Election news
- Bulletin:What you need to know this afternoon
- YouGov and Sky to reveal major poll at 5pm
- SNP launches manifesto - see the main policies
- PM welcomes fall in inflation|And visits nuclear plant
- Starmer's wife says protest outside home made her 'feel sick'
- Live reporting by Tim Baker
Expert analysis
- Ashish Joshi:SNP has mixed record on NHS
- Rob Powell:PM makes defence a key line of attack
Election essentials
- Manifesto pledges:Conservatives|Greens|Labour|Lib Dems|Plaid Cymru|Reform|SNP
- Trackers:Who's leading polls?|Is PM keeping promises?
- Campaign Heritage:Memorable moments from elections gone by
- Follow Sky's politics podcasts:Electoral Dysfunction|Politics At Jack And Sam's
- Read more:Who is standing down?|Key seats to watch|What counts as voter ID?|Check if your constituency is changing|Guide to election lingo|Sky's election night plans
If you're just getting stuck into your lunch or polishing it off, why not accompany your feast with the latest Politics Hub bulletin.
It's another day of manifesto launches, while the prime minister and the Labour leader have been reacting to news inflation has fallen.
Here are the main things you need to know:
- The SNP has launched its manifesto with a promise to continue its quest for another independence referendum, which the party claims could pave the way for Scotland to rejoin the EU;
- Party leader John Swinney took aim at Labour for not promising enough change from the Tories, citing their unwillingness to scrap the two-child benefit cap and talk about the economic damage done by Brexit;
- But questioned by our political correspondent Tamara Cohen, he admitted his party had been through a "tough time" in recent years and some of its supporters may be considering voting Labour.
- Inflation falling back to the Bank of England's 2% target for the first time in three years has been welcomed by the prime minister;
- Rishi Sunak said it was a "very positive step" that shows his plan is working, and repeated his claim that Labour would undo the country's economic recovery with tax hikes;
- But he sought to downplay news that small boat crossings reached a 2024 high yesterday, insisting his Rwanda scheme would help.
- Sir Keir Starmer said people's lives wouldn't "suddenly get easier" after inflation fell and described the spike in Channel crossings as "shocking";
- His reaction to both came as he welcomed the support of former Tory donor John Caudwell, who backed Boris Johnson in 2019;
- The Labour leader will be hoping for more good news when Sky News publishes the results of a major YouGov poll at 5pm.
- Once that poll has been and gone, consider setting a 7pm alarm for tonight's Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge;
- We'll have an in-depth interview with Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, who'll be discussing topics from migration and Brexit to social care and his experience looking after his son.
Until then, stick with us here in the Politics Hub for more news and analysis from the campaign trail.
In pictures: Wives of Conservative ministers go campaigning
The wives of three Conservative ministers - including the PM - have been out on the campaign trail.
Susie Cleverly, wife of Home Secretary James Cleverly; Lucia Hunt, wife of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt; and Akshata Murty, wife of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak; joined Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer in Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency today.
The group were seen handing out leaflets in Fordham, Suffolk.
The full list of candidates for Ely and East Cambridgeshire is:
- Robert Bayley, Social Democratic Party;
- Charlotte Cane, Liberal Democrats;
- Andy Cogan, Green Party;
- Ryan Coogan, Reform UK;
- Lucy Frazer, Conservative Party;
- Hoo-Ray Henry, Monster Raving Loony Party;
- Elizabeth McWilliams, Labour Party;
- Obi Monye, independent;
- Rob Rawlins, independent.
Analysis: Scotland is the UK's top health spender - and it'll need to go even higher
By Ashish Joshi, health correspondent
In the SNP manifesto it says funding for Scotland's NHS "has more than doubled" and "staffing is at a record high" - with "far more doctors and nurses per head" than in the rest of the UK.
This is true.
What is also true is that since the pandemic, the Scottish NHS workforce has grown substantially, but its hospital productivity has fallen.
Higher spending and recruitment has not been matched by an increase in the number of patients being seen and cared for.
Scotland's elective waiting list has grown (more than England's), as have the country's longer term waits for operations and A&E waiting times (though these are higher in England).
The SNP says it will invest £300m to drive down these waiting times, money it says it will raise through "devolution of tax powers".
The Scottish government spends more on health than any other area.
And with an ageing population with complex health needs, it will need to spend more in the years ahead.
According to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, at the start of devolution Scotland was spending more per person on health than England or Wales, but this gap has narrowed.
The Scottish Fiscal Commission projects spending will need to grow by around 3% in real terms over the next two decades and that much of this spending will go towards increased staffing.
Sunak and Starmer condemn Just Stop Oil vandalising Stonehenge
In the past hour or so, Just Stop Oil released a video of its members spraying Stonehenge with orange paint.
They did this to warn of the climate crisis ahead of this week's summer solstice.
Sunak: A disgraceful act of vandalism
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was asked about the incident this afternoon.
He said: "This is a disgraceful act of vandalism to one of the UK's and the world's oldest and most important monuments.
"Just Stop Oil should be ashamed of their activists, and they and anyone associated with them, including a certain Labour Party donor, should issue a condemnation of this shameful act immediately."
Dale Vince, a Labour donor who previously donated to Just Stop Oil, said last year he had stopped giving money to the group.
Starmer: Just Stop Oil are pathetic
Sir Keir Starmer has also condemned the incident today.
"The damage done to Stonehenge is outrageous," he tweeted.
"Just Stop Oil are pathetic.
"Those responsible must face the full force of the law."
Starmer's wife 'felt sick' at protest outside home
Three people are on trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court following a protest outside Sir Keir Starmer's house.
The demonstration happened back in April.
Giving evidence today, Sir Keir's wife Victoria said seeing the protest - which involved a banner saying "Starmer stop the killing" in reference to the war in Gaza - made her feel "a bit sick".
"I felt apprehensive and uncomfortable," she added.
Mrs Starmer said she was returning from a shopping trip with her son at the time, and chose to keep driving.
Asked by the defence's lawyer if the protest looked peaceful, she said: "It would look like a peaceful protest if it hadn't been outside my home."
Leonorah Ward, 21, of Leeds, Zosia Lewis, 23, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Daniel Formentin, 24, of Leeds, deny public order offences and breaching bail.
The trial continues.
Manifesto checker: What are the SNP's key pledges?
The SNP has released its election manifesto - and we've scoured their policy pledges so you don't have to.
Scroll to the right in the interactive tool below to find out what the party has promised to do if they win the election.
We will produce a breakdown of all the other parties' manifestos here when they are announced - you can find the ones we've done so far in the key points above.
PM makes defence a key line of attack
Rishi Sunak spoke to reporters while munching a Twix (his second of the day apparently) in the visitor centre of the Sizewell B nuclear power plant on the Suffolk coast.
The second half of the campaign has been marked out by a constant focus on tax from the Tories, and more specifically accusations about what Labour would do if they got into power.
That was on show again today, but the prime minister also tried to reinforce a dividing line on defence – accusing Sir Keir Starmer of "undermining" the UK's security.
"If Keir Starmer is elected one of the first things he will do is head off to a NATO summit having cut British defence spending from the planned increases I've announced," he said.
"I think that sends exactly the wrong message both to our allies, but also to our adversaries like Putin and like the North Koreans."
It comes after Vladimir Putin signed a defence deal with Kim Jong Un, which you can read more about below:
Like many of the jibes thrown around in this campaign, the PM's facts are disputed by Labour – who say they will match the 2.5% of GDP defence commitment but only "when economic conditions allow".
Mr Sunak was also asked about his predecessor Boris Johnson apparently jetting off on holiday rather than playing more of an active role in the campaign.
He said he was "grateful" the former PM had been "supporting the Conservative Party" and regularly warning about the "risks of what Starmer would do in government".
Given it's Mr Johnson's 60th birthday, Mr Sunak also added a brisk "happy birthday".
'What might go wrong?' Sunak visits nuclear power station
Rishi Sunak has been visiting Sizewell B today, a nuclear power station in Suffolk.
He toured the facility, sometimes donning protective gear.
At one point, the prime minister was talking to apprentices while looking at a simulation control panel.
"What's an example of something that might go wrong?" Mr Sunak asked.
PM welcomes falling inflation - and plays down highest day of Channel crossings this year
Rishi Sunak has welcomed inflation falling back to the 2% target - one of the goals he set himself in early 2023.
He said the fall in inflation was a "very positive step" that "shows the plan we put in place is working".
The prime minister added Labour would "whack taxes up for everyone", while he would cut them.
Responding to the fact 882 people crossed the Channel in small boats yesterday - the highest total since late 2022 - the PM saidthere would always be some days "worse than others".
Again, he said the election was a choice between him and Labour, advocating for the Rwanda plan first proposed in April 2022.
Starmer 'will walk into Downing Street' if polls are right, minister admits
Tory minister David TC Davies has been speaking to The Sun about his party's election chances.
The Wales secretary does not paint an optimistic picture.
"People are really quite concerned at the moment and not at all happy, there's no great optimism out there," he said.
"And I feel for everyone and I think we're going to get it in the neck, all of us, as a result of that."
He says he and the Tories "can't hide" from the opinion polls suggesting the party could be on course for a historic defeat.
While "they never get it 100% right", the minister does admit "they're clearly pointing at a large Labour majority".
"Keir Starmer will walk into Downing Street," he added.
"I'm sorry about that. We've got to do more to get our message across."
