Good morning and welcome to your daily news digest. By this point in the campaign, both parties have outlined their – very different – spending plans and visions for the future, and now that the big reveals are done we’re into the fight over them. Today it’s all about spending. We’ve also got a taste of non-election news and you can read our rolling political coverage here.
What’s going on?
The huge gap in the spending promises of the two major parties is high on the agenda after it emerged that Labour was committing 28 times as much in public spending as the Conservatives.
Jeremy Corbyn defended his multibillion-pound general election spending pledge on public services, saying that even with the increased spending of £83bn a year that he has promised, the UK would still spend less on public services than France or Germany. Zoe Williams writes that Labour has outlined its promises and now its job is to make those promises seem real.
Meanwhile the Resolution Foundation thinktank has released analysis showing that child poverty is at risk of rising to a record 60-year high under a Conservative government because its manifesto retains the coalition’s benefit cuts. The analysis says the number of British children living in relative poverty would increase from 29.6% in 2017-18 to 34.5% in 2023-2024 under a Boris Johnson-led government. It adds, though, that Labour’s £9bn of extra spending on social security would mean 550,000 fewer children in poverty but would not lead to current poverty rates falling.
In other news, Britain’s former envoy to the EU, Sir Ivan Rogers, has issued a scathing verdict of the government’s “diplomatic amateurism” saying Johnson is sowing the seeds of “the biggest crisis of Brexit to date”.
In a lecture in Glasgow, Rogers said Johnson was repeating Theresa May’s “strategy errors” and would soon find himself “unwisely” boxed in by his campaign promises.
At a glance
The UK’s chief rabbi has accused Corbyn of allowing a “poison sanctioned from the top” to take root in Labour, saying Jews were justifiably anxious about the prospect of a Labour government tainted by antisemitism complaints.
In the latest instalment of candidate controversy: a Conservative candidate who is pictured in the party’s manifesto as an NHS nurse standing for parliament is suspended from practising as a midwife.
Nicky Morgan has been trotted out to sell the Conservative manifesto, despite the fact she won’t be standing at this election, with John Crace writing: “You can only imagine that CCHQ have decided that every other member of the cabinet is too much of a liability to be let out in front of the public.”
An attack on two Labour canvassers aged in their 70s has been condemned by Labour.
The leader of Welsh Labour has backed Corbyn’s decision to remain neutral in any fresh referendum campaign even though the party in Wales has pledged to fight for remain.
Aditya Chakrabortty has spent time with some of Corbyn’s “lads army” asking: if Johnson has already won the professional air war, who will fight in Corbyn’s corner?
The day ahead
The Labour party will unveil its race and faith manifesto in Tottenham this morning. Corbyn, Diane Abbott and Dawn Butler will attend.
In the Conservative camp, Johnson will launch his Scottish campaign at midday and then head to the east of England to campaign.
Sajid Javid will speak in Manchester this afternoon about the cost of Corbyn’s campaign promises.
Jo Swinson is in Cheltenham and the Brexit party will hold an event in Barnsley.
Corbyn has an interview with Andrew Neil tonight at 7.30.
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Best of the rest
> Police have found a body believed to be that of missing British tourist Aslan King in bushland on south coast of Victoria, in Australia. The body was found in a creek on Tuesday morning, 1km from the campground at Princetown on the Great Ocean Road where the 25-year-old Bristol man was staying. King was last seen at the campground at 2am on Saturday, when he apparently ran into bushland after hitting his head. Police and emergency services searched for four days on foot, horseback and in helicopters. A coroner’s report will be prepared.
> A federal judge has ordered the former White House counsel Donald McGahn to testify in the impeachment hearings, tossing out claims he had “absolute immunity” as a top presidential adviser. As Donald Trump’s first White House counsel, McGahn had broad influence until he left the post in October 2018, and the ruling could affect other key witnesses called before Congress. They include John Bolton, the former national security adviser who reportedly was deeply unhappy about Trump’s posture on Ukraine, and the acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney.
> Just one in 20 Black Friday deals is genuine, says Which?, damning the annual shopping event as “all hype”. It checked 83 items on sale in 2018 and found nearly all cost the same or less at other times of the year. The fortnight-long event peaks on Friday, but there are signs shoppers are cottoning on to it as a gimmick, retail analysts say.
Today in Focus podcast: don’t pin too much on polls
Opinion polls are showing a lead for the Conservatives, but the Prospect editor, Tom Clark, says pundits and journalists should resist over-interpreting the data. Plus: Emma Graham-Harrison on the victory of pro-democracy candidates in Hong Kong’s local elections.
Lunchtime read: ‘Chinese people in France are scared’
People of Chinese descent have long faced prejudice and violence in France. But today a new generation is staking out its rightful place in society, writes Tash Aw.
Sport
Ashley Giles says England’s players will rally round an “emotional and hurt” Jofra Archer after the fast bowler reported racist abuse from a spectator during the defeat by New Zealand in the first Test in Mount Maunganui. The New Zealand race relations commissioner, Meng Foon, has called the abuse “utterly disgusting”, and the incident serves as a reminder of how ingrained racism is in cricket, writes Jonathan Liew. The footballer Mario Balotelli has also been subject to an extraordinary racist comment from his chairman at Brescia, the former Leeds owner Massimo Cellino.
Russia faces a four-year ban from global sport after World Anti-Doping Agency investigators found that a number of positive drugs tests were deleted from a database it extracted from a Moscow laboratory. Dr Richard Freeman’s legal team had evidence from the Olympic gold medallist Nicole Cooke that they wanted to put to Shane Sutton before he stormed out of a heated cross-examination two weeks ago, a medical tribunal has been told. Ben Stokes will face competition from Dina Asher-Smith, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Raheem Sterling as he seeks to become the first cricketer since 2005 to win the BBC sports personality of the year award. First-half goals from Conor Hourihane and Anwar El Ghazi gave Aston Villa a comfortable 2-0 win over Newcastle on a miserable return to Villa Park for Steve Bruce. And Pep Guardiola said that barring a “miracle” Sergio Agüero will miss the Manchester derby because of a muscle injury.
Business
Wall Street could see another session of record highs today after the US and China appeared to inch closer to an agreement on the so-called phase one trade deal. Officials from the two countries spoke by phone overnight, China’s commerce ministry said, and reached a “common understanding” on core issues. The statement pushed Asian stocks higher, pointing to more gains in New York where the Dow Jones closed at a record 28,066.47 on Monday. The FTSE is set to open up a modest 14 points this morning, and the pound is on $1.289 and €1.171.
The papers
“Corbyn’s pension promise: I will borrow to pay Waspi” women, says the i, and to save you the Googling it means “women against state pension inequality”, ie those made to wait longer because of changes in the law.
“Corbyn not fit for high office, says chief rabbi” the Times says, and the Mail also leads with the issue of antisemitism and how it continues to dog the Labour leader: “Chief rabbi: the soul of our nation is at stake”. The Telegraph splashes with denials of a “plot to sacrifice Corbyn” as leader to secure support for a Labour government from the Lib Dems and SNP. The Guardian goes with “Child poverty ‘will surge to 60-year high under Tories’ ” which is backed by analysis from the Resolution Foundation.
The Mirror says Corbyn would lay out a “care revolution for pensioners” after years of cuts, whereas “Boris snubs the elderly”. “Swing then you’re winning” says the Sun as it details the 50 “vital marginals” that “BoJo must bag” to land his party back in government. The FT and Metro both cover Uber getting banned from London again after it was deemed “not fit and proper” by Transport for London.
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