No chance Sunak will step down as Tory leader during election, minister says

Rishi Sunak has promised to recruit 8,000 more neighbourhood police officers, paid for by hiking the cost of visas if the Tories win the General Election.

Mr Sunak said ‘more bobbies on the beat’ with greater powers would help bring down crime.

The Prime Minister highlighted the Tory record of recruiting 20,000 officers since 2019, although this matched the number of officers lost during the years of austerity after 2010.

But shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper dismissed the plan as ‘another empty promise from a desperate Tory party’.

‘The Tories have repeatedly promised more police on the beat but instead they have cut 10,000 neighbourhood police, 90% of crimes are going unsolved, prisons are in crisis and more than twice as many people now say they never see the police on the beat,’ she said.

‘Meanwhile the Tories’ funding sums are a fudge that seem to depend on continued high migration which they promised to bring down.

‘Labour has a costed and funded plan to put 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on the beat, by cutting back-office waste.’

Labour plans to set up more than 3,300 nurseries in existing primary schools in England for children from nine months old.

It is just a series of policies expected to be unveiled this Thursday, as Keir Starmer publishes Labour’s manifesto, The Guardian reports.

3,334 classrooms in existing primary schools would be converted to accommodate 100,000 extra childcare places.

The Department for Education estimates that about 85,000 places are needed for current plans.

The total, £140m, would be funded by the party’s plans to levy VAT on private school fees.

Sir Keir Starmer said work would start within weeks if they entered government and would be complete before the first term.

But experts warned it is a sticking-plaster solution, pumping money into a system already struggling to cope with demand.

Nurseries said they did not have the capacity to deliver the extra spaces needed.

Reaction has come in this evening following Tory chair Richard Holden’s car crash interview on Sky News.

A Tory candidate told the broadcaster’s deputy political editor Sam Coates that Holden is a ‘disgrace to the Conservative Party’.

They said: ‘He’s put himself over candidates. He’s shown complete disdain for party members.

‘The only reason this fool won’t be associated with this disastrous election is because nobody believes anyone thinks he is competent, capable or trusted enough to be involved in the day-to-day decision-making of this campaign.’

There has been further embarrassment for the Tories this evening after Conservative Party Chair Richard Holden appeared on Sky News.

He was confirmed as the party’s candidate in Basildon and Billericay, in Essex, but this has caused controversy because he used to represent North West Durham.

Grassroots Tories in the area raised the possibility of challenging his selection, after he was the only person shortlisted for the seat by the party.

Jon Craig asked him about the decision, saying it was ‘anti- democratic’ but he refused to give a straight answer about the situation. 

‘I’ve already answered these questions when I did a Channel 4 interview last week,’ Mr Holden said. 

Jon then tells him ‘I’m going to stop you now… this is ridiculous’ before the adviser interrupts and ‘If this is the way this is going to go, we’ll just leave.’

Things have just got pretty weird and it feels like we are in a Black Mirror episode because ‘AI Steve’ is running for your vote in Brighton Pavilion.

According to his website, the AI has been created by Steve Endacott, who has created many of the initial policy ideas and will ‘physically’ attend Parliament to vote on policies as guided by AI Steve’s feedback from his constituents.

He says AI Steve has been created to make sure people in Brighton and Hove have 24/7 access to leave opinions and create policies.

To find out what he stands for you can do so here.

Emily Thornberry has said the size of classes at state schools may increase as a result of Labour’s tax on private schools.

In an interview with GB News, the shadow attorney general was asked about the many private school students who may have to leave if fees are hiked up due to the introduction of VAT.

She said: ‘Certainly, some schools that have vacancies – my primary schools and my secondary schools have space and they’re very welcome.

‘They are good schools and people should send their children there. I mean, it’s fine, and if we have to, in the short term, have larger classes, we have larger classes.

‘All we need to do is we need to raise the money in order to make sure that children who go into state schools have had breakfast.

‘That’s what our priority is, and we need to raise the money from somewhere.’

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan leapt on the clip, posting a strangely edited version to her Twitter account.

The Liberal Democrats have vowed to put an end to long ambulance wait times with a cash boost for the NHS.

Urgent treatment centres and A&E wards would get an upfront investment of £285,000,000 under the plans, while £400m a year would be provided to help add 1,000 new beds.

It’s all part of the party’s push towards a focus on health and social care policies. The manifesto, to be launched tomorrow, will be their first to contain a full chapter on care.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: ‘At the heart of the Liberal Democrats’ plan for the country is a bold and ambitious package to save the NHS.

‘The chaos and crisis in hospitals and ambulance services is costing lives. Too many people have lost a loved one to the shameful scandal of ambulance waiting times.

‘People simply no longer trust that when they call 999, an ambulance will arrive in time.’

He added: ‘The NHS was once the envy of the world, but it has been in constant crisis under the Conservative Party.

‘The Conservatives have left health services crumbling, with nurses and paramedics overstretched and vulnerable patients left with the indignity of waiting in corridors for life-saving treatment.

‘The Liberal Democrats would end the crisis in our ambulance services, by increasing the number of beds and offering free personal care to ease the pressure on hospital wards.’

Here’s the clip of Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride being interviewed by Trevor Phillips on Sky News earlier today.

You know you’re not in a good place electorally when Trevor Phillips asks you, with less than a month until polling day, whether your leader will be still be your leader when the election comes.

Mel Stride was wanting to talk about the Tories’ planned shake-up of the benefits system on Sky News this morning, but of course, it’s the D-Day debacle that’s still at the front of many people’s minds.

For what it’s worth, the work and pensions secretary immediately said Rishi Sunak would ‘absolutely’ remain in his role up to July 4.

‘There should be no question of anything other than that,’ he told the presenter.

He’s right, there shouldn’t – but the fact it seemed like a perfectly legitimate thing to ask at this point in the campaign signals that something is very, very wrong.

Sir Keir Starmer is in Essex with his shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper to talk about what I mentioned in the previous blog post – antisocial behaviour.

But he’s also been asked about a report in the Sunday Times today that Labour will pledge not to raise the ‘big three’ taxes – national insurance, income tax or VAT – in its first term if it wins the election.

The party leader told reporters: ‘We will not be raising taxes on working people. That means we won’t be raising income tax, national insurance or VAT.

‘We will launch our manifesto very soon and that will have no tax surprises in it because all of our plans are fully funded and fully costed and none of them require tax rises over and above the ones that we’ve already announced.’

However, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said tax rises will be necessary to even just maintain the status quo – so Labour will need to spell out where the money is coming from when their manifesto launches on Thursday.

Labour has said it will do more to combat the scourge of ‘nuisance off-road bikes’ in towns around the UK if it wins power at the election.

That includes giving police powers to issue a ‘significantly tougher on-the-spot fine’ – they don’t give a figure, saying it’ll be decided by consultation.

The party also wants police to be able to destroy bikes that are being used antisocially, letting them ‘bypass the current 14-day period and dispose of bikes within 48 hours’.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘Noisy off-road bikes speeding round local streets and neighbourhoods, deliberately disturbing and intimidating local residents, are a nightmare for communities.

‘Yet too often the culprits get away with it again and again, and even when the police take action, the bikes still end up back on the streets.

‘Cracking down on antisocial behaviour will be one of next Labour government’s first steps because everyone should feel safe on their streets.’

It’s been a rough few days for the prime minister, following his decision to return early from D-Day commemorations in France to sit down for a political interview.

He apologised for the move a day later – an extraordinary thing for a PM to have to do during an election campaign – and has only spoken about it once on camera in an interview with Sky News.

Since then, there have been reports that his Conservative colleagues are furious with him, with some even suggesting they regret not replacing him before the campaign.

It looks like we’re not going to hear much more from him today either. Sunak is campaigning in Yorkshire today without any media present, after dodging questions from reporters yesterday too.

Here’s the video of Laura Kuenssberg asking Nigel Farage about his comments responding to Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave the D-Day ceremony on Thursday.

Nigel Farage has been challenged over a quote he gave to Sky News yesterday regarding Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave D-Day commemorations early.

The Reform leader said the PM’s choice showed he ‘doesn’t care about our history, our culture’.

On Laura Kuenssberg’s show this morning, shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said those words were a ‘dog whistle’ when describing the country’s first British Asian leader.

When the journalist asked Farage about the quote, he said: ‘I know what your question’s leading at – 40% of our contribution in World War One and World War Two came from the Commonwealth.

‘He is utterly disconnected, by class, by privilege, from how the ordinary folk in this country feel.

‘He revealed that, I think spectacularly, when he left Normandy early.’

Ed McGuinness is the new Conservative candidate for Surrey Heath, after cabinet minister Michael Gove decided he’d be stepping down.

But as someone who was parachuted in at the last minute – as he says himself – he didn’t have anywhere to stay in the constituency.

Until now! The ex-British Army officer and journalist posted a picture on Twitter yesterday evening with the keys to a home.

One problem: the home isn’t a home. It’s an Airbnb, as perceptive social media users spotted.

Perhaps it’s a smart way to get a place to stay in the constituency at short notice, without having to spend a while exploring the housing market.

And perhaps it’s also a convenient way to ensure he’s not committed to anything short-term if, as some polls have suggested, the seat goes to Labour.

The Times reports that the Conservatives suspended social media campaigning yesterday.

‘There is no money,’ a senior source told the newspaper.

Tory bigwigs have been asked to chip in pennies to the campaign.

The Times adds: ‘Morale is also at rock bottom. CCHQ was said to be largely deserted on Friday, with senior aides laid low with illness.

‘Half of Tory ministerial aides have refused to join the campaign despite being ordered to do so.’

Rishi Sunak has wished his Danish counterpart a ‘swift recovery’ after she was attacked in Copenhagen Friday evening.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was left ‘shaken’ by the incident, with a man since charged. Police say the suspect, 39, was under the influence and believe it was a ‘spontaneous attack’.

About half a day later, Sunak commented on the attack on X.

Liberal Democrat leadership in Westminster would be ‘very practical’, Ed Davey said today.

‘I’ve been determined in my leadership that we didn’t mislead people about what is possible.’

One way of showing this is golfing, apparently, adding to the long list of sports the leader has casually done on the campaign trail (including paddle boarding, for one).

He was earlier today out playing crazy golf at Wokingham Family Golf in Berkshire and scored two over par.

You can never accuse us of not bringing you the latest hard-hitting political news.

A senior Scottish Labour figure has said the SNP’s General Election campaign is ‘built on empty rhetoric’ as he accuses his opponents of ‘butchering’ the country’s public services.

Shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray will hit the campaign trail in Edinburgh on Sunday afternoon where he will condemn the SNP campaign.

The two parties have exchanged swipes as polls suggest close-fought battles between them in the July 4 vote.

Before a campaign visit in the Scottish capital, Mr Murray said his party would deliver an additional 160,000 NHS appointments every year.

Mr Murray said: ‘The SNP’s General Election campaign is built on empty rhetoric and shameless hypocrisy.

‘The SNP has butchered funding for local government, taking Tory austerity and amplifying it. (Party leader) John Swinney was the architect of austerity for council services across Scotland.

‘Our NHS is fighting for survival on their watch, with private healthcare soaring and one in six Scots stuck on a waiting list.

‘The SNP have no credibility and no vision – but Labour can deliver the change Scotland needs.

‘Scottish Labour can boot the Tories out of Downing Street, end Tory austerity and deliver a funding boost for Scotland’s NHS.’

SNP candidate for Mid Dunbartonshire Amy Callaghan said: ‘Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is fully committed to the same Tory plans which the Institute of Fiscal Studies have said will mean around £18 billion of cuts to our public services.

‘It’s time for Labour to be honest about exactly how much damage their plans would mean for Scotland’s public services like our NHS. Scotland can’t afford another decade of Westminster cuts.’

Rishi Sunak is feeling a tad ‘despondent’ at the moment after his D-Day blunder, people close to the prime minister told Bloomberg.

Sunak left a D-Day commemoration in France early on Thursday where, once in London, he recorded an interview with ITV.

He didn’t provide a reason for ducking out when he apologised for doing so on X yesterday morning, but this did little to ease the storm of criticism he’s suffered since.

Cabinet ministers told Bloomberg that the misstep has left them questioning their support for the Tory leader.

One loyalist now wishes Sunak had been ousted as PM earlier this year.

Another insider told The Times they had ‘never heard it so quiet’ at CCHQ.