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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Politics
Andrew Sparrow (now); and Seth Jacobson and Kate Lyons (earlier)

General election: Matt Hancock apologises for boy having to sleep on hospital floor – as it happened

Afternoon summary

  • Boris Johnson made one of his worst campaign trail errors today when he repeatedly tried to avoid having to confront emotive evidence of a young boy not getting proper treatment at an NHS hospital. He was giving a stand-up interview to ITV’s Joe Pike, and Pike tried to get him to comment on a picture of four-year-old Jack Williment-Barr having to sleep on the floor in Leeds general hospital, where he was being treated for suspected pneumonia, because there were no beds available. The picture makes today’s Daily Mirror splash. Johnson repeatedly refused to comment on the picture, which Pike had on his phone, and kept making general points about the NHS. It is not unusual for politicians to avoid difficult topics in interviews, but as he was speaking Johnson took Pike’s camera, and placed it in his pocket (apparently to stop Pike asking further questions about it), thinking that his ploy would be out of shot. But the cameraman filmed what he was doing, and Pike revealed it to viewers, and so the clip when viewed in its entirety is much more damaging to Johnson than the usual “politician dodges tricky question” footage. Labour has been saying that it is evidence that Johnson “could not care less”. Pike’s clip has now attracted 3.7m viewers. One of the features of this election is that it has seen broadcast journalists increasingly using short interviews to record combative clips that go viral on social media. Granada’s Hannah Miller achieved the same thing at the weekend, confronting Johnson with challenging questions about cuts to children’s services. Lord Reith would probably not approve, but given that Johnson is avoiding a lot of long-form media scrutiny during this campaign, like the Andrew Neil interview, it is not surprising that some of the reporters who do get the chance to ask him questions are going for him robustly. Viewers probably want to see politicians quizzed like this. This definitely counts as a bad day for Johnson, but in trying to assess how much difference it might make, it is important to keep things as perspective. It is not as bad as when Gordon Brown called a woman a bigot in the 2010 campaign for raising concerns about immigration, and post-election analysis subsequently concluded that bigot-gate had no effect on the result at all. Labour even won the constituency where the voter was insulted.
  • Boris Johnson has threatened to take the BBC’s licence fee away as a source of funding. He made the surprise revelation that this policy was under consideration at a Q&A where he was facing hostile questions about his botched TV interview about the Leeds general hospital incident. His comments had all the hallmarks of a famous “dead cat” – a term that Johnson himself first put into the public domain, when he was revealing how the Tory election strategist Lynton Crosby (whose protégé Isaac Levido is running the Conservative campaign) uses big media stories to distract attention from events that are getting negative coverage.
  • The Mail on Sunday falsely claimed that Labour was planning to scrap a tax exemption on homeowners, in a prominent story that has since been used by the Conservatives as part of their election campaign. As my colleague Jim Waterson reports, the press regulator Ipso ruled that the newspaper’s reporting was inaccurate and “could cause significant concern to readers that, under a Labour government, they could be liable to pay a tax they are exempt from under current legislation.”

That’s all from me for tonight.

Thanks for the comments.

Updated

The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg has posted this video clip of an incident involving Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, a special adviser to Matt Hancock, outside Leeds general hospital. If this is the only incident of physical contact, it does not really amount to him being hit, which is the allegation that was being made earlier and given to journalists. To say that he was hit would normally imply some intent. This video shows him being hit by accident.

Updated

The Conservatives are on course to make significant gains in Wales, according to a YouGov poll.

Labour is on 40%, only just ahead of the Tories (37%) and Plaid Cymru is in third place on 10%.

Roger Awan-Scully, head of politics at Cardiff University, projected that if the figures are accurate this could leave Labour with 20 seats in Wales (down from 28 in 2017). The Conservatives could win 16 (10 more than in 2017)

Awan-Scully said this would be the lowest Labour seat number in Wales since 1983 (when there were 38 rather than 40).

Forty per cent of people said they believed Boris Johnson would be a good prime minister, while 33% said Jeremy Corbyn would do a good job in No 10.

The poll was carried out for ITV Wales and Cardiff University.

Hancock apologises for boy at Leeds general hospital having to sleep on floor

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has been visiting Leeds General Infirmary, in an attempt to defuse the row generated by four-year-old Jack Williment-Barr having to sleep on the floor there when being treated, and Boris Johnson’s reaction to it.

He told BBC News that he was “horrified” by what happened. As a parent of young children who has had to visit A&E with them, he said he could understand how the parents felt. Asked what he would say to them, he replied:

It’s not good enough, and I’ve apologised.

But Hancock said Jack’s parents were not blaming the staff. And he said the hospital accepted it had a problem, and that it was taking steps to deal with it.

He also said the government was putting in investment to address exactly this sort of problem.

Asked why he had come in person, he said he wanted to get reassurance that the trust was doing everything it could. He said he had been impressed by their response, and by the work of the staff.

Updated

Boris Johnson's Q&A - Summary

Here are the main points from Boris Johnson’s Q&A earlier.

  • Boris Johnson said the Conservatives were considering abolishing the TV licence. Here is ITV’s Robert Peston on the consequences of this.

It is also worth pointing out that Johnson seemed keen to set this running as a story because he was also facing strong criticism over another story with the potential to hog the headlines ...

  • Johnson sidestepped questions about whether his attempt to avoid having to look at a picture of a boy being forced to sleep on a hospital floor in a TV interview showed that he did not care about problems facing NHS patients. (See 3.19pm.)
  • He claimed that manufacturing firms reliant on EU supply chains would not lose out under his plan for Brexit. Throughout the whole campaign he has been arguing that he has a Brexit deal ready to go, referring to the withdrawal agreement. The subsequent UK-EU trade deal will be another matter entirely, and the only template for that is the 27-page political declaration (pdf). But increasingly Tories have been arguing that this deal is close to conclusion too (even though it is not) and Johnson was giving the same impression at the Q&A. In response to questions about whether manufacturing companies in the north-east would be safe after Brexit, Johnson said:

The great thing about the deal that we have ready to go is that it protects businesses, it protects supply chains, it means we leave the EU with our relationships absolutely intact, so that we have a zero-tariff, zero-quota relationship with the EU as we come out. We protect our supply chains ....

The thing about the deal we’ve got ... it makes sure we have complete equivalence when it comes to our standards, our industrial requirements and the rest of it. So, as we come out, it’s all protected from the point of view of big, motor manufacturing investors in our country ...

We have a decent deal ... What it also does is it keeps us in a state of grace, a state of equivalence with our European Union friends and partners. So the zero-tariff, zero-quota arrangements that we have, the just-in-time supply chains, they remain absolutely there, perfect and intact.

Under Johnson’s withdrawal agreement, Britain would be in a transition period until the end of 2020, during which current trade arrangements would continue to apply. This may be what Johnson was referring to when he spoke about the UK staying in a “state of equivalence”. But Johnson also seemed to be implying that this would be a long-term goal. As explained earlier (see 11.10am), an eventual trade deal that fully protects supply chains might be possible – but only if Johnson were to abandon what he has said in the past about wanting a Brexit that would allow the UK to diverge from EU regulation.

  • Johnson refused to give details of the pledge that all Tory candidates have given him saying they will support his Brexit deal. Asked for how long they would be bound by this pledge, he just said:

They have pledged to me personally to support the deal we have done. I cannot envisage any circumstances in which they fail to do that. We haven’t lobotomised them, they’ve done it of their own free will, they believe in this deal, they see it’s the best way forward for our country and I think they will be crazy if they didn’t see it was the best way forward.

  • He claimed not to know why the Conservative party had paid Google to ensure that, when people searched for Labour’s manifesto, a Tory website criticising it appeared ahead of it in search results.
Boris Johnson talking to workers at Fergusons Transport in the town of Washington, west of Sunderland, with Gisela Stuart, the former Labour MP and former Vote Leave chair, and CEO Alan Ferguson (left).
Boris Johnson talking to workers at Fergusons Transport in the town of Washington, west of Sunderland, with Gisela Stuart, the former Labour MP and former Vote Leave chair, and CEO Alan Ferguson (left). Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images

Updated

According to BuzzFeed’s Alex Wickham, the Tory proposal to abolish the licence fee isn’t just something dreamed up this afternoon to distract attention from the row about Boris Johnson’s response to the story about a boy having to sleep on a hospital floor. Wickham says No 10 aides have been looking at this for weeks.

That doesn’t mean, of course, that Johnson’s decision to talk about it today wasn’t a distraction exercise (or a “dead cat”, to use Lynton Croby’s terminology). It certainly looked as if Johnson was talking this up (ignoring his own advice not to announce policy “on the hoof”) to get reporters off the hospital story.

Updated

And this is what Tom Watson, the shadow culture secretary and outgoing Labour deputy leader, said about Boris Johnson’s comment about considering abolishing the licence fee (See 2.37pm.). Watson said:

This is a pathetic attempt by Boris Johnson to distract from his refusal to even look at the picture of a four-year-old boy forced to sleep on a hospital floor.

We already know that Boris Johnson is a danger to our NHS.

His comments today reveal that he will threaten the very existence of another of Britain’s great institutions, the BBC, by scrapping its funding mechanism.

This is on top of the cruel decision to strip over-75s of their free TV licences.

Updated

And here is Jeremy Corbyn commenting on the photograph that Boris Johnson did not want to talk about.

Jeremy Corbyn has refused to say whether he would resign as Labour leader if Boris Johnson won the election. When he was asked this, he replied:

We put forward a positive manifesto with a fully costed programme and I am taking that message out all over the country.

That message is getting home to people. They realise this Thursday is a straight choice: do you want to carry on with austerity and underfunding of public services or do you want a Labour government that will tax fairly to fund properly.

Jeremy Corbyn waves to supporters after speaking at a rally outside Bristol City Council in Bristol.
Jeremy Corbyn waving to supporters after speaking at a rally outside Bristol City Council in Bristol. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

ICM has a new poll out. It suggests the Conservatives have a lead of just six points, which would put the UK in hung parliament territory, although, of course, it is not in line with most other polling, which points to Boris Johnson having a much bigger lead.

Johnson dodges questions about whether hospital floor interview shows he doesn't care

In his Q&A in Sunderland Boris Johnson was twice asked about his attempt to avoid having to look at a picture of a boy being forced to sleep on a hospital floor in a TV interview.

The first question came from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, who asked if that incident said something about whether the Tories understood the real concerns of people living in the north of England. Johnson gave a general answer, without saying anything specific about his earlier interview with ITV’s Joe Pike. (See 1.36pm.) Johnson said:

I’m very proud of what we’re doing to rebuild Leeds general infirmary and it’s one of the hospitals we will rebuild from the beginning, it’ll be a fantastic project.

Then ITV’s Paul Brand tried again. He said:

One of your biggest challenges in this election is to persuade people that you really do care, that you really are trustworthy. And yet today when you’re shown that picture of the four-year-old boy on the floor of an A&E department you take the phone away and put it in your pocket, what does that say about how much you really care?

Johnson said he had already addressed this. He went on:

We are not only investing in children’s services in Leeds but we’re also rebuilding the whole Leeds infirmary from top to bottom. And we can do that because we’re now putting the biggest ever investment into the NHS. What I don’t want to see is a fantastic programme that is going to unite and level up our country being blocked again.

In the original interview, when Pike did eventually get Johnson to look at the picture of four-year-old Jack Williment-Barr sleeping on a hospital floor, Johnson said:

It’s a terrible, terrible photo. And I apologise obviously to the families and all those who have terrible experiences in the NHS.

But what we are doing is supporting the NHS, and on the whole I think patients in the NHS have a much, much better experience than this poor kid has had.

That’s why we’re making huge investments into the NHS, and we can only do it if we get parliament going, if we unblock the current deadlock, and we move forward.

Boris Johnson doing a Q&A at Fergusons Transport in the town of Washington, west of Sunderland.
Boris Johnson doing a Q&A at Fergusons Transport in the town of Washington, west of Sunderland. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images

Updated

Treatment of boy forced to sleep on hospital floor 'a disgrace', says Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn is speaking at a rally in Bristol.

He is holding up the Daily Mirror splash, which features the story about four-year-old Jack Williment-Barr having to sleep on a hospital floor. He says the Tories have had nine years to invest properly in the NHS.

[Boris Johnson has] had nine years to properly fund the NHS. A child being treated on the floor is a disgrace to our society.

It’s a child with pneumonia on the floor of a hospital in modern Britain. This is a disgrace. They need to invest in our public services.

He also says Labour would not allow the NHS to be sold off to the Americans. He says the US wants to enter the British healthcare market. But healthcare stopped being a market when the NHS was set up by Labour in the 1940s, he says.

Jeremy Corbyn addressing a rally in Bristol.
Jeremy Corbyn addressing a rally in Bristol. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Updated

Johnson says he is considering abolishing TV licence

This is what Boris Johnson said about considering scrapping the TV licence. He was responding to a question about what he would not abolish all TV licences.

At this stage we are not planning to get rid of all TV licences, though I am certainly looking at it.

What I will say is that – I’m under pressure not to extemporise policy on the hoof. But you have to ask yourself whether that kind of approach to funding a media organisation still make sense in the long term, given the way other organisations manage to fund themselves. That’s all I will say.

I think the system of funding out of what is effectively a general tax – everybody has a TV – bears reflection, let me put it that way. How long can you justify a system whereby everybody who has a TV has to pay to fund a particular set of TV and radio channels? That is the question.

Abolishing the TV licence would have huge implications for the BBC, which relies on the TV licence for its funding.

Johnson said that he did not want to make up policy on the hoof, but it did sound as if he was deliberating floating this as an idea – knowing that it would get picked up enthusiastically by the media (journalists are particularly interested in stories about how media organisations get their money – because he is also facing a lot of negative coverage over his attempt to avoid having to confront a picture of a boy being forced to sleep on a hospital floor in a TV interview. (See 1.36pm.) He did get tough questions about this at the Q&A too.

I will post a full summary soon.

Updated

Boris Johnson said he is ‘looking at’ scrapping the BBC licence fee.

Responding to a question about why he would not abolish all TV licences, Boris Johnson said: ‘At this stage we are not planning to get rid of all TV licences, though I am certainly looking at it.

‘I think the system of funding out of what is effectively a general tax – everybody has a TV – bears reflection, let me put it that way. How long can you justify a system whereby everybody who has a TV has to pay to fund a particular set of TV and radio channels? That is the question.’

Updated

Q: Have you done enough to persuade people who voted Labour in the past to trust you?

Johnson says: “How am I supposed to know? I’m doing my best.”

He says Labour would be disastrous for the UK.

Q: You are trying to show people you care. But when a reporter shows you a distressing image, you put the phone in your pocket. What does that say about about whether you care?

Johnson says he has addressed this already. He wants more investment in the NHS.

Updated

Q: What will people think of the fact that you could not even look at a picture of a four-year-old boy having to sleep on a hospital floor?

Johnson says his government is putting more money into the NHS, and recruiting more nurses. He says you can only do that with a strong economy, and if you get Brexit done.

That is why he hopes people will vote for a one nation Conservative government.

Q: Services in Sunderland have been slashed. How can anyone trust your party on public services?

Johnson says “this new, one nation government” is determined to put more money into public services.

He says he wants to lift national insurance, that would give everyone a £500 tax cut.

(That would only happen if the national insurance threshold were raised to £12,500 - which is only a long-term aspiration, and not something the Tories are committed to doing in the next parliament. The actual value of the national insurance cut proposed by the Tories is about £85.)

Updated

Q: Nissan has said it will leave if you do not get a decent Brexit deal.

Johnson says he has a decent deal. The UK will be able to leave on 31 January.

But it keeps the UK in a state of grace, a state of equivalence, with the EU.

Q: It took five years to get a Canada deal.

Johnson says the UK will leave in a state of equivalence.

Updated

Johnson is now taking questions from journalists.

Q: Why have you chosen Conservative candidates in Sunderland who are not from the area?

Johnson says he thinks his candidates will do a fantastic job.

Tony Blair did not have deep roots in Sedgefield, he said.

Q: Why don’t you abolish TV licences for everyone?

Johnson says he won’t make an unfunded promise at this stage of the campaign. But he thinks the BBC should cough up and pay for TV licences for all over-75s.

He says you have to ask whether that system of funding still makes sense in the modern era. This is something he will look at, he says

He says he won’t go further than that now.

  • Johnson questions long-term viability of the TV licence as a means of funding the BBC.

Updated

Q: Would you fund the air ambulance?

Johnson says this is an incredible organisation. He is surprised how little the government contributes to it.

It can save lives.

Johnson says the deal he has “ready to go” will protect supply chains.

It will involve complete equivalence, protecting supply chains.

Johnson is now taking questions from employees.

Q: Will it profit us, leaving the EU?

Yes, says Johnson.

He says he thinks there is investment worth $150bn dollars ready to come into the UK when Brexit happens.

And he says the UK will be able to protect its supply chains because of the Brexit he will negotiate.

Boris Johnson's Q&A

Boris Johnson is doing a Q&A at a factory in Sunderland.

He is starting his with standard stump speech.

Sturgeon says Johnson's complaint about EU migrants treating UK like their own country 'despicable'

Yesterday, in an interview with Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Boris Johnson complained about EU migrants being able to treat the UK as if it were “part of their own country”. He said:

I’ve said that what we want to do is bear down on migration, particularly of unskilled workers who have no job to come to and I think that’s what’s happened over the last couple of decades or more. You’ve seen quite a large number of people coming in from the whole of the EU – 580m population – able to treat the UK as though it’s basically part of their own country and the problem with that is there has been no control at all and I don’t think that is democratically accountable.

This morning Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, described his attitude as “despicable” and “dog-whistle politics”.

Updated

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, claims that Boris Johnson’s behaviour in his interview with ITV’s Joe Pike (see 1.36pm) claims he “could not care less” about how the boy was being treated in hospital. Ashworth said:

Refusing to even look at an image of a child suffering because of Conservative cuts to the NHS is a new low for Boris Johnson. It’s clear he could not care less.

Don’t give this disgrace of a man five more years of driving our NHS into the ground. Sick toddlers like Jack deserve so much better.

Here is ITV’s political editor Robert Peston on Boris Johnson trying to avoid having to look at a picture of a boy having to sleep on the floor in a hospital. (See 1.36pm.)

Thanks for all your questions

Our political team will answer more of your questions about the election on Wednesday at 12.30pm.

You can ask your question via our form here.

Johnson tries to avoid having to face picture of boy having to sleep on hospital floor in TV interview

This is from ITV’s Joe Pike, who tried to get Boris Johnson to look at the photograph of a four-year-old boy with suspected pneumonia having to sleep on the floor in a hospital because of a shortage of beds. Johnson at first refused to look at the photograph on Pike’s phone until Pike effectively shamed him into doing so by revealing to viewers that Johnson had put the phone in his pocket. At that point Johnson said it was a “terrible, terrible photo”, and repeated the apology he had made earlier. (See 8.28am.)

Updated

Q: In the event of no party having an overall majority on Friday, does the Queen decide who she will invite to form a coalition government or is it always the last PM given first stab at it? Joseph, 65, terminal cancer patient, Northern Ireland

Given the UK’s unwritten constitution, this is partly down to convention. However, as the existing prime minister, Boris Johnson would have the first go at forming a government. If he could not command a majority, according to the cabinet manual, the Whitehall bible for government operations, the Queen would then call the leader “who appears most likely to be able to command the confidence of the house”.

Q: If there is the possibility of a hung parliament with Labour, which party would they most likely go into a coalition with and why? Angel, digital marketing apprentice, Milton Keynes

While the polls suggest a Conservative majority, it remains possible that the Tories would fail to achieve this, which could bring a minority Labour government, backed by other parties. Rather than a formal coalition, some sort of confidence-and-supply or even case-by-case arrangement seems more likely. Parties are understandably wary of speculating before an election about how this would work, and it would need complex negotiations. As to who: Labour could potentially expect support from the SNP, the Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru and the Greens. But there are many complications, for example the SNP’s demand for a new independence referendum, and Jo Swinson’s insistence that the Lib Dems could not help put Jeremy Corbyn into No 10. In short: a lot would remain to be seen.

Q: The PM keeps saying that we have a great economy, but do we? No one is pulling him up on it. Bill Muskett, 66, retired, Cheshire

You can argue all day about the strength or otherwise of the economy, depending on whether you cite, say, employment figures or data on in-work poverty. But you’re right on one key point: Boris Johnson has managed to get through almost all the election with remarkably little scrutiny of nearly 10 years of Tory rule, in part due to his fairly ludicrous claim to be “a new administration”. It’s partly a media failure, partly a factor of the endless focus on Brexit.

Updated

Just under five minutes left to ask any questions you may have on the general election. Send them in to us here.

Q: I’ve never been more depressed about the state of the political system. Do you have any hope for the future? If so, what is it? Rob Perry, Norwich

It has, in truth, been a pretty depressing election so far. If I am to look at the positives for the future, politics is extremely changeable at the moment, and party fortunes could rise and fall very quickly. One factor could be pushes for electoral reform – the more the first-past-the-post system creates anomalies (such as Ukip winning nearly 13% of the vote in 2015 and getting precisely one seat), the more pressure there will be for a proportional system. If that happened, people could forget tactical voting and just pick the party whose politics they like the most. This could arguably create a more consensual type of politics.

Q: Will a Labour defeat end Corbyn’s career? Peter, retired, North Yorkshire

As someone who got (mildly) booed by a Labour crowd the other week for asking Corbyn if he would retire if he lost another election, it’s fair to say some activists would like him to stay on. But it does seem likely he would step down as leader (if not as an MP). The struggle in Labour is already half-ongoing for who could succeed him, and whether it would be a keeper of the Corbyn flame, such as Rebecca Long-Bailey, or someone from a different section of Labour.

Q: In the event of a Labour win and a second referendum, which way would Boris Johnson vote? Chris, 47, author and business owner, Warrington

That answer, officially, would be between him and the ballot box. But as someone who has, after some wavering, tied his political colours so tightly to the mast of Brexit, he would presumably be expected to argue very strongly for leave – unless he really disliked Labour’s Brexit plan and, for example, called for a boycott of the referendum.

Updated

Boris Johnson chartered a plane this morning for part of his campaign dash across the UK - from Doncaster to Teesside (even though it would only be a few hours by road).

The plane had an unmistakeable odour after the prime minister, his aides and the travelling press pack had spent time in a fish market in Grimsby this morning.

Johnson was not commenting in the morning on the leaked paper casting doubt on the viability of his Brexit plan. His aides have been briefing against it though, with a Conservative spokesman saying:

Our new deal with the EU takes the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland, out of the EU. A Conservative majority government will implement this deal and agree a trade agreement next year. In doing so we will strengthen our union, and we will not extend the implementation period beyond December 2020.

Updated

You have been sending in your questions about the general election which I will be answering until 1.30pm. You can share your questions with us via our form here.

Q: What is your view from the inside of how the areas of the media that have been attempting balance during this campaign have handled it? Is the scrutiny being felt within the media, and what effect is it having? Josh Rodell, 27, engineer, London

The social media world is not necessarily more fractious than past eras, but it does make it easier for people to express their annoyance. As such, more or less everywhere you turn there have been criticisms of the media – notably the BBC – for supposed bias. My own, completely personal, view is that (within the basic paradigm of a fundamentally small-c conservative viewpoint) the BBC tries extremely hard to be balanced and generally does a decent job, despite occasional cock-ups. What is mentioned less is the naked partisanship of many newspapers, a tone which is ramped up all the more at elections.

Q: Why is Jeremy Corbyn so unpopular with non-Labour voters? Is it more his personality or specific policies? George G, 62, fascinated with UK politics, Virginia, US

You could come up with all sorts of answers to this. Focus groups identify both, and it does seem that hostile voters can identify Corbyn in a somewhat contradictory way as being both too radical and too indecisive. It is, however, worth always seeing these opinions in the context of the treatment of Corbyn by the majority of the print media, which is consistently hostile to him. Yes, many people get their news elsewhere, but the repeatedly negative front-page headlines about Corbyn arguably set a wider tone. This is not to say that there are not valid criticisms of the Labour leader, but the context is important, too.

Q: Why is it not illegal to openly lie and mislead the electorate? Dave, West Midlands

I suppose the short answer is that a law on this would be hugely difficult to enforce, not least to prove lying involves showing intent as well as inaccuracy, and it would be a very subjective and controversial process. But would I like more public condemnation and shame for politicians who openly say things that they, and we, know are not true? Yes, I would.

Updated

John McDonnell's speech and Q&A - Summary

Here are the main points from John McDonnell’s speech and Q&A. The full text of his speech is here.

  • McDonnell said that Boris Johnson was “probably the least trusted politician that people have ever experienced” and that people would agree with Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, who said this morning he could not be trusted. (See 12.09pm.)
  • McDonnell said Labour would hold its first budget on Wednesday 5 February if it won the election. Explaining what would be in the budget, he said in his speech:

This is the budget that will save the NHS, that starts to rebuild the public services the Tories have brought to their knees.

A budget that will put money in people’s pockets, a real living wage of £10 an hour. Money to fix the worst aspects of universal credit, while we design its replacement, a 5% pay rise for public sector workers after years of pay freezes.

The Waspi compensation scheme will be established and legislation brought forward to scrap tuition fees

Urgent funding will be brought forward rapidly to tackle the funding crisis in our NHS, our schools and education service. To establish free personal social care and childcare, to bring forward urgent homeless support, and inject much needed resources into our council services, with a full comprehensive spending review to follow later in 2020 to allocate resources for the full five years.

  • He said he would set up its new Treasury national transformation unit before Christmas if Labour won. (See 11.19am.)
  • He said Labour would use people’s assemblies to give people a say in how nationalised utilities were run. (See 11.21am.)
  • He said Labour’s enemies were “people who hate the people of this country”. (See 11.28am.) He referred to “those at the top”, but he did not make it clear whether he was talking about Conservative politicians, or the financial elite, or the media - or all three - although he did implicate Boris Johnson, referring to contemptuous comments by the PM about the working class in some of his old newspaper articles.
  • He denied being worried about the pound crashing in the event of a Labour victory, and instead said he thought it could go up in value. When it put to him that in the past he said a Labour victory could lead to a run on the pound, he claimed he had said the opposite. Labour had been advised that there would not be a run on the pound, he said. He went on:

My fear is the pound will start going up because of our investment plans.

  • He did not rule out trying to break up the giant tech companies. Asked if he was attracted by the idea, which is also favoured by Elizabeth Warren, one of the frontrunners to be the Democratic presidential candidate in the US in 2020, he replied:

I’m not sure whether it’s about breaking them up or whether it’s about proper regulation. That will be the debate and the discussion that we will be having. But there are clearly issues of accountability and there are clearly issues about the fair treatment of them as a sector, as against other sectors.

Given that the major tech giants are all American, a British government would probably have very little say over this anyway.

  • He refused to rule out a Sunday Times report saying he might take over as interim Labour leader in the event of the party losing the election. Asked about the story, he just insisted it was not a valid question because Labour would win. (See 11.39am.)
  • He claimed Labour had inspired other progressive parties around the world to be more radical, including the Democrats in America. He said:

I think we’ve helped inspire the debate within the US, where the debate around radical policies has caught the wind, and all the Democratic candidates now are aspiring policies that maybe five or 10 years ago that they wouldn’t have even considered. I think that’s happening in a number of countries.

  • He claimed that pundits would be surprised by the election result. People wanted real change, he said:

I think what you’ll see is, despite what’s happening in the opinion polls, although the opinion polls have consistently being trending towards us, I think you’ll see, as some of you were shocked in the 2017 general election, I think you’ll be even more shocked this time.

John McDonnell.
John McDonnell. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Q: A good friend says she won’t vote because, although she is anti-Conservative, she would feel a hypocrite for voting Green, and Labour are too leftwing for her and she doesn’t believe they can afford their manifesto pledges. How can I persuade her? Vicki, Cumbria

You could make the argument – as has Hugh Grant, among many others – that your friend could vote tactically in whatever constituency she lives in so as to have the most chance of preventing a Conservative MP and thus limiting or stopping Boris Johnson’s majority. The Lib Dems would probably argue that if she doesn’t like the Tories, and the Greens and Labour are too leftwing, she could give them a try.

Q: How can we trust any of the promises made by the leaders of the main parties? There is Johnson and Corbyn promising everything, but the kitchen. Kim, 55, Manchester

This is an interesting area. Politicians promising the moon on a stick in elections is hardly a new phenomenon, but this campaign has seen an arguable increase in voter scepticism about many of these pledges. Sometimes the reason for the scepticism is obvious. For example, Boris Johnson has pledged to “Get Brexit done”, when the UK is merely part-way through a long and tricky departure process. Similarly, Jo Swinson’s initial claim that she could become PM wasn’t especially convincing. I suppose the best answer would be the slightly boring one: read parties’ manifestos and see what seems feasible/appealing to you.

Some of your questions so far have been about what happens if a leader of a winning party loses their seat, and about checks for goods crossing the Irish Sea:

Q: What happens if the leader of the winning party loses their seat as an MP? Marina Nea, housewife, Essex

If they lose their seat there is no law prevening them from being prime minister – Alec Douglas-Home was briefly in No 10 before becoming MP. But it would be very hard to do. If Boris Johnson won the election and lost his seat he would either need to be made a peer (you can be PM from the Lords, but in this Commons-centric era it would be pretty tough) or a loyal MP with a safe seat could resign, triggering a byelection. The latter would seem by far the most likely outcome.

Q: Can we please have a definitive answer on whether or not there will be checks and paperwork needed for goods crossing the Irish Sea, over and above current ones, before the election please. John Davidson, 77, retired, Liverpool

The definitive answer seems to be: yes to “checks” of some sort, though what these will be is up for debate and depends on the future Brexit deal. My colleague, Lisa O’Carroll, wrote a good mini-Twitter thread on this yesterday.

Q: Where can I follow the best prognoses after the voting closes? Is there any special site focusing on the close seats interesting in the case of tactical voting? Frank, IT service consultant, Germany

The gold standard for instant results is the post-election exit poll, a vast effort which involves asking people how they actually did vote, and is usually released just after the polls close at 10pm. For a rolling update of specific seats, a good one-stop bet is the fantastic Britain Elects Twitter feed.

Updated

Rebecca Long-Bailey has refused to deny that she would seek to become Labour leader if Jeremy Corbyn were to step down following defeat on Thursday.

Speaking after addressing business leaders at a “northern powerhouse” talk in Manchester’s financial centre, Spinningfields, the shadow business secretary said: “It’s not something I’ve ever thought about before if I’m honest.”

Long-Bailey, who is widely seen as John McDonnell’s preferred candidate for the next Labour leader, also would not confirm whether Corbyn would go if Labour lost, saying only that: “You’d have to have a crystal ball to find out.”

When asked why Corbyn has such a dismal personality rating among voters, Long-Bailey said leaders were always “marmite”.

In 2015 that was the mantra that we were hearing, ‘no one likes Ed Miliband’, and then in the last general election it was like, ‘oh, no one likes Jeremy Corbyn’.

Unfortunately we’ve moved to a system now where people view politicians in the same way as the American-style system, where it’s all about one person and their personality rather than their policies.

While an Opinium poll from the weekend showed the Conservatives held a 15-point lead over Labour, just days ahead of the election, Long-Bailey said feedback on doorsteps during the campaigning had been “very different” to the picture being portrayed by surveys.

Normally in an election you get a don’t know on the doorstep because they’re too polite to tell you they’re not going to vote for you. But these are genuine don’t knows in most cases because they’re engaging and they’re asking questions because they’re not sure where to go.

I think a lot of those don’t knows are going to be the deciding factor on Thursday. A lot of people haven’t made their mind up and I think it’s going to be a very interesting general election.

Rebecca Long-Bailey.
Rebecca Long-Bailey. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

Updated

I’m Peter Walker, a political correspondent for the Guardian, and I will be answering any questions you have on the general election today. I have been covering politics since just after the Brexit referendum, and previously wrote about national and international news. Before joining the Guardian I worked for various other organisations, including Agence France-Presse, where I was based in Beijing, Hong Kong and Paris.

If you have a question you can send it to us by filling in the form here.

In the Q&A earlier McDonnell was also asked if he had been too ambitious, because some voters did not believe all Labour’s spending promises.

McDonnell said his plans were ambitious. He said the combination of Tories lies, and hostile media reporting, had had some effect. But Labour had 500,000 members who had been explaining these plans, he said.

He also said he and his team had spent two years touring the country explaining what they wanted to do.

DUP right to say Boris Johnson can't be trusted, says Labour's John McDonnell

This is what John McDonnell said about Boris Johnson in the Q&A.

Isn’t it interesting that as the prime minister tours around different constituencies, he finds it incredibly difficult even to mix with people ... What we’re getting back on the doorstep is he’s probably the least trusted politician that people have ever experienced.

Arlene Foster, I think, has come to a judgment this morning which is echoed right the way across the country; this is a man whose word you cannot trust.

John McDonnell giving a speech in London this morning.
John McDonnell giving a speech in London this morning. Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

Updated

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 they will post their responses on the politics live blog between 12.30pm and 1.30pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Today, Peter Walker, a political correspondent for the Guardian, will answer any questions you have on the general election. You can ask your question via our form here.

Updated

McDonnell says he would hold first budget on 5 February

Q: If you win on Friday, what will be the first thing you do in No 11? And if you don’t win, will you resign immediately or stay in office for a bit?

On the second question, McDonnell says Labour is going to win.

He says, if Labour wins, he will want to have meetings with the permanent secretary at the Treasury within minutes. He will want to send a letter to the Office for Budget Responsibility, in preparation for a budget eight weeks from Wednesday ie, Wednesday 5 February.

That’s it. The Q&A is over.

I will post a summary shortly.

Updated

Q: Could you work with the Democratic Unionist party? You have mentioned Arlene Foster warmly twice this morning?

McDonnell says if Labour has to govern as a minority government, he will.

He has worked with DUP MPs on issues in the past, he says. He says he cannot imagine the DUP voting against a real living wage, or more investment.

Updated

McDonnell does not rule out calling for tech giants to be broken up

Q: What would your policies mean for tech giants? And would you want to break them up, as Elizabeth Warren is proposing in the US?

McDonnell says he has a group working on this. He has called for a taxation regime – “unitary taxation” – that would lead to them paying more.

He says he is not sure whether they need to be broken up, or whether proper regulation would address the problems.

But they do need to be more tightly regulated, he says.

He says there are questions about their role in society - not just the amount of tax they pay. He says this is a global debate. He is glad it has started.

  • McDonnell does not rule out calling for tech giants to be broken up.

Updated

Q: [From an Australian journalist] The Australian Labor party was defeated earlier this year on a moderate platform. Would you encourage other leftwing parties to be more ambitious?

McDonnell says he thinks Labour has inspired other parties. In the US, Democratic candidates are proposing policies they would not have chosen a decade ago, he says.

He says he has an agenda whose time has come.

Updated

Q: Yesterday the Sunday Times said there is a plan for you to take over as interim Labour leader if the party loses. Can you rule that out?

McDonnell says he can rule that out because there is going to be a majority Labour government.

  • McDonnell brushes aside claim he might replace Jeremy Corbyn as leader if Labour loses on Friday.

Updated

McDonnell says he thinks the pound will go up in value if Labour win.

He says people should look at what has happened to the value of the pound under the Tories.

Q: Do you think the election will be decided in Labour heartlands? And why do you think there are people willing to vote Tory who have never done so for decades?

McDonnell says the election will be decided everywhere.

He says, although Boris Johnson is touring marginals, it is striking that he is not mixing with ordinary people.

He says Johnson is “probably the least trusted politician that people have ever experienced”.

He says a lot of people will agree with what Arlene Foster said this morning.

He also says he thinks people will be surprised by the election result.

Q: Is there a price you are not willing to pay for privatised companies?

McDonnell says he is not writing a blank cheque. Parliament will decide the price, he says.

He says there is strong public support for bringing these firms back into public control. They are natural monopolies, he says. And people are fed up of being “ripped off”.

McDonnell's Q&A

John McDonnell is now taking questions.

Q: Are you saying there are four days to save the planet?

McDonnell says the country is facing twin emergencies; the climate crisis, and a social emergency.

He refers to the boy forced to sleep on the floor of a hospital. That is why this election is about saving the NHS, he says.

And he says our grandchildren will not forgive us if we do not address the climate crisis.

Q: Would you definitely vote remain in a future referendum?

McDonnell says he cannot see a better deal than remain, but when Labour does bring its new Brexit deal back, he will make his assessment of it then.

Labour's enemies 'hate the people of this country', McDonnell claims

McDonnell says Labour’s opponents hate the people of this country.

There will always be those at the top who will do anything to stop us – we’ve seen character assassinations, lies and smears taken to a new level …

When they attack me, or Jeremy, we know it’s not really about us. It’s about you; they hate the people of this country.

They think – and I quote the prime minister – that you’re drunk and criminal, they hate the idea you might dream of a better life. They hate the idea you might want real change in how things have been done for so long, and a say in how things are done in future.

And here is his peroration.

When they come to write the history books, and write about when it all began to turn around.

When your children or grandchildren ask you:

What did you do to end that world of rough sleeping and food banks?

What did you do to save the NHS and stop the Tories selling it off?

What did you do to bring back pride to our town?

And to finally wrestle back control from those who had kept it to themselves for so long?

You can tell them:

It all began when we voted Labour, when together we laid the foundations of that new society, foundations so deeply rooted that no Tory could ever tear them up.

You can tell them:

It was when we proved, once and for all, that the doubters were wrong. That the doubters are always wrong: another world really is possible.

Updated

McDonnell says it is now clear that Boris Johnson would not be able to get Brexit done quickly.

Despite all his promises it is clear to all that far from getting Brexit done, under Johnson Brexit won’t be done for years or we risk a catastrophic no deal.

He says he agrees with what Arlene Foster said this morning (see 9.23am); you cannot trust Johnson, he says.

Updated

Labour will use people's assemblies to help decide how nationalised utilities are run, says McDonnell

McDonnell says Labour will make the nationalised companies publicly accountable.

In our first 100 days we will start the process of bringing water and energy into public ownership. We’ll set up boards to run these utilities made up of you, the customer, and you, the worker, as well as representatives from local councils, metro mayors and others.

We’ll make sure decisions are taken locally by those who understand the services – those who use them and deliver them.

Meetings will be public and streamed online, with new transparency regulations set higher than ever before, so you can see if your road is being dug up, why, and for how long. And we’ll create new people’s assemblies to give everyone the option of participating in how their utilities are run.

Updated

McDonnell says Labour will set up its national transformation unit before Christmas.

The first priority of a Labour government will be getting investment going to make this happen. We’ll set up our national transformation unit immediately – before Christmas – so it can start work in the Treasury, before being moved out to its new office in the north of England early next year.

It will provide the initial finance for our new national investment bank, regional development banks and Post Bank, using the power of the Treasury to get affordable finance on to every high street in Britain.

He says people have lost faith in how much change is possible.

We’ve already started our meetings with the Treasury, they are working up plans and getting ready to implement all this. So don’t be fooled by the doubters who say our plans are unachievable.

A decade of austerity, and 40 years of believing the market knows best, have dulled people’s sense of what’s possible, just as they were intended to do.

Updated

John McDonnell's speech on first 100 days of Labour government

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, is giving a speech now on the first 100 days of a Labour government.

He says Labour has won the argument about austerity. He says Boris Johnson himself now admits austerity was wrong, although, McDonnell says, under Tory manifesto plans, austerity would continue for another five years.

He says he has been having detailed meetings with colleagues about what Labour will do when it gets into government.

Good jobs and whole industries that were once the pride of our country have been lost and replaced with dreary, exploitative, insecure and low-paid jobs, or in some cases no jobs at all. No wonder people feel disillusioned in politicians.

As our manifesto makes clear, turning these two things around will be our number one priority in government. Our green industrial revolution will deliver the changes we need to avert climate catastrophe.

And it will put British industry back on the map, bringing prosperity to every part of our country. It will give every community something to be proud of.

Updated

On the Today programme this monring Rishi Sunak, the chief secretary to the Treasury, repeated the usual Conservative claim that Boris Johnson would be able to agree a trade deal with the EU by the end of next year. (See 8.17am.) Anyone who has followed this issue even just half-closely will know that there are good grounds for thinking that the Tories are not being realistic, and the BBC’s Europe editor, Katya Adler, has a good Twitter thread this morning explaining why. It starts here.

And here is one of her key points.

This chart from the academic and Brexit specialist Simon Usherwood also sums up the problems to be addressed in the next phase of the Brexit negotiation.

Swinson speaks out against 'demonisation' of transgender people

Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem leader, did a phone-in on Radio 5 Live this morning. The Liberal Democrats are committed to reforming the Gender Recognition Act to make it easier for trans people to change their gender, and this has led to concern that it would put women at risk in women-only space from people who are anatomically male. In the phone-in, Swinson was clearly on the defensive on this issue, and did not seem to get very far in terms of persuading the sceptical caller who raised the issue.

But Swinson was much better on the Today programme this morning when Justin Webb raised the same issue. Asked if she thought biological sex existed, she replied:

Not on a binary ... from what I’ve read, I’m not going to pretend that I’m an expert on the subject, but I don’t think things are as binary as is often presented.

Swinson also insisted that this was a rights issue.

This is not a scientific debate. This is a debate about people and their lives. This is a debate about people who are facing extreme prejudice and discrimination. It takes us back to a very similar situation to where we were on gay rights decades ago, when people were being told that they were somehow as a person wrong for being who they were. And the vitriol that was heaped on them by society drove people to huge mental crises, in many cases to misery and sometimes to suicide. We see that amongst non-binary and trans people today and I think we should be making sure that every individual is protected.

On the issue of women-only spaces, Swinson said the priority was to keep people safe. But she said processes were already in place to address this. She went on:

I do think it is important that people are protected. And I don’t think there should be some kind of hierarchy of equality, because trans women are some of the most vulnerable women in our society facing huge discrimination. And all women who have been on the receiving end of violence deserve to have safe spaces, whether they are gay, straight, bi, whether they are trans, whether they are cis, whatever their race is, whatever their background they come from. And they need to be protected on that individual basis.

And I have to say, we are talking about a very small part of the population. And implicit in this is an assumption that trans women are in some way more likely to be violent. And it is just not borne out. And I think there is a demonisation of a community going on here, and I often find the media is complicit in it.

Jo Swinson’s Lib Dem battlebus parked alongside the Tory battlebus at the Woodall motorway services on the M1 yesterday.
Jo Swinson’s Lib Dem battlebus parked alongside the Tory battlebus at the Woodall motorway services on the M1 yesterday. Photograph: Shaun Connolly/PA

Updated

These are from the politics professor Tim Bale. He is flagging up research from two other academics, Cristian Vaccari and David Smith, in this article for the Conversation.

Updated

Nicola Sturgeon has suggested that a referendum on Brexit would be held before a second vote on Scottish independence. As PA Media reports, the Scottish first minister told BBC’s Good Morning Scotland that Labour wanted to hold an EU poll within six months of being elected and that she would want another Scottish independence referendum towards the end of 2020. She said:

It looks as if the EU [referendum] would come first and then an independence referendum towards the end of next year. That’s the sequencing.

In terms of the priority, in order of importance if you like, I want the whole UK to get the opportunity to escape Brexit, but of course an EU referendum doesn’t guarantee that Scotland escapes Brexit, we could have the same result we had in 2016.

And whether it’s Brexit or stopping any other Westminster policy being imposed on Scotland, the way to do that is to become independent and that’s why that choice over the future of our country is so important.

Nicola Sturgeon posing for a selfie.
Nicola Sturgeon posing for a selfie. Photograph: Mark Thomas/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

Here are some of the main items on the agenda for today.

11am: John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, gives a speech on what Labour would do in its first 100 days.

2pm: Jeremy Corbyn addresses a rally in Bristol. Later he is doing campaign stops in Stroud, Worcester and Wolverhampton.

Boris Johnson is also due to deliver a speech during his various campaign visits today, but the timing has not been confirmed.

Boris Johnson during a visit to Grimsby fish market.
Boris Johnson during a visit to Grimsby fish market. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

On the subject of whether or not there will be checks on goods going from Britain to Northern Ireland under Boris Johnson’s Brexit plan (see 9.23am), it is worth pointing out that the briefing issued by the Conservative party press office on Friday, in response to the document leaked by Labour on this subject, specifically said there would be checks. It said (bold type inserted by me):

The deal ensures that there will not be any tariffs in either direction between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and allows for ‘unfettered access’ between Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Article 6, link). We will ensure no change to trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. There will be checks as goods head into Northern Ireland, but the only goods that will pay tariffs will be goods that are destined for the Republic. Boris Johnson has also managed to ensure that, if the UK Government believes that someone has paid a customs fee who shouldn’t have, we have the unilateral power to reimburse or waive any tariff. This means that, if we have a majority Conservative government, we can ensure that goods headed to Northern Ireland never pay tariffs.

Boris Johnson cannot be trusted to keep his word, says DUP leader Arlene Foster

When Boris Johnson was running for the Conservative party leadership, he had the enthusiastic backing of Democratic Unionist party MPs. That changed abruptly when Johnson unveiled his plan for a new withdrawal agreement that involved a de facto customs border down the Irish Sea - something he insisted “no British Conservative government” would accept when he gave a speech to the DUP annual conference in November 2018. Despite effectively being betrayed, the DUP does not want Jeremy Corbyn to win the election, and during the campaign it has been relatively reluctant to criticise Johnson in personal terms.

But this morning Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, did let slip her true feeling about his reliability in an interview on the Today programme. Here are the main points.

  • Foster said Johnson could not be trusted to keep his word. Asked about the extent to which Johnson was seen as someone who could not be trusted by unionists in the light of his U-turn over a customs border down the Irish Sea, she replied:

I think it is right for the leadership of unionism in Northern Ireland to try to work with the prime minister of the day to get the best deal for Northern Ireland. We will always do that. We will continue to do that.

I think it says more about the person who broke their word than me and the leadership of the … Democratic Unionist party.

When asked if that meant she would not take him at his word in future, she said:

Well, I think once bitten, twice shy. We will certainly be looking for the detail of what this is going to look like.

  • She said that HM Revenue and Customs officials had told the DUP that Johnson’s Brexit plan would involve goods coming to Northern Ireland from Britain having to be checked. Johnson has at at times flatly denied this, as he did when he visited Northern Ireland last month, although in an interview yesterday he did say there would be checks on goods going from Britain to Northern Ireland if they were destined for the Republic of Ireland, having initially said: “There’s no question of there being checks on goods going [between] NI/GB and GB/NI.” Nick Robinson, the presenter, asked Foster a question the Financial Times’ political editor asked of Johnson directly: Was he lying, or did he not understand the policy?

Foster refused to answer this directly, and she did not directly accuse Johnson of lying or of not understanding his policy. But she said the DUP had been told by HM Revenue and Customs that there would be checks. She said:

Before Boris Johnson announced his deal, we spoke to – myself and Nigel Dodds – HMRC officials and we asked them a number of questions about goods coming into Northern Ireland from Great Britain, and they were very clear with us that it would mean that all of those goods would have to be checked. Obviously, only those goods that were going to the Republic of Ireland would have tariffs imposed on them. But all of the goods would have to be checked, and that would be the default position.

  • She said Johnson’s plan would contravene the Act of Union. She said:

That, of course, is very concerning for us, because it goes very much to the heart of the Act of Union. That Act of Union not just talks of political and constitutional union, it also talks about trade, and it says there has to be a free flow of trade between the different parts of the United Kingdom. And if we are to have what has been proposed, then it wouldn’t be free-flowing trade. And that of course causes us great concern.

  • She said Johnson’s plan could lead to shoppers in Northern Ireland not being able to buy goods on sale in Britain, or having to pay a higher price for them. She said:

Most of our goods, particularly in the retail sector, come from Great Britain, and therefore any checks on those goods would lead to higher costs, perhaps even less choice, for people here in Northern Ireland, and that is completely unacceptable.

Arlene Foster, the DUP leader.
Arlene Foster, the DUP leader. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Updated

Q: The Guardian says voters are confused by your plans for an Australian-style points system. What are you trying to achieve?

Johnson says he wants to put immigration under democratic control. He says unskilled people would not be able to come to the UK without a job.

Q: To what level?

Johnson says he does not know.

And that’s it. The interview is over.

Johnson says he thinks total cost of HS2 would be more than £100bn

Q: Do you support HS2?

Johnson says he is reviewing this. It is sensible to do this, and decide if this is a good use of money.

Q: You just said HS2 will cost more than £100bn. But the budget is £88bn. So you are saying it could cost another £10bn plus?

Johnson says he does think the total cost will be “north of £100bn”. That is an awful lot of money.

  • Johnson says he thinks total cost of HS2 would be more than £100bn - well above the current estimate.

Updated

Q: Today Priti Patel, the home secretary, is claiming there would be 52 more murders a year under Labour. Where has she got those figures?

Johnson says he does not know.

Q: It’s an article she wrote in the Daily Telegraph. She is making it up, isn’t she?

Johnson says Patel is making a point about the need for robust policing.

Johnson says that if you increase police numbers you will get crime down.

Updated

Boris Johnson apologises to family of boy forced to sleep on hospital floor

Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Seth Jacobson.

Boris Johnson is being interviewed by Nick Ferrari on LBC now.

Ferrari starts by saying Johnson is trying to break the “red wall” of Labour-held seats. Johnson claims not to recognise the phrase. He says he is trying to win seats.

Q: You are near Leeds, where a boy spent the night on a hospital floor because of a lack of beds.

Johnson does not comment on that specific story, but says the government is putting a record amount into the NHS.

Q: What would you say to the boy’s family?

Johnson says he apologises to everyone who has had a bad NHS experience. But most people are treated well by the NHS, he says. It needs proper funding.

Of course I sympathise very much and I apologise to everybody who has a bad experience.

By and large I think the NHS do an amazing job and I think that they deserve all praise for the service they provide – but they do need investment and that’s why we’re doing it now.

But they need investment from a one nation government that really cares and understands – that’s us that cares and understands – and you need long-term funding.

  • Johnson apologises to family of boy forced to sleep on hospital floor.

He says Labour would be “deeply destructive” to the economy, meaning there would be no money for the NHS.

Updated

The chief secretary to the Treasury, Rishi Sunak, has just been on the Today programme, where he was pressed about a story in today’s Financial Times that reports that civil servants in the Department for Exiting the EU had cast doubt on the prospect of leaving the EU by December 2020.

A document seen by the paper said “delivery of the required infrastructure, associated systems, and staffing to implement the requirements of the protocol by December 2020 represents a major strategic, political and operational challenge”.

Asked whether such a deal was capable with the EU, Sunak, a rising star in the Conservative party, said:

Having sat on a committee chaired by Michael Gove to plan for our departure fro the EU, I’ve actually been incredibly impressed by all the preparations that have gone on which mean we’re in very good shape not just to deal with new trading relationships but all the other things.

He also said that a “new immigration system” was something that the government had been planning for, “making sure the systems were in place and the resources were there so we can have control over our immigration policy”. He went on:

It’s exactly the type of thing we’ve been planning for and we can do after we leave but then again it can only happen after we actually deliver the election result and leave the EU.

When pressed on whether no-deal planning would resume next week if the Tories were returned to office, he replied:

We won’t need to plan for no deal because we will have a deal to leave with.

There is going to be a trade deal. The framework is already there in the political declaration.

Rishi Sunak.
Rishi Sunak. Photograph: Matt Frost/ITV/HANDOUT/EPA

Updated

Our deputy political editor, Rowena Mason, is with Boris Johnson at Grimsby fish market this morning as he embarks on a three-day blitz of Labour seats across the party’s traditional heartlands in Wales, the Midlands and Yorkshire.

Boris Johnson started the day just after 6am at a fish market in Grimsby, a Tory target seat held by Labour’s Melanie Onn with a majority of 2,565.

He toured the market and watched a live auction before holding up a cod for the cameras and dragging a crate of fish across the warehouse.

The PM got a mixed welcome with a number of fish wholesalers saying they were planning to vote for him but one started booing loudly.

Updated

The Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson, has been on Radio 4’s Today programme as the final few days of campaigning get under way. She has admitted it “doesn’t look likely” her party will win a majority as she insisted the Lib Dems have led the campaign for a second EU referendum.

Asked about her party’s manifesto pledge to revoke article 50, Swinson said:

It’s only in the circumstances of a Liberal Democrat majority government which of course in itself would be democratic. But where we are right now that obviously doesn’t look likely.

The most likely way we can stop Brexit is through a people’s vote and the Liberal Democrats have led the campaign for a people’s vote for three-and-a-half years.

Jo Swinson campaigning yesterday with the Lib Dem candidate for Sheffield Central, Colin Ross.
Jo Swinson campaigning yesterday with the Lib Dem candidate for Sheffield Central, Colin Ross. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP via Getty Images

Updated

Conservatives, Greens, Labour, Lib Dems and SNP have answered questions about the climate crisis, including:

Does your party support the students striking from school and/or the Extinction Rebellion protests demanding urgent action on the climate crisis?

Conservatives: We don’t support students losing out on their education, though we recognise and respect the passion that young people feel. We do not support illegal action that disrupts the lives of ordinary, hardworking people.

Greens: We have supported the school strikers from day one. Young people will be most affected by the effects of climate chaos but don’t have a political voice or vote.

Labour: Absolutely. This year saw the blossoming of a global movement calling on politicians to wake up. We have turned its demands into detailed, credible plans for real change.

Lib Dems: Of course we support this action. It is deeply worrying that children are feeling the need to strike because they’re worried about their future. We are supportive of the aims of Extinction Rebellion and support their right to protest. But some of their actions have been counter-productive.

SNP: We applaud the actions by school students in drawing attention to the need for greater urgency in tackling climate change.

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage drinks a pint of beer in a pub in Hull, northeast England while on the campaign trail.
Brexit party leader Nigel Farage drinks a pint of beer in a pub in Hull, north-east England, while on the campaign trail. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images

Read Kate Proctor’s devastating account of the Brexit party’s run over the last few weeks, which she descibes as a “campaign on life support”.

At Hull Ionians RUFC on a soaking wet Thursday morning last month, chairs were swiftly removed from the back few rows of a Brexit party event. It did the trick. The curtained event space, usually reserved for weddings, suddenly went from looking half empty to almost full.

After the highs of the EU election campaign, when Nigel Farage’s party drew thousands to glitzy rallies, a swathe of empty chairs beneath a glitter ball might not be how he imagined his eighth general election campaign would pan out.

Still, the show goes on. Farage waited in the wings expressionless before exploding into life, striding down the gangway to his soundtrack of the party’s 2019 campaign, Power by Kanye West.

He vigorously shook the hands of those followers who had paid £2.50 to attend. “It’s great to be on stage in leave country,” he declared.

“I’m in the heart of a part of England that feels very, very let down by parliament, [the] political class. It’s three-and-a-half years on and we’ve still not got Brexit.”

Except he is in Haltemprice and Howden, the seat of the arch-Eurosceptic David Davis, a former Brexit secretary. Worse, it is not a seat the party is contesting. Running events a few miles into the wrong constituency is one of many hallmarks of a campaign that is now on life support.

Updated

The day ahead

Boris Johnson will make campaign visits to the east of England, the north-east and south-west.

John McDonnell will give a speech on Labour’s plans for its first 100 days in government this morning in London, while the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, will be campaigning in the south-west.

The Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Ed Davey, will be canvassing for votes in Guildford.

Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader, will take part in a photocall in Coatbridge, then join her party’s candidate for Lanark and Hamilton East, on a visit to the Wallace tea rooms where they will help bake a cake.

Updated

Good morning. We’re here, in the final stretch of the campaign. The country will go to the polls on Thursday, but before that happens, the parties are giving their pitches one final push.

The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, will outline the party’s plan for the first 100 days of a Labour government, while the party focuses on the benefit of its policies to the bank balances of voters, promising the public that a Labour government would put “money in your pocket”.

Amid concerns that Labour has overpromised with a blizzard of announcements during the six-week campaign, Corbyn will focus on the NHS and voters’ finances in the final crucial days of campaigning.

Meanwhile, the Tories have been much quieter than the opposition ahead of the vote – as John Harris points out, they have been throughout the campaign – though Boris Johnson did do an interview with Sophy Ridge on Sky News yesterday, which John Crace described as a “20-minute audio-visual barrage of near constant mansplaining and manspreading”. The Tories have been much less forthcoming about their plansand those they have promised are problematic. Johnson’s proposal of 40 new hospitals has not been costed (although some say it could be as much as £24bn), his promise to introduce an “Australian-style” immigration system has been criticised. At the odder end of the spectrum is Johnson’s claim that getting Brexit done will lead to a baby boom such as the one that he wrongly alleges occurred after the London Olympics.

But, their message that the Conservatives will “get Brexit done” seems to have cut through, and despite stagnating in the polls they still look strongly placed to win the election.

Thanks for reading along, I’ll have the blog for the early hours before handing over to my colleagues. Let’s get cracking.

Updated

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