A summary of today's developments
Rishi Sunak has defended not taking immediate action against the people accused of suspect bets around the date of the election. Sunak told The Sun he was incredibly angry and the party is doing their own inquiry. He added: “If anyone has broken the rules, they should face not just the full consequences of the law, but they will be booted out of the Conservative party.” Earlier, Keir Starmer said the data betting allegations were a “total failure of leadership”.
The Conservatives are rerouting resources to defend at least three seats held by cabinet ministers with majorities of more than 20,000 as the party retreats to safer ground. Tory activists and candidates in nearby areas have been diverted to campaign for James Cleverly, the home secretary, Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, and Steve Barclay, the environment secretary.
James Cracknell, the former Olympic rower standing to be a Conservative MP, has called the Tories a “shower of shit”, in a video he posted on Facebook.
Keir Starmer said he would meet with JK Rowling after the author said at the weekend that Labour had “abandoned” her and others campaigning for women’s rights.
Nigel Farage has accused Boris Johnson of betrayal as the Reform UK leader vented his anger at the former Tory leader for describing his comments about Vladimir Putin as repugnant. Farage mounted an unrepentant defence of his claims that Russia has been provoked into invading Ukraine as he addressed a couple of hundred Reform supporters from the top of a double decker bus.
The number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel has hit a new record for the first six months of a calendar year. Home Office figures show 257 people made the journey in four boats on Sunday, taking the provisional total for the year so far to 12,901. The previous record for arrivals in the six months from January to June was 12,747 in 2022. In the first half of 2023, arrivals stood at 11,433.
Rishi Sunak said he understands voters’ hesitation to support the Tories, but urged them not to “sleepwalk” into a Labour government.
Speaking at a campaign event in Chelsea, London, the PM said: “We can’t let Britain sleepwalk into this. It is our job, it is our duty over the next 10 days to wake people up to this danger.
“So I say to all of you, I say to every Conservative, don’t surrender to Labour, fight for every vote, fight for our values, fight for our vision of Britain.”
He added: “I understand people’s hesitation with giving us their support again.
“I’m not blind to their frustrations with me, with our party, the last few years have not been easy for anyone with Covid, with Ukraine, we have not got everything right, we haven’t made as much progress as we would have liked in some areas.
“But this election is not a byelection, it is not a referendum on me, or our party, it is a choice about the future of our country and the government you want to lead for five years.”
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