Nigel Farage has declared himself as the “new opposition” following a groundbreaking YouGov poll that put Reform ahead of the Conservatives for the first time in history.
Speaking during a press conference in London, the party leader called Sir Keir Starmer to go on a head-to-head televised debate to challenge his policies on migration.
With only three weeks before election day, the prime minister insisted the Conservatives will not come third at the general election and said they are “still fighting hard fore every vote”.
Speaking from Italy where is attending the G7 leaders summit, Mr Sunak warned people against voting for Nigel Farage’s party as they will make Labour win and hand Sir Keir Starmer a “blank cheque”.
It comes as Mr Farage claimed that postal ballot is open to fraud and intimidation adding “it happens in this country all the time” while he was quizzed by callers on BBC’s 5 Live. But the Electoral Commission has said that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the UK.
Reform UK press conference has now ended
Here are the top lines from what Nigel Farage said:
- Mr Farage has declared Reform UK the new “opposition” after their leading YouGov poll result over the Tories.
- He has challenged Sir Keir Starmer to go face to face on a televised debate.
- The Reform leader refused to say how many seats he would like to win but claimed they are going to get “very substantial number of votes” at the general election.
- He said the Conservative party “will not be in power for a decade, maybe more” and they are “finished”.
- Mr Farage claimed Reform is a “long-term” project that is “building of a big movement” ready for the next general election in 2029.
Council staff to vote on strikes after pay offer rejected
Council staff across Scotland have rejected a new pay offer, with a vote now set to open on potential strike action, a union has said.
Unison Scotland balloted members on the offer from local authority body Cosla, but it said 91% of respondents rejected the 2.2% uplift, which would have increased by a further 2% after six months.
The union said over the coming weeks, its members – including cleansing workers and school staff – will now be consulted on walkouts.
Colette Hunter, chairwoman of the local government committee at the union, said: “This result must be a wake-up call for Cosla that council workers need to be rewarded fairly for the essential services they provide.”
Farage demands BBC leaders’ debate panel spot
Nigel Farage has demanded a spot on the BBC’s four-way leaders’ debate panel, which Fiona Bruce will host in York next Thursday.
The Reform UK leader suggested the broadcaster should feature him in the line-up after a landmark poll put his party ahead of the Conservatives.
Mr Farage added: “I think we can demand of right now that the BBC put us into that debate.”
The two-hour Question Time Leaders’ Special is set to feature the leaders of Great Britain’s four largest political parties.
Pictured: John Swinney and Stephen Flynn ready to watch Scotland vs Germany Euro 2024 game
Exclusive: ‘I kept asking why’: Syrian refugee detained for 25 days for Rwanda flights speaks after release
Mohammad Al Kharewsh, 25, said he kept questioning why he was among the first chosen and became increasingly depressed during his time in Gatwick detention centre.
His arrival in the UK in 2022 had seen him reunited with his brother, who was granted asylum in the UK as a minor, and the prospect of being separated again was “extremely intimidating”, he said.
Mohammad was one of more than 100 asylum seekers rounded up by the Home Office in May ahead of planned deportation flights to Rwanda.
Boris Johnson endorses another Tory candidate
The former prime minister has endorsed a fourth Conservative candidate as he joins the election campaign.
He hailed Jane Stevenson, who is running in Wolverhampton North East, as “full of passion”.
Pictured: Rishi Sunak greets Pope Francis
Greens: Party ‘has a lot to offer women voters’
Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour that her party “has a lot to offer women voters”.
She boasted about the Greens’ manifesto and said it includes policies on equal pay, flexible working, increasing carer allowances, making misogyny a hate crime, and childcare support plans.
Denyerwas also asked about the controversial promise to reduce the number of medical interventions in childbirth, which the party ditched last week.
She insisted that it “was never going to be in the manifesto”, and apologised “for the anguish this has caused”.
Watch: Reform party unveils five-minute political broadcast and it has no sound
Watch: Reform party unveils five-minute political broadcast and it has no sound
Reform UK unveiled their party political broadcast on Thursday night (13 June) with no audio and the same six words on-screen for four minutes. The text read: “Britain is Broken. Britain Needs Reform.” Reform leader Nigel Farage tweeted the same video, reassuring those who watched the broadcast that their “TV isn’t broken”. The message aired on the same evening that a new YouGov poll suggested the party has overtaken the Conservatives for the first time ahead of next month’s general election. In the survey, Reform were put on 19 per cent, ahead of the Tories on 18 per cent. Labour remained top on 37 per cent.
Green Party removes HIV image from online manifesto after backlash
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