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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’ | Prime minister reveals manifesto pledge, while Labour attacks Twitter over Tories’ bogus ‘factcheck’ |
| The chief executive of the Resolution Foundation thinktank, Torsten Bell, has been looking at the Liberal Democrat election manifesto plans. | |
| More from the Guardian’s deputy political editor, Rowena Mason. | |
| Labour’s John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has commented on the Conservatives’ national insurance plans. | |
| Here’s our full story on the Tory national insurance announcement. | Here’s our full story on the Tory national insurance announcement. |
| Two million people have applied to register to vote since the general election was called, the Press Association reports. | Two million people have applied to register to vote since the general election was called, the Press Association reports. |
| A total of 2,048,039 applications were submitted between 29 October – the day the government called for an election on 12 December – and 19 November, according to government figures. | A total of 2,048,039 applications were submitted between 29 October – the day the government called for an election on 12 December – and 19 November, according to government figures. |
| More than a third of applications (35%) came from people under the age of 25. A further 30% were from 25 to 34-year-olds. | More than a third of applications (35%) came from people under the age of 25. A further 30% were from 25 to 34-year-olds. |
| That was quick. The Liberal Democrats have now suspended Waheed Rafiq. See my previous post. | That was quick. The Liberal Democrats have now suspended Waheed Rafiq. See my previous post. |
| Buzzfeed’s Alex Wickham has this story about the Liberal Democrat candidate in Birmingham Hodge Hill, Waheed Rafiq, who tweeted antisemitic comments, expressed apparent support for the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, backed Trump for president and stood as a Ukip candidate in the same seat in 2010. You can read the whole (pretty astonishing) story here. | Buzzfeed’s Alex Wickham has this story about the Liberal Democrat candidate in Birmingham Hodge Hill, Waheed Rafiq, who tweeted antisemitic comments, expressed apparent support for the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, backed Trump for president and stood as a Ukip candidate in the same seat in 2010. You can read the whole (pretty astonishing) story here. |
| More on that – possibly accidental – announcement of a huge proposed Conservative manifesto tax cut. | More on that – possibly accidental – announcement of a huge proposed Conservative manifesto tax cut. |
| 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. | 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. | 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”. | 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. | 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. | 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. |