A summary of today's developments
Nigel Farage has refused to appear on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, describing the BBC as having “behaved like a political actor throughout this election”. In a social media post on X on Saturday, Farage said he would be “refusing until the BBC apologises for their dishonest QT audience” and that “Reform will be campaigning vigorously to abolish the licence fee”.
Reform UK has dropped three of its candidates after reports they had made offensive comments a spokesperson has confirmed to the BBC. The broadcaster reports that Edward Oakenfull, who is standing in Derbyshire Dales, Robert Lomas, a candidate in Barnsley North, and Leslie Lilley, standing in Southend East and Rochford, will still appear on the ballot paper as Reform UK candidates as it is too late for them to be removed.
Sir Elton John and his husband, David Furnish, have announced in a video message they will be backing the Labour party. Actors Kit Harrington and James Norton, singer Beverley Knight, businesswoman Deborah Meaden, and Neil Basu – the former head of counter-terrorism policing in England – also pledged support for Labour in video messages.
Keir Starmer hit out at “desperate” and “ridiculous” Conservative attempts to portray Labour as a risk to national security. Speaking on a campaign visit in Hampshire on Saturday, Starmer told reporters he had been granted access to sensitive intelligence by the government so it was wrong for ministers to now claim he would be a danger.
Starmer said he shared Rishi Sunak’s disgust after a Reform UK campaigner used a racial slur to describe the prime minister. The Labour leader accused Farage of not doing enough after the incident, and added that it is the leader who sets the “tone, the culture and the standards” of a political party.
Rishi Sunak abandoned his “legacy” policy to ban smoking for future generations amid a backlash from the tobacco industry in the form of legal threats, lobbying and a charm offensive aimed at Conservative MPs, an investigation reveals.
First minister of Scotland John Swinney has warned that the public could become disfranchised with the crisis surrounding postal votes. At a rally in Glasgow’s West End on Saturday, Swinney pledged to push back against a Labour government, in particular regarding the two-child limit, and said he had warned of the risks of holding the general election in the Scottish school holidays. Swinney said he had been “inundated” with concerns from the public about this.
A Conservative candidate has said that she was flashed while out canvassing with her seven-year-old son on Friday evening. Andrea Jenkyns, who is standing in Leeds South West and Morley, told the Telegraph that “a man dropped his trousers after she approached his home”. Jenkyns said she had reported the incident to police.
A Conservative cabinet minister who admitted placing three bets on the date of the general election is in line for a peerage as part of Rishi Sunak’s final honours list, the Observer has been told. Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary who stood down as an MP when the election was called, had been considered for inclusion in a dissolution honours list compiled in recent weeks, according to sources familiar with the process. The list is set to be published soon after Thursday’s vote.
The Conservative party deputy chair Angela Richardson called the sewage crisis a “political football” and claimed opposition parties and activists had put Tory MPs in physical danger by campaigning on the issue.
Reform UK said it had reported Channel 4 to the Electoral Commission, after the broadcaster released footage of an activist campaigning for Nigel Farage using a racial slur to describe prime minister Rishi Sunak. In a letter to the Electoral Commission, the party’s secretary Adam Richardson wrote: “The Channel 4 broadcast has clearly been made to harm Reform UK during an election period and this cannot be described as anything short of election interference.”
Ed Davey has announced he will embark on a 1,343-mile tour of seats from John o’Groats in northern Scotland to Land’s End in Cornwall in the final days of the general election campaign. The journey will take in seats that the Liberal Democrats are hoping to take from the Tories and the SNP
Updated
Keir Starmer said he wanted a “clear mandate” from the electorate if he becomes prime minister.
He told the Labour rally in Westminster: “We’ll need a clear mandate for this change, don’t doubt that. And if you don’t believe me, take a good look at the Tories.
“Chaos under Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, two politicians who never had a clear mandate.”
Starmer added hope has been “kicked out” of voters as he said Labour still has to convince people to go to the ballot box.
“British people want change but the hope has almost been kicked out. They need to be convinced that change is possible, and most of all they need to be convinced to vote for it.
“Because change doesn’t happen unless you vote for it.
“Nothing is decided, not a single vote has been won or lost, and each and every vote is out there.”
