Election latest: New poll blow for Sunak over manifesto - Labour doesn't come out much better (2024)

Mark Spencer, the environment minister, told Sky News that Britons should "stick to the steady ship" with Rishi Sunak at the election on 4 July.

He claimed that Labour have "not shared with us what their taxation plans are".

"They certainly seem to be playing that very close to their chest," the minister said.

"We suspect - well, we know - that there's at least £2,000 worth of commitment to increase taxation through various means that they're talked about and commitments they've made."

Labour has repeatedly claimed that all their plans and policies are fully costed, and ruled out rises to income tax, national insurance and VAT.

Mr Spencer said: "But when it comes to farming and to food security of course, the way in which you pass that from generation to generation can be challenging given the value of the asset.

"And Labour won't rule out putting huge amounts of tax on passing those farms down the generations."

The minister points out this isn't in Labour's manifesto, before ruling out such an inheritance tax rise under a Tory government.

Former Labour adviser Ayesha Hazarika joins Sky News political editor Beth Rigby and Conservative peer Ruth Davidson as the general election campaign heads towards its final fortnight.

They're assessing whether Labour can shake off the questions about their taxation policies.

After Conservative Grant Shapps seemed to accept election defeat in an interview, is that something anyone should do in the middle of the campaign?

They discuss the "what ifs" of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage as he tries to become an MP.

And as the SNP launch their manifesto, how is the election shaping up differently in Scotland?

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Plus, Beth, Ruth and Ayesha tackle listeners' questions on manifesto promises and Reform UK’s unusual set-up.

Email Beth, Ruth, and Margaret at electoraldysfunction@sky.uk, post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.

In this episode, we mention the Clacton-on-Sea constituency, where the full list of candidates are:

• Bensilum, Matthew (Liberal Democrats)
• Farage, Nigel Paul (Reform UK)
• Jamieson, Craig (Climate Party)
• Mack, Tony (Independent)
• Osben, Natasha (Green Party)
• Owusu-Nepaul, Jovan (Labour Party)
• Papanastasiou, Tasos (Heritage Party)
• Pemberton, Andrew (UKIP – NO to Illegal Immigration)
• Watling, Giles Francis (Conservative Party)

Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Plaid Cymru have released their manifestos - as the general election campaign continues.

Sky News has scoured their policy pledges so you don't have to. We will add a breakdown of all the other parties' manifestos here when they are announced.

Click the link below to find out what the parties have promised to do if they win theelectionon 4 July...

The Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats published their manifestos last week and claimed to have fully costed their policies to ensure they were affordable.

But a survey by Ipsos suggested most of the public did not agree.

Some 50% said they were not confident Labour could afford its policies, with 37% saying they were confident.

But just a quarter of voters were confident the Conservatives could afford their policies, while 62% said they were not.

And for the Lib Dems, 57% said they were not confident their policies were affordable.

Asked how the parties would respond if their policies proved unaffordable, more than half of the public thought Labour would raise borrowing, increase taxes or not deliver on all their plans, while 67% thought the Conservatives would not deliver and 52% expected the Tories to cut spending.

Keiran Pedley, UK director of politics at Ipsos, said proposals to improve public services tended to poll best, even if the public were "sceptical that any party can deliver all they have promised within existing spending plans".

Overall, 63% said Labour's manifesto would represent a positive change for Britain, compared with 55% who said the same about the Lib Dems and 44% who said the same about the Tories.

Mr Pedley said Labour would be "encouraged" by this finding, and "look to build on that relative goodwill - compared to others - as polling day approaches".

Scottish Labour's manifesto is due to be published today - and the party is eyeing the Holyrood election in just under two years.

The document will make the pitch for a Labour government at Westminster, including proposals to increase the living wage for what the party estimates would be 200,000 people - up to 40,000 of whom are aged between 18 and 20, the party believes - in Scotland.

The manifesto will also include the mortgage guarantee scheme for first-time buyers, support for creative industries and the banning zero-hours contracts announced by Sir Keir Starmer last week.

The party will pledge to "look after young people from cradle to career".

But there will also be a section dedicated to Scottish Labour plans if the party wins the 2026 election.

Reform to apprenticeships, improving standards in education and boosting the use of technology in the NHS will all be on the cards if Labour takes the keys to Bute House in just under two years.

"This election is an opportunity to deliver change for everyone in Scotland right now," Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is expected to say.

"But this election is also about the next generation of Scots and the future we build for them."

The Conservatives have launched another round of attacks on Labour, accusing the party of having a "secret plan" to abolish inheritance tax relief for farmers.

With just 16 days until polls open across the UK, political parties have accelerated their attacks, with the Tories accusing Labour of having not committed to keeping the exemption in its manifesto.

But a Labour spokesperson dismissed the Conservative attacks as "hysterical" and "desperate nonsense", while reiterating that the party would not raise taxes on "working people".

Environment Secretary Steve Barclay stressed the Tories' commitments to increasing the farming budget and implementing a legally binding food security target.

The demands on tax follow challenges for Labour to rule out increasing capital gains tax on people's main homes and reforming council tax bands.

Labour has ruled out both policies, but the Conservatives are still keen to ask questions about whether it would countenance further tax hikes to fill what the party claims is a black hole in the opposition's spending plans.

In a second prong of the Conservative attack, Rishi Sunak continued to claim that a Labour victory in July would keep the party in power for a generation.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, the prime minister accused Sir Keir Starmer of trying to "entrench his power" by lowering the voting age to 16.

Mr Sunak added that Sir Keir would raise taxes to the "highest in our history" and that the party poses "a generational threat to everyone's financial security".

Again, it must be pointed out that the tax burden is currently the highest in modern history.

Good morning!

It's just over two weeks until the election, and political parties from across the House of Commons are hot on the campaign trail.

As we near polling day on 4 July, Labour and the Conservatives have amped up their criticism of each other - with the Tories accusing Sir Keir Starmer of "secret plans".

Here's what to watch out for today:

• Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives are in north Devon today, after they accused the Labour leaderof having a "secret plan" to abolish inheritance tax relief for farmers;
• Mr Sunak also accused Sir Keir oftrying to "entrench his power" by lowering the voting age to 16 - and planning to raise taxes to the "highest in our history". It's worth pointing out here that the tax burden is currently the highest in modern history;
• Labour has dismissed these attacks as "hysterical" and "desperate nonsense", while reiterating that the party would not raise taxes on "working people";
• The party is focusing on the economy this week, with Sir Keir and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves today unveiling a five-point plan to protect British pubs;
• And Labour is expected to turn its attention to small businesses on Tuesday with its pledge to roll out 350 banking hubs to towns and villages across the country;
• Elsewhere, Scottish Labour will launch its own manifesto, which is expected to contain a strong focus on young people and some hints about what the party would offer if it won the Holyrood election in 2026;
• And the Liberal Democrats have returned to the theme of sewage, promising 100 new water quality inspectors to help crack down on water companies dumping effluent in Britain's rivers and seas.

We'll be discussing all of that and more with:

• Mark Spencer, the environment minister, at 7.15am;
• Labour frontbencher Jonathan Reynolds at 8.15am.

Follow along for live coverage of the general election campaign throughout the day.

Thank you for joining us today for our live political coverage as the general election campaign continues.

To catch up on the day's news please see our 10pm bulletin.

Join us again from 7am tomorrow for the latest political news.

There's no faulting the scale of Reform UK's ambition - but just how much does this really matter?

Their proposed policies come with a spending tag of an eyewatering £141bn a year - some 30 times the size of Labour's plans, 10 times the amount of additional spending proposed by the Tories and more than three times the ambition of Liz Truss.

Energy companies would be partly nationalised in Reform's Britain, while they would somehow find 30,000 new permanent members of the armed forces and raise the starting rate of income tax to £20,000.

But there is a serious question over whether the 24-page contract is worth the paper it's written on.

This is no particular disrespect to Reform UK: This is the same issue facing the Greens, Lib Dems and even the Tories.

With little chance of Downing Street beckoning for their respective leaders, why spend so long on policy that will never be used?

Indeed Nigel Farage, the party's leader, is admirably candid - there is no expectation of a win next month, and therefore he claims these ideas are a blueprint for the 2029 election.

Farage is setting his sights on five years of Reform UK showing its mettle opposing both the expected Labour government and what Farage hopes is a hollowed-out Conservative Party.

That is the claim - at the moment.

But there are even more searching questions awaiting Farage - for now the tormentor in chief of the Tories - after 4 July.

Read the full analysis here...

It's 10pm - here's your rundown of the day.

Tomorrow there will be 16 more days to go until voters head to the polls to decide the UK's future.

Reform UK unveiled their sort-of manifesto today, which they're calling a "contract with the British people," while Labour and the Conservatives have launched theirs already and the SNP's is due on Wednesday.

Here's everything you may have missed today…

• Our deputy political editor Sam Coatesrepeatedly asked Reform UK leader Nigel Farage whether he would join the Conservatives if he was elected - but Mr Farage refused to engage with the question;
• In his analysis, Sam said the key question was whether Mr Farage could swap parties: "That is the question. Nigel Farage's silence on that answer was telling today."

• It came afterReform UKlaunched its "contract with the British people", which includes freezing "all non-essential immigration" and a raft of tax cuts (use the tool below to swipe through all the pledges);
• Speaking in Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, MrFarage said this general election campaign wasn't about winning but is the "first big push" towards the next contest;
• Earlier heconfirmed his ambitions to become prime minister at the next general election, which could be in 2029;
• The party's deputy leader Dr David Bull was interviewed on our weeknight politics show Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge and told Sophy the party wants to encourage parents to stay at home to look after their children.

• Earlier today,Defence Secretary Grant Shappsadmitted it is unlikely the Tories will win the general election on 4 July - but insisted it remains a possibility;
  
• He also warned a Labour government would be"very bad news", telling Sky News it would mean "higher taxes for everyone".
• Rishi Sunaklater insisted he is still "fighting hard for every vote";
  
• Speaking from Centrica's Rough 47-3B gas rig in the North Sea, the prime minister insisted the Conservatives are "on the right track", but said he understands people's "frustrations" with his party.

• Sir Keir Starmerhas been campaigning in Hampshire, heading off concerns Reform UK could target Labour heartlands in Wales by insisting the general election is "a straight choice between Conservatives and Labour";
• Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, earlier told a group of business leaders a "pro-business" Labour would hold a global investment summit in the first 100 days of entering government;
• Speaking to Sky News earlier, Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth refused to explicitly say whether Labour would increase fuel duty or stamp duty, but ruled outcouncil tax re-banding".

• John Swinney, Scotland's first minister, has stressed the need for a social tariff, whereby the SNP can "commit to people who are elderly or disable that they are free of the burden of energy costs in our society";
• And the Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey was near Paignton in Devon, where he insisted Nigel Farage's party aren't making things harder for him when it comes to trying to win over Tory voters.
• And finally... our chief political correspondent Jon Craiglooked at who was top of Sky's election interviews league for the Conservatives and Labour:

On the Sky News Daily podcast,Niall Patersongets analysis on what's in Reform's manifesto from ourchief political correspondentJon Craig, listen here:

Here are some other stories you might find interesting:

Join us again tomorrow for all the latest political updates throughout the day.