Summary

  • Representatives of seven major political parties appeared in a live BBC debate

  • Debate began with tributes to London Bridge victims and emergency services

  • There were clashes over spending plans, the economy, the NHS, Brexit and immigration

  • PM returned to No 10 after terrorist incident to chair an emergency Cobra meeting

  • Parties suspend campaigning in London

  1. Latest headlines: What happened today?published at 22:30 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    And that's a wrap...

    We are ending today's live election coverage here. Thanks for joining us.

    Before we go, a reminder of the main headlines:

    • Today's main story is the terror attack in London Bridge, which saw two members of the public killed and another three people injured. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been chairing a meeting of the government's emergency committee, Cobra, following the incident
    • The Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats have suspended election campaign events in the capital this evening in response
    • Meanwhile, leaders and senior figures from seven major political parties took part in a live TV debate on the BBC, sharing their plans to tackle security issues and clashing over Brexit, the economy, immigration and the NHS
    • Labour accused Boris Johnson of "running scared" of an interview with the BBC's Andrew Neil after refusing to confirm a date. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon have faced half-hour long interrogations
    • The Conservatives announced they would bring in a state aid regime after Brexit which would help struggling firms and bring in "buy British" guidelines for public bodies
    • And the Scottish Lib Dems unveiled their manifesto while at a curling rink in Edinburgh. It includes pledges to end fuel poverty in Scotland by 2025, ensure mental health is tackled with the same urgency as physical health and give every child 35 hours a week of free care from nine months old to when they start school
  2. 'Debate was Brexiteers against the rest'published at 22:27 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Laura Kuenssberg
    BBC political editor

    Richard Tice and Nicola Sturgeon
    Image caption,

    Richard Tice and Nicola Sturgeon has some of the most notable clashes

    All of the politicians of course spent time paying tribute to the bravery of the members of the public who ran towards danger on London Bridge. They all emphasised the need to support the police and security services.

    But that was more or less where the unity ended. A group of five against two developed quickly.

    Labour, the SNP, the Lib Dems, Plaid and the Greens attacked the duet of the Tories and the Brexit Party on the central issues - not just Brexit, but also on the NHS.

    There is no formal pact, of course, between the Brexit Party and the Conservatives, despite the suggestions of opposition parties in recent weeks.

    Yet, throughout the 90 minutes, it was Brexiteers versus the rest, whether on our relationship with the EU, or their attitude to the health service.

    Read the full analysis

  3. Five things you might have missed in tonight's debatepublished at 22:17 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Debate

    From sparks flying over NHS claims to learning who would press the nuclear button in a crisis, we've recapped some of the key moments from our seven-way debate.

    You can read the full story here.

  4. Is freedom of movement actually a popular idea?published at 22:10 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Reality Check

    Caroline Lucas said: “When people are shown that freedom of movement is a reciprocal right, then actually it’s something that is popular in this country.”

    Nick Robinson, as host, asked about most opinion polls showing support for controls on immigration – something Ms Lucas took issue with.

    This is a scenario where differently phrased questions on the same topic can produce different answers.

    Asked how strongly they agree with keeping freedom of movement – “so that people from any EU country can live and work in the UK, and people in the UK can live and work in any EU country”, more than half the respondents to a ComRes survey carried out earlier this month , externalsupported the idea – 31% strongly, 25% “somewhat”. (“Neither agree nor disagree” and “don’t know” were 11% and 10%).

    And a 2017 poll by YouGov, external for anti-Brexit campaign group Best for Britain asked about a plan that is effectively freedom of movement, without calling it that: “The right to travel, work, study or retire in Britain, in exchange for EU countries giving British citizens the same rights.”

    The results were 69% in favour and 13% against (and 19% “don’t know”).

    But when the same survey asked the same people how important reducing EU immigration was in Brexit negotiations, 70% said it was important in some way (15% said it was the most important issue, 31% very important, 24% fairly important).

    So Ms Lucas is correct – but only if, as she said, the question is asked in a specific way.

  5. NI voter feels debate overlooked thempublished at 22:02 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Another caller to BBC Radio 5 Live, Gary from Northern Ireland, says he was concerned that the debate didn't include any of the parties in his part of the country.

    He says Brexit is a major concern for people there, and so the outcome of this election is likely to be very significant.

    "My wife shops in Donegal," he says. "She’s concerned, is she going to get border checks on her shopping?"

    Gary says "English people have a right to decide what their own destiny is" but he says he doesn't think they understand the border issues.

    "English people don’t see the raw side of the north of Ireland, how a wee chip can do so much damage," he says. "And Brexit is a big chip between the communities."

  6. Missed the debate? Catch up herepublished at 21:43 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Debate

    If you didn't have time to watch or listen to the full seven-way debate earlier, you can still catch up with it now.

    It's available to view on iPlayer here, or there's an audio version on BBC Sounds.

  7. Watch: 'Would you use nuclear weapons?'published at 21:41 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Media caption,

    BBC Debate: 'Would you use nuclear weapons?'

    Party representatives are split on whether they would use nuclear weapons if the UK was under nuclear attack. Watch them respond to a question on the issue in the BBC debate.

    'Would you use nuclear weapons?'

    Party representatives are split on whether they would use nuclear weapons if the UK was under nuclear attack.

    Read More
  8. Analysis: How did the seven politicians fare?published at 21:36 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Jonathan Blake
    BBC political correspondent

    After events in London, the atmosphere in Cardiff was more sombre than it might have been but the debate still delivered some lively exchanges.

    The relatively unknown Rishi Sunak stuck to the script of the Conservatives main campaign messages and escaped relatively unscathed.

    He was confident, if cautious, and will have boosted his profile in the party and beyond.

    Labour, lagging in the polls, needed to up the anti and an assured performance from Rebecca Long-Bailey helped hammer home the party’s policies and keep the NHS row rumbling on.

    Clashes between SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and the Brexit party’s Richard Tice provided some of the fiery moments which won’t have done either of them any harm.

    Jo Swinson defended the Lib Dems stop-Brexit policy but admitted winning the election would be a “seismic” event, all but giving up on her early campaign pitch to be the next prime minister.

    For Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price the debate was about attacking Labour’s record in government in Wales and the Green Party’s Caroline Lucas made the most of the prominence of climate change as an issue in the election campaign.

    None of those on stage will be going home with their head in their hands in despair, but neither are they likely to be punching the air in victory.

  9. Analysis: All seven got a fair crack of the whippublished at 21:28 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Jonathan Blake
    BBC political correspondent

    Well after they came off stage I think none of the seven participants will be hanging their heads in their hands in despair, but neither are they likely to they be punching the air in victory.

    Essentially, everyone taking part got a fair crack of the whip.

  10. Did the UK decarbonise faster than any other country?published at 21:27 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Reality Check

    The claim: Rishi Sunak said: "We've decarbonised our economy faster than any other major economy in the world."

    The verdict: A parliamentary report earlier this year noted that "the UK has achieved greater decarbonisation than any other country in the G20".

    So is Mr Sunak correct? Not entirely.

    The source of that claim in the parliamentary report is the Low Carbon Economy Index, external, published by PwC.

    It notes that the UK reduced the carbon intensity of its economy - the quantity of greenhouse gases emitted for each unit of economic output - by 3.7% on average between 2000 and 2018.

    That's the most impressive record in the G20 group of major nations.

    However, it's not just a Conservative achievement. For much of that time, the UK had a Labour government, and between 2010 and 2015, the UK had a coalition government with the Lib Dems running the Energy and Climate Change department.

    And in recent years, the UK's performance has not been so outstanding. The decline in carbon intensity in 2017-18 was 3.5%, in ninth place, behind Germany, China, and even Saudi Arabia.

    PwC says the UK will have to increase its rate of decarbonisation dramatically, to 9.7%, to achieve its target of net zero emissions by 2050.

  11. 'No clear winner' in election defined by trustpublished at 21:21 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    Matt Flinders, politics professor at the University of Sheffield, gives his verdict on the debate: There's "no clear winner" and "everything is up for grabs".

    He says the debate took place in the shadow of the London Bridge attacks, which perhaps made the politicians better behaved and the audience more subdued.

    But he says the election is "defined by trust and credibility" and voters "don't trust Boris and think Corbyn isn't credible on money".

    Prof Flinders says Labour's Rebecca Long-Bailey struggled to escape from the "Brexit trap" of having a less-clear position that other parties.

    But he says Rishi Sunak could not deal with the problem that people "would like to have a beer" with Mr Johnson, but "they don't trust him to run the country".

  12. What would the seven say to Donald Trump in 30 seconds?published at 21:18 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Towards the end of the debate, the politicians were asked what they would say to US President Donald Trump if they had 30 seconds with him.

    Here's some of their replies...

    Nicola Sturgeon: "Please stand down."

    Rishi Sunak: "Happy Thanksgiving."

    Rebecca Long-Bailey: "I'm a good Catholic so I won't say in public what I probably would say to him, but the most important point I'd make is about the climate emergency and how he needs to change his position."

    Richard Tice: "Let's get a quick trade deal done."

    Adam Price: "Resign and take Boris with you."

  13. Has immigration led to lower wages?published at 21:16 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Reality Check

    The Brexit Party’s Richard Tice said: “Unlimited immigration in the last 15 years has depressed wages…We had zero real wage growth.”

    Last year, the government’s independent adviser on migration, external concluded that migration “is not a major determinate of the wages of UK-born workers”.

    It “found some evidence suggesting that lower-skilled workers face a negative impact while higher-skilled workers benefit, however the magnitude of the impacts are generally small.”

    The UK has effectively had zero real wage growth since 2007 - but that is because wages fell after the 2008 crash and are only just now catching up.

    Line chart showing that wages are nearly back to pre-recession levels
  14. Watch: Key moments from the seven-way BBC election debatepublished at 21:10 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Media caption,

    General election 2019: Key moments from the seven-way BBC election debate

  15. Politicians share security plans in BBC debatepublished at 21:04 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Nicola Sturgeon and Jo SwinsonImage source, Getty Images

    Politicians appearing on this evening's election special shared their plans to tackle security issues in the UK after the terror attack in London Bridge.

    The early focus was on the incident in the capital, which saw two people killed and the attacker shot dead.

    The politicians moved on to more robust discussions on topics including Brexit, the NHS and immigration.

    Read our full story on the seven-way debate here.

    And watch a summary of the closing statements below.

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  16. Were Conservative NHS claims correct?published at 21:01 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Reality Check

    Rishi Sunak, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: “We've outlined a plan for £34bn, that will go on putting 50,000 more nurses on our wards, 50m more GP appointments and new and upgraded hospitals”

    That is the amount of money that will be added to the annual NHS budget by 2023-24, but the cash sum isn’t necessarily the most helpful figure to use.

    Because the costs of medicines and equipment and paying staff are rising, the government’s own figures show this will actually be worth less by 2023-24 – about £20.5bn once adjusted for inflation. That's what we call the "real-terms" amount because it's a reflection of how much you can buy with the money by the time it is used.

    When it comes to the average percentage increase in health spending – this investment would mean funding going up by 3.4% a year through to 2023-4.

    This would be higher than the years from 2010 – under the Conservatives in coalition government with the Liberal Democrats - when it was between 1 and 2%.

    But it would be significantly lower than the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown when it averaged 6% a year.

  17. Does Trident cost £200bn?published at 20:56 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Reality Check

    “I think Trident is… a financial issue – I don’t think we should be wasting £200bn on it.”

    Nicola Sturgeon says it would cost £200bn to replace the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent, which is based in Scotland.

    But that relies on assumptions about costs stretching ahead for several decades – it is not £200bn spent (or saved) all at once.

    The SNP’s number comes from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which it based on the best available figures. The largest element by far is the annual in-service cost, spread over 30 years, estimated at more than £140bn. The Ministry of Defence says the cost of building new submarines would be £31bn alone.

    But because those estimates are for decades from now, they make assumptions about the future economy – so it’s impossible to be precise about the number.

  18. Remain side 'more divided' in debatepublished at 20:53 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    BBC political correspondent says...

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  19. Undecided voters give their debate verdictspublished at 20:52 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    BBC Radio 5 Live

    BBC Radio 5 Live listeners who say they were undecided before the debate call in to say whether any of the politicians swayed them.

    Ali says he is still undecided. He says we have two main candidates for prime minister and "I don't trust either of them".

    He says Boris Johnson said we would leave the EU on 31 October "do or die", and do he cannot believe what he says now.

    Olivia says she was undecided but she was leaning towards the Lib Dems after tonight, although "I never thought I would say it".

    She says Jo Swinson seemed the most honest and what she said on climate change was positive.

  20. Is offshore wind the cheapest form of energy, thanks to the Lib Dems?published at 20:51 Greenwich Mean Time 29 November 2019

    Reality Check

    The claim: Jo Swinson said: "Offshore wind is the cheapest electricity that you can now create, thanks to the Liberal Democrats supporting that technology when we ran the climate change department."

    The verdict: Offshore wind is currently more expensive than onshore wind, gas, or solar, but costs have been tumbling rapidly in price.

    An auction in September saw developers agree to sell power from their projects for less than £40 a megawatt hour - a record low price for offshore wind.

    Analysis by Carbon Brief, external suggests that when these new windfarms start running in 2023, they could be slightly cheaper than existing gas-fired power plants.

    However, the cost of that power in the future will depend on wholesale gas prices, which are impossible to predict.

    Lib Dems managed the Department for Energy and Climate Change from 2010 to 2015 - so they can claim some credit for supporting the remarkable development of the offshore wind industry during those years.

    However, the price for offshore wind fell by 30% in the past two years, long after the Lib Dems left government.