Closing summary
That’s all from us for this evening. Thanks for reading and commenting. For a comprehensive summary of the day’s politics news, see my colleague Andrew Sparrow’s wonderful election briefing:
And, for those who want to read yet more, Peter Walker, Rajeev Syal and Heather Stewart have our main UK politics story this evening:
A coalition of women’s groups has written to political leaders asking what they will do to end violence against women and girls if they win the general election.
The UK-wide coalition of more than 90 women’s organisations is calling for legislation to protect all women from domestic abuse. They want decisive action on the crisis in rape justice, proper funding for support services, and a duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment.
Sarah Green, the director of the End Violence Against Women coalition, said voters need to hear from party leaders and every candidate during the election that action in this area remains a priority.
Issues relating to the abuse and violence experienced by women and girls are no longer ‘behind closed doors’. Times have changed and many women and men demand that the government make a high priority of ending and preventing this abuse in the first place.
In their letter to the leaders, the coalition said:
Violence against women and girls is not inevitable, but it is enduring because it relates to women’s persistent inequality.
This election is taking place at a time of crisis in the criminal justice response to rape – even though more women than ever are coming forward to report to the police, just 1.5% of cases are being prosecuted.
Domestic abuse homicides are at their highest level for five years, reports of sexual harassment are reaching epidemic levels in our workplaces and education institutions and many women MPs are leaving political careers citing online abuse and threats of violence against them as factors.
These issues are deeply related and require urgent action by an incoming government.
Afternoon summary
- Jeremy Corbyn has launched what is probably the most eye-catching, radical surprising policy of the election campaign so far, promising free, full-fibre broadband for everyone in the country. Labour would deliver it by 2030 by nationalising part of BT, with remote and rural areas of Britain currently getting the worst broadband receiving the new service first. The ongoing cost would be paid for by a new tax on tech giants, with the free broadband saving families on average £30 a month, Labour says. In a speech in Lancaster Corbyn said that only 10% of Britain has access to full-fibre broadband, while in South Korea coverage is 98%. He said this showed how Labour would be using the power of the state to deliver an essential public service. He said:
Labour believes that the British people deserve the very best.
As a country we should be proud of our history of building treasured public institutions and services.
In the 19th century it was the public waterworks.
In the 20th century it was our fantastic National Health Service, freeing people from the fear of illness.
British Broadband will be our treasured public institution for the 21st century, delivering fast and free broadband to every home.
Only the government has the planning ability, economies of scale and ambition to take this on.
This is a mission for everyone to get behind.
My colleagues Mark Sweney and Patrick Collinson have a good analysis here of how feasible the plan is.
- Labour’s plans has caused alarm in the City, where it was claimed that the party has massively underestimated the cost of its free full-fibre broadband offer and that the prospect of further nationalisation could halt further investment in the sector. The plan to nationalise Openreach, the broadband division of BT, caused particular shock because until last night Labour had claimed that it had no nationalisation plans beyond its existing commitments to bring rail, energy, water and the Royal Mail back in to public ownership. The BT chief executive Philip Jansen said Labour’s plans would not cost £20bn, as the party claimed, but closer to £100bn. Julian David, chief executive of tech trade association techUK, said Labour’s plans would be a “disaster” for the sector. He said:
Re-nationalisation would immediately halt the investment being driven not just by BT but the growing number of new and innovative companies that compete with BT.
- Boris Johnson dismissed the plan as a “crazed communist scheme”. And the Conservatives sought to play up fears that the Corbyn plan shows that Labour’s nationalisation agenda will turn out to be more extensive than the party admits.
What will Corbyn nationalise next?
— CCHQ Press Office (@CCHQPress) November 15, 2019
But the Tories were also keen to stress their own plans to roll out improved broadband services, and there is likely to be some nervousness in CCHQ about how voters will react to the Labour giveaway. As a retail offer, it is big enough to get noticed - even by a public that seems bored and disengaged from the election. Corbyn’s analysis of the problem faced by the public is sound (Ed Miliband had a very pithy summary here), and ‘people like free stuff’ is not a bad guide to electoral behaviour. But this is a plan that marks an extension of the nationalisation agenda (other services being nationalised by Labour were once in the public sector; broadband wasn’t, because it did not exist in that era), and although voters might easily agree with Corbyn that the broadband service they are getting now is unsatisfactory, whether they think it would be any better under a monopoly state provider is another matter. The Tories claim a similar project in Australia has been a disaster. At this stage it is just too early to know how the electoral politics of this announcement will unfold.
- Johnson has faced questions about how “relatable” he is during a BBC Breakfast interview. In his encounter with the BBC’s Naga Munchetty, and a subsequent hour-long phone-in on Radio 5 Live, there were also references to the fact that no one even knows for sure how many children he has. Johnson did not seem to enjoy the references to his private life, but he insisted - as he always does - that he would not talk about his family, and got through both programmes without significant embarrassment.
- Johnson has escalated his attacks on Cobyn and Labour, claiming that that Corbyn’s plans are “absolutely terrifying”. In a short speech unveiling his battlebus, he sought to justify this charge with a series of allegations about the opposition - many of which were partially or wholly untrue.
- Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, has said his party would use regulation to make Britain “the gold standard of climate capitalism for the world”. He also said that the Lib Dems were committed to a £100bn programme over five years to tackle climate change.
That’s all from me for today.
My colleague Kevin Rawlinson is writing the blog now.
Updated
A former North Sea diver has been selected as the Brexit party’s candidate in Tynemouth, despite the fact he lives in Australia and has only ever passed through the northern English seaside town.
Ed Punchard, who survived the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster in 1988, claimed he had an affinity with Tynemouth, which is on the north bank of the Tyne, because it has a North Sea coast.
The 62-year-old, who grew up in North Wales, said he was willing to leave Australia – where he has lived for the past 30 years – if he is elected. He said he has family links to the fishing industry in south-west England and felt at home in Tynemouth. He said:
I have come here to win, not to muck about. I wouldn’t have come if I had not thought I could do it.
Tynemouth has been held by Labour’s Alan Campbell since 1997. He is standing again. The other candidates are John Appleby for the Liberal Democrats, Lewis Bartoli for the Conservatives and Julia Erskine for the Greens.
Another question from BTL (below the line).
What happens if someone casts a postal vote and then dies before polling day?
The answer to this one is easy; the vote still counts.
But it begs a much harder, and more interesting, question; can the votes of the dead decide an election?
In the new edition of Sex, Lies and Politics, a book edited by Philip Cowley and Robert Ford of 50 essays summarising the findings of research into elections and voting behaviour in a very readable manner, Kingsley Purdam addresses exactly this question. He says that 8.4m people requested postal votes in 2017 and that around 3,000 postal votes could have been completed by people who went on to die before polling day. That is around five votes per constituency. Purdam says that in North East Fife Stephen Gethins won by just two votes and “such a small margin could easily have been determined by voters who had already died before the count began.”
Lib Dems would regulate to make City 'gold standard of climate capitalism', says Ed Davey
Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, has delivered a speech on Lib Dem economic policy this afternoon. Here are the main points.
Our climate investment plan includes a new £10bn renewable power fund.
It alone would leverage in over £100bn of extra private climate investment.
Not a new subsidy, but state climate finance, to fast-track clean power deployment and give a healthy profit to the taxpayer. Payback as we clean up.
This fund will confirm Britain as the world leader in offshore wind, and make
Britain the global number one in tidal power too.
From Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon to a whole suite of tidal power stations round our coast. Creating another new climate industry.
And we will invest £15bn more to make every building in the country greener, with an emergency ten-year programme to save energy, end fuel poverty and cut heating bills. Cutting the average household’s energy bill by a whopping £550 a year.
- He said the Lib Dems would regulate the City to address the climate emergency. he said:
We will regulate the City for climate.
From pension funds to banks, from the debt markets to the stock exchange.
Mandatory disclosure on fossil fuel investments, to expose investors to their climate risks.
New laws to require a financial institution or large corporate to publish their multi-year strategy to move to net zero.
New accounting standards and laws, to write down climate damaging assets to a zero value by 2045.
Under Liberal Democrats, the UK can become the gold standard of climate capitalism for the world.
- He said that by remaining in the EU, the Lib Dems would generate a £50bn “remain bonus” for the economy. The Lib Dems are committed to revoking article 50 if they form a majority government (which is probably impossible, given their size and the extent of their support). Interestingly, although Davey spoke about the Lib Dem commitment to keep the UK in the EU, he did not mention revoking article 50. There have been claims that voters are reacting badly to this promise, and that instead the Lib Dems are more keen on stressing their commitment to backing remain in a second referendum.
- He said the Lib Dems would adopt “well-being budgeting”. He said:
What does well-being budgeting mean? Well, go check out the early experiments in New Zealand – where investment in mental health services has gone up.
And then think what a well-being approach to human capital would mean for investment in education and training.
I can confirm today, that investment in infants, children, young people and adults – their education, their training, their wellbeing – this would be the top day-to-day spending priority for the Liberal Democrats.
- He said the Lib Dems would aim for a structural surplus in current spending. He said:
How you ensure that your day-to-day spending on things like salaries and benefits, is covered by your revenue, primarily tax receipts.
The Resolution Foundation have proposed a new fiscal rule for day-to-day spending - that a government should target a structural surplus in current spending equal to 1% of national income over a parliament.
And their rule retains sensible flexibility, allowing spending up to minus 1% of national income - if there’s a downturn and forecasts turn out wide of the mark.
Liberal Democrats will adopt that fiscal rule – and our spending plans meet it, with current account surpluses in every year of our five year costings.
Here is a question from below the line prompted by the post at 2.34pm, saying Boris Johnson will be defending the smallest majority for a prime minister since 1924.
Can Boris Johnson remain as prime minister if he loses his seat?
In 1906 the Conservative leader Arthur Balfour lost his seat only weeks after being replaced as PM by the liberal, Henry Campbell-Bannerman. But Balfour soon returned to the Commons in a byelection and served as leader of the opposition.
If the Tories lose the election, and Johnson loses his seat, he may decide to follow the Balfour example. Or he may decide to walk away and do something else.
The much more interesting question is, what would happen if Johnson loses his seat, but the Conservatives win.
In Britain the prime minister has always been a member of parliament and since 1902, when the Marquess of Salisbury stood down, the PM has always been a member of the House of Commons, not the House of Lords.
But there is nothing in the constitution or in law saying that the prime minister has to be an MP. And there are precedents for people serving in government and not being members of the Commons or the Lords. Harold Wilson made Patrick Gordon Walker foreign secretary even though he lost his seat in the 1964 election. But when Gordon Walker lost a byelection three months later, he had to stand down.
Unless there is something in the Conservative party rules saying the party leader has to be an MP (which the party may be able to bypass anyway), it would theoretically be possible for Johnson to remain as PM, even if he had lost his seat, pending a byelection at which he might return. This would be unprecedented, but precedent has become a poor guide to our politics recently. A lot would depend on whether his party accepted this (ie, whether he was still seen as an election winner), and perhaps on whether Buckingham Palace were willing go along with this arrangement.
Doubtless the idea of being prime minister but without having to turn up to PMQs every week might appeal to Johnson. Most politically-conscious Britons would consider it unthinkable to have a prime minister not sitting in parliament, but in many other parts of the world the head of the executive is not a member of the legislature and it is not entirely impossible to imagine that one day in the UK this could change.
UPDATE: I’ve corrected the post to reflect the fact that, by the time he lost his seat in the 1906 general election, Arthur Balfour had already been been replaced as prime minister by Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who replaced him when the Conservative government fell in December 1905, precipitating the election.
Updated
And if you don’t trust polling, you can always try using focus groups to get an understanding of public opinion. Lord Ashcroft, the Conservative peer and polling specialist, is conducting regular focus groups during the election campaign. He has just a report about the findings from his latest ones, conducted in three leave-voting, Labour-held seats (Stoke-on-Trent North, Bolton North East and West Bromwich East).
According to Ashcroft’s write-up, the groups divided into those who saw the election in terms of Brexit and those who did not. Amongst the latter group, opposition to the Tories was still quite high, Ashcroft says.
The thoughts of those – including leave voters, and even some 2017 Conservatives – for whom Brexit is not the main priority illustrate that taking these seats from Labour is by no means a done deal for the Tories. With echoes of the last election, austerity still loomed large in these voters’ minds.
But Ashcroft also found people sceptical about Labour’s proposals.
And this week’s policy news? “Promises on the health service, which I don’t believe;” “Labour said something about bringing back bursaries for nurses. I don’t think they’ll do it, but it was nice that they thought of it;” “There was something about a Russian file that they won’t release until after the election. It makes him sound a bit Trumpish;” “Corbyn is trying to get McDonald’s workers up to £15 an hour! If they do that, the price of food goes up, people don’t go into McDonald’s anymore and people lose their jobs;” “It’s more than half the people on the front line in the public sector;” “Just the money, Corbyn promising so many billion. They’ll put another note in at the end of the term, and say ‘sorry, there’s no money left’,” “Labour want to raise the Corporation Tax, don’t they. Businesses will just move. There will already be a cost with Brexit, so if you then raise Corporation Tax, what incentive is there for any company to stay in this country?” “The four-day week. I can get behind that;” “It’s all well and good if you’re not self-employed. Who’s going to pay me for a four-day week?” “I’m a business owner. If my staff come to me and say ‘Jeremy Corbyn says I only have to work four days,’ well, you’re no use to me.”
Panelbase has released a new poll. Polls, of course, do not always turn out to be accurate predictors of election results, but they are a better guide than using hunches or guesswork.
@PanelbaseMD @panelbase GB poll (changes since Nov 06-08)
— PanelbasePolitical (@PanelbaseMD) November 15, 2019
Westminster #GE2019
Con 43% (+3%)
Lab 30% (NC)
Lib Dem 15% (NC)
Brexit Party 5% (-3%)
Green 2% (-1%)
EU Referendum
Remain 52% (-1%)
Leave 48% (+1%)
Fieldwork Nov 13-14
Methodology note in graphic. pic.twitter.com/lhNm51BrKY
Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, has described the behaviour of Rupert Lowe, who stood down as a candidate for his party in the Labour/Tory marginal Dudley North yesterday, allowing no time for it to choose a replacement, as “disgusting”. Farage also offered an apology to voters in the constituency, who now will not have the option of voting for his party. Lowe, a Brexit party MEP, announced his decision moments before the 4pm deadline for nominations.
In their overnight press notice about their plans to revive neglected communities, the Conservatives said they would “reverse many of the Beeching rail cuts of the 1960s, reconnecting towns that have suffered since their railways were removed”. The party said it would fund this through a £500m “Beeching reversal fund”.
As the Press Association reports, Sim Harris, managing editor of industry newspaper Railnews, has said this fund “is not going to buy you very much”. Harris said opening many of the lines closed by the Beeching cuts would cost billions. He explained:
[£500m] is not going to buy you very much railway. A rebuilt railway costs millions for each kilometre.
It depends what’s happened to the railway since it closed. If it’s still there, and it’s a matter of upgrading and reopening a freight line, that is the cheaper option, but you’ve still got to spend money on the stations.
It would cost far more than that to really reverse Beeching.
From ITV’s Robert Peston
You wait an hour for a Tory bus and then two of the bloody things turn up #GeneralElection2019 pic.twitter.com/9Kk4GFWBZM
— Robert Peston (@Peston) November 15, 2019
Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach (prime minister) has said that agreeing a UK-EU free trade deal before the end of next year would be “difficult but not impossible”. The government insists that the deal will have to be concluded within this period, because Boris Johnson says he will not extend the transition period. Speaking at the British Irish Council meeting, he said:
In terms of negotiating a trade agreement before December 2020, it would be difficult but not impossible.
Even though the deal might be agreed, we could run into issues with ratification.
My aim is we will continue to have tariff-free trade with Great Britain, not just Northern Ireland.
One consequence of nominations closing yesterday is that we now know Boris Johnson will defend his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency and that rumours that he might decamp to a safer seat turned out to be unfounded. As the Press Association reports, Johnson will go into the election trying to defend the smallest constituency majority for a prime minister in nearly 100 years. In 2017 he held his seat with a majority of just 5,034. No prime minister since 1924 has fought a general election while simultaneously defending such a slim personal majority.
Nominations for the election have now closed. If you want to know who the candidates are standing in your area, there is a great page on our website here that will tell you.
Boris Johnson escalates anti-Corbyn rhetoric at battlebus launch
During an election campaign all leaders need a stump speech - a standard five-minute speech they can repeat over and over again, setting out why they should be elected. Boris Johnson has just delivered the latest version of his at the unveiling of the Conservative party’s election battlebus.
The Conservatives announced almost no new policy in the campaign so far (that may change when the manifesto eventually comes out) and there was little that was positive in the Johnson speech. Instead, it was mostly an attack on Labour, and Jeremy Corbyn in particular. Much of what Johnson was saying was not new. But the speech did include some criticism that was stronger than anything we’ve heard from Johnson in recent days (and probably less honest).
On the Labour plan for free broadband, Johnson went beyond describing it as “crackpot” (the line he used on the BBC this morning - see 9.39am) and instead described it as a “crazed communist scheme” (see 12.45pm). Johnson’s language is reminiscent of the Tories describing Ed Miliband’s plan for a cap on energy bills as “Marxist” - before adopting it two years later as party policy.
Johnson also claimed that, overall, Labour’s plans were “terrifying”. He said:
And what is Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party offering? ... I think it’s absolutely terrifying. I have to say, I think their programme is truly scary, disastrous for this country.
Johnson made various claims about Corbyn that have already regularly been aired by the Tories in the campaign: that Labour would hold two referendums next year (highly questionable - Corbyn says he would not allow a Scottish independence referendum in 2020, although Johnson said “that is the price that Nicola Sturgeon will demand for putting Jeremy Corbyn in power); that Labour would spend an extra £1.2tr over five years, costing taxpayers an extra £2,400 per year (implausible, because it is based on assumptions about Labour spending that are partly flawed or unfounded); and that Corbyn sided with Russia at the time of the novichok poisoning attack (arguable - Corbyn was initially sceptical of the UK government’s assessment that Russia was to blame, but Labour would contest that he “sided with” Russia.)
However, Johnson also added two other allegations that have barely featured in this campaign; that Corbyn wants to get rid of the army, and that he does not approve of home ownership. Johnson said:
Come with us, a government that backs our armed services, thinks they are a force for good around the world. Go with Corbyn and his lot, who actually think that the armed services should be disbanded - that’s what he said.
Come with us, a party that believes in helping people, wherever we possibly can, to have the satisfaction that comes from home ownership, which is absolutely right. Or go with Jeremy Corbyn, who actually thinks home ownership is a bad idea and is opposed to it.
The claim that Corbyn wants to get rid of the armed forces is based on a line he said in a speech in 2012: “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every politician around the world instead of taking pride in the size of their armed forces did what Costa Rica have done and abolished their army, and took pride in the fact they don’t have an army.” You can argue that this shows that Corbyn wants the army to be disbanded - but only if you are not willing to accept that there is a difference between musing about an ideal world, and advocating actual policy.
As for the line about Corbyn and home ownership, I have no idea where that comes from (unless Johnson was talking about second home ownership, where Labour policy is unsympathetic). I have asked the Conservative party if they can supply evidence for this, and will let you know if I get a reply.
Church of Scotland minister who accused Corbyn of being terrorist sympathiser suspended
The Rev Richard Cameron, who heckled Jeremy Corbyn on a visit to Glasgow on Wednesday and accused him of being a “terrorist sympathiser” has been suspended from his work as a minister while the Church of Scotland carries out an inquiry.
During the incident, the Scotstoun parish church minister told Corbyn: “I thought you’d be wearing your Islamic Jihad scarf.” It later emerged that he had posted a series of Islamophobic and homophobic tweets, and that the Humanist Society Scotland had complained about Cameron’s behaviour on social media nine months ago.
A Church of Scotland spokesperson said:
In accordance with our procedures Rev Richard Cameron has been administratively suspended. This is to allow us to carry out an inquiry in relation to the incident which took place earlier this week and the subsequent complaints about his social media use.
Updated
The Boris Johnson event was another of those where the close-up photographs make the room look packed, but where the wide-screen shots show that he was speaking to a relatively small audience. This is from the Manchester Evening News’ Jennifer Williams.
Boris Johnson doing one of his traditional half empty warehouse visits. We’ve got a lot of warehouses round here, could be a long campaign pic.twitter.com/VdJoQ8UeCo
— Jennifer Williams (@JenWilliamsMEN) November 15, 2019
Here is some video from the Boris Johnson bus launch.
Parliament is like a "blocked artery at the heart of the British body politic" - PM Boris Johnson says the majority of the UK can see that it's time to deliver the "will of the people" and sort out Brexit
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 15, 2019
Latest: https://t.co/GSp8goDF2r pic.twitter.com/kFZfzuPczd
Johnson has now finished.
It was only a very short stump speech, but it did mark an escalation in campaign rhetoric. Some of what he was saying about Labour was even more extreme, and questionable, than what he has said in the past. I will post the quotes shortly.
Johnson says he was not allowed to talk about Labour’s plans in his BBC appearances his morning. (The presenters tried to get him to focus on Conservative plans, not just on attacking Labour.)
But he says now he can talk about Labour.
Labour’s plans are terrifying, he says.
He repeats his claims (which Labour denies) that Labour would hold two referendums next year.
He claims that Labour is opposed to home ownership.
Boris Johnson dismisses Labour's free broadband plan as a 'crazed communist scheme'
Boris Johnson is now speaking at the launch of the Conservative battlebus.
He says Brexit will be like angioplasty. It will clear the arteries, and allow the government to focus on other projects.
Those will include rolling out broadband. But the Conservative plan will not be like the “crazed communist scheme” outlined by Labour today.
Updated
Here is an excellent Guardian explainer from my colleagues Mark Sweney and Patrick Collinson looking at how feasible the Labour free broadband plan is.
Updated
McDonnell says Labour is introducing this policy partly because broadband connectivity is an issue that people kept raising at public meetings. And they made the point that children could not do their homework without broadband access.
And so this is a measure that will tackle inequality, he says.
And that’s it. The Q&A is over.
Updated
Q: Will you be able to get access to land to lay these cables?
Corbyn says there will be some disruption as new cables are laid. But this is necessary, he says.
Q: Do you rule out a non-aggression pact with the Liberal Democrats in the election? Jo Swinson knows that having a Labour government is the only way to stop Brexit.
Corbyn says he is fighting the election on a pledge to end austerity, ending the problems introduced by the coalition government that included the Lib Dems.
He says Labour would introduce an early budget.
If other parties make ending austerity a point of negotiation, he would refuse.
He says he is not going into coalition with any of the pro-austerity parties. In fact, he is not planning to go into coalition with anyone. He is planning a majority.
Q: When would poorer communities see the benefits from this?
Corbyn says remote rural areas, that do not get any broadband at the moment, will get this early on.
People who want to expand small businesses in rural areas cannot do so without proper broadband.
Q: Do you plan to stop people watching porn on the government’s broadband service?
Rebecca Long-Bailey says there will be a charter of internet rights.
(She does not address the point about pornography.)
Q: Other companies that provide broadband also provide things like landlines. How would you separate out those? And would broadband workers from all other companies get to keep their jobs?
Long-Bailey says Labour does not want to stop other companies providing enhanced services. Workers who transfer will do so under TUPE. That means their rights will be protected.
Q: Can you do this under EU laws? If not, is it a tacit admission that you want to leave?
McDonnell says Labour has had legal advice saying this is compatible with EU law.
Updated
Corbyn's Q&A
Jeremy Corbyn and his colleagues are now taking questions.
Q: Isn’t the real problem with BT the fact that it has little competition. How would replacing it with a state monopoly make a difference?
Corbyn says he is proposing a public service, like any other public service.
He says his plan will improve the livelihoods of many people.
Every person in the room uses a computer every day, he says. They need this kind of access.
On public ownership, he says BT used to be in the public sector.
Q: Can you really afford this? BT say your plans will cost twice as much as you claim. And won’t ultimately taxpayers have to pay more?
McDonnell says the £20bn figure that Labour is using is a figure from the government’s own review.
Since privatisation, £54bn has been paid out in share dividends. That is twice as much as full-fibre rollout would have cost.
He says pension funds want the prospect of a steady income from something that is secure. This plan will offer that.
Q: Can you deliver this without a majority Labour government?
Corbyn says that issue does not arise because there is going to be a majority Labour government.
Updated
McDonnell urges people to see Ken Loach’s new film, Sorry We Missed You. It is shocking, he says. But it shows what is happening in the gig economy.
He says the plan being announced today is huge. But it is one that will transform lives.
McDonnell says for years people have said that taking on the multinationals is too difficult. But they accept that now is the time for it to happen.
McDonnell says this is an example of a “shovel-ready project” that Labour would initiate immediately.
McDonnell says this is not a return to the 1970s. This is public ownership for the future, he says.
And the government will publish a charter of digital rights.
Updated
McDonnell claims the Tories do not understand the problems facing the country, particularly the threat posed by the climate emergency.
He says, when he is chancellor, he will not tolerate people dying from being homeless.
He says it is important now for all infrastructure to be green.
And, turning to broadband, he says that in South Korea state investment has led to 98% of the population being covered by full-fibre broadband.
He says the UK has nothing like that scale of ambition.
Now that is changing. Mark it in your diary, he says. It is a historic moment.
British Broadband will be a new public service for the 21st century.
It will have an infrastructure and a service arm, he says.
And he says Labour will begin with the areas with the worst broadband.
Updated
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, is speaking now.
He says, whatever the Conservatives throw at them, Labour will continue to be relentlessly positive in the campaign.
Labour is costing every spending announcement, he says. But he says the Tory campaign is based on scaremongering.
Updated
Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, is speaking now. She says there is clear evidence that rolling out full-fibre broadband will boost the economy. She says one CBI survey said a 10% increase in its reach could increase GDP by 1%.
More people would be able to work at home under this plan, she says. And that would be good for the environment.
It would also reduce the number of people shut out of the workforce.
Updated
Corbyn says Labour has a track record of delivering tranformative change.
Only Labour can deliver this project, he says.
This will be at the heart of Labour’s plans to tranform our society, he says.
Updated
Corbyn says the initial upgrade will be funded by Labour’s green transformation fund.
And, when it comes to running costs, Labour will close down the tax loopholes exploited by the giant multinationals.
They think they can get away with not paying their share. Well, I’ve got news for them; not any more.
Corbyn says Boris Johnson promised during the Tory leadership contest to make full-fibre broadband available for everyone. But people would have to pay for it.
And now we have seen the government’s plans. They involve copper cables that are already out of date, he says.
Updated
Corbyn says there will be guaranteed jobs for people currently working in the broadband industry.
Corbyn says full-fibre network will be rolled out first in areas with worst broadband
Corbyn says the full-fibre broadband that Labour will deliver is the gold standard. It is the fastest and most secure. It will deliver “lightning fast” download times, he says.
The plans will save the average household £30 a month on bills.
Only eight to 10% of the UK has access to full-fibre broadband. In South Korea, it is 98%, he says. He says this is essential infrastructure.
The best way for this to be provided is for the public to take control of it. Labour will create a new enterprise, British Broadband, overseeing a publicly owned network, delivering full-fibre broadband within 10 years.
This will show Labour using public investment to transform the economy. This plan will also have national security implications, he says.
The current companies have had little incentive to roll out full-fibre broadband to remote and rural areas. Labour would prioritise those areas. And then it would roll it out in towns. Finally it would complete the roll-out in urban centres.
Updated
Corbyn says Labour manifesto will 'knock your socks off'
Jeremy Corbyn says at the start of the campaign he promised to put forward the most exciting plan ever seen. The party has not even published its manifesto, he says. When it comes next week, “it is going to knock your socks off”.
He says he does not want to lead a government that allows people to think nothing ever changes.
Today he is going to give a sneak preview.
A Labour government will make broadband free for everybody. And not just any broadband, but the very fastest, full-fibre broadband, to every home in the country.
He says, instead of billing customers, he will tax the internet giants such as Facebook and Google “fairly” to cover the running costs.
Updated
Cat Smith, Labour’s candidate for Lancaster and Fleetwood, is opening the Corbyn event.
Jeremy Corbyn's speech on Labour's plan for free broadband
Jeremy Corbyn is about to give a speech on Labour’s plans for free broadband in Lancaster.
There is a live feed at the top of the blog.
Boris Johnson's interview and phone-in - Summary
Here are the main points from Boris Johnson interview and phone-in with the BBC this morning.
- Johnson described Labour’s plan for free broadband as “crackpot”. Asked about his own plans for broadband, he said:
What we are going to deliver is gigabyte broadband for all and what we won’t be doing is some crackpot scheme that would involve many, many tens of billions of taxpayers’ money nationalising a British business.
- He claimed that his decision not to publish the report into Russian interference in elections was nothing to do with his having something to hide. When asked if this was why it had not been published, he said that was “absolutely not” the case. He claimed he was just following normal procedures.
I see absolutely no reason to change the normal procedures for publishing ISC [intelligence and security committee] reports just because there’s an election.
Dominic Grieve, the chair of the committee, has strongly rejected the No 10 claim that the delay in the report’s publication is routine.
- Johnson claimed there was no evidence of Russia interfering in UK elections. He said:
There’s no evidence of that and you’ve got to be very careful before you ... you simply can’t cast aspersions on everybody who comes from a certain country, just because of their nationality.
- He claimed not to know whether it was true that nine Russian oligarchs have given “serious money” to the Conservative party. Asked to confirm this, he said: “I honestly don’t know.” All donations were legitimate, he said:
Frankly, all donations to the Conservative party are properly vetted and properly publicised, and I think all donations to the Conservative party and all other parties are properly vetted and properly publicised.
I leave it to your teams of researchers to bring that fact before us - it’s all there in the public domain.
- He said the government had “got to do better” on the NHS.
- He declined an opportunity to clarify exactly how many children he has. The BBC’s Rachel Burden told him this was an issue many people raised. She said:
Lots of people have been in touch this morning saying, ‘ask the prime minister how many children he has’. That is a question that frequently comes up, just so you’re aware.I think people find it odd that someone who is a public figure can’t answer that question.
Johnson said he did not comment on his children. But he told Burden she was wrong to assume that none of his children had gone to state schools.
Your assertion that none of my children have been to state school is wrong. That’s all I’ll say.
Ed Vaizey, the former Conservative minister for broadband, told the Today programme he thought Labour’s plan for free broadband was “crazy”. He explained:
It will end up costing taxpayers a huge amount of money and I suspect it will delay the rollout of superfast broadband hugely. I think they will achieve completely the opposite effect …
There’s a difference between government investing strategically where there is market failure – and I’ll acknowledge that in some areas there is market failure – and a wholesale nationalisation of the telecoms network.
Australia have tried the sort of nationalisation approach with their broadband network. It’s been a 10-year project, it’s gone three times over-budget from $15bn dollars to $45-51bn dollars, and it’s meant that Australia has dropped down the broadband rankings.
Updated
Here is my colleague Rajeev Syel’s most recent story about Labour’s plan to provide free broadband, including what John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has been saying about it in interviews this morning.
Jeremy Corbyn is giving a speech on this at 11am, and at the event he will also be taking questions, alongside McDonnell and Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary. We’ll be covering it live.
The Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn has also been factchecking the PM.
Boris’s most surprising fail in an extensive BBC broadcast round this morning: thinking the proportion of EU and non-EU net immigration is 50/50. It’s not, and hasn’t been for some years. Actually 20/80 (EU 59,000, non-EU 219,000). pic.twitter.com/IVOANK0obC
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) November 15, 2019
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The Labour party has also been conducting its own factchecking scrutiny of what Boris Johnson said in the phone-in.
Boris Johnson just lied on #BBCYourQuestions. He tried to pass the blame for his failed 'Garden Bridge', but it was him who wasted £46m of taxpayers money on his vanity project.
— Labour Press Team (@labourpress) November 15, 2019
Johnson lied again on #BBCYourQuestions - he said the murder rate fell below 100 for 'several years' during his tenure as Mayor, but that's simply not true. And he's already been pulled up about it this summer! https://t.co/qaYzFymPsq
— Labour Press Team (@labourpress) November 15, 2019
Boris Johnson can't help himself. Another lie on #BBCYourQuestions. He claimed that as London Mayor he took 11,000 knives off the street through stop-and-search. In fact, only 4,500 knives were recovered. https://t.co/sWNSBljElu
— Labour Press Team (@labourpress) November 15, 2019
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The BBC’s Reality Check team have posted two tweets about Boris Johnson’s Radio 5 live phone-in.
Boris Johnson says Jeremy Corbyn would have a Scottish referendum "next year". Mr Corbyn says he would "not countenance an independence referendum in the early years of a Labour government" #bbcyourquestions
— BBC Reality Check (@BBCRealityCheck) November 15, 2019
Mr Johnson said post-Brexit he could cut VAT on things he can't now: "sanitary products, you name it".
— BBC Reality Check (@BBCRealityCheck) November 15, 2019
The EU has a 15% minimum standard VAT rate, so on most things VAT could fall. Tampons have a 5% minimum, which is the UK rate. The EU is in the process of changing that rule.
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Labour criticises Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price for saying Wales victim of 'internal colonialism'
Welsh Labour has accused the leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price, of using offensive, populist and attention-grabbing language by comparing the oppression of people of colour over the centuries to being Welsh.
When he addressed the Plaid conference last month, Price called for the Westminster government to pay its “debts” to Wales. He said:
We don’t want anyone’s charity – but reparation for a century of neglect that has left a country, rich in its resources, a bitter legacy of poverty, sickness, blighted lives and broken dreams.
And in an interview published on Thursday by the Welsh thinktank iwa, Price said:
We had an extractive economy with a political power centre outside of our nation. For most people that is analogous if not identical to the experience of colonialism. The context, of course, is going to be different in every case.
The term internal colonialism was invented to describe the experience of African Americans in the United States. In fact, there is a quote from the 19th century where they were referencing our experience – the Welsh inside the British Isles – in order to explain their own experience of internal colonialism. I don’t think you can understand the predicament we’ve been left in without those two salient facts and the interrelationship between the two.
Price said there was a “gasp” from the press when he made his remarks at conference and added: “Sometimes, let’s be honest, you have to say very bold things in order to get a response.”
On Friday, Welsh Labour’s health minister, Vaughan Gething, called for Price to apologise. He said:
Plaid seek to present themselves as a party of tolerance and inclusion. Adam Price’s choice yet again to use the provocative and racially loaded language of reparations is far from tolerant and inclusive. It is deliberately offensive attention-seeking. This isn’t hidden, he brazenly admits it in the interview.
He deliberately conflates the oppression of people of colour over the centuries with being Welsh, despite Wales’s own role in that oppression being widespread and well documented. This is shameful.
His faux-intellectual posturing is nothing more than Trumpian populism. We cannot allow this poison to take hold in our politics.
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Johnson says it's not true to say none of his children have attended state schools
Q: Your education was not typical.
Johnson says he went to the same state primary school as Ed Miliband.
Q: But you went to Eton. Can you ever see a time when state schools have the same resources as private ones?
Johnson says he wants to level up school spending.
Burden asks about Johnson’s own children. They did not go to state schools, did they? Does he have any children who are still of school age?
Johnson replies:
I’m not going to comment on my children, if that’s all right.
Burden says this issue does come up. She says many viewers say they want Johnson to be asked how many children he has. (See here.) Burden does not put the question to him directly, and he does not address it, saying he does not want to talk about his children, but he does say:
Your assertion that none of my children have been to state schools is wrong.
And that’s it.
I will post a summary soon.
Updated
Johnson says affordable childcare is “the holy grail”.
Q: There is a crisis in funding this. And it is women who are disproportionately affected.
Johnson says he understands how important this issue is. He will be looking at what the government can do to help.
Q: Why aren’t you publishing the report on Russia before the election?
Johnson says he sees no reason to change the normal procedures just because there is an election.
Q: But it has been cleared for publication by the intelligence agencies.
Johnson repeats the point about there being no need to change the standard publication procedures.
(Dominic Grieve, the intelligence and security committee chair, has said it is not true to say that it is normal for No 10 to hold up a report like this for weeks. It has happened before, when a reports needs security clearance. But this report was cleared by the intelligence services some time ago.)
Q: How many Russian oligarchs donate to the Conservative party?
Johnson says those figures are publicly available.
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Rachel Burden asks about yesterday’s A&E waiting times. She says:
Do you feel any sense of shame that the NHS has been brought to its knees by a Conservative government?
At this point the caller intervenes, siding with Johnson. She says her personal experience of the NHS has been a good one.
Johnson says he knows that the NHS needs more money. And so it would be crazy to waste next year having two referendums.
(He keeps coming back to this attack line against Labour, that Labour denies. The party is only planning a single referendum, on Brexit, in 2020.)
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Johnsons says that when he was mayor of London, the city became one of the safest in the world. The murder rate went down to below 100 a year.
Rachel Burden says that was only for a year.
Johnson claims it was for several years. Burden says that’s wrong.
Here is an extract from a report my colleague Peter Walker wrote in June looking at Johnson’s record as London mayor.
Johnson said that as mayor from 2008 to 2016 he “cut the murder rate by 50%”, that knife crime went down, and he credited a rise in police stop-and-search operations with helping reduce crime.
The reality is more mixed. The murder rate fell significantly, if not by 50% – from 155 in 2008 to a low of 94 in 2014. It did then start to rise again under Johnson, reaching 109 by 2016. The statistics for total knife offences varied over the eight years, but were only marginally lower at the end – 9,937 in total for 2008-09, against 9,738 for 2015-16.
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Johnson dismisses Labour's free broadband pledge as 'crackpot scheme' that would cost many billions
Q: What are the Tories planning for mental health?
Johnson says he wants to invest properly in mental health. He wants wraparound care.
Q: Would you introduce free broadband?
Johnson says what he would not do is introduce “some crackpot scheme that would involve many, many billions of taxpayers’ money nationalising a British business”.
Q: Parliament should get us out of the EU. And taking no deal off the table is a mistake. Parliament is not fit for purpose. Oliver Cromwell was right 500 years ago. Good luck to you.
Johnson says he agrees. He thinks parliament has been “senselessly” blocking Brexit.
And he agrees that the EU has changed a lot in the last 20 years. Listen to what President Macron is saying about creating a banking union and an European army. Macron is a brilliant guy, but this is not what the British want.
Johnson says Labour would hold an independence referendum next year. And if Scotland joined the EU, it would have to adopt the euro.
Rachel Burden, the presenter, interrupts Johnson. She says she does not want to let him spread “disinformation”.
Johnson says Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader, has said she does want an independence referendum in 2020.
Q: Are you committed to the union?
Johnson says he is fully committed to the union. And Northern Ireland will remain part of UK customs territory.
He says he takes it “awry” to be lectured on his commitment to the union from Jeremy Corbyn, who for years as actively sided with the IRA.
The caller takes umbrage at this. She says in no way is she a Corbyn supporter. She knows full well about his background, she says.
Rachel Burden says the BBC has asked customs experts if checks will be imposed on goods going from Northern Ireland to Britain. And the experts say that is not clear yet, because a joint committee will oversee the process.
Johnson says, as prime minister, he is saying that there will not be checks. And in the last resort Stormont will have the power to end this arrangements.
There'll be "no checks" and "no costs" between NI and GB, says @BorisJohnson #5live
— Jessica Parker (@MarkerJParker) November 15, 2019
The caller says Stormont has not been sitting for 1,333 days.
- Johnson restates his claim that customs checks will not apply to goods being sent from Northern Ireland to Britain under his Brexit plan. This claim is contested, not least because Steve Barclay, the Brexit secretary, has said “exit summary declarations” will have to apply to these goods.
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Johnson rejects claims that Tories have offered peerages to Brexit party candidates
Q: Has anyone from the Conservatives promised anyone from the Brexit party a peerage?
No, says Johnson. He ridicules the idea. He says it is on the Telegraph front page. Normally the Telegraph is reliable, he says. (He has been a highly paid columnist for years.)
Boris Johnson denies Tories offered peerage to Nigel Farage... "What is this nonsense? Nobody has been offered a peerage" @bbc5live
— John Stevens (@johnestevens) November 15, 2019
Boris Johnson dismisses Nigel Farage’s claims he was offered a peerage “that’s not how the Tory party operates...”
— Kate Ferguson (@kateferguson4) November 15, 2019
Q: So there have been no conversations with the Brexit party?
Johnson says he cannot say that. He says people from rival parties do talk. But no peerages have been offered.
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Q: What about the Heathrow third runway?
Johnson says he thinks the promoters of that project have yet to satisfy the authorities that the project will meet the right standards on access and air quality. These issues are being constested in the courts, he says.
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Johnson says Labour’s plan for free broadband is “fantastical”
Q: My Tory candidate has failed Portishead. But I support your Brexit plan. What should I do?
Johnson says he hopes the caller can support the Conservatives.
He says there is a slightly “fantastical” proposal on broadband from Labour today. His party has a realistic plan, he says.
- Johnson says Labour’s plan for free broadband is “fantastical”.
Q: Our Tory candidate has promised for years to get a Portishead rail link into Bristol. But it has not been delivered. Can you promise this?
Johnson says he cannot promise that route will be reopened. But today the Tories are unveiling plans to reverse the Beeching rail cuts. Was the Portishead line cut as part of those cuts? The caller says yes, it was.
Q: Are you fully behind HS2?
Johnson says this is a project with the costs mounting. It made sense to review it.
Q: Are you fully behind it?
Johnson says people deserve to know what his instincts are on this. But when it comes to scrapping something of national importance, “I really do hestitate.”
- Johnson suggests he is minded not to scrap HS2.
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BBC Radio 5 live’s Rachel Burden starts. She says she wants to offer listeners as much clarity as possible.
Q: [From someone who runs a fish and chip shop] How will you help businesses like mine?
Johnson says he loves fish and chips. After Brexit the UK will take back control of its fishing waters. The government will support small businesses. It is putting £2bn into training. And it wants to revitalise town centres too, he says.
Q: Many shops feel it makes sense to stay below the threshold for paying VAT. This creates unfairness. It would be fairer if the threshold were reduced. We purchase potatoes, and we get fish from Iceland and Norway. Can you make it more of a level playing field?
On VAT, Johnson says he gets the point. He will consider this. He understands the point about firms not having an incentive to stay below the point at which are are liable for VAT costs.
Updated
Boris Johnson's Radio 5 live phone-in
Boris Johnson is now about to start taking questions from listeners on Radio 5 live. The phone-in is due to last an hour, and it is being shown on the BBC news channel too.
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While Boris Johnson was on BBC Breakfast, John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, was on the Today programme talking about the Labour manifesto promise to provide free “full-fibre” broadband for every home and business in the UK by part-nationalising BT. My colleague Kalyeena Makortoff has full coverage on the business live blog.
Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, picking up from Jedidajah Otte.
Here is some more reaction to Boris Johnson’s BBC Breakfast interview. Full marks to the editor who decided to let Naga Munchetty do the interview. In an interview at Tory conference Johnson said that he did not know who Munchetty was, even though at that point the row generated by the BBC’s decision to reprimand her for commenting on Donald Trump’s racism had been headline news for days. If you detected an edgy undercurrent to the interview, that was why.
It got particularly tense when Munchetty started asking Johnson how people can relate to him as a family man. At this point the PM seemed distinctly uneasy, but Munchetty spared him the question he probably dreads the most: how many children do you have?
(As far as I know, the only journalists who have asked him this are Jason Groves and Jack Doyle from the Daily Mail, in an interview in July. They did not get an answer. Johnson has four children by his second wife and at least one other, but the question has not gone away because there are rumours he might have another.)
Here is some more comment on the interview from journalists.
.@BorisJohnson says "we'll have bags of time" to get a new EU-UK trade deal by end of 2020. That's a quote that may come back to haunt him.
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) November 15, 2019
Some teeny weeny wriggle room tho "I don't *want* an extension".@BBCBreakfast
Awkward moment. @BBCNaga asks Boris Johnson about girlfriend Carrie Symonds and if he’s a family man that ordinary voters can relate to. He struggles to answer and rapidly diverts away to his lucky upbringing.
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) November 15, 2019
Boris having his mopping technique torn apart on BBC News there
— John Ashmore (@JohnAshmore) November 15, 2019
What Boris Johnson does mention: "This government has put far more into flood defences than the previous Labour government".
— Dan Bloom (@danbloom1) November 15, 2019
What he doesn't mention: Funding was cut in the first years the Tories took office and has fluctuated, only recovering above 2010/11 levels in four years pic.twitter.com/0i73uyCfTV
Boris Johnson: 3.2% real terms health spending increase each year is “biggest increase in modern memory in the NHS”.
— Dan Bloom (@danbloom1) November 15, 2019
IFS: “UK health spending has historically grown at an average real rate of 3.6% per year, but grew by just 1.3% per year between 2009−10 and 2018−19.”
And this is from Piers Morgan, the presenter of ITV’s Good Morning Britain, who is accusing Johnson of another broken promise.
Sorry, WHAT? You’re doing them again before honouring your repeated on-air promises to do us at @GMB, Prime Minister @BorisJohnson? Wow.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 15, 2019
And there was me naively thinking we could take you at your word...
Very shabby by you & @Conservatives to stitch us up like this. 👎 https://t.co/YfmpmL5CNw
Updated
The Johnson interview is over now.
Here a first reaction from Sky’s Rob Powell:
😬 Eeek that was a bit painful... Boris Johnson clearly doesn't want to talk about his private life 🧐 But he needs to come up with a convincing answer to the question of why his background, upbringing and personal qualities make him a good fit to be PM #BBCBreakfast
— Rob Powell (@robpowellnews) November 15, 2019
Updated
Johnson says he wants every child in this country to have the most amazing opportunities, and that in order to achieve that, Brexit needs to get done. Munchetty says she wants to get a “feel” for who he is. She asks him about his family life, which seems to be an uncomfortable question for the PM.
He responds by saying again that he wants every child to unleash their full potential. Why is he relatable though?, he is asked. Munchetty plays a clip of him using a mop in a very awkward way. Has he ever used a mop before, she asks. She says he is very different from most people in this country, that he is privileged.
Johnson is now asked whether he has done enough for the flood victims. He says you can never do enough for someone who has suffered in a flooding. Of course there’s always more you can do, he says, but he will make sure that the insurers don’t “weasel out of their obligations” to the flood victims. His government has put far more into flood defence than previous Labour governments, he says, £2.6bn.
Updated
They move on to migration. Is net migration going to rise and fall under a Conservative government? Johnson says “it’s a great thing” that there are “more EU nationals in the UK than ever before”. Once we come out of the EU, in January, we will take control of our borders, the PM says. When pressed for particular target numbers, Johnson says he doesn’t want to play the numbers game. He says the problem is uncontrolled immigration, and that this is what Labour wants to pursue. He brings up an Australian-style point-based immigration system again. Is a brain surgeon or a porter getting more points? His analysts haven’t decided yet, the PM says.
Munchetty is now quizzing the PM on the NHS. Johnson tells a story of how he had to go to Hillingdon hospital last year because of a piece of glass in his foot. He says staff asked for more funding, and that the way to fund the NHS is to have a strong, robust economy. He says a Conservative government will rebuild Hillingdon hospital.
What about record A&E waiting times? Munchetty say £20.5bn is the figure for increased NHS funding the Tories have pledged. Johnson retorts that the correct number is £34bn, but seems startled. The PM is quizzed on GP numbers. 272 is the actual increase of GPs achieved last year, Munchetty says, not 5,000 as Jeremy Hunt promised as health secretary. Johnson says Labour wrecked the economy when they were in power.
Updated
Boris Johhnson interviewed on BBC Breadfast
Boris Johnson is now on the BBC Breakfast sofa.
Presenter Naga Munchetty says she wants to get clarity from party leaders in these interviews.
She kicks off by challenging the PM’s “Let’s get Brexit done” campaign slogan. Brexit won’t be “done” anytime soon, she says, there will be a transition period, and a second phase of negotiation on the future relationship.
Boris Johnson responds saying it was parliament that caused the delay, and repeats his standard catalogue of Brexit-related soundbites, taking back control etc. He says if he gets a majority he will try to “get Brexit done by January”, adding he thinks Brexit can “turbo-charge” a one-nation agenda.
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One problem for Corbyn and McDonnell today will be that BT says that a full-fibre rollout will cost £40bn – double the Labour estimate.
This from Neil McRae, the chief network architect at BT:
labour plans broadband communism!
— Neil J. McRae (@neilmcrae) November 14, 2019
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Chris Leslie, who defected from the Labour party to join what is now the Independent Group for Change, tweeted this yesterday evening, for those who missed it.
Why so coy @uklabour? Why not throw in free SkyTV? Free iphones? Netflix and x-boxes all round?
— Chris Leslie (@ChrisLeslieMP) November 14, 2019
The more fantastical their ‘promises’, the less credible they become. https://t.co/wLtfoRaGhI
Oh and £20bn could provide over 150,000 homes for the homeless. But mass nationalisation for ideological reasons is apparently a higher priority...
— Chris Leslie (@ChrisLeslieMP) November 14, 2019
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Let’s look at some reactions to Labour’s pledge to roll out free broadband to every household and business over the next 11 years.
This from Labour’s David Lammy:
Free broadband for all is a visionary policy. Let's bring the UK up to speed by making businesses, workers and services more connected.https://t.co/MrSjdKp9gd
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) November 15, 2019
And this from the Lib Dems’ Sam Gyimah:
It might be a Christmas election, but this is getting silly. Another day, another unaffordable item on the wish list. Wasting billions of taxpayer funds to nationalise BT, won’t solve the connectivity issues faced by so many of our rural communities. https://t.co/dNeGS3wg8w
— Sam Gyimah 🔶 (@SamGyimah) November 15, 2019
Labour peer Andrew Adonis:
BT has been terrible at providing super fast broadband. ‘Openreach’ doesn’t reach swathes of the country & too often inaccessible & unaffordable when it does
— Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) November 15, 2019
Like public control of failing rail, this will turn a failing private oligarch into an accountable public service
This from Sky’s Rowland Manthorpe:
A few thoughts on Labour's plan to nationalise parts of BT
— Rowland Manthorpe (@rowlsmanthorpe) November 14, 2019
1. Wow.
2. Every poll and focus group I've seen would suggest this policy is going to be extremely popular. Not just the free broadband but the tech company tax - people are really angry about that issue
Updated
Hello, I’m taking over from my colleague Kate Lyons.
The headlines suggest it won’t be a boring day in politics. Labour’s ambitious free-broadband-for-all pledge via a part-nationalisation of BT by 2030 is already prompting juicy reactions on Twitter.
Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell will present further details of this £20bn taxpayer-funded project at a campaign event in Lancashire, and people will be falling over themselves to grill them thoroughly.
The event is due to start at 11am, followed by a Q&A. But first McDonnell will be on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and on Sky News at 8.30am.
Boris Johnson, who has pledged £5bn to roll out full-fibre broadband to every home by 2025, will be on BBC Breakfast at 8am and BBC Radio 5 Live at 9am.
Let’s go!
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The papers
Guardian front page, Friday 14 November 2019: Councils call for huge funding rise to tackle flood devastation pic.twitter.com/VdgZQsSvpM
— The Guardian (@guardian) November 14, 2019
MAIL: Condemned by his own candidates #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/s0Qvcc1oVP
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) November 14, 2019
MIRROR: NHS implodes - Betrayed #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/8r2vpJkmOO
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) November 14, 2019
TIMES: Labour vows billions to nationalise broadband #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/sGOtRoh5HB
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) November 14, 2019
The front page of tomorrow’s Daily Telegraph: ‘Farage accuses No 10 of dirty tricks’ #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/abM854qAvv
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) November 14, 2019
A reminder of what Boris Johnson was up to yesterday as he visited the West Monkton CEVC Primary School in Taunton, Somerset.
Boris Johnson has insisted the wheels are "staying very firmly on the bus" as his election campaign arrived in the South West pic.twitter.com/XUc53snKmU
— PA Media (@PA) November 14, 2019
In the latest instalment of the Guardian’s People and Power series, Aamna Mohdin has written about the way a residents’ Facebook group could swing the seat of Canterbury.
Local newspaper editors once controlled the information that circled around a town or small city during an election. But in Canterbury in 2019, that power has fallen into the lap of the 32-year-old administrator of a Facebook group.
Edd Withers set up the Canterbury Residents Group on Facebook five years ago in an attempt to bridge the divide between the city’s large student population and its older residents. In a sign of the changing media environment that could shape this election, what started as a community project to bring generations together has turned into a lively and often chaotic rolling political conversation about all manner of issues affecting the city.
Of the nearly 100 Canterbury residents who contacted the Guardian about the tight race in their constituency, Withers’ Facebook group was mentioned more than a dozen times. While one resident described it as “a good starting point to find the ‘real’ residents and the issues they are passionate about”, another said they left the group “because of the extreme views and bullying behaviour”.
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Quite an interesting new campaign video from the Labour team.
When politicians resort to blaming immigrants, you know they've run out of ideas. pic.twitter.com/LqYdjOzOJa
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) November 14, 2019
The drama around deals between parties continues to roil. Nigel Farage has attacked the Conservative party after it was claimed that senior Brexit party figures – including Ann Widdecombe – had been offered post-election roles or peerages as part of an attempt to get him to stand down more candidates at the general election.
Farage said it showed “the system is corrupt and broken”.
Even Boris Johnson’s Chief Strategic Adviser Sir Edward Lister is calling our candidates and offering them jobs if they withdraw. The system is corrupt and broken. #ChangePoliticsForGood
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) November 14, 2019
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Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the day’s political news. I’m Kate Lyons and will be with you on the liveblog for the first hour or so of the day, before I hand over to my excellent colleagues. As usual, you can get in touch with your questions, thoughts, witticisms etc on Twitter or email (kate.lyons@theguardian.com).
It’s a big day for promises as both Labour and the Conservatives roll out big-spending, crowd-pleasing election pledges.
The Conservatives are offering a package to revitalise neglected towns while Labour is promising free full-fibre broadband for homes and businesses.
Boris Johnson says a Tory government would spend hundreds of millions of pounds reviving dying high streets and struggling communities. It includes discounts on business rates, rate relief for pubs, money to reopen train stations and a £150m fund to help groups trying to take over and run pubs and post offices threatened with closure. Labour has criticised the proposal, saying the Conservatives are the ones responsible for destroying high streets and towns through “a decade of vicious cuts to the services that people on our communities rely on”.
Meanwhile, Labour is promising free full-fibre broadband for every home and business by partly nationalising BT. Jeremy Corbyn will outline the plan during a speech in Lancaster, saying: “What was once a luxury is now an essential utility.” The plan, estimated to cost about £20bn, will be funded partly by high taxes on internet companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Google. The Conservatives have criticised the policy, saying it was a “fantasy plan to effectively nationalise broadband [that] would cost hardworking taxpayers tens of billions”.
As for what will happen today:
- Jeremy Corbyn will be announcing his broadband plan in a speech on digital infrastructure in Lancaster this morning.
- Boris Johnson will launch his campaign bus in Oldham at lunchtime.
- The Lib Dems go to Leeds where Ed Davey will be giving a speech in the afternoon on economics.
- And there is a big question mark hanging over the Brexit party’s campaign events. There is meant to be a launch in Dudley for their candidate but it’s unclear if that will go ahead – given the candidate has pulled out of the seat.
Join us for the ride!
Updated
@andrewsparrow what happens if a voter with a postal vote dies after posting their vote, but before election date? It could take days before there is any notification and/or death certificate and, as the election is being held during the winter, there may be a few who won't have a right to vote, because they're in the morgue. With some really slim majorities "ghost voters" (yes, I know, but I couldn't let anyone else have it) could affect the result. Ditto, I suppose proxy voters.