General election latest: Keir Starmer provides answer on Diane Abbott after days of questions and speculation (2024)

By Matthew Thompson, political correspondent

The Lib Dem policy on free school meals is certainly eye-catching.

And it's clever politics, because it's an issue that polls have consistently shown support for since it hit the headlines during the pandemic.

There's just one problem: It's not really a policy.

Or at least, it's only half of one.

In spite of the headline, the Lib Dems aren't actually proposing a policy of free school meals in all primary schools.

It's something they'd like to do, sure.

But only as soon as "the public finances stabilise". Which is about as woolly a commitment as it comes.

To be fair, they do say they have a costed policy to offer free schools meals to 900,000 children in poverty. That would roll out immediately, under a Lib Dem government.

But there's a problem with that, too. The party say they want to raise £1.4bn from a new share buyback tax to pay for it.

But eminent tax experts like the Tax Policy Alliance say that looks ambitious.

In short, taxing buybacks means companies are likely to reward shareholders via other means, like paying dividends - meaning a share buyback tax could ultimately raise very little.

I put that to Sir Ed Davey, who told me today's announcement "took account of potential changes in behaviour that companies may not buy back so many shares".

He said they had reduced their estimate of revenue from £2.3bn to £1.4bn as a result.

Some experts might raise an eyebrow even at that, but I suspect the Lib Dem leader will be happy to have an obscure argument about tax revenues, so long as we are still discussing his headline policy.

ITV has announced it will host another general election debate on Thursday 13 June.

Rather than a head-to-head between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, this will be a multi-party debate, featuring "leaders or senior representatives" from the Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems, SNP, Reform, Greens and Plaid Cymru.

It will be a 90-minute programme, moderated by Julie Etchingham.

Plaid Cymru has already confirmed on social media that their leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth, will be attending, and are calling on both the Tory and Labour leaders to "respect Welsh voters" and join him.

Sky News is planning its own leaders' event in the key battleground seat of Grimsby and Cleethorpes, where we have been regularly reporting on the issues facing local residents.

Voters will be given the opportunity to put questions directly to the leaders.

If you would like to be part of this studio audience, and be given the opportunity to ask a question to one of the party leaders, please complete the short questionnaire inthis link.

Labour leader Sir Keir has agreed to attend, while negotiations are ongoing with Mr Sunak's team.

A spokesperson for the Conservatives said: "Rishi Sunak would be delighted to travel to Grimsby to take part in Sky News leaders' event and answer questions from voters, on the condition that he and Keir Starmer take those questions on stage together.

"This will give viewers the best opportunity to see the clear choice the country faces at this election."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has been speaking to journalists today.

He is asked about Donald Trump being found guilty of 34 felonies.

Sir Ed says he would never vote for Trump if he took part in a US election - adding that he is worried about the presidential candidate's run to return to the White House.

The Lib Dem leader says this is "not least because of what he's saying about support for Ukraine".

"I'm increasingly worried that there are Conservative MPs who say they care about helping Ukraine, but they're supporting Donald Trump," Sir Ed adds.

"That should alarm everybody."

He is also asked about his party's announcement today about plans to provide free school meals to all primary age children.

The money for this was pledged from a levy on share buybacks on the London Stock Exchange.

Sir Ed says the party has given itself headroom for the funding from the levy.

This also accounts for companies that "might change their behaviour".

Sir Keir Starmer's team knew they would hit a wobble at some point in this campaign - and Diane Abbott turned out to be it.

After 72 hours of trying to stonewall questions about her future in the Labour Party, the leadership finally crumbled and Sir Keir preformed the U-turn: Ms Abbott can stand for Labour in her constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington that she's represented for 37 years.

The decision is an attempt to draw a line under the whole sorry affair, which I reckon the top team thought would blow over and was worth riding out as Sir Keir seeks a post-election party with fewer unbiddables and more loyalists.

One figure told me that focus groups suggested the Abbott issue didn't have cut through with voters; and was a Westminster bubble story.

It turned out that view was wrong: Abbott as the first ever black woman MP and represents far more than just her seat.

She does have cut through after all, and support within the party.

As Sir Keir sought to hold the line that Ms Abbott's re-selection was a matter for the NEC, Jess Phillips, the Labour candidate for Birmingham Yardley, told our Electoral Dysfunction podcast that Abbott should be allowed to stand and that this was "not a fight worth having".

Then yesterday Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, weighed in - telling me on the Sky News Daily podcast that she believed Ms Abbott should be allowed to stand if she wanted to.

The backlash was building, not just from the left of the party, but from moderates too - uncomfortable at the manner in which Sir Keir's team seemed to be throwing around their weight: "Why can't they just be gracious in victory?"

Meanwhile, despite the leadership team's early focus groups, the saga around Abbott was gaining momentum as it dominated news bulletins and provoked vocal criticism not just within the party but from without.

A group black British actors, authors and broadcasters wrote in the Guardian to urge Labour to "rectify and reverse" the "disrespectful" treatment of Ms Abbott or risk losing the party's most loyal supporters.

Finally, three days into the wobble that risked lurching into something even more destabilising, Sir Keir has acted to try to steady the campaign and get back on track.

But this was an unforced error that has distracted from what had been a slick campaign and opened Sir Keir up for attack.

The Conservatives will no doubt accuse him of being a ditherer and showing weak leadership.

The row will have knocked morale in the party, with some unhappy about the heavy-handed way in which the leader's office has treated colleagues.

And voters might have perceived a high-handedness in Sir Keir's treatment of Diane Abbott that jars with his message of "humbly" asking for people's votes.

Sir Keir says he's ruthless for a Labour government.

The lesson from this shows he needs to be more ruthless in his decision-making during this election campaign.

We've just had a response from the Conservatives to Sir Keir Starmer's announcement that Diane Abbott is "free" to stand as a Labour candidate at the election, after days of confusion and uncertainty (see post at 13.42).

While the Labour leader had refused say if she should stand as a candidate for the party, senior party figures - including his deputy, Angela Rayner - had said there was no reason she should not be.

A Tory party spokesperson said in response to the announcement today: "Angela Rayner is pushing Keir Starmer around.

"Under pressure, he's showing he's a weak leader who's losing control of the Labour Party.

"That makes it even clearer that you don't know what you're going to get if Keir Starmer becomes prime minister - apart from higher taxes on you andyourfamily."

What are the rules on voter ID?How does tactical voting work? In what different ways can you cast your ballot?

The countdown to the election is on - and already the amount of information can seem overwhelming.

We cut through the noise to bring you what you need to know, from registering to vote, to election day and what happens next.

Read on here...

In the last few minutes, Sir Keir Starmer has said Diane Abbott is "free" to stand for Labour at this general election (more here).

Our political correspondent Tamara Cohensays it "looks like a victory" for Ms Abbott.

The veteran politician had been suspended from the party over comments she made about Jewish people not facing racism.

Tamara explains that while the whip was restored a few days ago, there was a briefing to The Times newspaper saying she would be barred from standing for the party, which "threw everyone into a tailspin".

Sir Keir Starmer has resisted saying over the past few days what his view is, insisting it was a decision for the party's National Executive Committee.

"Well, he's now decided it's a decision he needs to have a view on."

Tamara explains she has heard from party sources that they had at one stage, before the election was called, expected Ms Abbott to announce her retirement and depart "with dignity".

"She now looks to be having the way paved to stand again in Hackney North and Stoke Newington - and, no doubt, being on the left of the party, if she stands and returns as an MP, to be a bit of a thorn in Sir Keir Starmer's side."

By Faye Brown, political reporter

A Conservative parliamentary candidate has said "excrement" was put through the letter of her constituency office in "an attempt to bully me".

Katherine Fletcher, who is standing for re-election in South Ribble, said police are looking into the matter after a volunteer discovered the substance.

In a defiant post on X, she said whoever was trying to "intimidate" her during the election "had picked the wrong person".

In an accompanying video, she said: "Today the police are at my office because somebody has put excrement through the letterbox.

"One of my volunteers had to find that this morning.

"Now, I understand that women get more than their fair share in political environments, but this attempt to bully me will not work because it is not the decent or right thing to do."

Read more here:

By Tom Parmenter, national correspondent

Prioritising older voters while forcing teenagers into national service has been described as "outright wrong" in Sky News' Target Towns.

The early stages of the campaign have seen the Conservatives offering a pensions "triple lock plus" while also promising to force 18-year-olds to dedicate time to the military or community service.

Labour has vowed to maintain the pensions triple lock for the duration of the next Parliament, if elected.

Inside a boxing fitness class laid on for elderly residents of a care home in Grimsby, Sky News heard concerns about an emerging generational divide.

Sydney Ballard, 18, has just started a student work placement at the care home. She said she wanted to see fewer dividing lines in politics.

Read more here: