UK general election live: Sunak was ‘bullied’ into taking action over betting scandal, says Starmer in final debate | General election 2024

Rishi Sunak is returning to the campaign trail on Thursday, PA reports, after a two-day hiatus for the Emperor and Empress of Japan’s state visit and preparations for the final head-to-head debate with Sir Keir Starmer.

With one week to go until polling day, the deepening gambling scandal is still likely to feature heavily when he faces the media during a tour of the East Midlands and Yorkshire.

He is expected to visit a factory in Derbyshire and hold an evening campaign event in Leeds.

Starmer accuses Sunak of using trans issues as ‘political football’

Nadeem Badshah

Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of using transgender issues “as a political football to divide people” during their head-to-head debate on Wednesday.

The pair clashed in response to a question about whether they would protect women’s rights to single-sex spaces, regardless of whether people have a gender recognition certificate.

The prime minister said he would “unequivocally” change the law “so that the old Equalities Act recognises that sex means biological sex”.

Starmer said he would protect women’s spaces but would not amend legislation in order to do so.

The Labour leader told the BBC debate at Nottingham Trent University that Sunak should read the current laws and argued the protections are there. “Don’t just use this as a political football to divide people,” he said.

Starmer added: “What I will also say is that I do recognise that there are a small number of people who are born into a gender that they don’t identify with, and I will treat them, as I treat all human beings, with dignity and respect.

“I’ll tell you why, because if you don’t, we end up with the prime minister of the United Kingdom standing in parliament making an anti-trans joke in front of the mother of a murdered trans teenager.”

Sunak replied: “That’s not what I did. I was pointing out that you’ve changed your mind on this question multiple times.”

Starmer was referencing Sunak being accused of mocking trans people in the Commons as the mother of the murdered trans teenager Brianna Ghey visited parliament in February:

A children’s vote held ahead of the General Election has seen Labour come out on top, with the Conservatives last – below Reform UK, PA reports.

The vote, organised by a coalition of youth organisations and charities, saw 23,000 people aged seven to 17 take part across England and Wales.

The mock election was held to give young people a voice and hear first-hand views about the policies of the main parties, according to the coalition which stressed that the organisations involved are politically neutral.

The coalition behind the campaign, including Save the Children, UK Youth and Girlguiding, said more than a fifth (22%) of the children who took part had highlighted education as the policy area that influenced their vote the most.

This was followed by health and climate and environment (joint on 18%). Cost of living was an issue for 16%, while 12% cited safety. Immigration and refugees was mentioned least, with 8% saying this had influenced their vote.

A total of 22,889 children cast their vote before polls closed at 5pm on June 21, with results coming from 112 schools and youth groups which submitted voting data, rather than being seen as a nationwide poll.

The overall results saw:

• 32% voting Labour

• 29% choosing the Green Party

• 13% going for the Liberal Democrats

• 10% picking Reform UK

• 9% favouring the Conservatives

Here is a more detailed schedule of what we can expect on the campaign trail today, via PA:

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer return to the campaign trail on Thursday after they clashed over the Westminster betting row in their final televised head-to-head debate ahead of the General Election.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride is on morning media round for the Conservatives, Shadow Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson for Labour, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey for the Lib Dems.

9.30am Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for Edinburgh West, Christine Jardine, is on the campaign trail in Edinburgh.

10.15am: Starmer is in the North West and west Midlands.

11.30am: Sunak is campaigning in the Midlands and Yorkshire with a staff Q&A at a pottery factory in Derbyshire.

12pm: Nigel Farage in the North East, before a Reform event with Richard Tice in the evening.

2.30pm Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar to visit a health charity in Kirkcaldy with local candidate Melanie Ward.

3:10pm SNP Leader John Swinney on campaign trail in Edinburgh East and Musselburgh with SNP candidate for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, Tommy Sheppard. Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross to visit business in East Lothian.

8.30pm: ITV interview with Keir Starmer

9pm: Northern Ireland leaders take part in a BBC debate

Last night’s debate – and exclamation points – are common themes on the front pages this morning, with the Guardian leading with PM and Starmer clash over betting scandal in tetchy final TV debate:

The Times: Sunak rams home tax message in final debate

The Independent: Starmer squares up to striking doctors: I won’t give a 35% rise

The Daily Mail: Rishi’s furious blast at Starmer… You are taking people for fools!

Scotsman: SNP closing gap on Labour despite contrast in seat count

Much like the scandal, the betting puns aren’t over yet: the Daily Record has Flutter Coward beside a picture of a downcast Sunak:

The award for counting – almost – to ten goes to the Daily Express, with: No idea! 9 times Starmer fails to give an answer on boats crisis:

Maybe ‘the next foreign secretary’ knows the answer, in this week’s New Statesman:

And distinguished guests, we have a tie for the Stuff of Nightmares Award, which goes to the cover artists for the New European and the Spectator:

Denis Campbell

The leaders of the BMA’s junior doctors committee (JDC) said today that they could call further strikes for this summer if the next government does not hold talks in a “timely manner”.

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However, they have stressed in recent months that they would be happy for any significant progress towards their goal of “full pay restoration” to be phased in over a number of years. That has raised tentative hopes that the long-running and very disruptive dispute may soon be over.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, has said that increasing junior doctors’ pay would need to be a “journey not an event”. He has also said that he would not approve a 35% rise because if he did, “any trade union worth its salt” would then demand the same sum for its members.

Dr Robert Laurenson, the JDC co-chair, said: “He is talking about things like ‘journey not an event’. We’re happy to have a multiyear pay deal. He has seemingly heard that, and ‘journey not an event’ matches that.”

Dr Vivek Trivedi, the other co-chair, said: “The main thing I’ve taken away from discussions [with Labour] is that there is a willingness to try and at least engage in constructive and meaningful [talks]”.

He added: “If talks do not move in a timely manner, then of course our members would expect us to call for strike action.”

Junior doctors strike in England despite risk of scoring ‘own goal’

Denis Campbell

Junior doctors in England will strike today for the 11th time over pay, amid concern in their union that a stoppage so close to the general election is an “own goal”.

Senior figures in the British Medical Association (BMA) believe the strike is pointless and “naive” and risks irritating Labour, which looks likely to be in power by next Friday and asked the union to call it off.

About 25,000 junior doctors are expected to refuse to work during the five-day stoppage, which begins at 7am today and runs until the same time next Tuesday, 2 July.

By the end of it, junior doctors will have been on strike for 44 days since they first took industrial action in March 2023 in pursuit of a 35% pay rise.

The 10 previous strikes have forced the NHS to cancel 1.4m outpatient appointments and operations and spend £1.7bn to minimise disruption.

NHS England expects the “widespread disruption to care” over the next five days to be worse than before because heat-related health problems are adding to the strain on many services. “This new round of strike action will again hit the NHS very hard,” said Prof Stephen Powis, its national medical director.

A snap poll by YouGov of 1716 people had voters evenly split on who won last night’s debate. Sunak and Starmer were also practically tied on who seemed more “prime ministerial”, earning 41% and 42% respectively (with 16% “don’t knows”).

Asked how well each individual performed, Starmer came out slightly ahead, with a score of 61% to Sunak’s 56%. Starmer was way ahead on being “in touch with ordinary people”, with 63% to Sunak’s 18%. Starmer was also more likeable (52-33) and trustworthy (50-39).

Sunak beat starmer on immigration (55-35) and tax (48-37), with Starmer coming out on top on the economy (47-53), welfare and benefits (51-39) and Britain’s relationship with the EU (52-32).

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have clashed over their responses to the Westminster gambling scandal, as it emerged the Metropolitan police is to widen its role in the investigation into bets placed on the general election.

In the last head-to-head debate before voters go to the polls, the Labour leader launched a fierce attack on the culture at the top of the Conservative party, saying it showed the “wrong instinct” to place bets on the future of the country – likening it to the cavalier attitude to Covid rules.

In the angry exchanges, Sunak repeatedly urged the country not to “surrender” to Labour’s plans on tax and migration and said the general election should not be decided purely based on frustration with the Conservatives.

Jessica Elgot and Pippa Crerar report:

Hello and welcome to the Guadian’s live coverage of the run-up to the UK general election with me, Helen Sullivan.

This time next week polling stations will be preparing to open – voting starts at 7am on 4 July. In their final debate before polling day, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer traded barbs over their responses to the gambling scandal, the Guardian’s Jessica Elgot and Pippa Crerar report, as it emerged the Metropolitan police is to widen its role in the investigation into bets placed on the general election.

Starmer said he had suspended his candidate, Kevin Craig, “within minutes” of Craig admitting in a statement that he had placed a bet against himself winning the seat a few weeks ago.

Starmer was comparing his actions with Sunak, who took days to make the decision. “I think that in the last 14 years politics has become too much about self entitlement, and MPs thinking about what they could get for themselves,” he said.

“The instinct of these people to think the first thing they should do is try to make money, that was the wrong instinct, and we have to change that.”

He said Sunak had “delayed and delayed and delayed” and had been “bullied into” taking action. “My candidates know I have the highest standards. They have seen by my actions the consequences”.

Sunak meanwhile repeatedly urged voters not to “surrender” to a Labour government, using language Boris Johnson used when talking about Brexit.

“Do not surrender to the Labour party the control of our borders. If Labour wins, the people smugglers are going to need a bigger boat,” said Sunak.

More on the key developments from the debate soon.

Meanwhile here is what is coming up today:

9.30am Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for Edinburgh West, Christine Jardine, is on the campaign trail in Edinburgh.

12pm: Nigel Farage in the North East, before a Reform event with Richard Tice in the evening.

2.30pm Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar to visit a health charity in Kirkcaldy with local candidate Melanie Ward.

3:10pm SNP Leader John Swinney on campaign trail in Edinburgh East and Musselburgh with SNP candidate for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, Tommy Sheppard.

The Scottish Conservatives are on the campaign trail in East Lothian.

8.30pm: ITV interview with Keir Starmer

9pm: Northern Ireland leaders take part in a BBC debate