Election latest: Sunak denies he considered quitting after D-Day - as Lib Dem leader refuses to say austerity was wrong (2024)

The Liberal Democrats launched their manifesto today, saying it'sfully costed.

On the Sky NewsDaily, our economics and data editor Ed Conwaylooks at whether their numbers add up, while our chief political correspondent Jon Craig dives into their policy offering.

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will face questions from Beth Rigby and members of the public during Sky News' special leaders' event on Wednesday, the broadcaster has confirmed.

Award-winning political editorRigbywill scrutinise the leaders of the Conservative and Labour parties on their commitments to the country during 20-minute in-depth interviews.

The Battle for Number 10 - a Sky News Leaders Special Event will air live on Sky News on Wednesday at 7.30pm from Grimsby - an area expected to play a key role in the election.

Sky News' lead UK presenterSarah-Jane Meewill be among the representative audience - drawn from the local area and nationally - as they put their questions to Mr Sunak and Sir Keir in 25-minute slots. There will be a coin toss to decide who goes first.

It will be the second televised event with the two party leaders, coming halfway through the general election campaign and just three weeks ahead of polls opening.

Sky News executive editor and managing editor Jonathan Levy said: "People said they wanted to hear more from Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, so Sky News is giving them more time to tell you about their plans for your future. Each candidate - 45 minutes, not 45 seconds... in-depth and unfiltered.

"We're giving the nation the full story, first."

The Battle For Number 10 Leaders Special Event, Wednesday 12 June 7pm-10pm on Sky News - free wherever you get your news.

Freeview channel 233, Sky 501, Virgin 603, BT 313 and streaming on the Sky News website, app and across social channels. It is also available to watch on Sky Showcase.

Veterans minister Johnny Mercer has jumped into the row over Reform candidate Ian Gribbin.

It's emerged that in an old social media post, he said the UK should have stayed "neutral" against Hitler in the Second World War (see previous post).

A former soldier himself, Tory candidate Mr Mercer called the post "shameful" and said it showed "a shocking lack of judgement".

He added: "These comments ignore the millions murdered by the Nazis in their bid for European domination and the ultimate sacrifice paid by the men and women who stood up to Hitler in our darkest hour.

"Misusing appeasem*nt to justify Nazi apologism is disgraceful and comments like this are deeply troubling coming from a political party."

Earlier, Mr Gribbin apologised for the post from 2022, telling Sky News' political reporter Faye Brown"I apologise for these old comments and withdraw them unreservedly.

"I further apologise for the upset that they have caused."

A Reform UK candidate has apologised for an old social media post where he claimed Britain should have "taken Hitler up on his offer of neutrality" instead of fighting the Nazis in the Second World War.

Ian Gribbin made the post in 2022 on the Unheard website - as first reported by the BBC - and Sky News found another post where he described women as the "sponging gender".

Speaking to our political reporter Faye Brown, Mr Gribbin, who is hoping to become an MP for Bexhill and Battle next month, said: "I apologise for these old comments and withdraw them unreservedly.

"I further apologise for the upset that they have caused."

Reform hits out at 'gotcha identity politics'

However, he also said he was "upset at the way these comments were taken out of context - especially when my mother was the daughter of Russian Jews fleeing persecution".

There has been no word from Reform over whether they will withdraw Mr Gribbin as a candidate, with their spokesperson instead telling Sky News: "Millions of people who are struggling want journalists to discuss policy and ideas not juvenile gotcha identity politics.

"The snap election truncated vetting and post election these issues will be addressed. But the BBC and others need to grow up and debate ideas with those running the party."

The leader of the Liberal Democrats has refused six times to say austerity was a mistake while being interviewed by Sky News.

Sir Ed Davey served as a minister under David Cameron after his party and the Tories did a deal to run the country following the 2010 election.

And between then and 2015, his government oversaw swathing cuts to public services.

Our deputy political editor Sam Coatesput it to Sir Ed that the Lib Dems' pledges for this year's election, focused on fixing problems in the NHS and social care, were only needed to repair issues caused by the coalition.

But Sir Ed disagreed, saying: "I think the real big problems have come under the Conservatives since 2015."

'We managed to stop them'

He said his party pushed for measures on care for the elderly and the disabled when in office, but the Tories "broke their promises".

And after the joint endeavour ended, things got worse.

"When the Tories were by themselves, they took an absolute axe to some of the poorest people in our country, and that was absolutely shocking," said the leader.

"And I am really proud that we managed to stop them for so long."

'Tories are out of ideas'

Pushed by Sam Coates over his refusal to say if he endorsed the decisions made by the coalition, Sir Ed replied: "I fought the Conservatives every day and in this election I've made it clear there is no way we will allow the Conservatives back into office.

"They are out of ideas and excuses and need to be out of office.

"Every vote for a Liberal Democrat will be a vote for a great champion to put forward those policies to rescue our NHS and to get the Conservatives out of government."

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has been defending his decision to stand down to focus on a bid to become a Westminster MP.

He'll be standing in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, which is considered a fairly safe Tory seat.

His announcement today marked an almost complete reversal of his previous position, where he said he would not stand as an MP so he could focus on his current job and being a member of the Scottish parliament.

Ruth Davidson, one of his predecessors as Scottish Tory leader, has admitted the whole affair could have been handled better.

Speaking on Sky's Electoral Dysfunction podcast, she said he'd been "having a pretty good election until he put himself forward as candidate" for the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat.

That sparked a row because fellow Tory David Duguid, who is recovering from spinal surgery, had been hoping to stand there.

Ms Davidson said the furore surrounding Mr Ross "would have been avoided" had he not put himself forward for the seat.

It "looked bad" and he "wasn't really able to explain himself very well".

'Part of the job is to take the punches'

While it meant "he was probably always going to have to stand down" as Scottish Tory leader, she questioned the decision to announce it today.

"Part of the job is to take the punches," she said.

"That's what leadership is."

Hear more from Ruth on a new episode of Electoral Dysfunction from 6am tomorrow.

If you're wondering whether the sums in the Lib Dem manifesto add up and, to adopt the phrase Sir Ed Davey used rather a lot today, are "fully costed", the answer is… well, yes, sort of.

If you have full faith in all the numbers published in the costings document alongside the manifesto, they are indeed fully-funded.

For the £27bn or so of extra spending commitments is paid for with the £27bn or so of extra taxes and money raising. Hurrah!

Except that it's not so simple, because it's not altogether clear we should have full faith in those numbers.

To take one example: the Lib Dems say they're planning to raise £3.62bn (note the two decimal places) by reforming aviation taxes.

Yet, when you ask what level they're actually planning to increase aviation taxes to, they don't have an answer.

Then there's the fact that the main revenue raiser is actually not a new tax at all, but the assumption that they will be able to squeeze tax avoiders even more than the last lot, raising an extra £7bn billion in the process.

These are hardly the only question marks.

I'm a little sceptical the Lib Dem plan to solve the asylum crisis - allowing asylum seekers to work after three months - would really bring in a whopping £4.3bn, as the costings document implies.

Perhaps the most instructive takeaway from today's manifesto is to note that it is far, far less ambitious than the one that preceded it.

When Jo Swinson was leader back in 2019, her manifesto involved spending plans of roughly £63bn a year - today's manifesto is basically half that size, even less once you adjust for inflation.

Whether you conclude that's down to the times we're living in, with the public finances more constrained, or because the Lib Dems have changed considerably, it's certainly a less radical vision than last time around.

Labour's shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth is taking on the role of his party's attack dog this afternoon, trying to tear apart the funding for the Tories' pledges ahead of their manifesto launch this week.

Both parties have been firing shots at each other over their costings for the past week or so - and whether their rivals would need to raise taxes to pay for policies.

'Tory sums do not add up'

Mr Ashworth is trying to land another hit today, telling a news conference "the money is simply not there" for the Tory promises and labelled their plan to fund them through welfare cuts "a flagrant lie".

He claimed any savings made by the Department for Work and Pensions had already been spent on cuts to national insurance.

The £6bn the Tories hope to raise by cracking down on tax avoidance was "overestimated", he added, and nearly all of it would be needed to pay for their national insurance plan anyway.

"The Tory sums do not add up," he added, as he declared Labour "the party of stability and sound public finances".

He dared the Conservatives to "prove him wrong" and "publish their costings". We will let you know what they say…

There was big news from Scottish politics this morning, as the country's Tory leader Douglas Ross announced he was stepping down.

It came less than a week after Mr Ross announced he'd be standing to become an MP at Westminster.

He had previously said he wouldn't.

It made this morning's news an almost complete reversal of his previous position, where he said he would not stand as an MP so he could focus on being a member of the Scottish parliament and his work in Scotland.

He'll be standing in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, which is considered a fairly safe Tory seat - but he denied this was a case of him putting his career above his party and country.

Speaking to broadcasters, Mr Ross said it would be a "huge honour and privilege" to be the new constituency's MP, saying voters there had a "straight choice between the Scottish Conservatives and SNP".

'I'm not running away from anything'

Mr Ross said he had chosen to step down as Scottish Tory leader so he could tell local voters "they will be my number one priority".

He disputed a claim by Alba Party leader Alex Salmon that he was a rat escaping from a sinking ship.

"I'm not running away from anything," he insisted.