Election latest: Sunak admits he got job 'because of a mistake' (2024)

Rishi Sunak is posed an emotional question by Fliss, a woman whose father died after a long wait for cancer treatment.

In a follow-up, Harry Cole asks what has gone wrong with the NHS on his watch, with waiting lists at record highs under the Conservatives.

The prime minister says: "Obviously it is my responsibility because I'm the one in charge.

"I've been very clear that we haven't made as much progress on waiting lists as I would have liked."

Mr Sunak points to the pandemic, urging people to "understand the scale of what happened" - with six million referrals delayed.

We now turn away from illegal immigration to legal migration - with The Sun's Harry Cole questioning why Rishi Sunak hasn't done more to bring levels down.

The prime minister says he inherited legal migration numbers that "were too high" under predecessors, although stops short of naming who is responsible when pressed by Mr Cole.

He says that, despite that, in a year of his premiership, net migration was "down 30%".

He fiercely fires back at The Sun's political editor and asks him to name another year where levels have been reduced so much.

The Tories are promising a cap on legal migration in their manifesto, though haven't put a number on it.

It is now put to Rishi Sunak that he was allegedly told shortly before calling the election that the prospect of flights to Rwanda taking off in July would be "severely hindered" by legal action.

Is this true?

The prime minister doesn't directly answer the question.

He says: "People have tried to frustrate this, starting with the Labour Party, for some time.

"They've tried to block it - I've kept going."

Mr Sunak has long promised flights will take off in July, and has stuck to that during the election campaign.

Rishi Sunak's grilling at the hands of The Sun's Harry Cole continues.

"I very much sense peoples' frustrations," the prime minister says.

He notes that he "got this job as a result of a mistake", presumably referencing the disastrous tenure of predecessor Liz Truss, but quickly pivots to looking forward.

"The key [thing] about this election is the future," he adds.

He says the Tories will bring taxes down while a Labour government would raise them - something Sir Keir Starmer has denied consistently.

Despite saying the key is looking forward, he battles Mr Cole's suggestion that more than a decade of Tory leadership has not seen the country progress, by running off a list of Conservative achievements since the party came to office.

He says he is especially proud of the government's record on education, saying the standards in schools has gone up.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is first up with The Sun's Harry Cole - asked about a scandal involving Conservative members betting on the date of the general election with inside knowledge.

Mr Sunak reiterates he is "incredibly angry" about the allegations.

"The Gambling Commission... obviously are independent of me, of government," the prime minister says.

"I don't have access to the details of their investigations."

However, he notes that the government has been conducting "internal inquiries" in parallel with the watchdog.

"We have been conducting internal inquiries of our own into the situation and won't hesitate to act when information comes to light."

He goes onto say that anybody found to have broken the law should face its "full consequences" - and be "booted out" of the Tory party.

Mr Sunak says this will be the case "whoever they are".

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer are taking part in an "an election showdown" with The Sun - which will see each leader face questions back-to-back.

It is the latest in a raft of leaders' clashes throughout this general election campaign, which is set to end on polling day - 4 July.

We'll have live updates in the Politics Hub.

It's billed as an election showdown, but the latest TV clash between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer is more back-to-back than head-to-head.

The Sun is hosting the latest duel between the PM and Labour leader, on the 17th floor of the paper's HQ near London Bridge station.

The format is similar to the Sky News leaders' event, Battle For No 10, held in the historic Victorian town hall in Grimsby 12 days ago.

This time, each leader will answer questions for half an hour, with Mr Sunak going first. At the Sky News event, after the red ball came out of a bag first in an FA Cup-style draw, Sir Keir went first.

Putting most of the questions to them will be The Sun's political editor, Harry Cole, though they have been submitted by the paper's readers.

But while the format is similar, the venue could not be more different.

While Grimsby's town hall has wood-panelled walls, Victorian artefacts and stained-glass windows, the News Building next to the Shard is a modern glass office block with spectacular views across the Thames to the skyscrapers of the City of London.

What can we expect?

Though the leaders are not debating head-to-head, we can expect fireworks with just 10 days until polling day on 4 July and polls consistently projecting a big Labour victory.

Tories will say underdog Mr Sunak has nothing to lose. Sir Keir, meanwhile, will attack Mr Sunak over the Tory betting scandal and the PM's failure to suspend the Tories under investigation.

But Mr Sunak may hit back by reminding Sir Keir he faced a police investigation over a beer and curry in Durham, as did his deputy Angela Rayner over the sale of a house bought under Tory right-to-buy laws.

The PM will once again want to unleash a major onslaught on Sir Keir on tax, repeating his accusation a Labour government would launch a £2,000 tax grab on families and challenging him on plans for capital gains tax and other taxes.

He may also, if he gets the chance, attack Sir Keir on trans issues, after internal party confusion and attacks on the Labour leader by Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

Mr Sunak has also had success in previous clashes by goading Sir Keir over his support for Jeremy Corbyn in the 2017 and 2019 general elections, though the Labour leader suggested at the BBC Question Time event last week that Mr Corbyn would have made a better prime minister than Boris Johnson.

Clashes on the NHS, the cost of living, immigration, and housing are also likely. With polling day getting ever closer, this showdown could be the most punchy yet.

It all kicks off at 5.30pm… popcorn at the ready!

Its 5pm - here's your teatime general election bulletin.

We're into the last full week of the election campaign, with just 10 days left until polling day - and things are heating up.

Here's a run down of everything you may have missed:

• Rishi Sunaktoday said he is not being investigated by the Gambling Commission over the betting scandal;
• He confirmed the Conservative Party is carrying out its own investigation - and will pass its findings on to the Gambling Commission;
• But the Liberal Democrats want the government ethics advisor to see if ministers placed bets.
• Back with the Conservatives, and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has deleted an image of his wife's postal ballot that he uploaded to social media over the weekend after some pointed out he'd broken electoral rules;
• In response, the Electoral Commission said: "Every voter has the right to vote in private.The secrecy of the ballot is fundamental to our voting process and is protected in law".
• Meanwhile, economists have lambasted a "conspiracy of silence" from the main parties over their tax and spending plans - read more below:

• Over to Labour,which has offered to meet Harry Potter author JK Rowling to provide her with "assurances" over the protection of women-only spaces;
• AndLord Richard Dannatt, the former head of the army, has said Nigel Farage is "not worth listening to about anything" - particularly relating to the war in Ukraine;
• The Reform leader said last week the West had contributed to the invasion of Ukraine;
• He has launched a blistering attack aimed at his one-time ally Boris Johnson - highlighting a front page showing Mr Johnson holding a similar stance on Russia back in 2016.

Still to come, from around 5.30pm we'll have updates from a voter Q&A event featuring Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, hosted by The Sun.

And our weeknight politics showPolitics Hub With Sophy Ridgewill be live on Sky News from 7pm…

The Democratic Unionists Party has today launched its Speaking Up For Northern Ireland manifesto.

Here is an outline of what the party has pledged in its 50-page policy document:

• The DUP decries being left to "pick up the pieces" following the Northern Ireland Protocol treaty in the aftermath of Brexit;
• The party said it did not agree with Rishi Sunak's Windsor Framework, and spent another year in negotiations with the government before taking the decision on balance to return to the Stormont Assembly;
• The DUP said in the next parliament its representatives will press the government to ensure funding does not drop below the definition of assessed need in Northern Ireland, £124 for every £100 spent in England;
• It will also campaign for baseline funding for the region to be increased proportionately by the same amount above need as the government applied to Wales with a new needs-based factor and 5% uplift;
• The party reiterates its long-term call for the rate of corporation tax to be lowered in Northern Ireland to compete with the Republic of Ireland;
• The manifesto calls for a "more agile and response migration system", to help staff areas where there are labour shortages, particularly in the agri-food and hospitality sectors;
• It pledges more defence spending in Northern Ireland as well as an increased RAF and Royal Navy presence in the region to "fortify the north-western naval and air patrol presence", arguing it would deter Russia's "attempts to target undersea infrastructure around the UK".

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has said Labour would meet Harry Potter author JK Rowling to provide her with "assurances" over the protection of women-only spaces.

The frontbencher made the offer after Rowling said Labour had "abandoned" her and others campaigning for women's rights.

The author, a former member of the Labour Party who has made donations in the past, said she would "struggle to support them" in next week's general election.

Rowling has been outspoken about the rights of biological women after condemning Scottish government proposals to introduce self-identification for transgender people.

Labour insist single-sex spaces will 'absolutely stay'

While gender recognition reforms were passed by Holyrood, the legislation was never implemented after being blocked by the UK government.

Now reports suggest a Labour government could make it easier for people to legally transition by removing the need for them to prove they have lived as their preferred gender for two years.

Ms Reeves, however, has insisted protection for single-sex spaces for women would "absolutely stay".

She said: "We're not going to be changing anything around biological sex. So the Equality Act stands and the protection of single sex spaces, based on biological sex will absolutely stay.

"Labour introduced the Equality Act it is very important to us and that protection for single sex spaces."

Regarding Rowling's comments, the shadow chancellor added: "We're really happy to talk to JK Rowling to give her assurances about that."