Election latest: Reform move within point of Tories in new poll - as minister refuses to admit tax burden will rise (2024)

Labour is promising to fix one million potholes every year as it pledges to be "the party on the side of drivers".

The policy announcement includes multi-year funding settlements for local councils to "end the sticking plaster approach to road repairs".

And it claims the work will help reduce the rising costs of car insurance.

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh says: "The Conservatives have left Britain's roads plagued with potholes and have sat back as car insurance costs have spiralled out of control.

"We will make our roads safer for all who use them and remove the barriers which bog down our planning system, speeding up infrastructure improvements and cutting costs for taxpayers."

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will face questions from Beth Rigby and members of the public during Sky News' special leaders' event on Wednesday.

Award-winning political editorRigbywill scrutinise the leaders of the Conservative and Labour parties on their commitments to the country during 20-minute in-depth interviews.

The Battle For Number 10 - a Sky News Leaders Special Event will air live on Sky News from Grimsby - an area expected to play a key role in the election.

Sky News' lead UK presenterSarah-Jane Meewill be among the representative audience - drawn from the local area and nationally - as they put their questions to Mr Sunak and Sir Keir in 25-minute slots.

As we revealed in the previous post, Sir Keir will go first.

It will be the second televised event with the two party leaders, coming halfway through the general election campaign and just three weeks ahead of polls opening.

Sky News executive editor and managing editor Jonathan Levy said: "People said they wanted to hear more from Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, so Sky News is giving them more time to tell you about their plans for your future. Each candidate - 45 minutes, not 45 seconds... in-depth and unfiltered.

"We're giving the nation the full story, first."

The Battle For Number 10 Leaders Special Event, Wednesday 12 June 7pm-10pm on Sky News - free wherever you get your news.

Freeview channel 233, Sky 501, Virgin 603, BT 313 and streaming on the Sky News website, app and across social channels. It is also available to watch on Sky Showcase.

As if you needed reminding, Sky News is hosting a special leader's event tomorrow with Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak.

The Battle For Number 10 kicks off from 7pm in Grimsby, with both leaders taking questions from a live audience and undergoing an interview with our political editor Beth Rigby.

Ahead of the event, our chief political correspondent Jon Craig just carried out a faultless FA Cup-style draw to decide which leader goes first - and it's Sir Keir's ball that came out.

Can't wait - more details to come.

Now Labour's Darren Jones joinsSophy Ridgeand is perhaps unsurprising in his condemnation of the Tories' manifesto.

"I kind of wish they'd just try a bit harder," says the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury - reiterating his party's claim that their rivals' policies will cost £71bn.

He claims they are "unfunded" and, as a result, there would be more government borrowing, leading to a cost of £4,800 for families as a result due to rising interest rates.

Asked whether that was a credible figure, Mr Jones points to what happened under Liz Truss and her mini-budget as back-up.

Sophy then asks about how his own party plans to fund struggling public services - saying while previous promises of "growth in the economy" were valid, it couldn't lead to changes on day one.

Mr Jones says he was "levelling with the public - it is going to be difficult", and that the next government will face "the worse public finances since the Second World War".

But he rejects Labour will impose "austerity" measures, saying their "tax loophole changes" alone with raises "billions of pounds" and offer an "immediate injection of money" into services that need it.

Tonight's panel is made up of Boris Johnson's former director of communications, Guto Harri, and a contributing editor at Novara Media, Ash Sarkar.

Asked what he makes of the Tory manifesto, Mr Harri says there is "good meaty stuff" to get people talking.

"But in the end this is about values," he adds, namely if money is available… should you spend it on welfare or working people.

But Ms Sarkar says he has set a "low bar" by saying at least people are talking about it - saying they would even if it was "just a picture of Scrooge McDuck".

Instead, she worries about what is missing, including a lack of "serious solutions" to fix the NHS.

Not a 'wow' campaign

Asked if the document was enough to change the dial for the Tories, Mr Harri says it was never going to be a "wow" campaign, like that of his former boss or even Tony Blair.

"It is two capable guys [as if they're] being interviewed by the board saying they'd do a better job," he says. "It is not very exciting, but it is important, and it matters."

Tories not done enough to recover from Truss

Ms Sarkar agrees to an extent, saying: "I don't think anyone's heart is set aflame, unless you live a deeply sad life."

But she says the Tories have not done enough to change the narrative from when Liz Truss "machine-gunned their core voters" with her mini-budget.

Next up we have Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer who insists there is a "story" to the Tories' manifesto - one of Conservatives "standing by people when they needed help".

She points to COVID, Ukraine, and the energy crisis, and insists the government has now "turned the economy around" and can "set out a plan for the future" - namely "tax cuts, not tax rises" and secure borders.

Economy 'starting to turn a corner'

Sophy Ridgepoints out people don't feel the economy is doing better in their own pockets - and points toEd Conway's analysis of the tax burden still rising (see 19.17 post).

Ms Frazer adjusts slightly and says instead the economy is "starting to turn a corner", with falling inflation as an example, and that debt is "projected to fall".

And she says on the doorstep people are "starting to see" the change and feel better off.

But despite continued pressing from Sophy to "be honest" that taxes will still be going up overall, albeit slower, the minister stands by the tax cuts her party has announced and says the burden will reduce in time.

"It is going to come down 1% year-on-year from where it was projected to be," she adds.

Ourdeputy political editorSam Coateshas been out on the campaign trail with Nigel Farage and Reform UK in South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire today.

And it is looking pretty rosy for the party tonight, who inSky News' exclusive poll from YouGovare now just one point behind the Tories - on 17% and 18% respectively.

Speaking to Sophy Ridge from Ashfield in Notts - where Tory defector Lee Anderson is hoping to win back his seat for Reform - Sam says the Conservatives will be "nervous" while they await the public's response to their manifesto launch this morning.

He says Rishi Sunak has "handed in his homework", but while some say it is "too little, too late", he wonders if it is "too much".

"There are dozens and dozens of different policies targeting all sort of different groups," says Sam. "And he throws something at all of them.

"But the question is are people listening."

Our last post laid out the Tories' manifesto policies.

But do the party's sums add up when it comes to paying for them?

Sky economics and data editor Ed Conway has been going through the pledges - watch below to see if the proposed tax cuts and spending promises stack up.

As outlined previously, tonight's Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge will focus upon the Tories' election manifesto.

It was stuffed with plenty of policy - and we've scoured their pledges so you don't have to.

Scroll to the right in the interactive tool below to find out what the party has promised to do if they win the election.

We will produce a breakdown of all the other parties' manifestos here when they are announced - you can find the ones we've done so far in the key points above.

Today was one of Rishi Sunak's last chances to save his election campaign.

The launch of the Conservative Party manifesto - the day he revealed his policy platform and plans to change the country.

He's 20 points behind in the polls and needed a game changing moment.

From a pure policy perspective, there was a lot - from cuts to national insurance, including scrapping the main rate of self-employed national insurance completely, to building 1.6 million new homes.

And of course the introduction of national service.

Taken individually, these policies I'm sure poll well and are popular among the voters they're trying to win over.

But I can't work out what the story is - the narrative of the campaign.

Conservative campaign successes have included "levelling up", "get Brexit done", and even the austerity narrative that got David Cameron elected.

You'll have your own opinion about whether they were the right narratives or even if they were truthful, but they were cohesive stories about why people should vote for them.

It's a bit like Rishi Sunak is focusing too much on the maths, and not enough on the poetry, of the election.

Great campaigners are, at heart, great storytellers.

And I'm not sure what Rishi Sunak's story is yet.