Rishi Sunak says military roles would be ‘very competitive’ in proposed national service

Military roles in the Conservatives’ proposed national service scheme will be “very competitive and selective”, Rishi Sunak said.

Speaking at a Q&A during a visit in Staffordshire, he said: “I think all of us have felt that our society could do with being more cohesive, right, reminding us we’re all on the same side, bringing us together, and this will do that. It will foster that culture of service and make our society more cohesive.

“But it also, in a very uncertain time, will make our country more safe, so in years to come, and we have thousands and thousands of people who have been trained and things that are practically helpful for our country’s resilience or our security.

“And remember, there’s a choice, so if people want to they can do the military component of this, but it will be very competitive and selective.

“And for everyone else, there’ll be civic roles, search and rescue, first aid, lifeboats, helping elderly people, but all of these things will just contribute to our country’s resilience and our security. So I think it’s going to be fantastic. It will become a rite of passage and important part of who we are as a nation.”

Farage calls on Rishi Sunak to debate him

Nigel Farage repeated calls for Rishi Sunak to debate him and said he would also be willing to hold a debate with Sir Keir Starmer.

“He’s very keen on debates. Haven’t you heard?” Mr Farage said when asked what the incentive was for the Prime Minister to debate him during the campaign. He wants to have six debates with Keir Starmer. Well, all I’m saying is ‘have one with me’.”

There is a precedent for such a debate, he said, with Nick Clegg having challenged Mr Farage as “the leading voice for leaving the European Union” on LBC and then on the BBC at the time.

“If you can tell me somebody with a more prominent voice that has written, spoken more about the situation here, then please tell me who it is,” Mr Farage said, referring to the small boat arrivals on the Dover coast and Mr Sunak’s flagship policy to stop them. He said he would also be willing to debate Sir Keir, and joked that he could “just about stay awake long enough”.

Labour’s ‘five missions for a decade of national renewal’

The shadow chancellor has said she is “ready” to move into Number 11.

In her speech at Rolls-Royce in Derby, Rachel Reeves set out “five missions for a decade of national renewal”.

She detailed plans for 40,000 new appointments every single week, a Border Security Command to “smash the criminal gangs and strengthen our borders”, a publicly owned Great British Energy company, an antisocial behaviour crackdown and plans for 6,500 new teachers.

Ms Reeves said: “To serve as chancellor of the exchequer would be the privilege of my life, not to luxuriate in status, not as a staging post in a career, but to serve. I know the responsibility that will come with that – I embrace it.”

She added: “As I travel around the country, I see great potential wherever I go, in dynamic great British businesses like this one, in labs and classrooms in our world-leading universities, and in the talent and the effort of working people. It is time to unlock that potential, to turn the page on chaos and decline, and start a new chapter for Britain. Labour is ready.”

Rachel Reeves say Labour manifesto will be ‘fully costed and funded’

Rachel Reeves has promised to “never play fast and loose with the public finances”.

In a speech in Derby, the shadow chancellor said: “I have been very clear that every policy that we announce, every line in our manifesto will be fully costed and fully funded – no ifs, no ands, no buts.

“That is the attitude that I will take into the Treasury, because taxpayers’ money should be spent with the same care with which people spend their own money.”

She added: “Stability will rest, as it always has done when Britain has enjoyed economic success, on strong institutions. I started my career as an economist at the Bank of England. I know why the stability that it brings and the independence from short-term politics matter to economic success and the battle against inflation.

“So Labour will not play, I will not play the Tory game of undermining the Treasury or the Bank of England.” Ms Reeves earlier said: “I will never play fast and loose with the public finances, because when you do so, you put family finances at risk.”

Shadow chancellor says she wants to lead ‘most pro-business Treasury’ UK has seen

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she is “not one of those politicians that thinks that the private sector is a dirty word, or a necessary evil”.

She said: “I want to lead the most pro-growth, the most pro-business Treasury that our country has ever seen, with a laser focus on delivering for working people.

“Today, more than 120 senior business leaders have signed a letter expressing their support for a Labour government. Across the world of business Labour is being recognised as the natural partner of business, the party of growth, and the party of enterprise.

“A few years ago, you might not have expected to have heard these things from the Labour Party. Think how far we’ve come under Keir’s leadership in four short years. If we can change this party to bring it back in the service of working people, if we can return it to the centre grounds of politics, if we can bring business back to Labour, then I know that we can bring business back to Britain.

“To bring investment back to Britain, to bring growth back to Britain, to bring hope back to Britain. Because by bringing business back to Britain, we can deliver a better future for working people. Whatever ideologues on the left or the right say, it’s not either or.”

Labour’s shadow business secretary says he is a ‘Christian socialist’

Labour’s shadow business secretary has said he is a “Christian socialist” and believes in “putting people first”.

Jonathan Reynolds was asked by Emma Barnett on the Today programme whether he identifies with the term “socialist”.

He said: “Yes, I would describe myself as a Christian socialist in the best traditions of that (term) because that’s about putting people first and to do that, you’ve got to have a set of policies that will deliver for people.”

He went on to say: “I think it’s the best tradition of the things that have been delivered in the UK, whether it’s the national parks or the NHS, have come from people with a similar background to mine.”

Farage proposes sending small boats back if French ‘don’t play ball’

Nigel Farage has said that if the French “don’t play ball” he would propose tackling small boat crossings by sending boats back to France.

Mr Farage, who is campaigning for Reform UK but is not standing in the General Election, told Good Morning Britain that the UK should leave the European Court of Human Rights, which halted flights to Rwanda.

Speaking from Dover, he said the UK should “make clear that nobody that comes via this route will ever be granted settled status in our country” and “say to the French navy: ‘We will not accept your navy escorting dinghies to our 12-mile line and then handing them over to our authorities’.”

Asked how this would be enforced, Mr Farage said: “Well, if the French won’t play ball, then the Royal Marines will have to take people back to France. It’s just as simple as that.”

Richard Madeley followed up: “You would send the British naval vessels out into the Channel, you would basically disembark people who had left the French coast, put them on board the naval ship, take them into French waters, and put them in some kind of transport boat to get them back on the shore? That’s what you do?

He replied: “That’s what the Australians did. That was what Tony Abbott did in Australia 10 years ago.”

No criminal sanctions for not signing up to national service, says Work and Pension Secretary

People not wanting to sign up for national service would not face criminal sanctions, Work and Pension Secretary Mel Stride said.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said: “When it comes to the national service, I think this is a great idea. We’re not unique in putting this forward, it’s something that for example, is happening in Sweden, where those young people that go through their version of what we’re suggesting, 80% of them actually come out the other end of say they would recommend doing it to a friend.

“And I think this is a real opportunity for young people to get experience that they wouldn’t otherwise have, to build friendships, to build skills, to build confidence, the kind of building blocks that will set them up give them resilience, to go forward in their lives.”

He added that the armed forces element of the policy would “provide the country with additional resilience in what is a much more uncertain world”.

Mr Stride continued: “There is no question of, for example, as some have said some kind of criminal sanction and people getting arrested and paying fines, and all that.

“We will set up a royal commission that will look into what kind of incentives there should be for people to engage, and also what kind of sanctions might be appropriate for those who decide not to, and also what kind of situations might mean that people would be exempt from that.”

Labour will bring back growth, Reeves to tell businesses

A Labour government will be both pro-business and pro-worker, Rachel Reeves is set to promise in her first major election speech today.

The shadow chancellor is expected to tell business leaders that, having brought business back to Labour, the party can now “bring growth back to Britain”.

She will say: “By bringing business back to Britain we can deliver a better future for working people.” Under Sir Keir Starmer, Labour has tried to woo businesses as a way of demonstrating it can be trusted with the economy.

Those efforts have brought success, with business attendance at recent party conferences higher than under Jeremy Corbyn and wealthy businessmen donating more to Labour’s war chest. But in her speech on Tuesday, former Bank of England analyst Ms Reeves is expected to stress the need for a partnership with business, government and workers.

She will say Labour offers “a government that is pro-worker and pro-business, in the knowledge that each depends upon the success of the other”. Her remarks come after Labour faced a backlash over an apparent rebranding of its “New Deal for Workers”, with Britain’s largest trade union Unite warning that the party must “stick to its guns” on workers’ rights.

Five Labour MPs say they will stand down at the General Election

Five Labour MPs, including shadow ministers, have announced that they will stand down from parliament at the General Election.

Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party John Cryer joined Kevin Brennan, Barbara Keeley, John Spellar and Virendra Sharma in announcing on Monday that he would not be contesting his seat.

Mr Cryer said he wanted to spend more time with his young children and that the next parliament was “likely to be extremely busy”. The MP for Leyton and Wanstead added that the next government would “inherit a very tough situation”.

In a letter to his constituents, posted on social media, Mr Cryer said: “This has been an extremely difficult decision, perhaps the most difficult I have ever had to make. It has been an immense privilege to have served as your MP for the past 14 years. As you may know, I have two young children and I feel I should try to spend more time with them.”

Mr Cryer, who was MP for Hornchurch from 1997 to 2005, is married to Labour’s deputy national campaign co-ordinator and MP for Lewisham West and Penge Ellie Reeves.

SNP urge ‘Scottish National Service’ to vote against Rishi Sunak’s Tories

The SNP is urging voters to complete a “Scottish National Service” – by voting against Rishi Sunak and his Conservatives.

It comes after the Prime Minister announced that if he wins the July 4 General Election, he will bring in a new policy which would see 18-year-olds either having to join the military for 12 months or voluntary work for one weekend a month for a year.

That could see teenagers either helping local fire, police and NHS services, or potentially working with charities tackling loneliness and supporting elderly people.

Speaking about his first major policy pledge of the campaign, Mr Sunak said the initiative would help unite society in an “increasingly uncertain world” and give young people a “shared sense of purpose”. However, SNP candidate for Gordon and Buchan Richard Thomson claimed the “Sunak service” proposed by the Tories would take the country “back to the 1950s”.

He said: “Not content with destroying the hopes and aspirations of a generation of young people, the Tories now want to take them back to the 1950s with their National Service plans. Scotland wants no part in a Sunak service, which the Tories have even admitted will slash tens of millions of pounds of ‘shared prosperity’ funding to Scotland.”

Labour’s Ashworth blasts Sunak’s tax break plan for pensioners

Shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth questioned why people would trust Rishi Sunak after he offered a £2.4 billion tax break for pensioners.

He said: ”Why would anyone believe the Tories and Rishi Sunak on tax after they left the country with the highest tax burden in 70 years?”

Labour’s own claims to economic credibility received a boost with a letter signed by 121 senior business figures including chef Tom Kerridge and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales in The Times.

The shadow chancellor will use a speech in the East Midlands to set out how Labour will be both pro-business and pro-worker. “If we can bring business back to Labour, then I know we can bring business back to Britain,” Rachel Reeves will say. “To bring investment back to Britain. To bring growth back to Britain. To bring hope back to Britain.”

The Prime Minister promised to increase the income tax personal allowance for pensioners, giving them a tax cut worth around £95 in 2025-26, rising to £275 in 2029-30.

Mr Sunak’s new tax policy would see the age-related allowance rise in line with the increase to the state pension under a “triple lock plus” guarantee. That would mean that both the state pension and the allowance – the amount that can be earned before being liable to income tax – rising by inflation, average wages or 2.5%, whichever is highest.

Labour leader Keir Starmer urges voters to end years of Tory chaos and self interest

Keir Starmer has urged voters to end years of disastrous Tory rule and choose stability under Labour.

Starmer said the election was a question of: “Who’s side are you on?” and promised to put the needs of working people at the heart of every decision after Labour win power on July 4.

In his first major campaign speech, the Labour leader vowed to stand up for working people, promising he could be trusted on the economy and on national security. Speaking in Lancing Parish Hall, West Sussex, Mr Starmer made an appeal to undecided voters.

• Read the full story here.

Rishi Sunak ordered to publish secret analysis showing Universal Credit cut impact

Rishi Sunak has been ordered to publish secret documents showing the impact of his cut to Universal Credit.

As Chancellor, the PM ignored pleas from campaigners including footballer Marcus Rashford by scrapping the £20-per-week uplift introduced during the pandemic.

The government has refused to release an analysis examining the impact of not extending the support. But in a victory for the Mirror, the Information Commissioners’ Office (ICO) has now ordered the Treasury to disclose the details.

• Read the full story here.

Rishi Sunak gambled on early election because his plan is ‘failing’, Rachel Reeves says

Rachel Reeves will today accuse Rishi Sunak of gambling on an early general election because his economic plan is failing.

In her first major speech of the General Election campaign, the Shadow Chancellor will promise to “bring growth back to Britain”. Ms Reeves, who has spent years wooing business, will say: “If we can bring business back to Labour, then I know we can bring business back to Britain.”

She will also blast the Tories accusing them of having left national debt more than double with the average mortgage holder now paying £240 more a month.

• Read the full story here.

Labour backed by 120 business leaders

A coalition of 120 business leaders have backed the Labour party in the General Election.

Signatories to a new joint letter sent to the Times include current and former bosses of a number of big-name brands, including JP Morgan, Heathrow, Aston Martin, JD Sports and Iceland.

It comes ahead of a major speech by Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves tomorrow, where she is expected to pledge that the party will be “pro-worker and pro-business”.

Rishi Sunak resurrects tax cut for pensioners his own party scrapped

Pensioners will be given a tax break worth £2.4 billion a year, Rishi Sunak is expected to promise.

The Prime Minister will announce on Tuesday that from April next year the income tax personal allowance for pensioners will be increased in line with the triple lock, as he continues the Conservatives’ election campaign.

The pledge would mean both the state pension and pensioners’ tax-free allowance will always rise in line with the highest of earnings, wages or 2.5%.

Billed the “triple lock plus”, the policy is estimated to cost £2.4 billion a year by 2029/30, a price tag which mirrors Mr Sunak’s proposed national service duty for all 18-year-olds, billed at £2.5 billion a year.

Rishi Sunak resurrects tax cut for pensioners his own party scrapped

Keir Starmer urges voters to end years of Tory chaos and self interest

Keir Starmer has urged voters to end years of disastrous Tory rule and choose stability under Labour.

Starmer said the election was a question of: “Who’s side are you on?” and promised to put the needs of working people at the heart of every decision after Labour win power on July 4.

In his first major campaign speech, the Labour leader vowed to stand up for working people, promising he could be trusted on the economy and on national security.

Speaking in Lancing Parish Hall, West Sussex, Mr Starmer made an appeal to undecided voters.

He said: “The choice is yours. You can stop the chaos, you can turn the page, you can join with us, and together we can rebuild our country.”

Voters faced a choice between “service or self-interest, stability or chaos, a Labour Party that has changed, or a Tory Party that has run away from the mainstream”.

Keir Starmer urges voters to end years of Tory chaos and self interest

‘Labour has verve and drive while the Tories are stuck defending National Service gimmick’

The choices facing the nation ahead of the general election could not be sharper: while Labour surge ahead with solid promises, the Tories are either floundering in their own mess – or on holiday instead of campaigning.

Labour has verve and drive while the Tories are stuck defending National Service gimmick

Rishi Sunak says California move ‘simply not true’

The Tory leader has denied again that he will be moving to California in the event of a Tory defeat – claiming the reports are ‘simply not true’.

It follows criticism from Boris Johnson ally Lord Zac Goldsmith, who said he believes the majority of Tory MPs will lose their jobs on July 4.

Lord Goldsmith wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “The hope is that when Sunak disappears off to California in a few weeks there are at least some decent MPs left around which to rebuild”

But Sunak was forced onto the defensive, telling ITV’s Robert Peston: “It’s simply not true, I mean, it’s just simply not true.”

Tory National Service announcement branded ‘desperate’ as Labour vow to spend money on NHS

In his speech earlier today, Keir Starmer branded Rishi Sunak’s National Service policy announcement as “desperate” – and said he’d spend the money on the NHS instead.

He told an audience in Lancing, Sussex: “The desperation of this national service policy – a teenage dad’s army – paid for by cancelling levelling-up funding and money from tax avoidance that we would use to invest in our NHS.”

“All elections are a choice and this is a clear one: levelling up and the NHS with Labour. Or more desperate chaos with the Tories. That is the choice.”

Keir Starmer says Labour will ‘choose service over self-interest’

A new tweet from Sir Keir Stamer this evening has seen him vow to “choose service over self-interest” in a dig at the Tory government’s record.

The Labour leader has been on the campaign trail again today, giving a major speech in Sussex and meeting voters later in the day.

My Labour government will choose service over self-interest. Stability over chaos.

Good to spend time in Barnet today speaking with former Tory voters about Labour’s plan for change. pic.twitter.com/FXLmU8SGmH

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 27, 2024

Furious Tories say Rishi Sunak ‘must be stopped’ over National Service

Furious Tories have lashed out at “desperate” Rishi Sunak in a series of scathing WhatsApp messages about the controversial National Service plan.

Incensed right wingers said the PM “must be stopped” as they dismissed the plan as a gimmick.

The Mirror has seen messages sent to regional WhatsApp groups for members of activist group the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO).

They warn that Mr Sunak’s attempt to woo voters make him look “out of touch” and dismiss the unexpected policy as a “stunt”.

Furious Tories say Rishi Sunak ‘must be stopped’ over National Service

Rishi Sunak ordered to publish secret analysis showing Universal Credit cut impact

Rishi Sunak has been ordered to publish secret documents showing the impact of his cut to Universal Credit.

As Chancellor, the PM ignored pleas from campaigners including footballer Marcus Rashforcd by scrapping the £20-per-week uplift introduced during the pandemic.

The government has refused to release an analysis examining the impact of not extending the support. But in a victory for the Mirror, the Information Commissioners’ Office (ICO) has now ordered the Treasury to disclose the details.

The support – worth around £1,000 a year – was introduced in March 2020 as a temporary measure to help the most vulnerable families through the Covid crisis.

Rishi Sunak ordered to publish secret analysis showing Universal Credit cut impact

Top Tory will not stand for election after shock mayoral defeat

Former West Midlands mayor Andy Street – who lost to Labour’s Richard Parker in a shock defeat earlier this month – has confirmed he will not seek a seat representing this party at the General Election.

He said: “I have always said that I never wanted to go into Westminster, and that the job as Mayor of the West Midlands was the right political role for me.

“But the truth is that since losing the Mayoral election earlier this month I haven’t been able to shake the overwhelming sense of duty to continue to serve in a public role.

“I have therefore thought long and hard about whether to try to stand for Parliament at the forthcoming General Election and become an MP. Ultimately however I have decided against it.

“Being an MP is a job of great importance, but it has just never been for me. Truthfully I have been an executive leader for 20 years now, and would find it extremely difficult to step back from that at this time.”

‘Rishi Sunak’s National Service garbage is the latest sign of Tory desperation’

The Mirror’s Assistant Editor Darren Lewis has blasted Rishi Sunak’s National Service pledge – and says the Prime Minister conveniently forgets his government has utterly failed young people over the past 14 years.

You can read his full column below.

Rishi Sunak’s National Service garbage is the latest sign of Tory desperation

Internet reacts to Rishi’s dribbling fail

Rishi Sunak’s hapless attempt at dribbling a ball has not escaped the attention of people online – with the Labour party the latest to poke fun at his ‘skills’ this evening.

Embarrassing pic.twitter.com/w6vcwy5RTR

— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) May 27, 2024

Rishi Sunak forced to deny he will flee to California

Rishi Sunak has said he is committed to a whole term of office as an MP – even if the Tories lose the election.

It comes after Tory peer Lord Zac Goldsmith suggested he would flee to California.

Speaking about the party’s future after a likely election defeat, he said: “The hope is that when Sunak disappears off to California in a few weeks there are at least some decent MPs left around which to rebuild.”

The Prime Minister later told reporters: “I am surprised that Lord Goldsmith, who I don’t think I have spoken to in a very long time, seems to have some intimate knowledge of my family’s arrangements.

“But no, of course not. My kids are at school, this is my home, and as I said earlier my football team has got promoted to the Premier League (Southampton) so I intend to spend many more happy occasions in St Mary’s watching them.”

Join our free Mirror Election WhatsApp community for all the latest

With voters set to go to the polls on July 4, our new Mirror Election WhatsApp community is here to keep you informed every step of the way.

After more than 13 years of Tory rule, the polls suggest Labour are on course to return to power and our writers are set to bring you all the latest from the race for Number 10, including campaign news, poll outlooks, and more straight to your phone.

As battle lines are drawn between Labour leader Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, we’ll send you the latest breaking updates and exclusives all directly to your device. Users must download or already have WhatsApp on their phones to join in.

All you have to do to join is click on this link, select ‘Join Community’ and you’re in! We may also send you stories from other titles across the Reach group.

Join our FREE Mirror Election WhatsApp community for all the latest on the race for Number 10

Tory MP’s support for Reform is latest embarrassment for Rishi Sunak

A departing Tory MP has dealt a hammer blow to Rishi Sunak by endorsing Reform UK to win her seat.

Lucy Allan gave her backing to Alan Adams, who is standing for the rival party in Telford. Tory HQ swiftly suspended her – but Ms Allan said she had resigned to support Mr Adams rather than Conservative Hannah Campbell.

She said: “I have resigned from the Conservative Party to support Alan Adams to be Telford’s next MP. I have known Alan for many years and he is genuinely the best person for the job.

“I want the best for Telford and I can’t just let the Labour candidate have a walkover.” She won the seat in 2019 with a majority of 10,941, but in 2017 the Conservatives won by just 720 – and she first won the seat in 2015 with a majority of 730.

Tory MP quits and backs Reform to replace her in hammer blow to Rishi Sunak