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| General election: McDonnell questions truth of Trump's NHS claim - live news | General election: McDonnell questions truth of Trump's NHS claim - live news |
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| Shadow chancellor also says Labour will lay out ‘first 100 days’ programme in Birmingham speech as Nato leaders meet | Shadow chancellor also says Labour will lay out ‘first 100 days’ programme in Birmingham speech as Nato leaders meet |
| According to Joe Murphy and Nicholas Cecil in the Evening Standard, No 10 sources have been keen to insist that Boris Johnson was not one of the world leaders joking about Donald Trump at the reception last night. Here is an extract from their story. | |
| If you want to ask a question in the comments please @Libby, so they’re easier to find. | |
| Many of you have been asking about the economics of an independent Scotland. | |
| Q: This is a question that the Scottish press don’t ask. What would the cost of setting up the structure of an independent Scotland be and where will the newly independent Scotland get the money? Robert, 68, retired, Edinburgh | |
| Hi Robert, you’ll recall this was a much-disputed area during the 2014 campaign. A Treasury report in May of that year estimated the costs of setting up an independent state to be around £1.5 billion - including £750m to create a new tax regime and £400m for computers and IT for welfare - but this was vigorously challenged by then first minister Alex Salmond. Prof Patrick Dunleavy of LSE was quoted by both the UK and Scottish governments as the leading expert on transition costs, and he suggested that “start-up costs” would come in at around £200m but then a further £900m would be required for tax and welfare infrastructure. Nicola Sturgeon confirmed in September this year that she had instructed civil servants to work on a second white paper to convince voters of the case for independence, although it should be noted that the original version relied heavily on projected oil revenues which have since plummeted. | |
| Q: Would an independent Scotland find it easier to join EFTA rather than the EU, which would give an independent Scotland many of the benefits which eg. Norway has, but also allow us to opt out of CFP and the CAP? | |
| While the SNP has explored the possibility of rejoining the single market via the European Free Trade Association, with the option of returning to full EU membership later, the response from other member states are mixed. In 2017, Iceland’s foreign minister warned that Scotland could not apply to join EFTA until after it had fully separated from the UK, but in the same year Norway said it would keep an open mind to Scottish membership. | |
| Accession to Efta is seen as more straightforward than re-joining the EU, but it is not certain that Scotland would then be allowed into the European Economic Area, membership of which would still have to be agreed by the EU. New members of Efta must be accepted unanimously by the existing four members: Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. | |
| Since the Brexit vote, there have been some encouraging noises from EU officials that an independent Scotland could automatically join the EU or inherit the UK’s membership after it leaves. But in 2017, Jacqueline Minor, the European commission’s head of representation in the UK, warned that Scotland would need to formally apply after leaving the UK, although it could be fast-tracked because it already complies with EU rules and regulations. | |
| With the possible exception of Nicola Sturgeon, John McDonnell is probably the stand-out media performer of this campaign. His speeches always contain an essential seriousness, but he can also handle media questions without sounding evasive or tetchy as soon as they turn hostile. This wasn’t the most newsy speech of the campaign, and it will be overshadowed by events at that Nato conference later, but he conveyed a positive message and he took quite a large number of critical questions without tripping up. Here are the main points. | |
| McDonnell refused to accept Donald Trump’s claims that the NHS would not be on the table in trade talks, saying the US president had a “passing relationship with reality and truth”. Asked if he thought Trump was lying when he said this yesterday, McDonnell all but said yes. He replied: | |
| He joked about a Corbyn government having difficult relations with Trump. Asked to respond to what Trump said yesterday about being able to work with Corbyn if he became PM, McDonnell said: | |
| The line about the election prompted laughter from the audience. McDonnell then went on: | |
| McDonnell said Labour would announce details of its “first 100 days” programme before polling day. (See 11.40am.) | |
| He described compensating the Waspi (Women Against State Pensions Inequality) women as being akin to bailing out the banks. (See 11.52am.) | |
| He suggested the extent of poverty in the UK was incompatible with the values of Christianity. In his speech he said: | |
| McDonnell brought up a Roman Catholic and for a while trained for the priesthood before deciding that his vocation lay elsewhere. | |
| He said a Labour government would save families an average of £6,700. Families with someone eligible for free personal care would save more than £7,000, he said. (See 11.29am.) | |
| You have been sending in your questions about the SNP manifesto, policies and campaign which I will be answering until 1.30pm. You can share your questions with us via our form here. | |
| Many of you have asked questions about the state of education in Scotland. | |
| Q: Does Ms Sturgeon recognise the pledge, “Judge me on my record for education”? As she has not narrowed the attainment gap why should parents and children give her more than an F? Iain RF MacIain, 45, working in education, Scottish Borders | |
| Interesting you mention that today - you no doubt saw the latest Pisa report yesterday, 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. A professor of education at Edinburgh Uni, Lindsay Paterson, described children’s reading performance as “stagnating around mediocrity”, arguing that the reason the attainment gap on reading had narrowed was because middle class kids were getting worse. Education secretary John Swinney described the results as “very encouraging”, while accepting there were still challenges. The problem is that this is just one element of the overall picture, as you’ll know if you work in education yourself. | |
| Another serious concern is teacher shortages - in rural Scotland we have some of the most severe shortage in Europe; also the numbers of days lost to stress-related illness for teachers who are in post; and worries about availability of subjects to children taking high school exams, with reports of kids travelling for hours each week to access teaching in their chosen subject which is only available in another school in their council area. | |
| Q: Why don’t the SNP stand candidates in England or Wales? From the reactions to debate it seems they’d win a lot of people over. Levi, 20, student, Caerphilly | |
| As a nationalist party whose primary aim is Scottish independence, the SNP has only ever fielded candidates in Scotland, but it’s a question that often comes up - particularly after viewers have been impressed by Nicola Sturgeon’s performance in UK-wide televised debates. | |
| Indeed, the question of whether non-residents of Scotland could vote for the SNP featured in a list of most searched-for terms provided by Google after Sturgeon impressed voters across the UK in the first leaders’ debate of the 2015 general election campaign. | |
| And the SNP is well aware of the usefulness of appealing to voters elsewhere: the question of whether Labour could make a post-election pact with the SNP has become one of the key debates of the general election - but also one of the Conservatives’ main attack lines. | |
| I’m Libby Brooks, the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent, and will be answering your questions on the SNP manifesto, policies and campaign today. I’m based in Glasgow and returned to Scotland – where I grew up – on a six month secondment to help out with coverage of the 2014 independence referendum and since then I’ve reported on some of the most seismic developments in Scottish politics for decades. Before that I was an editor and columnist on the Opinion desk and has also written for features, foreign and home news over the years. | |
| If you have a question you can send it to us by filling in the form here. | |
| Here is the full text of the John McDonnell speech. | Here is the full text of the John McDonnell speech. |
| McDonnell says he thinks that, just as the Attlee government is remembered for founding the NHS, the Corbyn government will be remembered for setting up a national education service. | McDonnell says he thinks that, just as the Attlee government is remembered for founding the NHS, the Corbyn government will be remembered for setting up a national education service. |
| Education is not a commodity, he says. It is a gift from one generation to another. The national education service will transform lives, he says. | Education is not a commodity, he says. It is a gift from one generation to another. The national education service will transform lives, he says. |
| He says the number of young people involved in Labour’s campaign is terrific. He says he thinks people will be surprised by how many young people turn out to vote next week. | He says the number of young people involved in Labour’s campaign is terrific. He says he thinks people will be surprised by how many young people turn out to vote next week. |
| Young people have forced the climate crisis onto the agenda, he says. This is a make-or-break moment for the world. | Young people have forced the climate crisis onto the agenda, he says. This is a make-or-break moment for the world. |
| And that’s it. The Q&A is over. | And that’s it. The Q&A is over. |
| I will post a summary soon. | I will post a summary soon. |
| Q: Why were you not more explicit about the Waspi women pledge in the manifesto? | Q: Why were you not more explicit about the Waspi women pledge in the manifesto? |
| McDonnell says he was working on this for 18 months. He was worried if it got announced on manifesto day, it would be swamped by other issues. And he says he wanted the policy to be launched on a day when Labour could also launch its calculator, to show how much women might get. That took a lot of work, he says. | McDonnell says he was working on this for 18 months. He was worried if it got announced on manifesto day, it would be swamped by other issues. And he says he wanted the policy to be launched on a day when Labour could also launch its calculator, to show how much women might get. That took a lot of work, he says. |
| He says the money will be paid over five years. If the government had lost the court case on this, it would have to have paid up anyway. | He says the money will be paid over five years. If the government had lost the court case on this, it would have to have paid up anyway. |
| He says this is a lot of money. But £100bn has been given away to the rich in tax cuts, he says. And he says when the banks were in trouble, hundreds of billions were found to bail them out. | He says this is a lot of money. But £100bn has been given away to the rich in tax cuts, he says. And he says when the banks were in trouble, hundreds of billions were found to bail them out. |
| He says he wanted a scheme that was straightforward and readily implementable. He is proud of it, he says. | He says he wanted a scheme that was straightforward and readily implementable. He is proud of it, he says. |
| McDonnell says Labour will reintroduce sectoral collective bargaining for wages. That will lead to wages going up, he says. | McDonnell says Labour will reintroduce sectoral collective bargaining for wages. That will lead to wages going up, he says. |
| Q: Do you support the RMT holding a 27-day rail strike? | Q: Do you support the RMT holding a 27-day rail strike? |
| McDonnell says he hopes both sides will get around the table to negotiate. He says the union is trying to address safety issues. | McDonnell says he hopes both sides will get around the table to negotiate. He says the union is trying to address safety issues. |
| Q: Are you worried about leave supporters not backing Labour? And what has happened to prominent remainers like Keir Starmer, who are not being put up by the party for interviews? | Q: Are you worried about leave supporters not backing Labour? And what has happened to prominent remainers like Keir Starmer, who are not being put up by the party for interviews? |
| McDonnell says people like Starmer are campaigning all over the country. | McDonnell says people like Starmer are campaigning all over the country. |
| On Brexit, he says Labour would let the people decide. | On Brexit, he says Labour would let the people decide. |
| But he says this election is not just about Brexit. People are asking about other issues, he says. | But he says this election is not just about Brexit. People are asking about other issues, he says. |