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| General election: Liberal Democrats launch manifesto after Johnson's tax pledge – live news | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Lib Dems to promise £50bn windfall from stopping Brexit; prime minister reveals national insurance manifesto pledge | |
| “I’d like you to welcome my friend and our candidate to be the next prime minister,” says Sanders. “The voice of a new liberal generation”. | |
| Swinson says that Corbyn and Johnson only know how to rehash ideas from the past – “whether it’s the 1970s or the 1870s”. | |
| She says that the UK has wasted the last three and a half years talking about Brexit. “There is no form of Brexit that would be good for our country,” she says, whether it is done by Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn. | |
| We’ve now got the Matt Sanders, the party’s candidate in Hampstead and Kilburn. “People are responding to Jo’s simple call – stop Brexit,” he says. “Friends, Brexit must be stopped.” | |
| Jeremy Corbyn likes remain votes but he doesn’t want us to stay in the EU, says Sanders. He says that millions of people looked at Corbyn and Johnson last night and they didn’t want to choose either. | |
| Daisy Cooper, the party’s candidate in St Albans – not Camden – is opening the event. She says that while St Albans voted to stay in the EU, the constituency has a “hard Brexit” MP in Conservative Anne Main. “You guys are going to have to work really, really hard over the next few weeks so give yourselves a round of applause and have a great night,” she says. | |
| We’re just waiting for the Liberal Democrat manifesto launch to begin in Camden. You can watch a live feed at the top of this blog. | |
| Guardian political correspondent Peter Walker is there. | |
| Hundreds of students and under-18s have been registered to vote without their knowledge after a council IT blunder, according to the Sun. | |
| Around 635 students were wrongly registered by Plymouth city council, and polling cards were mistakenly sent to up to 247 under-18s. The council, which was criticised over similar errors in May, said “tagging issues” on its internal systems had caused students and young people to automatically be added to its voting roster. Since 2014 it has been illegal to register anyone but yourself to vote. | |
| Johnny Mercer, the candidate for Plymouth Moor View, wrote on Twitter: | |
| The chief executive of the Resolution Foundation thinktank, Torsten Bell, has been looking at the Liberal Democrat election manifesto plans. | 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. | 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. | 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. |