Closing summary
Thank you for following along with me (Amy) on the politics blog this evening. The blog will be closing shortly but you can stay up to date on the Guardian’s general election 2024 coverage here.
Before I go, here is a summary of the evening so far:
Keir Starmer said Labour is ready for government and plans on “hitting the ground running on day one”. The Labour leader told reporters on the flight to his final campaign stop that being in opposition has been “the least productive nine years of my life”. Starmer said: “I’ve been on there far too long so I’m really pleased to have the opportunity.” He added that Labour will be “unforgiven” if it is not prepared for government.
“This underdog will fight to the final whistle,” Rishi Sunak said during his last speech on the campaign trail. The prime minister, who was joined by his parents and his wife, Akshata Murty, on Wednesday evening, urged Tory activists to continue campaigning. Sunak said they had “urgent work to do” to “save the UK” from a Labour government. Earlier in the day, asked if he would take full responsibility for whatever the election result was, Sunak replied: “Yes”.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said the party has focused on taking Conservative seats in the general election rather than competing with Labour. She told the PA news agency that the Conservatives had “taken a wrecking ball to standards in public life” and that the Lib Dem’s target was to “remove as many Conservative MPs as possible”.
Nigel Farage has said that Reform UK’s ambitions stretch far beyond the results from Thursday’s general election. Farage addressed the crowd in Clacton on immigration, saying: “How are you getting on for dentists in Clacton? Well then you should have come by dinghy.” He added: “This is unfair, this is wrong and this needs to stop and stop now.” He then went on to start a chant: “We want our country back.”
Scotland’s first minister has urged “every single SNP voter” to turn out on Thursday in what he said will be an “incredibly close” contest throughout the country. Addressing supporters at a rally in Leith on Wednesday evening, John Swinney said the Conservatives were going to be “heavily defeated” by the Labour party in England, but that there were “narrow margins” between Labour and the SNP in Scotland.
Sinn Féin Leas-Uachtarán Michelle O’Neill has said Thursday’s election is an opportunity to endorse strong leadership, positive change and Sinn Féin’s commitment to work for all. O’Neill, Northern Ireland’s first minister, appealed to voters to return the strongest Sinn Féin team by voting for its party candidates in the 14 constituencies in which they are standing. She also appealed to voters to vote for progressive candidates in the four areas in which Sinn Féin are not standing.
The Times have published its view on a Labour government. It says that “Labour in power” was a “leap in the dark”. It hasn’t quite fully endorsed the Labour party, saying that “Labour has bored its way to power”. While Starmer’s “risk-averse strategy” was “successful” on the campaign trail, it has “left the British people with little clue as to his intentions in government”, according to the Times.
Ofcom will not investigate Channel 4 News after Nigel Farage’s Reform UK claimed the broadcaster used an actor as a “plant” in its undercover investigation into his campaign. The watchdog said it had received more than 270 complaints about Channel 4 News’s programme titled ‘Undercover inside Reform’s campaign’, which saw a man named Andrew Parker filmed using a racial slur to describe Rishi Sunak.
Updated
John Swinney urges voters to turn out in 'incredibly close' election contest
Scotland’s first minister has urged “every single SNP voter” to turn out on Thursday in what he said will be an “incredibly close” contest throughout the country.
Addressing supporters at a pre-election rally in Leith on Wednesday evening, John Swinney said the Conservatives were going to be “heavily defeated” by the Labour party in England, but that there were “narrow margins” between Labour and the SNP in Scotland.
According to the PA news agency, Swinney said “constituencies will be close contests the length and breadth of the country”, and told supporters it was necessary to motivate “every single SNP supporter” to come out Thursday, saying each vote could “genuinely could change outcomes”.
I have just delivered my final speech of the election campaign. I am profoundly grateful to all in @theSNP team for all your support and hard work during this campaign. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. One more thing - please get the vote out tomorrow. Love John x pic.twitter.com/04B6BfVcz8
— John Swinney (@JohnSwinney) July 3, 2024
He explained this was a contest that “really matters” because Scots had a choice between a Labour party that would continue the Conservatives’ policies on Brexit, nuclear weapons and austerity, and an SNP that offered a vision of a “hopeful Scotland”.
His party, he said, would end austerity, eradicate child poverty, “reach out” to European neighbours and “do the right thing on the international questions of the day”.
To cheers, Swinney said:
To the people of Scotland weighing up voting tomorrow I say this.
If you want to live in a hopeful Scotland, a Scotland where we eradicate child poverty, where we reach out to our European neighbours, a Scotland where we do the right thing on the international questions of the day like Gaza, then vote for the Scottish National Party because our values are your values in this election campaign.
We have a chance tomorrow to shape the future of our country, to do what we believe is the right of the people of Scotland, to design a future that’s made in Scotland, for Scotland.
That’s what we’re about as a party, making sure that Scotland is able to make a future in Scotland, for Scotland, through independence.”
Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said:
This election offers voters the best chance yet to end the SNP’s divisive independence obsession for good.
In key seats across Scotland, it’s a straight fight between the Scottish Conservatives and the SNP.”
Commenting, shadow Scotland secretary Ian Murray said:
This election is an opportunity to boot the Tories out that we cannot afford to miss – but let’s not forget that Scots have been let down by two bad governments.
John Swinney was the architect of austerity in Scotland – but instead of apologising for decimating local services, he is standing by his dire record.
This is a first minister with no credibility on public finances and no new ideas for Scotland. After 17 years of SNP failure and 14 years of Tory chaos, Scotland has a chance to deliver a government that is on the side of the working people of Scotland with Scottish MPs at its heart.
Only Labour can end the Tory chaos, maximise Scotland’s influence, bring down bills, make work pay and deliver the change that Scotland needs.”
