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General election: Johnson arrives for Nato summit after 'very good' meeting with Trump last night - live news
General election: Johnson arrives for Nato summit after 'very good' meeting with Trump last night - live news
(32 minutes later)
President seen as a liability for Johnson with Labour saying Conservatives are willing to put NHS on table in trade talks
President seen as a liability for Johnson with Labour saying Conservatives are willing to put NHS on table in trade talks
President Trump has now posed for a photograph with Boris Johnson. It came after Johnson and Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, formally welcomed him to the summit. Johnson and Stoltenberg had a handshake and picture with every Nato leader one by one, ahead of the “family photo” taking place about now.
On his arrival at the Nato summit the French president, Emmanuel Macron, defended his recent claim that the organisation was experiencing “brain death”. Asked if he still stood by the comment, he replied:
He said those included how to create a durable peace in Europe and clarifying who was the enemy.
If you’re a UK viewer living outside Scotland, and feeling deprived of your leaders’ debate fix last night, then read on. It’s fair to say that STV’s debate between the Scottish party leaders – excluding Patrick Harvie of the Scottish Greens, bizarrely – was rather a shout-fest, although it was refreshing to see Nicola Sturgeon properly interrogated on Holyrood policy, which seldom happens when she takes part in the UK-wide debates. But of course that’s because education, health and so on are devolved - so while it was good to see those areas covered, they are not technically relevant to a UK general election.
The format, which really felt its lack of a live audience, involved a series of questions and interrogations of each leader by the other politicians, rather than by the host Colin Mackay, and so leant itself to people (men, Sturgeon was the only woman there) talking across one another.
At one point I looked up from my notes to see the Scottish Conservatives’ Jackson Carlaw shouting at Lib Dems’ Willie Rennie, Rennie shouting at Labour’s Richard Leonard, and Sturgeon standing there with her arms folded like a teacher who has already tried multiple time-outs with the kids and is now just waiting for the lunch bell to go.
Some interesting points: Tory leader Carlaw urged viewers to “lend us your vote to stop indyref2”, clearly the anti-independence message is working as well for the Scottish Tories, if not better than getting Brexit done. Challenged on Boris Johnson’s previous remarks about Muslim women and gay men, he admitted they were “completely unacceptable” but insisted he would judge him on his performance in office. Carlaw and Rennie attacked Labour’s “clear as mud” position on Brexit, mocking leader Richard Leonard for being “constantly over-ruled” by Jeremy Corbyn. Leonard struggled to answer the charge that voters didn’t trust Corbyn to stand up for the union.
Sturgeon failed to offer a Plan B if a new Tory (or Labour) government refused her demand for the powers to hold a second independence referendum next year. Challenged on putting independence before public services, her defence of the latest Pisa report, which saw Scotland achieve its lowest scores in maths and science since it first took part in the survey almost 20 years ago and reported that pupils’ performance in reading tests had recovered only to the level it was at in 2012, was weak. But at least it prompted the zingiest response of the debate from Willie Rennie:
Boris Johnson, or whoever controls his Twitter account, has just posted a picture of the PM meeting a blonde-haired admirer yesterday. But not that one ...
President Trump has also retweeted the group photograph from last night.
President Trump has also retweeted the group photograph from last night.
President Trump has tweeted about his meeting with Boris Johnson last night. But he hasn’t included a picture.
President Trump has tweeted about his meeting with Boris Johnson last night. But he hasn’t included a picture.
President Macron has arrived at the Nato summit venue.
President Macron has arrived at the Nato summit venue.
Arriving at the Nato summit Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, said he was confident differences with Turkey over a new alliance defence plan to protect the Baltic states and Poland could be resolved. As the Press Association reports, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has threatened to block the plan after criticism of Turkey’s incursion against the Kurds in northern Syria. Stoltenberg said:
Arriving at the Nato summit Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, said he was confident differences with Turkey over a new alliance defence plan to protect the Baltic states and Poland could be resolved. As the Press Association reports, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has threatened to block the plan after criticism of Turkey’s incursion against the Kurds in northern Syria. Stoltenberg said:
He said Nato leaders would for the first time discuss the rise of China, which was now the world’s second biggest spender on defence. “This provides opportunities and also challenges,” he said.
He said Nato leaders would for the first time discuss the rise of China, which was now the world’s second biggest spender on defence. “This provides opportunities and also challenges,” he said.
On his arrival at the Nato summit, Boris Johnson was asked why he was avoiding being photographed with Donald Trump. (See 8.40am.) Johnson said he would be photographed with every Nato leader.
On his arrival at the Nato summit, Boris Johnson was asked why he was avoiding being photographed with Donald Trump. (See 8.40am.) Johnson said he would be photographed with every Nato leader.
Our main focus here will be all news relating to the general election campaign, and not all the news from the Nato summit, but obviously there will be an overlap. In terms of Nato coverage, we will be focusing in particular on what gets said at the final press conferences from Boris Johnson and Donald Trump.
Here is the agenda for the day.
From 7.45am: Nato leaders arrive at the summit.
10am: The Nato summit officially starts.
11am: John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, gives a speech in Birmingham. As my colleague Heather Stewart reports, he will claim that a Labour government would save families an average of £6,700 a year by “putting a stop to rip-off Britain”.
2pm: Johnson is due to hold a press conference at the end of the Nato summit.
3pm: Trump is due to hold his own press conference.
7.30pm: Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem leader, is interviewed by Andrew Neil on BBC One.
Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Damien Gayle.
Boris Johnson has arrived for the Nato summit taking place at a hotel outside Watford. On his way in, he said he had had a “very good” bilateral meeting with Donald Trump in No 10 last night. He continued:
However, Johnson does not seem to have thought it was important enough for the photographers to have been allowed to record it. Trump is seen as electorally toxic in the UK (he came close to admitting as much yesterday) and, although Johnson and Trump attended events at both Buckingham Palace and No 10 yesterday, as well as having their own bilateral, there is still not public picture of just the two men together.
On his arrival at the Nato summit, Johnson also said there was more that united the alliance than divided it. He said:
Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary, has mounted a stout defence of Jeremy Corbyn’s record on foreign intervention and his attitude to Nato, suggesting that his peace-promoting credentials are in fact the best defence policy for Britain.
Corbyn has, as they say in politics, been on a journey as regards his position on Nato. Five years ago – as a backbencher – he was speaking at an anti-Nato conference. Now, the Labour party he leads is campaigning on a manifesto promise to maintain the UK’s commitment to Nato.
Responding to suggestions that Corbyn was ambivalent over Nato, which many consider a cornerstone of the UK’s national defence, Gardiner retorted:
Ouch! Gardiner was challenged: Is that what Nato does? He continued:
Speaking on Today this morning, Jeremy Hunt denied any knowledge of talks between the UK and the US on NHS drugs pricing, despite documents unearthed recently showing that officials began negotiations during his tenure as health secretary.
“When I was health secretary, I wasn’t aware of any talks going on with the United States at all,” said Hunt, who left his post as foreign secretary when Boris Johnson became prime minister.
Since that last post, it’s Damien Gayle now at the helm of the blog, taking over from my colleague Kate Lyonsr, and filling in while Andy Sparrow eats his cornflakes and limbers up to take you through the day’s political drama.
Jeremy Hunt, the former foreign secretary, has come out with all guns blazing over Jeremy Corbyn’s attitude to Nato, the transatlantic alliance meeting in London.
Last night, the heads of government of the Nato member states met for tea with the Queen at Buckingham palace, amid concern over the alliance’s future after Donald Trump’s complaints that other allies were not spending enough on guns and soldiers.
Speaking on the Today programme, Hunt backed Trump’s comments, pointing out that France, for example, spends just 1.5% of its total budget on defence, compared with the US spend of 4%, which he claimed contributed towards “a third of the cost of defending Europe”. But, he added:
What the papers said
A story to give you a chuckle over your breakfast: a Tory councillor climbed dustbins and scaled a school fence to escape a climate crisis debate after she met with a crowd unimpressed with her answers.
Nancy Bikson’s great escape would have stayed secret were it not for a 13-year-old girl who saw the incident at Priory school in Lewes, East Sussex.
Trust me, everything about this story is designed to amuse.
The day ahead
The prime minister’s time will be split between campaigning in the home counties and hosting leaders for the Nato summit.
Jeremy Corbyn is campaigning in the East Midlands, while John McDonnell gives a speech on the economy in the West Midlands outlining how Labour’s policies will save average people money.
In the Lib Dem camp, Jo Swinson will visit a youth centre in London and then sit down for her Andrew Neil interview, which will be broadcast at 7.30pm.
The Brexit party leader, Nigel Farage, will speak at a public meeting in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, in the morning while the SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, will campaign in Edinburgh. The Ulster Unionist party will launch its manifesto in Belfast.
Good morning and welcome to the Guardian live blog, where we bring you all the politics news you could possibly want. We’re a little more than a week out from the election and there’s a lot going on today, so strap in.
Donald Trump’s presence in the UK for Nato talks continues to loom over the election. The summit started with heated exchanges and further tensions are expected as leaders meet again today. Donald Trump is seen as an electoral liability for the Conservatives over fears that he may be interested in putting the NHS on the table in US-UK trade talks – though yesterday the president categorically denied the US was interested in the health service. Boris Johnson has so far managed to keep his distance from Trump, with Marina Hyde writing that Johnson will continue to studiously avoid the president because “Tories sense even a handshake with Trump could piss their electoral bed”.
Meanwhile, Labour will today try to convince voters of the financial benefit of electing a Corbyn government. The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, will say his party’s policies would save families an average of £6,700 a year by “putting a stop to rip-off Britain” as Labour narrows its focus to bread-and-butter issues.
In a dossier to be published alongside the speech, McDonnell will claim that policies including nationalising utilities and reducing the cost of rail season tickets – as well as free childcare for all two- to four-year-olds, free prescription charges and free school meals – will help the hip pocket of average households.
However, Labour candidates are privately concerned about the scattergun nature of the giveaways, with one Labour saying the manifesto, while good, is “just long and confusing” and some promises could appear too good to be true.
