Summary

  • Campaigning suspended after Manchester blast

  • Prime Minister will chair emergency Cobra meeting

  • Lib Dems leader calls off Gibraltar visit

  • SNP postpones manifesto launch

  1. Sunday's front pages: Sunday Mirrorpublished at 00:02 British Summer Time 21 May 2017

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  2. Sunday's front pages: The Sunday Telegraphpublished at 23:53 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    The Sunday Telegraph, external leads with a couple of lines from what it says is an exclusive interview with Theresa May.

    The prime minister has told the newspaper she plans to strip people of their knighthoods if they fall below the “standards of integrity” expected by the public and she also expects a "Brexit refund" from the EU.

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  3. Sunday's front pages: The Observerpublished at 23:46 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

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    The Observer splashes, external with a warning that Conservative manifesto plans to end universal free school lunches for all infants, and to means test them instead, will hit 900,000 poor and ordinary working families.

    It is based on research from the Education Policy Institute, which has identified 100,000 children who it says are in relative poverty and who will no longer receive a free meal under Theresa May’s proposals.

    It says 667,000 "ordinary working families" will no longer receive a free lunch, which it says will cost about £440 a year per child.

    A Tory source questioned the figures, claiming they had been “cobbled together” by a body led by former Lib Dem minister, David Laws.

    A Tory spokesman said it was not right to spend "precious resources on subsidising school meals for better-off parents" and the money was better spent by headteachers on pupils education.

    Quote Message

    We will make sure all those who need it most still get free lunches – and will offer a free school breakfast to every child in every year of primary school. So the most disadvantaged children will now get two free school meals a day rather than one.”

  4. Tories: Labour's inheritance tax plans will 'punish' familiespublished at 23:24 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    Houses in north-west London

    The Conservatives say Labour plans to halve inheritance tax thresholds to £425,000 would hit 3.9 million households in the UK and could affect a further million within five years given likely increases in house prices.

    It has published research suggesting that if house prices were just to rise in line with forecast inflation over the next five years, then by 2022, 61% of all homes in London (2.1 million homes) would be liable for inheritance tax under Labour's current plans.

    Across England and Wales, it says 4.9 million homes (19.4% of all homes) would be liable.

    Chancellor Philip Hammond says family homes were at risk from a "bombshell of new taxes".

    Quote Message

    Ordinary families across the country will suffer because of his nonsensical policies. People who have worked hard all their lives, saved and improved their homes will now be hit with this punishing Family Homes Tax."

  5. Boris Johnson: UK needs 'steady hand not blancmange'published at 22:57 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    Boris JohnsonImage source, PA

    Boris Johnson has sought to turn the election focus back onto Brexit by suggesting Jeremy Corbyn would have the authority of a "smacked blancmange" in negotiations were he to become the UK's prime minister.

    The foreign secretary, who earlier in the campaign called the Labour leader a "muddled-headed mugwump" has used a piece in the Mail on Sunday to warn voters that his party would only need to lose six seats for them not to be able to form a government.

    This, he suggests, would be a recipe for "uncertainty and confusion" ahead of the most important period for the UK in a generation.

    He makes the case for a "steady hand on the tiller, a firm and expert navigator to guide us in our new adventure" - a reference of course to Prime Minister Theresa May.

    However, he is less forthright about some of the more controversial aspects of the Conservative manifesto, focusing his comments instead on the party's plans for skills, young people and infrastructure.

  6. Ed Miliband: School meal cuts hits the poorestpublished at 22:53 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    Former Labour leader tweets...

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  7. Labour candidate urges poll cautionpublished at 22:42 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    The YouGov poll is undoubtedly a morale boost for Jeremy Corbyn.

    But at least one Labour candidate is urging caution, recalling what happened in 2015 - when the polls forecast a much tighter race than actually turned out to be the case.

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  8. What are the other polls saying?published at 22:30 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    We should mention two other polls released this evening which suggest that the Conservative lead over Labour remains in double figures.

    A Survation poll for The Mail On Sunday put the Tories on 46% and Labour on 34%, the gap between the two having fallen by five points.

    Meanwhile, a poll by Opinium for the Observer puts Labour up one point on 33% to the Tories' 46%, with Lib Dems on 8%.

    We've updated the BBC's election poll tracker to reflect the latest research while here is pollster and former Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft's view on where things stand,

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  9. Sunday Times poll: Has care policy hit Tories?published at 22:21 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    Unsurprisingly, there has been a lot of reaction on social media to the latest YouGov poll, suggesting the Conservative lead has halved.

    Here is what the political editor of the Sunday Times, Tim Shipman, thinks.

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  10. Tories' lead halves in latest YouGov pollpublished at 22:13 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    There's been a bunch of opinion polls published in the last few hours which suggest that although the Conservatives still have an overwhelming lead over Labour, that lead is narrowing.

    We referred to one from Orb earlier.

    Now we have the latest poll from YouGov, for the Sunday Times.

    It suggests the Conservatives' lead has halved in the past week. It puts the Tories on 44% (down five points from a week ago) and Labour on 35% (up four points from a week ago)

    It is the first poll since the campaign began to put the Conservative lead in single figures.

    YouGov polled 1,925 adults on 18 and 19 May, after the publication of the two parties' respective manifestos.

  11. Prescott: Labour manifesto 'best in 20 years'published at 21:32 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    Lord PrescottImage source, Getty Images

    Jeremy Corbyn has been described as a "prime-minister-in-waiting" by Labour's former deputy leader Lord Prescott,

    Writing in the Sunday Mirror,, external the Labour grandee - who served as deputy prime minister for ten years - said the party's manifesto was the best it had produced for 20 years.

    Quote Message

    Protecting pensioners, scrapping tuition fees, taking water and energy into public ownership. Yes, it's left. But it's also right. Polls have shown that the policies are popular."

    The Labour peer said after months of "biased" media coverage, Mr Corbyn was finally making the transition from campaigner to leader.

    He also took aim at Theresa May, labelling the Conservative leader a "Poundland Thatcher peddling the same old broken promises".

    Quote Message

    The more people see Jeremy Corbyn on TV, speaking to huge crowds and on the doorstep, the more they're seeing the real Corbyn...Things did get better under Labour. They can get better again if we make June the end of May."

  12. Stars back Operation Black Vote election drivepublished at 21:04 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    Entrepreneur and media executive Jamal Edwards

    Operation Black Vote has launched a campaign to urge black and minority ethnic minorities to apply to vote before Monday's deadline.

    The "Blacksdontvote.com" campaign, created by Saatchi and Saatchi, is targeting eligible voters in marginal seats via billboards and social media.

    Once on the website it states, "but if we did we’d decide who wins the next general election".

    Research supporting the media campaign highlights that in 50 of the most marginal seats in the country, the BME vote is substantially bigger than the winning party's majority at the last election.

    To help with the campaign, actor Riz Ahmed and entrepreneur and media executive Jamal Edwards have made videos to encourage people to sign up to vote and engage with them about the process.

    OBV's director Simon Woolley says.

    Quote Message

    ‘Yes, too many black people are not registered to vote and therefore can’t vote, but if they did it great things could happen, particularly around tackling persistent race inequality."

  13. Who's on Sunday talk shows?published at 20:37 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    It's going to be a busy Sunday morning in the TV studios. Here, courtesy of Twitter, is the expected line-up on the BBC, ITV and Sky.

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  14. Recap: Campaign day in Scotlandpublished at 20:27 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    SNP supporter shows off her earringImage source, PA

    Here's a round-up of what's been happening on the campaign trail in Scotland today.

    The SNP has claimed Conservatives cannot be trusted to care for older people, after they revealed plans to remove the pensions "triple lock".

    First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, campaigning in Edinburgh South, said her party would retain the mechanism which determines annual increases.

    Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson stressed her commitment to the Union and opposition to independence.

    Labour's Kezia Dugdale has spoken out against the gender pay gap.

    Meanwhile, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have been encouraging young people to vote. Read more

  15. Iannucci: Applying to vote takes five minutespublished at 20:27 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    Writer and broadcaster tweets...

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  16. Where UKIP isn't standing and its significancepublished at 19:48 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    BBC Newsnight's policy editor tweets...

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  17. Corbyn warms up Libertines crowd at rock gigpublished at 19:32 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    Jeremy Corbyn speaking at Prenton ParkImage source, Jeremy Corbyn

    Jeremy Corbyn has played a few unusual gigs since the campaign started and now he's turned up at a proper one.

    He's just appeared on stage at Wirral Live as a support act on a bill that is being headlined later by rock group The Libertines.

    The concert, one of three over the weekend, is taking place at Prenton Park, the home of National League club Tranmere Rovers.

    According to reports on social media, Mr Corbyn has been hitting out at Premier League clubs for not paying enough tax and not doing enough to support the grassroots of the game.

    We're sure, of course, he didn't mention Arsenal, in that regard. As everyone knows, the Labour leader is a Gooner.

    Pete Doherty and Carl Barat performing with the remainder of The Libertines in 2015
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  18. Labour targets Facebook in voter registration drivepublished at 19:13 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    Jeremy Corbyn's Facebook profileImage source, Jeremy Corbyn

    A little while ago, we reported that two million people have registered to vote in the past month.

    Now Labour are encouraging people to use Facebook to remind people to sign up ahead of Monday's registration deadline.

    People are being asked to add the words "I'm registered to vote, are you?" to their profile picture and are being directed to Jeremy Corbyn's own profile for instructions on how to do it.

    As they point out, registering to vote is quicker than making a cup of tea, and should only take five minutes.

    The whole exercise is a little more serious than that, however.

    As the party's e-mail to supporters points out, there are thought to be several million people "missing" from the electoral register and many of these are believed to be students and other young people who might naturally be inclined to support Labour.

  19. Tory critics: Social care plans are 'stealth tax'published at 18:53 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    Elderly people in care home

    Theresa May is facing criticism from within Conservative circles for the party's manifesto plans for funding social care. The party is proposing that elderly people requiring care in their own homes would have to meet the cost - although they would be allowed to keep £100 000. One conservative think-tank warned that the policy had the potential to be the "biggest stealth tax in history" and would dismay core Tory voters.

    To finance England's rising social care needs, the manifesto proposes that nobody who has assets of less than £100,000 will have to pay for care. But now those savings will also include the value of their houses for people cared for at home, as had already been the case for those in residential care.

    Some Conservative activists have questioned the lack of any insurance in the proposals or a cap against spiralling care costs and the right-wing Bow Group has described it as the biggest stealth tax in history.Jon Stanley is a member of the group, which had proposed a five-year cap on elderly care costs: "The impact on the core vote will be awful – what I call the Tory Shire. Those shire Tories who work hard, play the game, live life by the rules. They’re going to wake up Monday around the family copy of the Daily Mail asking themselves what on earth has just happened?”

    He is joined by Sarah Wollaston, chair of the Commons health select committee in the last parliament. She says she is worried new care costs may encourage people to stay on inhospitals: "If you are somebody who has quite a large asset in your home but you might be living on a very fixed low income – that might make it very difficult for you to go home if you couldn’t afford special care.I think it’s very important that there is a period of grace to help them safely get home from hospital.

    The plans have also been attacked by Liberal Democrats and by Labour which says it is a "dementia tax". But Theresa May has said the plans would ensure fairness "across the generations" and the long-term sustainability of the social care system.

    Read more

  20. Sturgeon bowled over in Edinburghpublished at 18:45 British Summer Time 20 May 2017

    Nicola Sturgeon at Liberton bowling club in EdinburghImage source, PA

    Nicola Sturgeon took to the bowling green while campaigning in Edinburgh earlier today.

    The Scottish first minister was a guest at the Liberton bowling club, whose secretary John Thorburn was on hand to show her the ropes.

    The SNP leader braved the rain to send a few "woods" down but by the look of her facial expressions, she is unlikely to be giving up the day job any time soon.

    Nicola Sturgeon at Liberton bowling club in EdinburghImage source, PA
    Nicola Sturgeon with John ThorburnImage source, PA