Afternoon summary
Rishi Sunak has been criticised for missing the international D-Day commemoration event in France this afternoon. He attended a British event in the morning. (See 2.11pm.)
The Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank has published a damning assessment of the Conservative party’s decision to rule out reform of the way council tax operates in England in the next parliament. (See 3.49pm.)
Finally, do read Archie Bland’s afternoon campaign catch-up. Better still, you can sign up here to get it as an email.
Plaid Cymru says next government should recognise state of Palestine
Plaid Cymru has said the next government should recognise the state of Palestine. In a statement today Rhun ap Iorwerth, the party leader, said:
The horrors unfolding in Gaza day in day out shame the international community.
It is difficult to comprehend the scale of the suffering, particularly the number of children and young people caught up in the violence.
It’s time for the UK to show some moral leadership and join the many other states including Ireland, Spain and Norway who have declared that they recognise the State of Palestine.
This would send a clear signal that the UK supports the Palestinian people’s fundamental rights, free from the inhumane conditions currently being imposed upon them.
The SNP, Plaid’s sister nationalist party in Scotland, has also called for the UK to recognise Palestine immediately.
There is fury among Tories about candidate selections. The past week has seen several members of Rishi Sunak’s inner circle parachuted into safe seats and former Red Wall MPs flee to safer southern constituencies.
Among them is Richard Holden, the Conservative party chair, who will stand in Basildon and Billericay after he was put to the local association as the only candidate at the last minute. A Tory insider said:
He’s the poster boy for what could end up being a catastrophic election. The selections are absolute fire for the party. There’s a strong feeling that they’re putting Rishi’s people in.
Labour’s candidate in Basildon and Billericay has already issued campaign material saying that Holden had “only visited Basildon a handful of times in his life” and was “not afraid to break promises to further his own career.” Holden claimed earlier this year that he was “bloody loyal to the north east”.
Some Tories are sceptical about how safe Holden’s new seat actually is, particularly with some local members saying they will refuse to campaign for him. The Conservatives lost control of Basildon council this year after losing 13 councillors, with Labour winning six.
Candidate selections have also created resentment in an already demoralised party grassroots. Two Tory sources familiar with the party’s internal workings said the size of its membership had fallen by tens of thousands since the last leadership contest in 2022, when it stood at around 172,000.
There is also concern that safe Tory seats have overwhelmingly been handed to male candidates, and that as a result the party’s new intake will be overwhelmingly male.
Anne Jenkin, the Tory peer, has urged women to stand in unwinnable opposition-held seats at this election. She wrote in the Women2Win WhatsApp group for aspiring female Tory MPs on 29 May:
Please put your names in for opposition-held seats if you haven’t fought before or had much experience. I hear on the grapevine that many of these seats are going to men because they are applying and women are not. Which means that % of women candidates overall will be low.
Two Liberal Democrat members have been arrested in Harrogate on suspicion of election offences after the party wrongly claimed the Greens had stood down in an election leaflet.
The leaflet was circulated in March ahead of a local government byelection in the Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone ward, and falsely stated “the Green’s (sic) have stood down this election”.
The Lib Dem candidate went on to win the Lib Dem-Tory marginal seat with 1,094 votes to the Conservatives’ 768 votes. The Green party had 376 votes. A local Green party source told the Guardian the Greens had not expected to win and the leaflet would not have changed the outcome of the byelection.
The two men were arrested on Tuesday and a police raid of the local Lib Dem office took place on Wednesday evening.
A North Yorkshire police spokesperson said:
A man aged in his 60s and a man aged in his 20s, both from the Harrogate area, were arrested on Tuesday 4 June 2024 in connection with an ongoing local election-related investigation. Following questioning, they have been released under investigation while enquiries continue.
The parliamentary constituency, Harrogate and Knaresborough, is also a Lib Dem-Tory marginal seat.
Veterans minister rejects Starmer's claim that some in military back Labour's plan to repeal Troubles amnesty law
Keir Starmer has been challenged by veterans minister Johnny Mercer to back up a claim that there is opposition in the armed forces to the controversial law providing conditional amnesties to soldiers and others for Troubles-era crimes in Northern Ireland.
The controversial issue cropped up again as the Tories launched a suite of pledges aimed at veterans.
But there was welcome news for Starmer when a YouGov tracker today showed that Labour had eclipsed the Tories for the first time when it came to public views of which party would be best at handling defence on security.
Labour are now leading on this on 22%, ahead of the Tories on 21%.
Earlier this week Starmer was flanked by 10 ex-military Labour candidates as he insisted that party has fundamentally changed on national security.
One of those candidates, a former Royal Marines captain, is in a duel with Mercer for the Plymouth Moor View seat, which the latter won from Labour in 2015.
Labour are committed to repealing the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, which is strongly supported by Mercer on the grounds that it will stop the prosecution of veterans in relation to historic incidents from the Troubles. In an interview with the Guardian, Mercer took aim at Starmer, saying:
I think people can smell the authenticity, such as if you say you are now the party of veterans, but then that you are going to restart this horrific policy of prosecuting in Northern Ireland.
Drawing on his own experience of working in Northern Ireland as part of the peace process, Starmer said this week that it was a mistake to proceed with the amnesty plan when it was opposed by all of the political parties there. He added:
I would actually dispute that across the armed services that they are all against repealing the legislation because it provides an amnesty for all sides, including the terrorists, and I know that many people feel extremely uncomfortable about that.
The Tories made a series of pledges in a pitch for the support of veterans and their families today, including a new veterans bill, extending tax breaks for veterans’ employers. The law would also be changed to allow veterans’ ID to be used to vote in elections, a victory for Mercer after he had accused No 10 of stonewalling on the issue, but he refused to say whether student ID should also count.
The Conservatives are citing a Guardian story saying Labour is mulling over up to a dozen as-yet-unannounced revenue raising measures as proof that they are right to accuse Keir Starmer of wanting to raise tax.
Here is the story by Anna Isaac and Kiran Stacey.
In response, CCHQ issued a statement from Laura Trott, chief secretary to the Treasury, saying:
The prime minister warned this week that Keir Starmer would put up taxes on working families by £2,094 to fill Labour’s £38.5bn black hole. After spending two days accusing others of lying and ordering his team to dodge questions from the media, the truth has now emerged: he is secretly preparing more than 10 new tax rises later this year.
Keir Starmer has a long track record of breaking pledges. He thinks he can coast to victory with a blank cheque then pretend he has a mandate to raise taxes, raid pensions and impose a retirement tax. He now urgently needs to level with the British people about which taxes he wants to increase and by how much.
Tory pledge not to reform 'increasingly absurd' council tax system in England blocks levelling up, says IFS
The Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank has published a damning assessment of the Conservative party’s decision to rule out reform of the way council tax operates in England in the next parliament. (See 9.28am.)
In the briefing, David Phillips, an associate director at the IFS, said:
The new ‘family home tax guarantee’ [the Tory term for its new pledge] would mean perpetuating the increasingly absurd situation whereby the council tax that households pay is based on the value of their property relative to others in England on 1 April 1991 – a third of a century ago, when Mikhail Gorbachev was President of the Soviet Union and Chesney Hawkes topped the charts with The One and Only.
Since this one and only valuation of houses, values have increased by massively different amounts around the country, meaning that at least half are now effectively in the ‘wrong band’. Households in the north and Midlands are often in too high a band – and pay too much – while those in London and its environs too low a band – and pay too little – compared to what they would under a modernised tax. In other words, in its current form council tax works against levelling up.
And here are three charts from the briefing that prove this point.
This one shows how people living in low-value homes have to pay much more in council tax, as a proportion of the value of their home, then people in expensive properties.
This shows how, if council tax was now based on current property values, instead of 1990 values, people in most of the north of England and the Midlands would gain, because their homes have not risen in value over the last 30 years as much as properties in the south. But people in London would face a particularly big increase, and other people in the south or east of England might pay more too.
But the IFS is also in favour of reforming the system to make council tax proportional to the value of property. It set out the case for this in a report four years ago and this chart show how around seven out of 10 households – all but the richer ones – would gain from this approach.
Tory chair Richard Holden rejects claim Basildon selection stitched up in his favour
Richard Holden, the Conservative party chair, has been selected as the party’s candidate in Basildon and Billericay, which in normal circumstances would be described as a safe Tory seat, after the association was invited to pick from a shortlist with only his name on it. His previous seat, North West Durham, has been abolished.
Last night, in an interview with Paul McNamara from Channel 4 News, Holden was asked if this was a stitch-up in his favour. He replied: “No.”
He also said that, under Tory rules, if a candidate has not been selected 72 hours before nominations close, only one name is put forward to the association. He said it had agreed to have him as the candidate unanimously.
“Was this a stitch up to make sure that you got a safe seat?” “No.”
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) June 6, 2024
EXCL: @PGMcNamara presses Chairman of the Conservative party Richard Holden as he tells @Channel4News he’s been agreed as the only Tory candidate for Basildon and Billericay. pic.twitter.com/z3WMQl7Je9
At the last election the Conservatives had a majority of 20,412 in Basildon and Billericay, where Holden is now the candidate. Boundary changes increase the notional majority there by about 300 votes.
According to the latest YouGov MRP poll, the Tories are still on course to beat Labour there, but only by 36% to 34%.
Sunak criticised for missing international D-Day commemoration event
Rishi Sunak has been criticised for missing the major international ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, PA Media reports. PA says:
The prime minister has attended events in Normandy including speaking at the major British ceremony, but has not been present alongside leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden at the international gathering this afternoon. Keir Starmer is mingling with world leaders at the Omaha Beach event.
With election campaign in full swing, the Tory leader is heading back to the UK.
A Tory source played down the diplomatic impact of the prime minster’s absence, pointing out he will see Macron, Biden, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and other key leaders at the G7 summit in Italy next week.
But Nigel Farage, whose announcement this week that he is standing in the election came as a blow to Sunak, criticised the move.
The Reform UK leader tweeted: “The prime minister has ducked out of the international D-Day event to fly back to the UK to campaign. I am here in Normandy in a personal capacity because I think it matters. Does he?”
The Prime Minister has ducked out of the international D-Day event to fly back to the UK to campaign.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 6, 2024
I am here in Normandy in a personal capacity because I think it matters. Does he?
Green party proposes spending £50bn more per year on health and social care, funded by wealth tax and other tax rises
The Green party has called for a wealth tax, and other radical tax reforms, to allow spending on health and social care to rise by more than £50bn a year by the end of the decade.
Announcing the party’s plans, Adrian Ramsay, the Green co-leader, said the Greens were the only party being honest about the scale of the problem, and the tax increases that would be needed to address it.
Our NHS is at breaking point following 14 years of underfunding. Patients are stuck in hospital corridors, people can’t see their GP or NHS dentist when they need to and staff are severely overstretched.
Greens believe passionately in the NHS and we are the only party to be honest with the public that it’s going to cost money to nurse the NHS back to health after 14 years of Conservative damage.
Not just by shifting a small pot around, but by asking the very richest in our society to pay a modest amount more in tax to fund the investment we need to nurse the NHS back to health.
Our plans are credible, deliverable and fully funded.
The Greens say their plans would deliver an extra £30bn a year for the NHS in England by 2030. This would fund measures including a “fair wage” pay rise for health workers, giving everyone access to an NHS dentist, and ensuring that people in urgent need can get a same-day GP appointment.
There would also be an extra £20bn a year for social care in England by the end of the decade, intended to provide people with free personal care, as is already available in Scotland.
In an interview with the BBC, Ramsay said full details of how the plan would be funded would be set out in the party’s manifesto next week.
But he said the party published a document at the time of the budget saying how it would raise an extra £50bn a year. He said there were three main measures:
1) A wealth tax, set at 1% on assets over £10m, and 2% on assets over £1bn. This would raise at least £16bn, Ramsay said.
2) Reforming capital gains tax, so that it is levied at the same rate as income tax.
3) Increasing the scope of the windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
According to the document published in March, the Greens would also reform national insurance, applying it to investment income as well as employment income, and removing the upper earnings limit so that high earners pay more.
Updated
Tories to pledge homicide law overhaul with US-style classifications
Rishi Sunak will reportedly pledge an overhaul of homicide laws, introducing US-style classifications for murder and increasing sentences, as part of the Conservative manifesto, Hayden Vernon reports.
With John Swinney in France for the D-Day commemorations, Kate Forbes, Scotland’s deputy first minister, stood in at FMQs at Holyrood today – but she didn’t offer any further clarity on the SNP’s energy policy.
At the STV election debate on Monday Swinney repeatedly failed to answer a direct question about whether he supports new licences. Swinney said he was “in favour of working with the oil and gas sector” and that there would be a “climate of compatibility test on every single decision we take on the oil and gas sector”.
Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, pressed Forbes on the SNP position. She said she was “very clear” while continuing not to be clear, telling MSPs:
Our position is clear, we will back the north east, back workers and intend to achieve our climate change aims.
Forbes also managed to wrap in a dig about David Duguid, telling Ross he had “betrayed … a candidate who is currently recovering from ill health”. (See 9.53am.)
Almost half Britons think things in UK 'much worse' than when Tories took power in 2010, poll suggests
“Vote Tory because we’ve got a good record on LGBT+ rights.” That is not a slogan anyone at CCHQ seems to have proposed, and instead ministers have been happy to antagonise the LGBT+ lobby with announcements that suggests they are willing to curtail trans rights as a culture war issue.
But, perhaps surprisingly, YouGov polling out this morning suggests that, of 21 issues included in the survery, gay, lesbian and bisexual rights is the area where people think things have most improved since 2020. And it is also the only area where people think there has been clear improvement.
The finding partly reflects that fact that the coalition government passed a law in 2013 to allow same-sex marriage. It was controversial at the time, but now there is no one in mainstream politics calling for its repeal. But it is also indicative of how social attitudes have changed enormously on gay rights over the past decade.
The full findings are dire for the Conservatives. They suggest 73% of Britons think things in the UK are worse than when the Conservatives came to power in 2010, and almost half (46%) think thinks are much worse.
Updated
The SNP has said the Scottish Conservative party’s decision to block former Scotland Office minister David Duguid at the last minute from standing as a candidate (see 9.53am) shows “the nasty party just got nastier”.
Stewart Hosie, the SNP’s campaign chief, said:
This is a day of shame for the Tories, with three-jobs Douglas Ross taking a seat from David Duguid to keep his third salary at Westminster.
The way the Tories have treated Mr Duguid is indefensible. The nasty party just got nastier.
People in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East deserve a dedicated, full time MP and local champion. That’s what SNP candidate Seamus Logan will be.
Hosie was referring to the fact that Ross is MSP for Highlands and Islands, was (until parliament dissolved) MP for Moray, and also works as a football assistant referee.
UPDATE: I have amended the final sentence to say the third job Hosie was referring to was Ross’s work as an assistant referee, not his being party leader.
Updated
Rachel Reeves under pressure from shadow ministers to raise capital gains tax to revive public services
Rachel Reeves is under pressure from Labour shadow ministers to raise capital gains tax as part of an autumn budget at which the shadow chancellor is considering up to a dozen new revenue-raising measures. Anna Isaac and Kiran Stacey have the story.
Labour says latest Frank Hester donation revelation shows Sunak a 'man with no integrity'
Anneliese Dodds, the Labour party chair, has said the revelation that the Tories are still taking money from Frank Hester shows Rishi Sunak has “no integrity”. In a statement she said:
Rishi Sunak has proven he is a man with no integrity.
He is too weak to return the money donated by a man who has made violent, misogynist, and racist remarks which belong nowhere near our politics.
If Rishi Sunak had a backbone he’d have cut ties with Frank Hester months ago, returned the money and apologised properly to Diane Abbott.
Updated
These are from Michael Crick, the broadcaster and writer, on Douglas Ross standing as the Tory candidate in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East. (See 9.53am.) Crick runs an X account, Tomorrow’sMPs, that covers candidate selection decisions.
🔵ABERDEENSHIRE NORTH etc: a Scots Tory says: "At approx 21:20 Scot Tory approved candidates were informed that DD was unable to stand. CVs are to be submitted by 11am today & to be available in person in the constituency tonight. Disgraceful behaviour by leader and our party."
— @Tomorrow'sMPs (@tomorrowsmps) June 6, 2024
ABERDEENSHIRE NORTH etc: a Scots Tory says: “At approx 21:20 Scot Tory approved candidates were informed that DD was unable to stand. CVs are to be submitted by 11am today & to be available in person in the constituency tonight. Disgraceful behaviour by leader and our party.”
After the extraordinary and almost unprecedented behaviour of the Labour NEC, Richard Holden and now Douglas Ross, perhaps 2024 should go down as the “Grab a Late Safe Seat Election”
Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, was the duty Tory on the airwaves this morning. Asked about the latest revelations about the party taking donations from Frank Hester, he replied:
Any racist comment is utterly, utterly unacceptable. I believe that Mr Hester has shown considerable remorse since making those remarks, which were utterly unacceptable.
I have taken great personal pride in the fact that I’ve sat around a cabinet table that is the most diverse in our history, with a British-Asian prime minister at its head that I supported during his leadership campaign, and supported very strongly to be our prime minister.
So that is the very clear position that I have and that the Conservative party has on those kinds of issues.
Asked if the party should return the donations from Hester, Stride said: “I’m not going to get drawn in those kind of issues.”
Opposition parties condemn Tories after revelation racist comment row did not halt donations from Frank Hester
The opposition parties have denounced the Tories for taking money from Frank Hester this year. The party accepted more than £5m from him in the first quarter of this year, including £150,000 after it was reported that Hester made comments about Diane Abbott condemned as racist and misogynistic.
Labour said the latest figures showed Hester was responsible for more than two thirds of total donations to the Tories in the first quarter of this year. A spokesperson asked: “Are Tory parliamentary candidates comfortable with delivering leaflets paid for by Frank Hester during this election campaign?”
For the SNP, Kirsten Oswald, a parliamentary candidate, said the Tories for once should “put morals before money” and give the donation to charity. She said:
The Conservatives must donate every last penny of Frank Hester’s money to an anti-racism charity - and do so without delay.
All forms of racism and discrimination are abhorrent and have no place in our society - so what does it say if a political party looking to form the next government are happy to accept donations from a disgraced racist donor.
And Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, said:
How low can Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives go? If the Conservatives spend this money they will be proudly funded by a man who made the most appalling racist and sexist comments.
Ultimately the buck stops with Rishi Sunak. Sunak must personally intervene and make sure not a penny of this money is spent.
No amount of tainted funding will stop the threat the Liberal Democrats pose to the Conservatives in many seats across the country.
Diane Abbott says Tories' decision to accept £5m from Frank Hester in January 'insult to me and all black women'
Diane Abbott, the Labour candidate and former shadow home secretary who was the subject of racist abuse in comments made by Tory donor Frank Hester to staff at his healthcare company, has said the news (see 10.02am) that the Tories received a further £5m from him in January was an insult to her and all black women.
Rishi Sunak belatedly admitted Frank Hester’s remarks that “I made him hate all black woman and should be shot” were racist. Now it turns out Sunak accepted a further £5 million from him. An insult to me and all black women. pic.twitter.com/3HU8RhEsMF
— Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) June 6, 2024
Rishi Sunak belatedly admitted Frank Hester’s remarks that “I made him hate all black woman and should be shot” were racist. Now it turns out Sunak accepted a further £5 million from him. An insult to me and all black women
The latest donation has been disclosed today by the Electoral Commission, but was made to the Tories in January. That was before the Guardian revealed in March what Hester had said about Abbott. But the Electoral Commission has also revealed that the Tories accepted a further donation from Hester, of £150,000, three days after the story broke.
Hester donated to the party via his company, Phoenix Partnership. He apologised for being rude about Abbott but did not accept that what he said about her was racist.
Labour drops lawsuit against ex-staffers accused of leaking antisemitism report
Labour has withdrawn a costly lawsuit against five former staffers accused of leaking an internal report on antisemitism and “conspiring” against Keir Starmer, Aletha Adu reports.
Rishi Sunak has paid tribute to D-Day veterans at a commemorative event in Normandy this morning. Addressing his remarks in particular to veterans attending the ceremony, Sunak said:
You risked everything. And we owe you everything.
We cannot possibly hope to repay that debt.
But we can – and we must – pledge never to forget.
After the war, many of you dedicated your lives to telling the story of what happened here.
You sold poppies and raised millions for charity.
You taught generations of young people about the horrors of war.
You lived lives of quiet dignity and dedication in your homes, workplaces, communities.
Yet with each passing year, it falls now to those of us who listened in awe to your stories to pass them on to our own children and grandchildren.
Because only by remembering can we make certain that the cause you fought for and that so many of your friends and colleagues died for, that great cause of freedom, peace, and democracy, will never be taken for granted.
(This sounded heartfelt and genuine, but the line about veterans dedicating their lives to telling the story of what happened did not sound accurate. One of the most striking things about people who served in the second world war was how, for many years, many of them never spoke about it at all, to the extent that children and grandchildren only learnt about extraordinary acts of bravery many years later.)
Frank Hester donated further £5m to Tories in January, figures show
Frank Hester, the businessman at the centre of a row about comments condemned as racist and misogynistic, gave the Conservative party a further £5m in January, figures released by the Electoral Commission show. Henry Dyer and Rowena Mason have the story.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross announces surprise decision to stand as candidate in general election
Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, has announced that he will stand as a candidate in the UK election, reversing his earlier commitment to focus on his duties at Holyrood.
Douglas Ross holding his press conference where he’ll announce a surprise bid to get re-elected to Westminster. Starts by paying tribute to David Duguid, who the party dropped as a candidate last night on health grounds (though Mr Duguid wanted to stay) pic.twitter.com/P2dTVoaesD
— David Wallace Lockhart (@BBCDavidWL) June 6, 2024
Ross said he had decided to “to lead from the front” after former Scotland office minister David Duguid, the anticipated candidate for the new seat of Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, developed “serious health issues”.
Ross, who until the general election was called served both as MP for Moray and an MSP for the Highlands and Islands, confirmed his decision at a hastily arranged press conference in Edinburgh this morning, after Duguid claimed last night that he had been barred from standing by the party due to ill health.
Duguid, the former MP for Banff and Buchan whose constituency was taken in to the new seat for which Ross has put himself forward, revealed on social media that he had not been selected to stand despite being adopted by his local party.
Duguid has been unwell since May and is being cared for by the spinal injury unit in Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hosptial.
Speaking this morning, Ross said:
Unfortunately, with real regret, the party management board concluded that David could not proceed as our candidate for the new seat of Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.
I want to personally thank him for the significant role he has played and there will always be a place for him in the Scottish Conservatives.
Explaining that the new seat includes part of his old Moray constituency, which he held since his surprise ousting of SNP veteran Angus Robertson in 2017, and which has been abolished in the boundary review, Ross went on:
I know how to beat the SNP and I know how important it is to local voters that we do so.
”I know how damaging it would be for constituents, including many I’ve already represented as MP for Moray, to have an SNP MP who only focuses on independence at the expense of all the issues that really matter to local people.
Updated
Tories challenge Labour to join them in ruling out council tax reform, in what they call 'family home tax guarantee'
Good morning. The government raises more than £1 trillion in tax every year, and more than half of that money comes from just three sources: income tax, national insurance and VAT. The Conservatives and Labour have both promised not to raise the rates of any of those taxes (although, with VAT, Labour was initially reluctant to give a cast-iron pledge, implying Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, wanted, at least a bit, to keep her options open.)
But there are plenty of other taxes available to a chancellor, and it seems the Conservative party now plans to spend the remaining four weeks until polling day challenging Labour to rule out raising any of them. Today Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, has written an article for the Daily Telegraph in which he promises that his party won’t increase stamp duty, that it will continue to ensure main homes are exempt from capital gains tax, and that it won’t hold a council tax revaluation, or increase the number of council tax bands. The final promise is particular significant because the current council tax arrangements for England are egregiously unfair, and mainstream economists argue (eg here and here) the case for reform is overwhelming.
Hunt says:
That is why today we are announcing the family home tax guarantee.
This guarantee is a commitment not to increase the number of council tax bands, undertake an expensive council tax revaluation, or cut council tax discounts. It is a commitment to maintain private residence relief, so that people’s main homes are protected from capital gains tax. And it is a commitment not to increase the rate or level of stamp duty.
I am throwing down the gauntlet to Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer to join us in this pledge. This isn’t party political point-scoring. I actually want to see the Labour party say they will put families first and higher taxes second.
When politicians declare they are not engaged in “party political point-scoring”, that’s often a clear sign that are and Hunt’s article suggests that the Tories have decided that tax is the strongest card they’ve got to play in the campaign. Normally parties are reluctant to rule out too many tax increases in advance of an election because they want to retain room for manoeuvre if economic circumstances get tricky. But if a party is expecting to lose, it feels less constrained when it comes to making promises.
So far Hunt does not seem to have succeeded in tempting Labour to play his game. Last night a party spokersperson just said:
We will not be raising taxes on working people … These are more desperate claims from Rishi Sunak who lied to the British people before and is lying to them again.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies is in despair at the honesty of the debate about taxation during the campaign. It says both main parties are refusing to be honest about the need for tax rises or deep spending cuts after polling day.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, is holding a press conference.
Morning: Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer and other leaders are attending the D-Day Commemorations at the British Normandy Memorial, Ver-sur-Mer. Starmer will also be at the afternoon event at Omaha beach.
10am: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is campaigning in Wiltshire. In the afternoon he will be campaigning in Oxfordshire.
11am: Adrian Ramsay, the Green party co-leader, and Dr Pallavi Devulapalli, the party’s health spokesperson, hold a press conference on the party’s health plans.
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