RidgeOnSunday that an EU-UK trade deal can be "done certainly by the end of next year, of that I have no doubt".
— Jennifer Rankin (@JenniferMerode) November 24, 2019
Senior EU diplomat this week: "Not in my wildest dreams would I imagine that a possibility."
Two canards in Sajid Javid comments. 1. He suggests the 11-month timetable possible because "most of the work has already been done".
— Jennifer Rankin (@JenniferMerode) November 24, 2019
But that's not true. UK government has made preparations, but trade talks have not even begun.
Second canard: Sajid Javid suggests talks will go quickly because "the EU and the UK are aligned, we agree on all the key principles". But it's the de-alignment that's going to be so difficult. That's why the EU diplomat cannot imagine wrapping up talks in 11 months.
— Jennifer Rankin (@JenniferMerode) November 24, 2019
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Adam Price, the leader of Plaid Cymru, has also been speaking to broadcasters this morning. He told the BBC’s deputy political editor, John Pienaar, that he wouldn’t apologise for likening Wales’s relationship with England to that of a colonial power.
“[An] extractive economy with political power outside of its own nation. I mean, what word would you use to describe that?” said Price.
I think that Wales, like any western country itself, benefited from colonialism. And we as a nation have a moral debt to those countries as well. But that’s not to exclude the fact that Wales suffered too in different ways and in a different context. But, you know, I can take you, John, round communities in Wales where you have intergenerational poverty. You know, it’s there in the physical fabric of those communities. It’s there on the faces of the people. And I’m not going to apologise about feeling angry about that.
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Today’s Observer has an interview with the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, which is worth a read. Here are some key quotes.
On Labour’s election chances:
I do believe in miracles, but we don’t need a miracle. Last time, at this stage of the campaign, I was getting lots of phone calls from colleagues saying, ‘We’re going to be wiped out and [we’re] really worried’. We’re at that stage now. I’m getting the phone calls which are saying: ‘I think, at best, [Labour will be the] largest party [in parliament]’. Then people saying: ‘Actually, on the doorstep, it doesn’t feel like the polls’.
On the scale of the party’s spending commitments:
The problems we face, the issues that we face, are big. They’re huge. So it does require a huge response. We’ve got these weeks to get that message across. But you’re right. We talk about billions. People just switch off. So the issue for us is translating that into what does it mean in your local area … so people don’t think the big numbers are just unreal.
Asked if they would accept a continuation of freedom of movement with the EU in a future deal:
It will be a negotiating issue … Of course, we welcome the principles of free movement, but we also recognise that there are issues that have to be addressed.
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Here is a summary of the highlights from this morning’s political broadcast interviews:
- Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he would not remain neutral in any second EU referendum. He told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday that members of the shadow cabinet would be able to campaign on the basis of their judgment. He said: “I’ll wait until I see the details of the deal that we negotiate. I’ve said up until now – I was in the negotiations with the Conservatives for six weeks and I couldn’t see a deal even emerging then that could beat remain, but let’s see what we can negotiate.”
- Chancellor Sajid Javid told the same programme that the Conservative party’s manifesto would be published along with “the most detailed most transparent costings that have ever been published in British electoral history by any party”. He said the only way to avoid a no-deal Brexit was to deliver a Conservative majority at the next election, which would allow the UK to leave the EU by the end of January.
- On the Labour party’s announcement that it would spend £58bn on women caught in a pension trap (see full story here), the shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that the government has “failed the women who were born in the 1950s”, adding: “They stole their pension, that contract, that agreement that they thought they had, and then accelerated it so those women didn’t have the chance to prepare for that.”
- The Lib Dem leader, Jo Swinson, told Marr that the Conservatives were on course to get a majority and that her party was the only one that could stop them. “Who is going to stop Boris Johnson from getting a majority?” she said. “If we look at things as they stand, it is not the Labour party. Even in seats like Grimsby, Labour are not even managing to hold their own.”
- Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, set out her red lines for supporting a minority Labour government. She said she would want to see Trident nuclear weapons scrapped, more powers handed to Holyrood, as well as the granting of a second independence vote.
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DUP could support Labour minority government without Corbyn
The DUP leader, Arlene Foster, has given an interview to PA Media in which she has indicated her party could potentially do business with Labour in a hung parliament if Jeremy Corbyn was not leader.
She said she could see no circumstance in which the DUP would support a minority Labour administration with Corbyn as prime minister, but acknowledged there were others in his party with whom she could consider working.
Jeremy Corbyn, of course, is an anathema to anyone who believes in the United Kingdom. I mean, he would destroy the economy. We’ve seen that through his manifesto launch. I mean, some of it is complete fantastical stuff. How he’s going to fund that no one knows, he would wreck the economy.
He would wreck the defence of our nation as well. And more than that it would lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom. So therefore, we cannot see any circumstances, I see no circumstance where we would support a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour party.
Of course, there are others in the Labour party who take a different view to Jeremy Corbyn. And, if it comes to be the case that someone else is leading the Labour party, then we will judge it against not only our 12-point plan but whether it’s good for Northern Ireland to be in communication with whoever’s leading the Labour party at that time.
Foster rejected the suggestion that Corbyn’s position on Brexit, with his opposition to the erection of economic barriers down the Irish Sea, was more unionist than either Theresa May or Boris Johnson. “I think that’s probably a tactical attack for him on the Conservative party as opposed to anything he really genuinely believes in terms of the United Kingdom,” she said.
Asked whether unionism would be in trouble if Johnson secured a large majority, thus enabling him to ratify his deal in parliament, Foster said:
Well, I don’t think they will come back with a large majority. But we will still continue to use our influence there if they do come back with a large majority and to make sure that Northern Ireland’s voice is heard with our strong team of DUP MPs.
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Some more polling, this time from Opinium for the Observer, has the Conservatives with a 19-point lead over Labour.
That statement by Swinson that the Conservatives are on course to win a majority is yet more evidence that the party is shifting its position from “Swinson could be prime minister” to “we can help deny Johnson a majority”.
The BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, wrote this a couple of days ago, noting the shift.
Libs position been shifting for a few days ... https://t.co/ILOi3umNOy
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) November 24, 2019
There’s some polling here on Westminster voting intentions in Scotland that shows the Conservatives up seven points.
Scottish Westminster voting intention:
— Britain Elects (@britainelects) November 24, 2019
SNP: 40% (+1)
CON: 28% (+7)
LAB: 20% (+1)
LDEM: 11% (-2)
BREX: <1% (-5)
via @PanelbaseMD, 22 Nov
Chgs. w/ 11 Octhttps://t.co/m1hoBpI81D
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Michael Gove has just been speaking to Marr. He was asked about social care and he said “we want to forge a consensus” on the issue. “How are you going to do a consensual deal with people you revile so much?” asked Marr. Gove said there are people in the Labour party – though not in the leadership – who they could work with.
Gove says the political challenge is one for all parties. “The approach that we in the Conservative party take towards these big issues is actually to be generous, open and inclusive and to say let’s work together in order to make sure we have a solution that spans the generation.”
Asked about maintaining the overall size of the armed forces, he says: “We have absolutely no plans to reduce the size of the armed forces at all.” (I’ve previously written about the army’s recruitment crisis, with frontline combat units operating as much as 40% below strength. You can read below.)
Asked if there would be any possibility of asking for another EU extension beyond one year in the next phase, Gove said: “No … we’ll be out of the EU by January.”
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Nicola Sturgeon was on Sky earlier. She said her party would only ever enter into a “less formal arrangement” to support a minority Labour government.
In terms of supporting a minority Labour government, I have been clear we wouldn’t have a formal coalition, it would be a less formal arrangement, and yes of course I would expect [Labour leader] Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party to respect Scotland’s right to choose our own future.
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Swinson: Johnson on course for majority
Swinson’s party could end up with a lot of sway in a future hung parliament, says Marr. He asks what their priority would be. “Of course, the Liberal Democrats want to stop Brexit and we will be campaigning to stop Brexit,” she says.
“As things stand, Boris Johnson is on course to get a majority,” she says. “If you look at the polls right now, that is what they say.” The Liberal Democrats are the party in the best position to take many seats from the Conservatives.
Swinson says the Lib Dems would vote in favour of having a second EU referendum with Boris Johnson’s deal as one option and remaining as the other option.
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Marr says that the Question Time show on Friday night showed that there is still a lot of anger towards the Lib Dems from “lefty-leaning, remain-voters”. Swinson says that in coalition there were constant battles that weren’t always seen by the public because of the principle of collective responsibility.
She’s asked what was going through her mind when she voted for 17% cut in social care budgets and cuts to the police. They were making difficult decisions in the context of the a smaller economy after the financial crash, she says. “I’m sorry we didn’t win more battles in that coalition.”
The Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson is on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show.
“It’s not gone terribly well has it?” starts Marr (ouch). “Well, I’m enjoying the campaign. Clearly there has been a squeeze,” says Swinson. She says “the stitch-up” between Nigel Farage and the Conservatives has had an effect.
“Who’s going to stop Boris Johnson getting a majority? Well, it’s not the Labour party,” she says. Swinson argues that even in seats such as Grimsby the Labour party are not contenders.
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Rayner says what Labour is suggesting corporation tax is raised to wouldn’t even bring it up to 2010 levels and it would be less than it was under Thatcher.
Asked about Labour’s approach to the gender recognition act, over which there has been some confusion. “We will protect spaces under the qualities act … but we will also protect transgender women as well,” she says.
My colleague Michael Savage has some background on this:
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“We need to get past Brexit,” she says. “Most people listening to this show will have had enough.”
She is asked about the party’s pledge to women caught in a pension trap (see McDonnell’s interview earlier). She said the situation “fundamentally undermines the contract between a government and its people,”.
Marr says Labour is not being honest when it says its tax plans would affect only the richest 5%. Two million people on marriage tax allowance (which Labour will scrap) would each lose £250 a year. Rayner says the party’s measures would present a net benefit to families. “Everybody bar the top 5% would be better off under Labour,” she says.
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Labour’s shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, is on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. She is asked if a future Labour government – as opposed to just Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister – would take a position on the deal it had negotiated with Brussels in a future EU referendum. “That’s a hypothetical,” she says.
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McDonnell was asked if he was happy to see billionaires in the UK. “I’d like to see a more equal society,” he said. “I meet with very rich people in the City and elsewhere and they don’t want to be stepping over homeless people as they come out of their offices … they don’t want to live in gated communities.”
He was asked about the Labour line that it would not consider another Scottish independence referendum in “the early years of a Labour government”. “I wouldn’t expect anything in the first two or three years, at least,” he said.
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Future Labour ministers free to chose side in second referendum, says McDonnell
Speaking to Ridge earlier, the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said members of the shadow cabinet would be allowed to campaign how they wanted in a future second referendum, while Corbyn would remain a neutral “honest broker”.
McDonnell avoids saying how he would campaign, but says he will not remain neutral and that he has not seen a deal so far that is as good as remain.
“We don’t need a leader who will divide the country – it’s divided already,” he says.
He’s asked about Labour’s announcement today that it would create a £58bn compensation scheme for 3 million women who believe they have been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after steep increases to the state pension age. Here’s the story:
Ridge asks McDonnell why the measure is not in the party’s manifesto costings. “With these decisions … it’s outside of the score card. It’s a very special arrangement,” he says.
She asks if the measure is something the party has cooked up since Johnson was asked about it on Friday night’s BBC Question Time. McDonnell says they’ve been working on it for the past 18 months.
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The chancellor is asked about rumours of rifts between him and Johnson. “Were you relieved when he said he’d keep you on as chancellor?” he is asked. Javid says: “It was a great answer.”
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Javid is asked about no-deal planning. “The only risk of no deal is if there isn’t a Conservative majority,” he says. He repeats the line that there is a deal “ready to go” and that a Conservative government could get it done by the end of January.
Javid says the Tory manifesto will be “the most green manifesto that any party has ever published”.
He’s asked about a cut to inheritance tax. “Just wait and see what’s in the manifesto,” he says. “We will cut taxes whenever we can afford it an whenever it is prudent for the country.”
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Sajid Javid is on Sky now. He says that Jeremy Corbyn’s plans mean a tax increase of £2,400 per person. “Where’s that [figure] from?” says Ridge. He dodges the question.
Ridge asks him about the Tory plans to borrow billions more. Javid says we have had a decade of recovery and that it is important to balance the books, but also to get the economy going. “Today we have strong economic fundamentals, more people employed than ever before,” he says. He says they will balance day-to-day spending and have an “infrastructure revolution”.
He says he is clear that debt will be lower at the end of the next parliament than it is today.
Ridge asks about Moody’s decision to lower the UK’s credit outlook to negative. People will be thinking “what was the point of austerity?” she says. Javid says that that decision was because of the paralysis in our parliament.
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Good morning everyone, I’m Frances Perraudin and I will be liveblogging for you today as we gear up to the launch of the Conservative party’s manifesto later today.
The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, is speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge at the moment, so I’ll bring you highlights from that shortly. The chancellor, Sajid Javid, the SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, and the Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price, are due on after that. The Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson, and the shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, are due to appear on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, which starts at 9am.
Boris Johnson will launch his party’s manifesto in the West Midlands this afternoon, committing a Tory government to not raise income tax, VAT or national insurance for five years. He will also pledge to protect the value of state pensions, boost spending by £1bn on childcare during school terms and holidays, and cut energy bills by up to £750 a year for those in social housing. You can read the full story from my Observer colleagues here.
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