Markus Andrews

Amol Rajan has admitted he “almost forgot” Liz Truss was prime minister in 2022.The host of BBC Radio 4 Today was speaking to Mel Stride about immigration as the Conservatives prepared to launch their general election manifesto on Tuesday, 11 June.As he remarked that previous prime ministers would reduce immigration numbers and didn’t, Mr Rajan got onto the subject of the PM who presided over the mini-Budget.”Liz Truss, I almost forgot about her, she said that immigration would come down. Did it happen? Well, we didn’t have very long to make it happen,” Mr Rajan said. More

Rishi Sunak is “taking people for fools” with potential further tax cuts, Wes Streeting has said.The shadow health secretary was asked if Labour would seek to match a 2p national insurance cut expected to be in the Tory manifesto on Tuesday, 11 June.Mr Streeting said: “We are not able to make that commitment today because the money simply isn’t there and I think Rishi Sunak should level with people that the money simply isn’t there.“I think he is taking people for fools.”Labour will announce their manifesto on Thursday. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailNigel Farage has pulled out of a high-profile BBC interview as his Reform UK party faces a row over whether the UK should have appeased Hitler.The former UKIP leader was due to take part in a Panorama special with Nick Robinson, set to have been broadcast on Tuesday night. But it has been pulled from the schedule and postponed, despite Mr Farage continuing to campaign in Barnsley and Nottinghamshire.It comes less than 24 hours after it emerged one of his candidates claimed the country would have been “far better” off if it had “taken Hitler up on his offer of neutrality” instead of fighting the Nazis.Ian Gribbin, who is standing in Bexhill and Battle, also described Winston Churchill as “abysmal” and praised Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to the BBC.Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, in Cawthorne, South Yorkshire, on the campaign trail. More

Rishi Sunak has admitted it has become harder for people to buy their first home under the Conservatives.Speaking to Nick Robinson as part of the BBC’s Panorama interviews, the prime minister pledged to “make sure that we support young people in to great jobs so they can save for that deposit.”Mr Robinson intervened to say most young people are not worried about the deposit or stamp duty, adding they cannot afford to leave their parents’ home.“When I speak to people it is the deposit that is the biggest challenge,” Mr Sunak replied.It comes as the Tory manifesto is due to be released on Tuesday, 11 June. More

The Tory manifesto will be the “most expensive panic attack in history”, Labour’s Wes Streeting has said.Rishi Sunak’s pledges will be launched today, including an expected a tax break for landlords and help for first-time buyers.Reports have suggested another 2p cut to national insurance will also be in the manifesto.The Tory manifesto launch on Tuesday, 11 June, comes after a bruising few days in Mr Sunak’s campaign in which he dismissed resignation rumours after his early departure from D-Day commemorations in France.Labour’s manifesto will be launched on Thursday. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA series of secret tapes have exposed the depth of the Tory civil war over the prospect of ditching the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).Rishi Sunak is expected to confirm in his manifesto today that he will leave the door open to leaving or trying to reform the ECHR, which was inspired by Winston Churchill after the Second World War, by vowing to put border protection ahead of the edicts of foreign courts.But a recording of justice secretary Alex Chalk speaking to Tory members at the Two Cities Conservatives reception on 20 February reveals he was opposed to the move.Justice secretary Alex Chalk warned against leaving the ECHR More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has doubled down on his disputed claim the Labour Party will increase taxes for the average household by more than £2,000 a year after he was accused of “misleading” the public with the figure.In an interview with BBC Panorama’s Nick Robinson, the prime minister was questioned about the record level of tax increases under Tory rule since 2010, before he was asked why he was hitting out at possible Labour tax rises.“You’ve got a bit of a nerve, haven’t you, having a go at the Labour Party?” said Mr Robinson.“You’ve raised our taxes by record amounts, £93 billion, you’ve produced some figures criticised by the boss of the Treasury, criticised by the Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, criticised by the former Head of the Civil Service. And yet, you come to this interview and you repeat something that you’ve said that they all think is misleading.”Mr Sunak responded: “Because it’s right, and the choice in this election is clear, we are going to keep cutting people’s taxes, you’ll see that in our manifesto tomorrow, you’ve seen it in the announcements that we’ve already made, Labour Party are going to put people’s taxes up.”He claimed recent tax rises were due to circumstances out of his control, blaming the pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine.( More

Rishi Sunak has been accused of being less “Conservative” than Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, in a bizarre lunch-themed analogy.During BBC’s Panorama election special, Nick Robinson compared the current prime minister to the “full Sunday roast” of Nigel Farage’s traditional conservative values.Mr Sunak was also grilled on leaving the D-Day anniversary proceedings early, which prompted backlash from prominent political figures across the UK. More