Jeremy Corbyn has repeatedly refused to apologise for Labour's handling of antisemitism during a bruising BBC interview with Andrew Neil.
The Labour leader pledged to root out the "poisonous blight" of anti-Jewish hate but failed to express his apologies for the ongoing crisis, which dominated the political debate on Tuesday after the Chief Rabbi questioned whether Mr Corbyn was fit for office.
However, Labour will be cheered by the latest voter registration figures, with some two-thirds of 3.2m from under-35s. Labour has also cut the Conservatives’ poll lead, with Jeremy Corbyn’s party reaching its highest level since May.
Meanwhile, the Tories were accused of "deceit" on Islamophobia by the Muslim Council of Britain - but Sajid Javid, the chancellor, refused to condemn Boris Johnson for his inflammatory remarks about Muslim women.
Michael Gove also came under fire after he wrongly claimed there is no single market for services in the EU and argued companies will “flourish” after Brexit. The Cabinet Office minister was accused of getting his facts wrong after branding the EU “bureaucratic” and as holding back firms in the crucial services sector – which makes up 80 per cent of the UK’s economy.
On Tuesday night, Final Say referendum campaigners released a list of 25 constituencies where tactical voting could make a second plebiscite a reality. Polling revealed that large numbers of Remain voters in the battleground seats are at risk of wasting their vote on candidates heading for third place, thus letting in Conservatives who will back Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal and try to block a second referendum.
See how we covered the day's event's live, below
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the general election campaign, with only 16 days until we go to the polls.
PM ‘to curb legal challenges over Brexit’
Boris Johnson planning an extraordinary attack on the courts if he wins the election, prompting accusations he is determined to prevent a repeat of judges thwarting Conservative Brexit plans.
A little-noticed section of the Tory manifesto hints at expanding the use of the royal prerogative to allow, it is claimed, the next government to ram through plans for the future relationship with the EU without proper scrutiny.
Gina Miller, the businesswoman who mounted and won the Article 50 case, told The Independent: “Is Boris Johnson intending to get a majority, change the scope of the royal prerogative and become a dictator?”
Further details here:
Boris Johnson ‘to curb legal challenges over Brexit’ in extraordinary attack on the courts
The IndependentExclusive: Prime minister intends to ‘change the scope of the royal prerogative and become a dictator’ campaigner Gina Miller suggestsChief Rabbi says Corbyn ‘unfit for office’
Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to tackle antisemitism makes him unfit to be prime minister, the Chief Rabbi has claimed in an attack on the Labour leader.
Ephraim Mirvis said he had decided to break with convention and intervene in politics ahead of the general election because “the very soul of our nation is at stake”.
In an article for The Times, he rejected Labour’s claims that the party were dealing with the problem as “a mendacious fiction”.
And he claimed that the “new poison” of antisemitism that had taken root in the party was “sanctioned from the top”.
More details here:
Jeremy Corbyn 'unfit for office' over handling of Labour antisemitism, says Chief Rabbi
The IndependentLabour can no longer claim to be the party of equality and anti-racism, claims Ephraim MirvisAnother ‘youthquake’ looming?
Labour will be hoping for a further spike in people looking to register to vote before tonight’s 11.59pm deadline.
More than 2.8 million people have applied to join those already the electoral rolls since late October.
According to the Electoral Reform Society that’s around a million more than the same pre-deadline period in 2017.
In another encouraging sign for Labour, around 35 per cent of them – more than a million people – are under the age of 25. And another 30 per cent are under the age of 35.
A spike in youth people registering was believed to have helped Labour deny Theresa May a majority at the last election. Could we see a repeat in 2019?
Stormzy: PM is ‘a sinister man with long record of lying’
Stormzy said it was important for voters to register by the end of Tuesday to vote – and told his 2.6 million Instagram followers he is backing Jeremy Corbyn.
The grime star also attacked the prime minister, pointing to some his remarks about
“Boris Johnson is a sinister man with a long record of lying and policies that have absolutely no regard for the people that our government should be committed to helping and empowering,” Stormzy wrote.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove has dismissed the star’s criticism, saying Stormzy was a far better rapper than he was a political analyst.
Stormzy, who sported a Union Jack emblazoned stab-proof vest at Glastonbury in June, has previously called Corbyn “my boy”.
Gove said: “I think we again know that Stormzy, when he took to the stage at Glastonbury wearing a stab vest, he made clear what his political views were then.”
“He is a far, far better rapper than he is a political analyst,” Gove told Talk Radio.
Former envoy to EU warns of ‘biggest crisis of Brexit to date’
Britain’s former envoy to the EU, meanwhile, has said the prime minister is sowing the seeds of “the biggest crisis of Brexit to date”.
Sir Ivan Rogers suggested Boris Johnson had “unwisely” made promises that could not be kept on a trade deal with the EU next year.
In a speech at the University of Glasgow, Sir Ivan rubbished claims by ministers that a trade deal with the EU can be completed in 2020.
He added talks breaking down before the end of 2020 - when the future trading relationship is supposed to be settled – “is much likelier than people realise”.
Sir Ivan told the Policy Scotland lecture: “The further ‘out’ of the European Union we choose to go, and therefore the further we want to go, the longer it will take to negotiate the necessary agreements.
“This is the first critical point which government ministers either repeatedly continue to get wrong or choose to mislead the British public about when talking in these weeks about ‘getting Brexit done’.”
Sir Ivan said the Johnson’s claims a Brexit deal could be concluded swiftly were “diplomatic amateurism dressed up domestically as boldness and decisiveness” and were actually strengthening the EU’s negotiating position.
He explained he believes Johnson’s trade deal will be even harder to negotiate than his predecessor’s because of greater divergence.
Sir Ivan said: “Put crudely, the EU will feel that, in the time available, rather little serious can get done and will think that is no bad thing as it can fully exploit UK desperation to get something over the new line.
“Why not take advantage of yet another prime minister who has unwisely boxed himself in?”
Corbyn wants schools to teach colonialism and legacy of empire
Schools will be required to teach children about colonialism and the legacy of the British Empire if Labour win the election, Jeremy Corbyn will announce today.
The Labour leader is to reveal plans to embed teaching of British imperialism in the national curriculum and diversify the teaching workforce, which is made up of more than 86 per cent of white British teachers.
As part of its “race and faith manifesto”, Labour will also establish a unit in the Treasury to cost the impact of major spending pledges on black and minority ethnic groups, as well as extending pay gap reporting to tackled discrimination based on race, and scrapping name-based recruitment.
All the details here:
Jeremy Corbyn pledges to compel schools to teach colonialism and the British empire
The new Race and Faith Manifesto also vows to diversify the teaching workforceJess Phillips calls on Labour leadership to apologise over antisemitism
Labour candidate for Birmingham Yardley Jess Phillips has responded to the condemnation of Jeremy Corbyn by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis by saying the only way to respond is to apologise.
In a comment piece for The Times, Mirvis said the Labour leadership’s handling of antisemitism was “incompatible” with British values.
“The only response to the chief Rabbi that is moral is, ‘I’m sorry and I’ll do whatever I possibly can to win back your community’s trust,’” Phillips tweeted. “So that’s what I will say.”
‘I don’t believe Corbyn is antisemitic’, says Labour peer
Labour peer Lord Dubs, who arrived in the UK in 1939 as a six-year-old refugee fleeing the persecution of Jews in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, has said the Chief Rabbi has “gone too far” and that Jeremy Corbyn is not antisemitic.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Lord Dubs said: “I think, I have a lot of respect for the Chief Rabbi, I’ve co-operated with him on campaigns on behalf of child refugees, I’ve spoken to him in many synagogues and I’ve got a lot of positive feeling about the Jewish community, but I think today the Chief Rabbi has gone too far.”
Lord Dubs said: “I think the Labour Party has been much too slow in getting to grips with this … but I feel we are getting there, and I want to look at it from the point of view of where we are today and moving forward.”
He added: “And I think Jeremy Corbyn himself is personally hurt at the accusations of antisemitism. I don’t believe he is antisemitic, even though, under his leadership, things have happened which should have been dealt with much faster.”
Questioned on Corbyn’s comments on an antisemitic mural, he said: “As regards to the mural, my understanding, I found it a very shocking mural, I saw it, my understanding is that Jeremy hadn't actually looked at it properly and made a comment which afterwards he very much regretted. And he has apologised.”
On whether Corbyn is fit to be PM, he added: “I think he is, yes, I think he is fit to be prime minister … I don’t believe he is personally antisemitic and I believe he will find it very, very hurtful that people accuse him of being antisemitic or racist or Islamophobic, he is none of those things.”
Child poverty set to soar under Tories, think tank warns
Child poverty will soar to a record high under Tory spending plans, according a new analysis by the Resolution Foundation think tank.
Boris Johnson’s manifesto offers “no changes to existing policy” which has seen family benefits slashed.
As a result, a staggering 34 per cent of children are expected to be living below the breadline by the end of the next parliament – a rise of 600,000 and the highest proportion since records began in the early 1960s.
More details here:
Tory plans will see child poverty rise to record high, report finds
More than a third of children expected to be living below breadline by end of next parliamentPolice ‘order driver to remove “B******s to Brexit” sticker from car’
Police are investigating claims two pro-EU campaigners were pulled over and told to remove a “Bollocks to Brexit” sticker from their car.
Passenger Peter Cook posted a video on Twitter claiming that officers had “bullied” the campaigners into removing the slogan from their Mini Cooper on the M25 near Brentwood on Sunday afternoon.
Sharing footage of the incident on social media, campaign group Bollocks to Brexit said: “Essex Police bullied us into removing ‘Bollocks’ from our car ... I am calling the Police Complaints Commission.”
Police ‘order driver to remove “B******s to Brexit” sticker from car’
Pro-EU campaigners claim officer pulled them over on M25 and told them slogan was ‘public order offence’Archbishop of Canterbury acknowledges ‘fear felt by British Jews’
The Archbishop of Canterbury has released a statement following the remarks made by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis about the “poison” of antisemitism in the Labour party.
Justin Welby said the Chief Rabbi’s words “ought to alert us to the deep sense of insecurity and fear felt by many British Jews”, and said the Church of England was “very conscious of our own history with antisemitism”.
Lib Dems condemned for ‘outrageous’ mock newspaper
The editor of the Basingstoke Gazette has criticised the Lib Dems for producing an election pamphlet made to resemble a “Gazette” newspaper in the area.
Katie French said it was “deeply worrying” that Jo Swinson’s party had “shamelessly exploited the trusted format of a local newspaper for their own political gain”.
She added: “This is a flagrant attempt to manipulate voters by presenting them an advertisement in the form of a front page news story.”
French said “we will be writing a letter of complaint to the Liberal Democrat party”.
Toby Granville, the editorial director at Newsquest Media, said it was “outrageous” – and threatened to advise all his editors not to publish any campaign news for the party unless the Lib Dems pulled the spoof paper.
Labour cuts Tory lead in latest polls
Labour will be buoyed by the voter registration figures. The latest polls make welcome reading for the party too. The latest Kantar survey shows Labour up five points on 32 per cent (cutting the Tory lead from 18 points to 11 since the firm’s last survey).
It follows the latest ICM Research poll which shows Labour up on 34 per cent, cutting the Tory lead there to seven points.
Swinson blames Corbyn for ‘genuine fear’ in Jewish community
Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson has responded to the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis’s remarks and attacked Jeremy Corbyn’s stance on antisemitism.
During a campaign visit in Cornwall, Swinson said: “I think it is hugely worrying that the Chief Rabbi has felt compelled to make such an intervention in an election.
“It speaks volumes about the genuine fear that people in the Jewish community feel about Jeremy Corbyn and his inability to tackle antisemitism in the Labour Party.
“I think all of us whatever our religion, or none, whatever our race, we should take very seriously the concerns of a community within our country that is genuinely feeling unsafe.
“And think about what that says about our politics that that is because of the actions of the leader of a mainstream party.”
Another 150,000 people under 25 register to vote
More evidence of a potential “youthquake” at the general election? The latest figures from the government website that looks at voter registration has shown another significant surge in applications from young people.
It shows there were 366,000 registrations yesterday – with 150,000 of those under the age of 25. Another 114,000 applications came from the 25 to 34-year-olds.
Dominic Raab branded a coward – and told by constituents ‘we don’t want Brexit done’
Dominic Raab was branded a “coward” by the friends and family of teen crash victim Harry Dunn after they were stopped from confronting him at election hustings.
Tim Dunn, Harry's father, was unable to enter the event in the Esher and Walton constituency due to overcrowding, which led to him and other supporters heckling the foreign secretary outside.
A crowd booed and branded Raab a “coward” as he left East Molesey Methodist Church in an official car on Monday evening, after the event where he and other candidates aimed to appeal to local constituents.
Raab was also confronted by constituents angered by his Brexit plans as he campaigns to hold off a significant Lib Dem challenge to his Surrey seat.
Raab attempted to sway voters at a hustings in St Andrew’s Church in Cobham, but was confronted by a wall of sound. As he spoke about the best way to “get Brexit done”, video footage from the event captured a number of people yelling “no, we don’t want it done, we don’t want Brexit done Mr Raab”.
Tory minister asks crowd if they want Brexit done, is told 'we don't want it done'
Dominic Raab derided as Liberal Democrats launch significant challengeAlmost half of Lib Dem backers could still switch vote
YouGov has shared some interested findings about the high proportion of Labour and Lib Dem backers who could still switch how they vote.
Only 53 per cent of current Lib Dem voters said they would “definitely” stick with the party, while only 62 per cent of current Labour voters said the same.
Jeremy Corbyn’s fortunes could depend of getting enough of those “soft” Lib Dems to back Labour next month. More than one-third said they might do just that.
“The struggle between Labour and the Lib Dems is by far the most vital dynamic in the election at the moment,” said YouGov data journalist Matthew Smith.
Tory party has ‘blind spot’ on Islamophobia, says Muslim Council of Britain
The Muslim Council of Britain has echoed the language used by the Chief Rabbi this morning, urging people to “vote with their conscience”
The organisation highlighted the Conservatives’ Islamophobia problem, saying the party has “a blind spot for this type of racism”.
More than 1.1m young people under 25 have registered to vote since election called
Our friends at Statista have taken a look at the number (and age) of people registering to vote since the election was called at the end of October.
More than 1.1m are under the age of 25, with another 965,000 applications coming from those aged between 25 and 34.
Social media is an increasingly important battle ground in elections - and home to many questionable claims pumped out by all sides. If social media sites won't investigate the truth of divisive advertising, we will. Please send any political Facebook advertising you receive to digitaldemocracy@independent.co.uk, and we will catalogue and investigate it. Read more here.
