Starmer says election is a 'choice between Labour and Tories' as Reform unveils pledges

1. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has launched the party's election pledges in Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales
2. The party calls the pledges a "contract" with voters - arguing the word "manifesto" has been devalued
3. The pledges include no income tax for people earning less than £20,000, and leaving the European Convention on Human Rights
4. Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer dismissed "noise" from Farage and said the election is a "straight choice" between Labour and the Tories
5. Labour is today campaigning on the economy - saying its plans would create 650,000 jobs
6. At a meeting in London, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves tells business leaders their "fingers are all over" the Labour manifesto
7. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who's campaigning around Yorkshire and the East Midlands, insists the Conservatives can still win the election

Are renewables really more expensive than fossil fuels?

Justin Rowlatt

Climate editor

That’s what Reform UK claims, and says it's why it plans to scrap all subsidies for renewable energy projects.

The calculation isn’t as straightforward as you might think, though.

The cost of a unit of power from a new solar or wind project is lower than the cost from a new gas generator, according to government figures.

But there are other factors that need to be taken into account.

Renewable power is intermittent. The electricity system needs a source of backup power for when the sun isn’t shining, or the wind isn’t blowing – gas power stations or batteries, for example.

Calculating how much that will cost will depend on all sorts of factors including the future price of gas and the cost of electricity storage facilities.

That’s not all. We all experienced how energy prices spiked after Russia invaded Ukraine. That represents a serious cost to the economy too, says the Office of Budget Responsibility.

Renewables prices are more predictable and therefore would make the country more resilient against price shocks.

So, while renewables are relatively cheap and getting cheaper it is hard to say for certain whether an electricity system with a high level of renewables will lead to higher or lower bills than one that relies more on gas.

What is the ECHR?

Watch: Farage pledges Reform UK would seek to leave the ECHR

Earlier, we heard Nigel Farage unveil Reform UK's election pledge to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as part of a four-point plan he claims would "stop the boats".

Here's some more detail about ECHR is and how it works:

The ECHR – established in 1950 – sets out the rights and freedoms people are entitled to in the 46 signatory countries. It's overseen by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. It is separate to the European Union.

The court rules on a range of areas - known as articles. People can take their own countries to court at the ECHR if they feel their rights have been violated.

The court's decisions are legally binding on member nations and the articles cover things, like a ban on slavery, people's right not to be tortured and the right for men and women to marry.

A look at Reform's gender policies

Alison Holt

Social affairs editor

Reform puts issues and arguments around gender on the first page of its “contract” of promises.

It talks about “divisive ‘woke’ ideology” and claims it has captured public institutions.

Within the first one hundred days of government, it pledges to ban what it calls “transgender ideology” in primary and secondary schools.

It says this would mean no gender questioning, social transitioning or pronoun swapping in schools, and that parents would be informed about children’s life decisions.

It also says it will review the Online Safety Bill to look at the role played by social media in promoting ideas around gender.

It promises to replace the Equality Act and says it would scrap diversity, equality and inclusion rules.

Reform calls BBC 'out of touch' as it pledges to scrap licence fee

Katie Razzall

Culture editor

There is no specific chapter dedicated to arts or the creative industries in the “contract”.

Reform directs some focus at the BBC which it calls “out of touch”, “wasteful” and “institutionally biased”.

The party would scrap the TV licence fee.

The Conservatives previously launched a review into whether a subscription model, advertising or another way to fund the corporation would work better.

The BBC’s charter runs until 2027 so any changes would be implemented after that.

The BBC’s mission is to provide impartial, high quality and distinctive output. The board of governors’ remit includes ensuring value for money for the taxpayer.

Also included in Reform’s policies are plans to launch an inquiry into social media harms and a review of the Online Safety Bill.

That puts the onus on social media companies to remove illegal content and protect children on their platforms, with powers given to Ofcom to fine those that fail to do so.

Labour peer loses whip after calling candidate 'lazy'

Reuters

Rosie Duffield said she withdrew from hustings events because she did not feel safe

We still have plenty more analysis of Reform UK's election pledges to come, but let us quickly bring you news from Labour, as its peer Lord Michael Cashman has had the party whip removed.

It comes after he said Rosie Duffield – the candidate for Canterbury who withdrew from election hustings over safety concerns – was "frit or lazy".

Duffield said she didn't feel safe because of "constant trolling, spite and misrepresentation".

Lord Cashman, the former EastEnders actor and Labour MEP, apologised "unreservedly" for his comments on Sunday.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Lord Cashman's remarks were "particularly inappropriate and that's why the support of the whip was withdrawn as it was very swiftly".

As a reminder, you can find a list of all the candidates standing for election in Canterbury here.

Too round to be rigorous?

Andy Verity

Economics correspondent

The Reform Party’s "contract" has big, bold round numbers – great for the eye-pop factor.

But are they dealing with reality? Spending has jumped by £200 billion since 2019, it says. The implication is that much of that is waste.

Actually, public spending jumped from £992bn in 2019 to £1,172bn in 2020 because in the pandemic, the government paid the wage bills of small businesses, kept transport running, and so on.

It dropped sharply the following year when that wasn’t needed, but rose again in 2022/23 when public money was used to subsidise energy bills.

The Office for Budget Responsibility now expects it to keep growing but more slowly than the economy. That’s not because it anticipates lots more waste.

As to its ability to slash £50 billion from government spending by scrapping dozens of quangos, Boris Johnson’s government tried a "bonfire of the quangos" in 2022.

Quangos merged – but billions weren’t saved.

Reform plans big tax cuts and to scrap net zero targets

Simon Jack

Business editor

Reform pledges include some big tax cuts for small business, including introducing a corporation tax free allowance of £100k in profits and lifting the threshold when business have to be VAT registered to £150k from £90k.

Reform also promise to abolish business rates for high street SMEs, paid for by an 4% online deliver tax for large multinationals.

The biggest revenue raisers are a scrapping of net zero targets – which Reform claim could save £30bn a year – and a £35bn a year raid on banks by ceasing to pay interest on the £700bn of bonds they hold at the Bank of England as a result of the post financial crisis Quantitative Easing program.

On energy, government figures estimate that offshore wind is cheaper than gas over the long term and is less vulnerable to volatile oil and gas prices.

Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England governor, has said that a tax on banks would raise the cost of borrowing for people and businesses.

Reform’s targeting of big business is perhaps an unusual one for a party of the right, but Nigel Farage is unapologetic for a manifesto he described as radical.

BBC Verify

Tamara Kovacevic

Is Farage right about deportations under Labour?

Speaking earlier at the Reform UK launch, party leader Nigel Farage claimed: "In the last years of the Labour government, we were deporting up to 40,000 people a year who'd come illegally".

In 2010, a total of 45,690 people were returned from the UK, according to Home Office figures.

However, less than a third (13,928) were so-called “enforced returns” – people who refused to leave the UK voluntarily and whose departure was enforced by the Home Office. And we don’t know how many have them had arrived illegally in the first place.

Returns were fairly constant – at about 40,000 a year between 2010 and 2015 but have declined since 2016.

The numbers have risen again since the pandemic, although they remain lower than in 2017 and before.

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What is Reform UK pledging?

Sean Curran

Parliamentary correspondent

Let's now go back to looking at what Nigel Farage's party is promising voters.

Reform UK’s election document opens with five "core pledges":

• Freeze all non-essential immigration to "boost wages, protect public services, end the housing crisis and cut crime"
• Tackle the small boats crisis with a promise that illegal immigrants will be detained and deported, and "if needed" migrants in small boats taken back to France

• Raise the income tax threshold to £20,000 - the party says this will take seven million out of income tax
• Scrap energy levies and net zero. It says this will save each household £500 a year. The party also says it will "unlock Britain’s vast oil and gas reserves"
• On NHS waiting lists, Reform says it will cut "back office waste" in order to spend more on frontline services. It’s also promising tax breaks for doctors and nurses to tackle the staffing crisis

On how this might be paid for, Reform UK promises to save £150bn a year, with policies including:

• Stopping the Bank of England paying interest to commercial banks on quantitative easing reserves, saving £35 billion a year
• Cutting bureaucracy and improving efficiency - Reform says it will save £5 in every £100, worth £50 billion a year
• Cutting the foreign aid budget by 50% - that’s £6 billion from the £12.8 billion budget
• Collecting billions in unpaid taxes

Labour campaign hits Sunak's hometown

Helen Catt

Political correspondent

If there was such a thing as campaign-location trolling, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves may have just done it, as they chose a visit to Rishi Sunak’s hometown of Southampton to kick off their big economy week.

A Q&A with port workers seemed to go pretty smoothly - including a moment with an undecided voter.

Today’s message is about new jobs and the green economy but I’m told ”economy week“ will go much wider to take in a lot more topics including housing.

Tories are desperate if they're planning personal attacks - Starmer

PA Media

Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves visited a dockyard in Southampton earlier

Keir Starmer's also out on the campaign trail this afternoon, and has been asked about a report in the Times today that Rishi Sunak is being urged to get more personal in his attacks on Starmer.

The Times says cabinet ministers and senior Tories are urging Sunak to ""go for the jugular" and target Starmer over his earlier support for former party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and his push for a second referendum on Brexit.

"That's all they've got left after 14 desperate years," Starmer tells reporters. "You get to to the last weeks and the only thing they've got left is to attack me personally, I think that tells you everything."

"If they had a record to stand on, they would go into the final two weeks saying these are the brilliant things we've done but they haven't got a record to stand on and if they said they'd done brilliantly people would laugh at them."

Sunak: 'I believe we can win'

EPA

Sunak was campaigning in East Yorkshire on Monday

Turning to the Conservative campaign for a moment, Rishi Sunak has been speaking about his party's chances after one of his ministers, Grant Shapps, earlier said it was "realistic" to say the Tories were unlikely to win.

(Shapps said that to Times Radio, but also said it was still possible the Tories would win).

"There’s still two-and-a-half weeks to go in this election, I’m fighting hard for every vote because I believe we can win," Sunak says, arguing the choice is between the Conservatives or Labour.

He says he understands some people's frustrations - which he calls "undeniable" - with some voters deciding to turn to Reform UK, adding: “But the point now is we are on the right track and this election is about the future."

Reform's pledge to clear NHS waiting list in two years is big talk

Sophie Hutchinson

Health correspondent

Reform UK says its policies would eradicate NHS waiting lists in two years. This is big talk.

Waiting lists for treatments are huge and remain stubbornly high at 7.57 million.

Reform said the NHS must use the private sector more to help take the pressure off the NHS.

It also says private healthcare providers and insurance should have 20% tax relief.

But there are concerns it would simply take money out of the public purse to give to profitable business; encourage NHS staff to move to the private sector and leave the NHS worse off, according to the Nuffield Trust.

The questionable science behind Reform’s net zero plan

Justin Rowlatt

Climate editor

If you want to understand the scientific basis of Reform’s climate policies, head to the party’s website.

It says trying to reduce CO2 emissions to tackle climate change is pointless.

“Climate change has happened for millions of years, before man made CO2 emissions, and will always change”, its website says.

“We are better to adapt to warming, rather than pretend we can stop it”, it concludes.

That’s not what the scientific community says. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN’s climate science body, regularly reviews all the scientific evidence on climate change. Its reports are endorsed by almost all the governments of the world.

It says there is no doubt that human activities – in particular burning fossil fuels and changes in land use – are releasing greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and that these are responsible for the rapid warming the world has experienced in recent decades.

The IPCC is also clear what the science indicates needs to be done. It says reducing emissions is key: “Every tonne of carbon dioxide that we emit into the atmosphere from now on will warm the climate further".

Is Reform UK making things harder for the Lib Dems?

Jessica Parker

Political correspondent, in south Devon

PA Media

Davey was in Broadsands Beach near Paignton in Devon this morning

Sir Ed Davey has rejected this suggestion, that Reform UK, by getting headlines, are making things harder for the Lib Dems .

“No. We don’t share any values with Reform.”

“They’ve got a right to stand,” he said while claiming: “They’re not going to win many seats if any at all, frankly.”

“People know that we can win seats.”

Reform's NHS spending pledge is a lot higher than other parties'

Sophie Hutchinson

Health correspondent

On the NHS, Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said earlier at the manifesto launch: “All we want is an NHS free at point of delivery that actually works.”

The party’s so-called “contract” sets out an extra £17bn pounds a year for the health service.

That’s significantly higher spending than any of the three main parties.

By 2028/29 the Conservative Party is pledging around a £1bn extra for the NHS, the Labour Party around £2bn extra and Lib Dems £5.8bn extra in real terms.

What has Reform pledged on housing?

Kevin Peachey

Cost of living correspondent

On housing, Reform’s contract clearly aims to appeal to homeowners, including landlords.

As part of the proposed changes to taxation, there is the idea of lifting the stamp duty threshold significantly in England and Northern Ireland.

At present, those who move – rather than first-time buyers – pay stamp duty when buying a home for more than £250,000. Reform says this should rise to £750,000.

Then there are the proposals on inheritance tax, and scrapping previous tax changes for landlords. All of which would be very expensive for any government and raises further questions on whether the money could adequately be found elsewhere.

For renters, there is no repeat of Labour and Conservative plans to ban no-fault evictions, with Reform arguing existing laws are adequate.

BBC Verify

Ben Chu, Policy & Analysis correspondent

How would Reform raise money from interest payments?

Reform claims it would save £35bn a year by stopping the Bank of England paying interest to commercial banks.

This is a complex proposal related to the Bank of England’s post-2008 financial crisis scheme called Quantitative Easing, but financial experts say this Reform proposal would effectively represent a new tax on the commercial banks.

And they estimate it would be likely to raise up to £20bn a year, not £35bn.

Furthermore, they warn there are risks from this Reform plan in terms of the Bank of England’s ability to control interest rates.

Did 1 in 30 people in the UK arrive in the past two years?

Daniel Sandford

Home Affairs Correspondent

In his speech, Nigel Farage repeated his claim that one in 30 people on the streets of the UK "came in the last two years".

But this sum ignores the fact that some of the people who left the UK recently are people who arrived in the last two years, so it is likely an overestimate.

In its "contract", Reform UK talks about "smart immigration not mass immigration".

The party says it would freeze non-essential immigration, but concedes that there would be exceptions and that healthcare is essential.

On small boats bringing migrants across the Channel, Reform says it would "pick up illegal migrants out of boats and take them back to France" - but it doesn't explain how it would persuade France to accept that.

They say they would ban dependants (partners and children) coming to the UK with students, and they say employers would have to pay an increased 20% National Insurance rate on foreign workers' wages.

Questions over - analysis to come

Owen Amos

Live reporter

Now the questions are over at the Reform UK event, we'll bring you more analysis from our team of experts, including at BBC Verify.

The first post, up next, will be from our home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford on Nigel Farage's claim that "one in 30 people on the streets of Britain today have come here in the last two years alone".