UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak is pledging to create 100,000 more apprenticeships a year by shutting down “rip-off degrees” as he battles to remain in No 10.The prime minister wants to see the worst-performing university courses replaced with high-skilled apprenticeships if the Conservatives retain power after the General Election.He will say that his party is “offering our young people the employment opportunities and financial security they need to thrive” as he seeks to narrow Labour’s double-digit lead in the polls.Rishi Sunak said ‘improving education is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet for boosting life chances’ More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s proposal to enforce national service for teenagers is “hare-brained” and would only serve to deplete Britain’s defence capabilities, a former head of the Royal Navy has warned.Writing in The Independent, the former head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Lord West, said the Tories’ general election plan showed Mr Sunak did not understand the level of danger the UK currently faces.In their first major policy pledge since Mr Sunak hastily announced the election on Wednesday, the Conservatives unveiled plans to reintroduce national service, with school leavers being given the option of either joining the military for a year or doing part-time voluntary service in the community.In what has widely been seen as a bid to attract Reform voters, the policy – rejected by a government minister only days earlier as a drain on military resources – would see 30,000 teenagers given full-time roles in the armed forces each year.The Tories pledged to set up a royal commission to work out the details if elected on 4 July, but insist their plan would cost £2.5bn – and propose raiding key levelling up and post-EU funding to pay for it.But Lord West, who was First Sea Lord from 2002 to 2006, warned that “anyone with the most basic experience of how much it costs, and what it entails, to turn a new recruit into someone that can usefully serve in our armed forces would not need a royal commission to tell them that the proposal as currently presented is utter nonsense”.“This ill-thought out conscription scheme will increase pressure on defence and waste money,” the former Navy chief wrote, adding: “Rather than enhancing our defence capability, it would further reduce it.”Britain’s military has shrunk by a third and satisfaction with service life, pay and morale have plunged across the board since the Tories entered power in 2010, Lord West said – accusing Mr Sunak of having ignored these while chancellor and only acting in the headlights of a general election. Rishi Sunak ‘does not understand the level of danger that our country is facing’, warned Admiral Lord West More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has announced that 18-year-olds would be made to do national service if the Tories win the general election.It is the Conservatives’ first major policy proposal since Mr Sunak hastily announced the general election in the pouring rain on Wednesday afternoon, with his party now scrambling to find some 190 candidates amid a post-war record exodus of Tory MPs.The prime minister insisted on that his plans for mandatory national service would help unite society in an “increasingly uncertain world” and give young people a “shared sense of purpose”. In an apparent pitch to older voters, Mr Sunak said that volunteering could include helping local fire, police and NHS services, as well as charities tackling loneliness and supporting elderly and isolated people.Below we look at what we know about the plans so far. How would Rishi Sunak’s National Service scheme work?Much of the detail remains unclear, with the Tories saying they would set up a royal commission bringing in expertise from across the military and civil society to establish how the scheme would work in practice.This commission would be tasked with bringing forward a proposal for how to ensure the first pilot is open for applications in September 2025, and the Tories would then seek to introduce a new “National Service Act” to make the measures compulsory by the end of the next parliament.But broadly, the party said that young people would be given a choice between a full-time placement in the armed forces for 12 months or spending one weekend a month for a year “volunteering,” in their community.Teenagers who choose to sign up for a placement in the forces would “learn and take part in logistics, cyber security, procurement or civil response operations”, the Tories said.Rishi Sunak met with veterans at a community breakfast during a party campaign event on Saturday More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour has unveiled its first big general election offering on workers’ rights with a pledge to end discrimination on sick pay facing low-paid employees.Just 24 hours after wooing more than 120 business leaders with their economic plans, the Labour leadership is seeking to calm union concerns that they will water down their promises on workers’ rights.The intervention on sick pay will help an estimated 1.5 million who are not covered by the rules and either have to work through illness or stay at home without financial support.The move is part of a delicate balancing act by Sir Keir Starmer to show that he is on the side of both business and working people. His shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves on Tuesday promised to deliver “a government that is pro-worker and pro-business, in the knowledge that each depends upon the success of the other”.Angela Rayner will promise to scrap the lower earnings limit for statutory sick pay More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailAngela Rayner has been vindicated, Sir Keir Starmer said on Tuesday after police dropped a probe into Tory allegations about her council house.After months of investigation, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the party’s deputy leader will face no further action over claims she broke electoral law over her living situation a decade ago.She welcomed the news but blamed the saga on “desperate tactics” by the Tories.It was another huge boost for Labour as the general election campaign entered its sixth full day, with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves promising to “lead the most pro-growth, the most pro-business Treasury that our country has ever seen.”As Labour positioned itself as the party of business, Rishi Sunak’s “triple-lock plus” promise to pensioners was dismissed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies as a reversal of the Tories’ own tax policy.The investigation into Ms Rayner followed a complaint from Conservative deputy chairman James Daly over the 2015 sale of her council house in Stockport and whether she had provided false information about her main address during the 2010s. Keir Starmer said Angela Rayner ‘has been vindicated’ More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWith TikTok now used by over 9 million people in the UK, it’s no suprise major political parties have jumped onto the bandwagon in an attempt to appeal to younger voters. Social media has been touted as a key battleground in general elections for many years, but having launched in the UK in August 2018, TikTok was only in its infancy during the last poll at the end of 2019.Political advertising is banned on TikTok, though both parties will be hoping content reaches the right audiences through the app’s complex user algorithms.Labour launched its account on the app three days before the Conservatives – posting an 11-second video on Thursday evening of leader Sir Keir Starmer declaring: “Change. That is what this election is about.”Since then, the feed has been a mixture of clips from the party’s campaign trail, brief explainers and, most successfully, memes mocking the Tories and the Prime Minister.The Conservative Party shared their first TikTok on Sunday morning – a 50-second clip of Rishi Sunak in a white shirt announcing he plans to introduce mandatory national service for 18-year-olds if he returns to Number 10.In the video, the prime minister begins: “Hi TikTok, sorry to be breaking into your usual politics-free feed”.Tiktok is now used by over 9 million people in the UK More

Starmer mocks Sunak’s National Service plansSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have reportedly agreed to take part in a televised debate for the first time since the election campaign kicked off. The Tory and Labour leaders are expected to go head to head on ITV next week, with the exact date yet to be confirmed. It comes as shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has ruled out a summer budget if she gets into No 11 during a major campaign speech in Derby.Attacking the Tories disastrous mini-budget, she said they are “singing from the same songbook” as Liz Truss and promised Labour won’t make unfunded spending commitments if elected. In response to her remarks, Rishi Sunak claimed it would cost £2,000 to every household to pay for Sir Keir Starmer pledges. Addressing voters in Stoke-on-Trent, the prime minister unveiled new plans for pensioners in a bid to boost their incomes with a “triple lock plus” pledge if elected. Show latest update 1716907688Breaking: Angela Rayner to face no further action following investigationThe police probe into Angela Rayner’s tax and property affairs has now concluded following months of speculation.According to reports, Greater Manchester police is expected to take no further action against the Labour deputy leader.Salma Ouaguira28 May 2024 15:481716907586Is Labour trying to rig election system with plans for votes at 16?Keir Starmer says he will allow 16- and 17-year-olds to have the vote, leading to claims by Tory MPs that he wants to ‘rig future elections’.Salma Ouaguira28 May 2024 15:461716906916Rishi Sunak plays bowls during election campaign The prime minister was visiting a bowling green in Leicestershire as part of his national campaign tour. Speaking to the press, Mr Sunak said that “the penny is dropping across Europe” that the Rwanda scheme is the right approach to immigration.Attacking Labour, he said Sir Keir Starmer is going to turn the UK into the “soft touch of Europe”. Salma Ouaguira28 May 2024 15:351716906648Rachel Reeves recalls how mother’s upbringing influenced Labour economic policiesRachel Reeves recalls how mother’s upbringing influenced Labour economic policiesRachel Reeves recalled how her mother’s attitude to finances has inspired her economic policies in a major general election campaign speech on Tuesday, 28 May. The shadow chancellor described how her mother would sit at the kitchen table “combing over, line by line, her bank statements and her receipts. “Every penny mattered… The basic test for whoever is chancellor is to bring that attitude to the public finances.” Speaking from a Rolls-Royce factory in Derby, Ms Reeves said Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are “singing from the same songbook” as Liz Truss.Salma Ouaguira28 May 2024 15:301716905965Cameron says Israeli bombardment on Gaza’s Rafah ‘very concerning’ The foreign secretary said the Rafah massacre “really did look very, very concerning, very worrying, and so we’re asking for that to be investigated rapidly”.He added: “The Israelis have already said it was a tragic mistake, but we want to see that properly investigated.”Asked about whether he would recognise Palestine as a state, he said there should be a two-state solution.He added: “Recognition of course will come, but it shouldn’t come at the start of this process. It doesn’t have to wait until right at the end, but it should be part of bringing about a two-state solution.”Salma Ouaguira28 May 2024 15:191716905568Do you back Rishi Sunak’s plans for national service?In his first major policy proposal since the general election was announced the prime minister insisted his plans for mandatory national service would help unite society.The exact plans remain vague, but the party said young people would be given a choice between a full-time placement in the armed forces for 12 months or spending one weekend a month for a year “volunteering,” in their community.Labour frontbencher Liz Kendall accused the Conservatives of merely “asking young people to solve the problems in the NHS, the police and the armed services that the Tories themselves have created”.Now we want to know what you think. Do you back Mr Sunak’s plans for national service? Salma Ouaguira28 May 2024 15:121716905468Pictured: David Cameron campaigning in ManchesterForeign Secretary David Cameron meets visitors at The Fed, Caring for Community, during a Conservative general election campaign event in Manchester More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailTeenagers would be made to do national service after their eighteenth birthday if Rishi Sunak’s Tories win the general election.It was the Conservatives’ first major policy proposal since Mr Sunak hastily announced the general election in the pouring rain on Wednesday afternoon.The prime minister insisted his plans for mandatory national service would help unite society in an “increasingly uncertain world” and give young people a “shared sense of purpose”. The exact plans remain vague, but the party said young people would be given a choice between a full-time placement in the armed forces for 12 months or spending one weekend a month for a year “volunteering,” in their community.Labour frontbencher Liz Kendall accused the Conservatives of merely “asking young people to solve the problems in the NHS, the police and the armed services that the Tories themselves have created”.Lib Dem defence spokesperson Richard Foord MP added: “If the Conservatives were serious about defence, they would reverse their damaging cuts to our world-class professional armed forces, instead of decimating them, with swingeing cuts to the number of our regular service personnel.”And Justin Crump, a defence expert and veteran of 25 years, told Sky News the plans were “ill-thought through” and would be an “enormous potential burden” on Britain’s military, adding: “It’s certainly not the solution to the military’s problems and I think everyone I’ve spoken to this morning still has their head in their hands.”Now we want to know what you think. Do you back Mr Sunak’s plans for national service? Share your thoughts by adding them in the comments — we’ll highlight the most insightful ones as they come in.All you have to do is sign up and register your details — then you can take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Join the conversation with other Independent readers below. More