Boris Johnson avoided local media interviews but was heckled by residents during his visit to South Yorkshire this morning – six days after flooding hit the area. The PM promised military personnel would help the recovery effort in badly-hit areas.
It comes as the People’s Vote campaign group has released a list of more than 100 “Remainer” candidates who will receive backing in a bid to stop the Conservatives winning the general election.
Lib Dem Tim Walker withdrew from the race in Canterbury in a bid to help the Labour candidate keep out the local Tory Brexiteer. Lib Dem HQ, however, said the party will field another candidate instead – provoking outrage among local activists.
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Ex-Tory MP convicted of faking expenses stands down
A former Tory MP who was convicted of faking expenses claims has stood down as a candidate for a new seat hours after it was announced he would stand.
Chris Davies said he would no longer be contesting the Ynys Mon seat in North Wales for the election “following critical comments in the media”.
Davies was sacked as MP for Brecon and Radnorshire in June after a recall petition was signed by more than 10,000 people, triggered by his conviction for faking expenses claims. He then lost to Lib Dem Jane Dodds in a subsequent by-election.
On Tuesday the announcement that he was to stand in Ynys Mon was met by criticism from other parties.
Plaid Cymru candidate Aled ap Dafydd said: “By imposing a convicted former MP who was found guilty of a false expenses claim as the candidate … This makes a mockery of the people of the island.”
Deputy leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Baroness Christine Humphreys, said: “People deserve better.”
On Tuesday evening the Welsh Conservatives released a statement from Davies announcing he would no longer stand.
Davies said: “Given the reaction in the media to the idea of me being a candidate, I have decided to pull out of the selection process. I would not want to put my wife and family through any more distress.”
Prime minister heckled on his visit to flood-hit Yorkshire
Boris Johnson has been heckled on his visit to the Fishlake area near Doncaster in South Yorkshire days after the region was struck by major flooding.
Onlookers were heard shouting “where have you been?” and “you took your time”, as the prime minister arrived in an area hit by the floods.
Another resident was heard saying: “I’m not talking to you … You’ve not helped us.”
One resident was more welcoming, telling Johnson: “Go get ‘em.”
Yorkshire councillor says more spent on flood defences in the South
A Labour councillor for Stainforth, one of the South Yorkshire town’s worst-hit by the flooding, has claimed there is a big divide depriving the north of appropriate flood defences.
Phil Bedford said recent flooding could have been avoided if they had more resources, telling talkRADIO: “There’s twice as much spent per head on the south of England as there is on the north of England on flood defenses.”
“Great defences can stop flooding – this could have been avoided, definitely.”
PM visits South Yorkshire – six days after floods hit
Boris Johnson is visiting Fishlake, near Doncaster in South Yorkshire this morning, but as many are pointing out, it comes six days after flooding hit the area.
He is set to do one pooled interview, and isn’t speaking to any regional media about the work going on for affected residents and businesses.
Nearly 100 soldiers have arrived to aid communities which have been cut off by flooding. Personnel from the Light Dragoons were spotted laying down sandbags in Stainforth part of Doncaster on Wednesday morning and attempting to shore up the village’s bridge.
Johnson was seen speaking to one Doncaster official about relief efforts, asking: “Have you got enough stuff?”
Speaking to one resident, the PM said: “I’m very grateful to everybody in the community.”
The PM announced funding for locals councils to help affected households would be made available to the tune of £500 per eligible household. Up to £2,500 would be available for small to medium-sized businesses which have suffered severe impacts and which are not covered by insurance.
He is expected to visit the West Midlands this afternoon.
Gove rejects idea of no-deal Brexit as attempt to ‘raise bogies’
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said former Tory David Gauke was “wrong in what he says about this general election”.
Gauke earlier told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that a Conservative majority will result in a “disastrous” no-deal Brexit.
“In all likelihood at the end of 2020 we will leave the implementation period without a deal with the EU, on WTO terms, in effect on no-deal terms, that I believe would be disastrous for the prosperity of this country – whole sectors would become unviable,” said Gauke.
Gove responded: “Everyone knows that the prime minister wants a deal and the government is determined to secure one.”
Pressed on no-deal, he told Today: “It’s a hypothesis which has been put by people who have consistently… sought to raise bogies and to make people’s flesh creep when the reality has been our prime minister has managed to secure a deal which puts us on a path towards, not just free trade and friendly co-operation with the EU, but also good trade deals with other countries and other regional trade blocs.”
Gove added: “The only way in which we can prevent chaos happening, the only way in which we can stop more referendums and more paralysis in parliament is by having a working Conservative majority which can get parliament working again.”
Idea of Corbyn at No 10 ‘chills me to the bone’, says ex-Labour minister
A former Labour minister has revealed he will be voting for the Tories, saying the idea of Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister “chills me to the bone”.
Tom Harris, who served as a junior minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, branded the Labour Party leader an “extremist” and claimed he was “”not someone who can be trusted with the security of the nation”.
Suggestions that a future Labour government would allow a second vote on Scottish independence “add to the many reasons to vote against the Labour party”, Harris added.
The former Glasgow South MP spoke out as Corbyn began a two-day campaign tour of Scotland.
Harris, who announced in 2018 that he had left the Labour Party, claimed Corbyn “represents a kind of strain of left-wing politics that is a compete anathema to the traditional Labour party”.
He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “He is not someone who can be trusted with the security of the nation as far as defence is concerned, he is a man who has instinctively sided with our country’s enemies over the years he has been an MP.
“The idea of him becoming prime minister just chills me to the bone. The only way of stopping Corbyn becoming prime minister is to vote for Boris Johnson’s Conservatives, it is a very simple, logical conclusion.”
Army sent into flood-hit areas, as PM promises action
Boris Johnson has responding to the floods crisis by pledging £2,500 for businesses affected, while an additional 100 Armed Forces personnel will be deployed to help the recovery effort.
It comes after criticism from opposition leaders over the government’s response to the issue.
Severe flooding hit several areas in Yorkshire and the East Midlands last week, with parts around the River Don near Doncaster worst affected after the river burst its banks.
Johnson chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency committee Cobra on Tuesday afternoon, as pressure mounted on ministers to take action.
Speaking afterwards, the PM said the country had to “prepare for more floods” this winter because the ground is so waterlogged.
Johnson said the authorities are working “flat out” to deliver an adequate response, adding: “I know there will be people who feel that that isn’t good enough.
“I know there will be people who are worrying about the damage to their homes, who will be worried about the insurance situation, worried about the losses they face. All I want to say to those people is that there are schemes to cover those losses.”
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett said the government’s action was “too little, too late”.
Arron Banks calls on ‘gambler’ Farage to drop more candidates
Nigel Farage’s friend and ally Arron Banks, co-founder of Leave.EU, is urging him to stand down yet more Brexit Party candidates and concentrate on around 40 Labour-held seats where the Tories “haven’t got a hope”.
Banks said: “Nigel reminds me of a gambler at a casino that’s been winning all night and it’s time to take the chips off the table and step away. What we are offering the geezer … is Brexit.”
With Brexit Party candidates getting antsy about whether they’re part of a proper political outfit or merely Farage’s plaything, the leader has until the end of Thursday – the deadline for candidates to declare – to decide what to do.
A Brexit Party spokesperson said: “We are not going to listen to [Banks].”
Banks responded to news Lib Dem candidate Tim Walker was stepping down to forge a local Remain alliance in Canterbury by stating: “The side that unites the Brexit or Remain vote the best wins this election.”
Labour vows to outspend Tories on NHS
Health funding will be boosted by £26bn under a Labour government which will cover the cost by taxing the richest in society, the party has pledged.
On Wednesday, shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth will announce Labour’s proposals to “end the Tory NHS crisis” with a £26bn in real-terms – £40 billion in cash terms – healthcare funding boost.
In a speech at the Royal Society of Medicine, they are expected to announce an annual average 4.3 percent funding increase for health spending over the next four years, funded from Labour’s proposals to reverse corporation tax cuts and tax the wealthiest people in society.
Labour’s plan includes NHS capital expenditure rising to the international average, £1 billion-a-year training and education budgets, and £1 billion more to fund an expansion of public health services.
McDonnell is expected to say: “The world-class health service we all need and depend on needs proper funding.”
People’s Vote shares list of over 100 ‘Remainer’ candidates to back in marginals
Dominic Grieve, Chuka Umunna and Rosie Duffield head the tactical voting list of more than 100 candidates who will receive backing from the People’s Vote group in a bid to topple the Tories in the election.
The cross-party group will lend financial and campaign support to its “PV100” list of candidates, chosen in key seats in hope of engineering a Conservative defeat and forcing a second Brexit referendum.
“These seats are the PV100 – the seats that will decide the election,” People’s Vote said in a statement. “It’s especially important that our supporters vote tactically here to secure a final say referendum. If they don’t, Boris Johnson will win this election and we will leave with his deal.”
While the list in fact comprises 112 candidates in key seats, one omission is Anna Soubry, who is fighting to hold Broxtowe for Change UK after winning it for the Tories with a majority of just 863 votes at the last election.
Grieve is running as an independent in Beaconsfield, having held the seat for 22 years as a Tory MP before becoming one of 21 MPs who lost the Conservative whip in September. Umunna, formerly a Labour MP but now the Lib Dems, is a candidate for the Conservative-held Cities of London and Westminster.
And Duffield is the incumbent Labour MP for Canterbury, having won it in 2017 with a majority of less than 200.
Lib Dem candidate Tim Walker withdrew from the race for Canterbury on Tuesday to help Duffield keep out Tory Brexiteer Anna Firth. The Lib Dems, however, say they will field another candidate in the seat.
Voters can visit the People’s Vote website to learn more about the group’s recommended candidates.
“The PV100 candidates were selected using sophisticated analysis of both public and private polling, including data from general, local and EU election results… and constituency specific data,” People’s Vote said.
Lib Dem candidate withdraws to help Labour Remainer – but party will field someone else instead
Liberal Democrat candidate Tim Walker has withdrawn from the race for Canterbury to help Labour’s Rosie Duffield win and keep out Tory Brexiteer Anna Firth.
Duffield is the incumbent MP, having won it in 2017 with a majority of less than 200.
But the Lib Dems said they will field another candidate in the seat.
A spokesperson for Jo Swinson’s party said: “We will be announcing a candidate in due course to contest the seat of Canterbury.”
A senior Lib Dem source told ITV that local members had a vote amongst themselves and decided to back Walker’s decision by not fielding a candidate, but were then overruled by the party’s HQ.
Walker himself explained his decision in a piece for The Guardian.
“Politics does not always have to be grubby and small-minded; sometimes it’s possible to acknowledge that what’s at stake is more important than party politics – and personal ambition – and we can do what’s right,” he wrote.
“Rhe nightmare that kept me awake was posing awkwardly at the count beside a vanquished Duffield as the Tory Brexiter raised her hands in triumph. I wanted no part in that.”
Gauke backs second Brexit referendum, as he stands as independent
Former Tory cabinet minister David Gauke has backed a Final Say referendum to stop Boris Johnsons’ “hard Brexit” as he announced he will run as an independent.
The ex-justice secretary became the campaign’s most high-profile ex-Tory supporter, urging voters to deliver a hung parliament to deny his former boss the chance to pass his “disastrous” deal.
“My view is the way forward now to have a confirmatory referendum on Boris Johnson’s deal,” Gauke said.
All the details here:
Boris Johnson criticised for using ‘crude’ biblical insult
The prime minister has been accused of descending to “crude insults” in the election battle after using a lewd biblical term in an attack on Jeremy Corbyn.
In his first keynote speech of the election campaign on Wednesday, the prime minister will accuse the Labour leader of political “onanism” – an arcane word meaning masturbation.
More details here:
Corbyn and Swinson call on PM to declare ‘national emergency’ on floods
Jeremy Corbyn has accused the Tories of neglecting northern England in favour of the south as he attacked the government’s “woeful” response to the severe flooding.
The Labour leader said spending on flood defences had fallen in Yorkshire, the northwest and the East Midlands since 2016 – while increasing in the southeast, and claimed if the flooding had happened in Surrey, “it would have been a very different story”.
Jo Swinson joined Corbyn in calling on the prime minister to declare a “national emergency” and vowed the Lib Dems would commit £5bn to a flood prevention flood.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the general election campaign, with only 29 days until we go to the polls.
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