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| General election: Boris Johnson says he plans to lift national insurance threshold to £12,000 – live news | General election: Boris Johnson says he plans to lift national insurance threshold to £12,000 – live news |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Prime minister reveals manifesto pledge, while Labour attacks Twitter over Tories’ bogus ‘factcheck’ | |
| Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has issued some initial reaction to the Liberal Democrat manifesto. He points out that, while they have followed Labour and the Tories in promising a big increase in spending, the Lib Dems are now the only major party committed to reduce the national debt as a fraction of national income. | |
| He says the most eye-catching spending plan is a near quintupling in spending on universal free childcare, which would cement “an entirely new leg of the welfare state and offering a big boost to families with young children”. “We should though be cautious about expecting this to result in a big improvement in either child outcomes or a big increase in the number of parents in paid work,” said Johnson. | |
| Johnson also says that the party’s claim that there would be a £50bn “windfall” from stopping Brexit is “within the range of plausible estimates for the extent of that additional revenue”. | |
| Labour’s shadow attorney general, Shami Chakrabarti, has responded to Tory party proposals for victims to get the right to attend parole hearings. | |
| Chakrabarti is referring to this story from a week ago which reveals that tens of thousands of rape cases could have been dropped because of secret targets implemented by the CPS. | |
| My colleague Rowena Mason says the Tory aides accompanying Boris Johnson are now in a bit of a panic. | My colleague Rowena Mason says the Tory aides accompanying Boris Johnson are now in a bit of a panic. |
| I’ve got a meeting this afternoon, so my colleague Frances Perraudin is now taking over. | I’ve got a meeting this afternoon, so my colleague Frances Perraudin is now taking over. |
| And this is what the Institute for Fiscal Studies said about Boris Johnson’s plan to raise the national insurance threshold in a briefing paper (pdf) when he floated the idea during the Tory leadership contest. | And this is what the Institute for Fiscal Studies said about Boris Johnson’s plan to raise the national insurance threshold in a briefing paper (pdf) when he floated the idea during the Tory leadership contest. |
| And here is a chart from the IFS report showing the distributional impact on households. | And here is a chart from the IFS report showing the distributional impact on households. |
| Obviously, we don’t yet have the full details of what the Conservatives are proposing, but just what we’ve heard from Johnson. (See 2.11pm.) | Obviously, we don’t yet have the full details of what the Conservatives are proposing, but just what we’ve heard from Johnson. (See 2.11pm.) |
| Some journalists think Boris Johnson may not have been planning to announce a huge proposed Conservative manifesto tax cut in a Q&A with workers at an engineering company in Stockton-on-Tees. This is from the FT’s George Parker. | Some journalists think Boris Johnson may not have been planning to announce a huge proposed Conservative manifesto tax cut in a Q&A with workers at an engineering company in Stockton-on-Tees. This is from the FT’s George Parker. |
| And this is from the Times’ Francis Elliott. | And this is from the Times’ Francis Elliott. |
| This is what Boris Johnson said in response to the question about whether his “low tax” policies would mean low taxes for people like Johnson himself, or for the workers and the engineering firm. (See 1.49pm.) He replied: | This is what Boris Johnson said in response to the question about whether his “low tax” policies would mean low taxes for people like Johnson himself, or for the workers and the engineering firm. (See 1.49pm.) He replied: |
| This is what the Institute for Fiscal Studies said about this proposal (one that Johnson floated when he was running for the Tory leadership) in its green budget published in the autumn. (Bold type in the original.) | This is what the Institute for Fiscal Studies said about this proposal (one that Johnson floated when he was running for the Tory leadership) in its green budget published in the autumn. (Bold type in the original.) |
| Increasing aviation duties for frequent flyers, raising up to £5bn a year, is among policies announced by the Liberal Democrats in an election manifesto based around investment in green technologies and higher spending on public services, my colleague Peter Walker reports. | Increasing aviation duties for frequent flyers, raising up to £5bn a year, is among policies announced by the Liberal Democrats in an election manifesto based around investment in green technologies and higher spending on public services, my colleague Peter Walker reports. |
| Johnson says he is committed to the nuclear deterrent. That investment will continue, he says. | Johnson says he is committed to the nuclear deterrent. That investment will continue, he says. |
| He says Jeremy Corbyn has been a unilateralist and in favour of getting rid of the nuclear deterrent. | He says Jeremy Corbyn has been a unilateralist and in favour of getting rid of the nuclear deterrent. |
| And that’s it. The Q&A is over. | And that’s it. The Q&A is over. |
| Johnson seemed to get a respectful hearing from the workforce, but it was hard to detect much evidence of enthusiasm for him from what was said in the questions. | Johnson seemed to get a respectful hearing from the workforce, but it was hard to detect much evidence of enthusiasm for him from what was said in the questions. |
| Q: Why is the government withholding the dossier on Russian interference in elections when it has been cleared by the security services? | Q: Why is the government withholding the dossier on Russian interference in elections when it has been cleared by the security services? |
| Johnson says he has seen no evidence of Russian interference in British elections. He says he saw no reason to change the normal timetable for publication of these reports. | Johnson says he has seen no evidence of Russian interference in British elections. He says he saw no reason to change the normal timetable for publication of these reports. |
| Q: Don’t the public have a right to know what it says? | Q: Don’t the public have a right to know what it says? |
| Johnson does not address this point directly, and just repeats what he said in his first answer. | Johnson does not address this point directly, and just repeats what he said in his first answer. |
| Q: Why do MPs think the 17.4m people who voted for Brexit did not know what they voted for? | Q: Why do MPs think the 17.4m people who voted for Brexit did not know what they voted for? |
| Johnson says most MPs voted remain. He says Brexit provides great opportunities. The UK can still be great friends with the EU. But it should be able to determine its future, he says. | Johnson says most MPs voted remain. He says Brexit provides great opportunities. The UK can still be great friends with the EU. But it should be able to determine its future, he says. |
| Q: Can you guarantee us that you will never sell off the NHS? | Q: Can you guarantee us that you will never sell off the NHS? |
| Yes, says Johnson. He says what Jeremy Corbyn was saying about this last night was an invention. The NHS is a fantastic thing, he says. He says under no circumstances will it be for the sale. He says he will invest massively in it. And he can because he understands how to achieve a strong economy. | Yes, says Johnson. He says what Jeremy Corbyn was saying about this last night was an invention. The NHS is a fantastic thing, he says. He says under no circumstances will it be for the sale. He says he will invest massively in it. And he can because he understands how to achieve a strong economy. |
| He says Corbyn has produced this “nonsense” because they want to conceal the gap in their Brexit plan. They won’t say what they want to do. He says he asked Corbyn nine times what side he would be on in the next Brexit referendum. Johnson says he did not get an answer. That is not “dynamic leadership”. | He says Corbyn has produced this “nonsense” because they want to conceal the gap in their Brexit plan. They won’t say what they want to do. He says he asked Corbyn nine times what side he would be on in the next Brexit referendum. Johnson says he did not get an answer. That is not “dynamic leadership”. |
| Q: You say you believe in low taxes. Is that for people like you, or people like us? | Q: You say you believe in low taxes. Is that for people like you, or people like us? |
| Johnson says he is talking about low taxes for the people here. He says Labour’s policies would inevitably lead to higher taxes. “The problem with socialism is that you always run out of other people’s money.” | Johnson says he is talking about low taxes for the people here. He says Labour’s policies would inevitably lead to higher taxes. “The problem with socialism is that you always run out of other people’s money.” |
| He says he wants a high-wage, high-skills, low-tax economy. | He says he wants a high-wage, high-skills, low-tax economy. |
| Q: Will foreign workers be hired for the new ships being built by Babcock? | Q: Will foreign workers be hired for the new ships being built by Babcock? |
| Johnson says Brexit will allow the UK to take control of its immigration policy. That does not mean the country will become hostile to immigrants, he says. | Johnson says Brexit will allow the UK to take control of its immigration policy. That does not mean the country will become hostile to immigrants, he says. |
| He says he would like to have a shipbuilding renaissance in this country. | He says he would like to have a shipbuilding renaissance in this country. |
| He says the Type 26 frigate is an amazing ship. He wants to be able to export them to the US. | He says the Type 26 frigate is an amazing ship. He wants to be able to export them to the US. |
| In response to a question about social care, Johnson says he understands the problem. More money has been put into social care. And he will put “a lot more” in, he says. | In response to a question about social care, Johnson says he understands the problem. More money has been put into social care. And he will put “a lot more” in, he says. |
| Johnson is now taking questions. | Johnson is now taking questions. |
| Q: It took a long time to get trade deals with other countries. How confident are you you can get trade deals quickly. | Q: It took a long time to get trade deals with other countries. How confident are you you can get trade deals quickly. |
| Johnson says he has a deal ready to go. | Johnson says he has a deal ready to go. |
| (He is talking about the withdrawal agreement, but he was asked about post-Brexit trade deals – a completely different matter.) | (He is talking about the withdrawal agreement, but he was asked about post-Brexit trade deals – a completely different matter.) |
| He says, after Brexit, we will be able to change our rules on animal welfare. | He says, after Brexit, we will be able to change our rules on animal welfare. |
| That deal is ready to go, he says. He can put his deal in the oven – gas mark four, gas mark eight – and by January it will be pretty crispy, he says. | That deal is ready to go, he says. He can put his deal in the oven – gas mark four, gas mark eight – and by January it will be pretty crispy, he says. |