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Parents will not face sanctions if their teenager fails to complete a form of compulsory national service, a Tory minister has said.The policy would see see 18-year-olds forced to either sign up to the military or cyber defence force or undertake community volunteering work.Rishi Sunak has defended the plans, saying they would “foster a culture of service which is going to be incredibly powerful for making our society more cohesive.”“This relates to an adult who is 18 years old and it is their responsibility to engage with the programme,” Mel Stride told LBC on Tuesday, 28 May. More

Lucy Allan backing a Reform candidate is “vindication” for the party’s policies, leader Richard Tice has said.The Tory MP for Telford, who is leaving parliament, said Alan Adams would offer an alternative to “more of the same politics and more of the same politicians”.Her party responded by suspending her with immediate effect, but Ms Allan said she had resigned to support Mr Adams rather than Conservative Hannah Campbell.Mr Tice told Sky News on Monday, 27 May: “[Reform] policies… can get our country growing again.“Her endorsement… is sort of vindication and verification of that.” More

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer dismissed Rishi Sunak’s national service plan as a “teenage Dad’s Army”.Mr Sunak has vowed to bring the controversial National Service scheme for 18-year-olds if he wins the general election.Giving his keynote speech on Monday (27 May), Sir Keir said there was “desperation” behind the policy which would be “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.” More

Rachel Reeves has ruled out increases to income tax or national insurance if Labour are elected in this year’s general election.Speaking on BBC One’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg on 26 May, the shadow chancellor pledged that there would not be a “return to austerity” under their government, noting that she would not put forward “unfunded proposals”. Ms Reeves has joined Sir Keir Starmer in his view that taxes on working people should be lower.”I don’t want to make any cuts to public spending which is why we’ve announced the immediate injection of cash into public services,” she added. More

A Sky News presenter clashed with Nigel Farage after the former Ukip leader claimed there are British Muslims who “loathe” much of what the country stands for in a live interview on Sunday, 26 May.The Reform UK founder told Sir Trevor Phillips: “Some of the recent surveys [say] that 46 per cent of British Muslims support Hamas.”Sir Trevor previously wrote in the Times that his family heritage is Fulani and Mandinka Muslims.Clashing with Mr Farage, Sir Trevor asked the former politician: “Put yourself in the shoes of a British Muslim, can you imagine how offensive that feels?”Mr Farage responded by asking: “How many people from your community fail to speak English?” More

Rishi Sunak has explained the Conservatives’ justification for their plans to introduce National Service for 18-year-olds if they are voted back in at the 4 July general election.Young people will be required to complete a full-time placement in the armed forces for 12 months or spend one weekend a month for a year “volunteering” in their community, the Tories said.In a new video on Sunday, 26 May, the prime minister described how National Service would give teenagers “valuable skills” and “make our country more secure.”“Britain today faces a future that is more dangerous and more divided,” he said. More

A Tory minister has said it is “reasonable” for long-serving MPs to stand down as a post-war record of 78 Conservative MPs have announced they will not seek re-election.Speaking to Sky News, economic secretary to the Treasury Bim Afolami said: “It’s reasonable after people spending time doing a job for 20 to 30 years… that they choose to do something else.”Housing minister Michael Gove cited the “toll” of public office as he announced he was stepping down as an MP after almost 20 years.The total number of Tory MPs stepping down has surpassed the previous high of 72 who quit prior to Labour’s 1997 landslide. More

Sir Keir Starmer has said a Labour government would seek to extend the right to vote to 16 and 17-year-olds.Speaking on the campaign trail in Staffordshire on Saturday, 25 May, the opposition leader said anyone paying tax should “have a say” in how their money is spent.It came after the Times reported a change to the voting age would likely appear in the King’s Speech if Labour wins on 4 July.There is no firm indication of when the policy would be implemented. More