A closer look at the SNP's foreign policypublished at 17:28 19 June

17:28 19 June

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

SNP foreign policy comes in two parts: its prescriptions for what the UK should do now, and what Scotland should do were it to become a separate state.

Much is familiar. SNP MPs would ask the Westminster government to push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas.

It would also urge the government to halt UK arms sales to Israel and immediately recognise a Palestinian state.

The manifesto calls for the government to scrap the Trident nuclear deterrent; maintain military support for Ukraine; spend 0.7% of national income on foreign aid.

The SNP’s most substantive foreign policy is, of course, its desire to make the rest of the UK part of its foreign policy.

And if Scotland were to become independent, the SNP says it should seek to join the European Union. But the manifesto does not say how or when.

The SNP's manifesto calls for a "major investment" in the NHS.

In this video, BBC Verify's Ben Chu explains how this would work as money for devolved areas – such as health and education – is granted by Westminster based on a devolved nation's population.

Watch the video to find out more:

We've been getting reaction to the SNP's manifesto from independent economic think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

David Phillips, associate director at the IFS, says the SNP in its calls for independence from the UK "ignores the potential hit to economic growth from leaving the UK, and the big fiscal challenges an independent Scotland would immediately have to confront".

He highlights the party's suggestion of an additional £18bn for "unprotected" UK government departmental budgets by 2028-29 to prevent real-term cuts, which the IFS has previously said is what would be needed to avoid cuts under existing spending plans. , external

The IFS statement also discusses NHS spending –specifically the SNP's proposals for NHS England to match the pay deals in Scotland – which the party says would generate in turn an extra £1.6bn for the Scottish government to be spent on its NHS plans.

But Phillips says the Scottish government's own funding would not increase by as much as this amount because "some of the increases in spending in the rest of the UK would be funded by income tax rises that wouldn’t apply in Scotland".

The IFS says some of the SNP's proposals on tax devolution to Scotland are "sensible", but "devolving all income tax rules would add complexity for some taxpayers and the tax authorities".

You can read the manifesto in full here, external.

We're going to pivot away briefly from those lines we just brought you from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to return to reaction and analysis from the SNP's manifesto launch earlier.

Our correspondents and colleagues at BBC Verify have been examining the party's pledges and how they compare to those from other parties – stay with us for more.

Image source, PA Media

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has told the BBC the country needs an “effective opposition” to Labour.

“It's very important if Labour win, that they have an effective opposition in Parliament,” he told the BBC’s Economics Editor Faisal Islam.

Hunt also acknowledged the election campaign was tough.

“Of course, it's tough. And we recognise that the way we will win this election, do better than people predict at the very least - is by arguing on substance.

"How do we make our country successful so we can have decent public services that people want, to look after people in tough times? It’s by growing the economy.”

Hunt said he was knocking on doors for six hours a day and had already spoken to 23 households today. He said he plans to carry on for the remaining days of the general election campaign.

Hunt added that “I do face a fight here - for sure” in his Surrey constituency of Godalming and Ash.

The chancellor said that on the doorstep he tells voters “if you vote for Reform, Reform aren’t going to win. But the Lib Dems will win - you will have fewer centre right MPs in parliament and fewer MPs who want to control migration, your MPs who want to reduce tax, and that isn't what those voters want.”

• A full list of candidates for Godalming and Ash seat can be seen here.

Sinn Féin has launched its concise, nine-page-long manifesto in Belfast.

In the last two years, the Irish nationalist party has won the most seats in Northern Ireland’s Assembly and local councils for the first time.

The party is defending seven out of Northern Ireland’s 18 Westminster seats, putting it one seat behind the Democratic Unionist Party.

While it’s not expected to make dramatic losses or gains, if the DUP loses ground there’s a chance Sinn Féin could become Northern Ireland’s biggest party at Westminster.

Sinn Féin had what it described as disappointing results in elections in the Irish Republic earlier this month – but said it would “regroup” ahead of the general election.

The manifesto launch also heard calls for more funding for Northern Ireland, an end to what the party called underfunding for public services, and for more political decisions to be taken by Northern Ireland’s devolved government at Stormont, rather than in London.

Sinn Féin’s outgoing MP and candidate for North Belfast, John Finucane, said: “The Irish and British governments must set a date for the referendum on Irish unity, for now is the time to plan for the future.”

Sinn Féin MPs don’t take up their seats at Westminster because of the party’s abstentionist policy. As Irish Republicans, the party doesn’t recognise London’s sovereignty over Northern Ireland.

Image source, PA Media

More now from BBC Newsbeat’s Race Across the UK - speaking to younger voters about what matters to them...

The reason we’re in Colchester today is because of a message we received from Kelly Evans, setting the place as our checkpoint.

She tells me in the campaign so far, she hasn’t heard enough about people like her: "A two-person working household, with one of them being a new mum."

Kelly, an event coordinator, had baby Trent a year ago, and feels priorities have changed since becoming a new mum, with rising prices.

Childcare costs her and her partner about £800-900 per month.

"I’ll be honest, we’ve had to use food banks. I’m not going to shy away from that," she says.

"Everything is on the rise, even having two almost full-time working incomes in a household is just not enough."

Kelly also wants to see a focus on housing to be able to buy a property without needing to put down a big deposit, and more work around getting new mums like her back to work.

"I would like to plan for the future. But we can’t even get through to the next week."

Have small boat arrivals fallen in the last year?published at 15:53 19 June

15:53 19 June

By Lucy Gilder

Speaking about small boat arrivals on LBC earlier today, Rishi Sunak said that "over the last 12 months, the numbers are down by a significant amount.”

He’s correct. Over the past year - between 18 June 2023 and 18 June 2024 - about 31,600 people arrived in small boats. This is a 30% fall compared to the same period the year before, when there were nearly 45,000 arrivals.

But Sunak is comparing to a record year – 2022 – for the number of small boat arrivals., external

The number of arrivals so far in 2024 is also the highest on record compared to the same period in previous years.

A multi-millionaire Muslim entrepreneur has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to Reform UK.

Zia Yusuf, who co-founded a VIP concierge app called Velocity Black and later sold his stake for tens of millions of pounds, has said the UK has “completely lost control of our borders.”

Speaking to the Telegraph, external, Yusuf, 37, said: “My parents came here legally. When I talk to my friends they are as affronted as anyone by illegal Channel crossings, which are an affront to all hard-working British people but not least the migrants who played by the rules and came legally.

"I think Britain can be an amazing country, it’s the country of Dyson and DeepMind, but we have completely lost control of our borders, that is just factually correct.”

His parents came to the UK from Sri Lanka in the 1980s.

He also told the newspaper: “Having spent time with Nigel Farage it’s clear to me that he wants the best for Britain and its people, no matter their religion or skin colour.

"No-one is more aware than I am of the contribution immigrants can make. My parents came here 40 years ago and they travelled all over the country to find work and advance their careers.”

I understand the donation, which the party is not putting a specific figure on, was given “very recently” as a single lump sum.

It is expected that Yusuf will have a public role for Reform UK during the campaign as well as being a donor.

Image source, David Fletcher via CloudTweaks.com

Struggling with swings? Confused by constituencies? Perplexed by passing posts?

If so, BBC political correspondent Leila Nathoo is here to help.

Head over to BBC Sounds by clicking here and she'll talk you through what you need to know, and all in less than three minutes.

Here's a look at the latest images coming in from today's campaigning so far:

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Reuters

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Image source, PA Media

Sunak claims Labour would immediately cut defence spendingpublished at 14:57 19 June

14:57 19 June

Tom Symonds
Reporting from the Conservative election bus

Rishi Sunak has attacked Sir Keir Starmer on defence spending - saying "literally the first thing" Labour would do would be to cut the government's planned increases.

The Conservatives have promised to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030, at what Sunak called "the most dangerous and uncertain time our country has known since the end of the Cold War."

Campaigning, in the East of England the PM told reporters: "If Keir Starmer's elected, one of the first things he will do is head off to a Nato summit having cut British defence spending from the planned increases that I've announced.

"That will send exactly the wrong message both to our allies … so that they invest more in their defences as well but also to our adversaries such as Putin and the North Koreans and actually we need to deter them with strength."

Labour's manifesto said it would increase defence spending to 2.5% "as soon as we can".

Image source, PA

Labour will lift “the Conservatives' onshore wind ban in England” within days of coming to power, Ed Miliband told an industry conference in Manchester earlier.

It is part of a massive deregulation of the UK’s planning system that lies at the heart of Labour’s growth strategy.

At the top of the list of the projects Labour wants to usher through are a host of solar farms and onshore wind turbines, together with the web of pylons needed to carry the electricity they will generate into the grid.

The projects will affect communities across the country.

Miliband’s team confirmed to the BBC that a requirement that community concerns be “appropriately addressed” - which puts an effective block on onshore wind projects - would be removed “as soon as Parliament is sitting” if Labour forms a government.

Separately Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, told the Today programme if Labour gets a majority, it would “get cracking […] straight away” to update the national planning framework.

As well as inflation, Rishi Sunak earlier reacted to the news that 882 people crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats yesterday - the highest number in a single day so far this year.

He said overall numbers were down by almost a third (see below) which show that "we can make a difference".And he claimed "all the illegal migrants we've been detaining are going to be let out onto the streets" if Labour gets into power.

If the Conservatives are re-elected, Sunak said his plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda will stop people coming to the UK in small boats, but under Labour "those flights will be cancelled; there will be no deterrent".

For context: A BBC Verify investigation found that Sunak is correct in that the numbers in 2023 were a third lower than in 2022. But the number of people who have crossed so far this year is at a record high - up more than a third on the same period last year.

While the SNP launched its manifesto, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton was also on the campaign trail in Edinburgh.

He says he takes any offers or promises from the SNP on health “with a pinch of salt”.

The SNP has been in charge of health in Scotland for 17 years, he says, and in that time people have struggled to see a GP, it's become increasingly rare to find an NHS dentist, and young people are having to wait two years or more for mental health support.

Cole-Hamilton was visiting the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home - as you can see below - to campaign on the cost of living.

Has the government met its housebuilding target?published at 14:14 19 June

14:14 19 June

By Tamara Kovacevic

In a call-in on LBC, which we covered this morning, Rishi Sunak defended his government’s record on housebuilding.

He said: “We said we’d build a million homes and we have delivered on that.”

He was talking about the 2019 Conservative manifesto pledge on building homes in England (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland manage their own housebuilding).

The measure of new homes generally used is net additional dwellings, external for England, which is the difference between the number of new homes completed or converted and the number demolished.

On that measure between April 2019 and April 2023, there have been 935,200 additional homes in England. The million target was to the end of this parliament so the past year's figures - which are not yet available - would seem likely to surpass that.

But the 2019 manifesto also set a target of “300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s”. This target has not been met – as Sunak admitted on the radio programme.

Image source, PA Media

It wasn't just the SNP launching a general election manifesto today - the Workers Party of Britain has done the same.

George Galloway, who founded the party in 2019, presented a "ten-point programme" in Manchester.

He said there's a "very real danger" of Reform's Nigel Farage "running away" with this election, and repeated previous comments that Labour and the Conservatives are "two cheeks of the same backside".

Key pledges in his party's manifesto, external include:

• Withdrawal from Nato
• "Decent, cheap and secure" housing
• Free access to childcare, education, vocational training and healthcare
• New package of workers' rights
• Cheap or free transport
• Support and services for women, disabled people, the elderly, families as well as access to culture and media and a priority on the environment

Galloway said the party is not in favour of mass immigration and that Great Britain "isn't great anymore" after years of "subservience" to the European Union and the US.

On the war in Gaza, he called it a "genocide" that was being supported by Labour and the Tories which was a "national disgrace".

Image source, PA Media

While Rishi Sunak was in Suffolk (see previous post), Labour's Keir Starmer was visiting Morrisons supermarket in Swindon.

Despite inflation hitting the Bank of England's 2% target, Starmer says this "doesn't mean that for many people life has suddenly got easier. It doesn't mean that prices are coming down, it doesn't mean that mortgages are coming down."

"People know they're still paying the cost of the government losing control of the economy," he adds.

Image source, Pool

On a campaign visit in Suffolk, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has described today's fall in inflation as a "very positive step".

Sunak says bringing down inflation had been a priority for him, which was at 11% when he became prime minister.

"It's because that plan has worked that we've been able to start cutting people's taxes," he says.

In contrast, he says, Labour would reverse the progress made and "whack taxes up for everyone".

In our next few posts, we're going to step away from the SNP's manifesto launch in Edinburgh, and focus on other parties campaigning across the UK.

We'll return to Edinburgh later with more news and analysis.