Election latest: Starmer avoids saying where funding for NHS reform will come from as poll suggests public backs tax rises to pay for healthcare (2024)

Labour are campaigning on the NHS today.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, has given an interview to The Times.

Mr Streeting says that while he does "feel a loyalty to the NHS", he reiterates that it is "a service, not a shrine".

His position - that the NHS needs to be reformed - has seen him criticised by some in unions and on the left of his party.

But he defends people who choose to use private healthcare - as he considered when he was being treated for kidney cancer.

"People who are going private are refugees, not traitors," Mr Streeting said.

"People are voting with their feet, through no fault of their own, I don't judge people who have paid to go private — they're fleeing from the NHS."

Speaking to reporters today, Sir Keir Starmer says that putting capital gains tax on first houses was never a Labour policy.

The Conservatives have been trying to claim Labour will raise any tax that has not been ruled out.

Asked about capital gains, Sir Keir says: "Absolutely, it was never a policy.

"It doesn't need ruling out, but let's rule it out, in case anyone pretends that it was (a policy)."

Asked whether he had been "vague" in his tax pledges, Sir Keir said: "Well, I think when it comes to tax, we've been really clear they won't rise, so that's no rise in income tax and national insurance or VAT.

"This is just a desperate story by the Tories in relation to capital gains tax on primary residences."

While Sir Keir Starmer campaigns in England, Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner is in Livingstone, West Lothian.

Speaking to Sky News, Ms Rayner is asked about the union reaction to Labour's green plans.

The party's policy to not issue new oil and gas licences could impact the massive industry in Scotland.

Unite, Labour's biggest donor, has called for no action to be taken in the sector without a plan.

Asked if Labour does not have a viable plan, Ms Rayner says: "No, I dispute that - and Unite will always want more.

"That is what Unite is like, and I appreciate that as a former union rep myself.

"But a new deal for working people will transform the working lives of people here in Scotland."

She adds that "oil and gas won't last forever" - but existing licences will be guaranteed.

"So this scaremongering that those jobs will go is not correct," Ms Rayner says.

In our previous post, Sir Keir Starmer was questioned about his commitments on the NHS.

It was based on analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent economic think tank.

After Labour's manifesto was released, the IFS said: "The Labour Party has not set out an overall spending plan for health and social care in England.

"This makes it impossible to judge the plausibility of the party's plans for cutting waiting times, increasing the workforce and building new hospitals.

"Achieving the promises in the manifesto will require the NHS budget to grow substantially faster than inflation over the next parliament, almost certainly needing growth of upwards of 3% above inflation each year."

It added that the £1.8bn promised by Labour amounts to less than 1% of the £192 health and social care budget.

And the IFS went on to say that Labour commits to major reform in adult social care but provides "next to no detailon how or when these would be implemented".

Sir Keir Starmer has just been speaking to broadcasters, after visiting a hospital in Nottinghamshire.

He was asked - like shadow health secretary Wes Streeting - how his party plans to fund the NHS as Labour looks to attack the Conservatives over their history running the service.

It is put to him that independent analysis has shown a 3% year-on-year real terms funding increase is needed to match the pledges on the NHS that Labour have made.

Asked if Sir Keir can guarantee this, he says that one of Labour's "first steps" if they get into government will be to roll out 40,000 extra appoints every week.

This will be done "sleeves rolled" up on day one, the Labour leader says.

While this policy would be paid for by closing tax loopholes, Sir Keir doesn't say where the money for the rest of his plans will come from.

He is also asked if he is scaremongering over Labour's claims that waiting lists will reach 10 million if the Conservatives win the election, after this claim was questioned.

Sir Keir says waiting lists are at "an all-time high", and repeats that lists would reach 10 million if the Tories had another five years in government.

Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, has been speaking to broadcasters this morning.

During the coalition years, Sir Ed Davey was the minister responsible for the Post Office, while the Horizon scandal was still happening.

Asked about campaigner Sir Alan Bates being made a knight in the King's Birthday Honours, the Lib Dem leader said: "Well I want to congratulate Alan Bates - this is thoroughly deserved."

He added that it is an honour "not just for him, but on behalf of subpostmasters - and that's really good news".

Sir Ed said the "system" lied to people - including "MPs and ministers of all parties". He says it also lied to "the court".

Sir Alan deserves "all credit" for "determinedly fighting the system".

Asked if, as a former Post Office minister, he should apologise, Sir Ed said he has said sorry to Sir Alan for not meeting him shortly after taking office in government.

He said that he asked questions Sir Alan had to the Post Office - but they lied to him.

By Dr Hannah Bunting, Sky News elections analyst, and Joely Santa Cruz, data journalist

This week, the leaders were selling their visions to voters as they launched their manifestos, and Sunak and Starmer went head to head in Grimsby at the Sky News live election special The Battle For Number 10.

Watch their journeys in the latest week in our animated map below.

This campaign is being fought on new electoral boundaries, with many constituencies undergoing significant changes since 2019.

For the purposes of this analysis, we use notional results based on calculations by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, Honorary Professors at the University of Exeter, which estimate the 2019 election seat results if they had taken place on the new constituency boundaries.

Read the full piece below:

By Alexandra Rogers, political reporter

The Conservatives have raised just 10% of the donations they managed to collect in 2019 under Boris Johnson in the first week of the election campaign.

Electoral Commission data released today shows the Tories raised £574,918 in the period 30 May to 5 June, compared with the £5.7m they received from 6-12 November five years ago.

The figures show political parties reported £3.2m in donations in the first week of the election campaign.

Mr Sunak's party raised £574,918 through donations alone, on top of £22,453 that came from public funds.

Meanwhile, Labour generated £926,908 from donations alone and £652,411 from the public funds that are given to opposition parties with more than two MPs.

They show a complete turnaround in Labour's fortunes from the 2019 election, when the party raised just £218,500 in the first week of that campaign.

This time round, the single biggest donation given to Labour totalled £500,000 from film company Toledo Productions.

Read the full story here:

Our live poll tracker collates the results of opinion surveys carried out by all the main polling organisations - and allows you to see how the political parties are performing in the run-up to the general election.

So far, only one poll has shown Reform ahead of the Conservatives - the Tories are currently an average of 7 points ahead of Nigel Farage's party.

Read more about the tracker here.

Rosie Duffield, who is Labour's candidate for the Canterbury seat in Kent, has pulled out of a hustings saying she does not feel safe.

Ms Duffield has campaigned in support of women's rights and female-only spaces, and has also clashed with the Labour leadership on various occasions.

It was previously reported that she spent £2,000 on bodyguards while campaigning.

Writing on social media on Friday, Ms Duffield said: "The constant trolling, spite and misrepresentation from certain people, having built up over a number of years and being pursued with a new vigour during this election, is now affecting my sense of security and wellbeing.

"The result is now that I feel unable to be focused on giving a clear presentation of the Labour Party's manifesto commitments."

A Labour Party spokesperson described the right to campaign as a "vital" aspect of British democracy.

"It is vital to our democracy that prospective parliamentary candidates are able to campaign freely," the spokesperson said.

"We completely condemn any intimidation tactics towards candidates of any party."

The full list of candidates in Canterbury is:

• Luke Buchanan-Hodgman, Social Democratic Party;
• Rosie Duffield, Labour Party;
• Louise Harvey-Quirke, Conservative and Unionist Party;
• Bridget Porter, Reform UK;
• Henry Stanton, Green Party;
• Russ Timpson, Liberal Democrats.