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General election: Tory and Labour pledges about resolving Brexit quickly are misleading, CBI says – live news General election: Johnson says Tories will cancel planned corporation tax cut to free up £6bn for NHS – live news
(32 minutes later)
PM to unveil business tax cuts and Labour to expand on immigration plans. Follow the latest developments, livePM to unveil business tax cuts and Labour to expand on immigration plans. Follow the latest developments, live
Corbyn says Labour will ask big businesses to pay their fair share of tax.
And he some services will be brought back into public ownership.
But this is normal in many parts of Europe, he says.
Jeremy Corbyn is addressing the CBI now.
He starts by saying that, if Labour is elected, it will see more infrastructure being built than it has ever dreamt of.
And he says small businesses will benefit from Labour plans to ensure that suppliers have their invoices paid on time.
Jeremy Corbyn is due to address the CBI, but there is a problem with the autocue.
The business tax cuts announced by the Conservative party overnight (see 11.02am) did not have a price tag attached, but they all seemed to involve a relatively small outlay from the exchequer. By comparison, the decision to abandon the proposed corporation tax cut does seem to amount to a big ticket spending announcement. Boris Johnson said it would raise £6bn for the NHS. It may be one of the biggest Tory election announcements we’ve had so far.
It is not hard to see why Johnson announced this, or even why he opted for the £6bn figure. This is the exact figure announced by Labour last week when it announced its own spending increase for the NHS. Here is an extract from the notes from the Labour press notice issued at the time. (Bold type in original.)
In other words, Johnson has neutralised the Labour bid to outspend the Tories on the NHS.
(At least, he has if his figures are accurate - at the moment we have had no detail of what is is proposing.)
In one sense this is a win for Labour; it shows that Jeremy Corbyn has been setting the agenda, and he just justifiably argue that this means the opposition is changing the policy of the governing parties.
But in campaign terms, this is a setback for Corbyn. At least one element of his distinctive pitch on the NHS has now been eliminated - even though there are still plenty of other differences been Labour and Tory health policy. (Spending totals aren’t everything.)
Q: The CBI think you are wrong about how long it will take to negotiate a trade deal and about immigration. Are they wrong?
Johnson says he has a deal that will protect the needs of business and industry.
On immigration, he favours immigration. But you must have democratic control. An Australian-style points system would be of great value in showing people that the UK does have control of the system.
Q: Did you share the incredulity of the rest of the UK about Prince Andrew’s interview?
Johnson says he does not want to be drawn into commentary about that.
Q: If you win the election, will you keep Sajid Javid as chancellor?
Johnson says he will. He says Javid is doing a fantastic job.
Johnson promises to keep Sajid Javid as chancellor if he wins election.
Johnson is now taking questions.
Q: To get Brexit done, you will have to get a deal by next June, or delay the transition?
Johnson claims that people said he would not be able to change the withdrawal agreement. But he did get it changed.
He says the UK and the EU are already “in a state of grace” on tariffs and regulatory alignment. They are off to a flying start. He does not see why the trade deal cannot be negotiated next year.
Q: Will you encourage the Duke of York to cooperate with the US inquiry into Jeffrey Epstein?
Nice try, says Johnson.
And Johnson adds a new announcement.
Johnson says the Tories would postpone further cuts in corporation tax. That would free up £6bn for the NHS, he says.
Corporation tax was due to fall from 19% to 17%.
Johnson says he is announcing package of measures to help business flourish.
Here is how they were summed up in an overnight press notice from the Conservative party. (Bold from original release.)
Johnson says the country needs a government that “believes in business” and understands the importance of wealth creators.Johnson says the country needs a government that “believes in business” and understands the importance of wealth creators.
He claims more businesses have been created in the UK since 2010 than in France and Germany combined.He claims more businesses have been created in the UK since 2010 than in France and Germany combined.
Johnson is broadening out his speech now to wider policy areas. The Tories would cut crime, he says, and invest in education.Johnson is broadening out his speech now to wider policy areas. The Tories would cut crime, he says, and invest in education.
Young people must be able to, literally, find work, he says. And that is why infrastructure is so important, he says.Young people must be able to, literally, find work, he says. And that is why infrastructure is so important, he says.
He says, as well as focusing on big infrastructure projects, Johnson says he wants to focus on smaller transport projects too: better roads, better buses, more cycleways. He loves cycleways, he says.He says, as well as focusing on big infrastructure projects, Johnson says he wants to focus on smaller transport projects too: better roads, better buses, more cycleways. He loves cycleways, he says.
He says, by doing this, government can create “the platform for growth”. And, if it does that, the market will respond, he says.He says, by doing this, government can create “the platform for growth”. And, if it does that, the market will respond, he says.
Johnson says he wants to cut the productivity gap in the UK.Johnson says he wants to cut the productivity gap in the UK.
But he will do that not be decapitating the tall poppies, but by levelling up.But he will do that not be decapitating the tall poppies, but by levelling up.
Johnson claims Jeremy Corbyn would be dependent on an alliance with the SNP.Johnson claims Jeremy Corbyn would be dependent on an alliance with the SNP.
And he says Corbyn’s position on the EU is “positively mind-boggling”.And he says Corbyn’s position on the EU is “positively mind-boggling”.
He says it is still not clear whether or not Corbyn will campaign for the deal he will negotiate with the EU. Or, like Alec Guinness in the Bridge on the River Kwai, will he blow up the bridge he has himself constructed?He says it is still not clear whether or not Corbyn will campaign for the deal he will negotiate with the EU. Or, like Alec Guinness in the Bridge on the River Kwai, will he blow up the bridge he has himself constructed?
Johnson says there is a pent-up, tidal wave of investment waiting to come into the UK once Brexit is resolved.
He says he would not normally introduced party politics into a speech like this. But this is an election campaign, he says. He says the Tory Brexit deal is ready to go. You just add hot water and stir, he says (using his Pot Noodle simile again).
He says the Conservative plan would give stability and certainty to business.
It is a Blue Peter deal - “here’s one I prepared earlier”.
And he says every single Conservative party candidate has explicitly backed his deal. (In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph yesterday, he said they had been asked to give a pledge to that effect.)
Johnson says the economy is not achieving as much as it could.
There is so much more natural energy to unleash, he says.
The country is being held back by politics, by parliament, he says. He is using a version of the passage released in advance. (See 9.29am.)
Boris Johnson starts by saying it is a pleasure to be at this venue, a hotel near the O2 arena. He says as London mayor he gave planning permission for it to be built.
He is now delivering his familiar riff about who much the UK exports to the rest of the world.
Carolyn Fairbairn, the CBI director general, introduces Boris Johnson.
She says, as London mayor, he was very pro-enterprise. This is his first speech to the CBI as prime minister, she says.
These are from the BBC’s business editor, Simon Jack, on the speech and Q&A from Carolyn Fairbairn, the CBI director general.
All the main UK parties are proposing a resolution to the Brexit deadlock. In his speech to the CBI later Boris Johnson will argue that the Conservatives would “get Brexit done” early next year so that the government can focus on the people’s priorities. Jeremy Corbyn is also promising to “get Brexit sorted”, although under his plan it would take six months, for a renegotiation and a referendum.
In his speech opening the CBI conference, John Allan, the Tesco chairman and CBI president, claimed that both main parties were being simplistic. He said:
Carolyn Fairbairn, the director general of the CBI, is speaking at the conference now.
She has just argued that business is at risk from ideologues on both the right and the left in politics: from those on the right, who want a no-deal Brexit because it will lead to deregulation; and from those on the left pushing a nationalisation agenda.
I will post the quotes shortly.
The CBI conference has started. John Allan, the CBI president, is giving the opening speech.
There is a live feed here.
Prof Sir John Curtice, the elections expert who is in charge of the exit poll used by the BBC and other broadcasters, told the Today programme this morning that he thought Labour had made “a bit of ground at the expense of the Liberal Democrats amongst remain voters” during the campaign so far but that it was still struggling with leave voters.
Curtice also said the Liberal Democrats were finding it difficult to win over remain voters from the Conservatives.
Curtice said there was a “binary choice” when it came to Brexit at the election.
The leaders of the three main UK parties will be speaking at the CBI conference in London today and, as my colleague Peter Walker reports in his preview story, they will all be making arguments about why their policies are advantageous to business.
But it is not just business who will be listening, and the speeches will also illustrate how the leaders are trying to frame the election. For Labour, it is about reversing a decade of austerity, and Jeremy Corbyn will be speaking about the number of apprentices that could be created by his party’s £250bn green transformation fund. But for the Tories primarily the election is about Brexit, and Boris Johnson will argue that he needs a majority because parliament has been trying to “sabotage the democratic will of the people”. Here is an extract from his speech released overnight by CCHQ. Johnson is expected to say:
It is interesting to note that Johnson is admitting that big business does not want Brexit. Four years ago the CBI conference in London was disrupted by two protesters from Vote Leave, the organisation that Johnson subsequently went on to lead (in November 2015 he still had not yet committed himself to the leave cause), who accused the CBI of being the voice of Brussels, and not representative of business. One of the protesters said at the time: