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Sir Keir Starmer said it is “nonsense” to suggest he would duck TV debates with Rishi Sunak during the general election campaign.

The Labour leader insisted he was happy to exchange views with the prime minister at any time, following reports that Labour aides would prefer him to avoid televised clashes that could get personal in the fight for the keys to Number 10.

“I’ve been saying bring it on for a very, very long time. I’m happy to debate any time,” Sir Keir said.

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Last week, a report in the Sunday Times claimed that Mr Sunak’s allies see TV debates as an opportunity to pitch him against Sir Keir in the choice between the two leaders.

According to the newspaper, the Tories will seek to paint the Labour leader as unprincipled and argue that despite the prime minister’s personal wealth and unpopularity, at least people “know what he believes in”.

The newspaper reported that conversations between Mr Sunak’s team and broadcasters have already begun.

But it suggested that Labour aides are less enthusiastic about the prospect of TV debates, and would prefer opposition leader Sir Keir to duck them.

Sir Keir’s comments came as Mr Sunak gave the clearest indication yet of when he will call the election, telling reporters his “working assumption” is that it will be held “in the second half of this year”.

What are the rules on TV debates?

Cameron, Clegg and Brown faced off against each other in the 2010 debates
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David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown faced off against each other in the 2010 debates

There is nothing in electoral law that requires televised election debates between party leaders.

If they take place, they are a matter for broadcasters and political parties.

The first general election TV debates in the UK took place in 2010 when three head-to-head clashes were held between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, then the leaders of the three main parties.

Before then, the UK was considered unusual in developed democracies in not holding televised debates between party leaders during general election campaigns (they are well established in the US, for example).

The first debate in 2010 was watched by 10 million people, and there was a perception that they were useful and might become a permanent feature of the election process.

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However, in subsequent elections, broadcasters and politicians have failed to agree on terms. There were no head-to-head debates between the leaders of the main parties in 2015 or 2017.

In 2015 there was one seven-way debate with Mr Cameron, Labour’s Ed Miliband and the leaders of the smaller parties.

In 2017, then prime minister Theresa May infamously refused to debate with her Labour counterpart Jeremy Corbyn or other party leaders and her place was taken in one TV debate by then home secretary Amber Rudd.

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn
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Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn

In 2019, there were, for the first time, two head-to-head debates between the prime minister and opposition leader, with Boris Johnson and Mr Corbyn facing off.

However a Sky News debate proposed for 28 November between Mr Johnson, Mr Corbyn and Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson was cancelled after neither Mr Johnson nor Mr Corbyn were willing to participate.

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Grant Shapps ‘angry inside’ over infected blood scandal ahead of inquiry report

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Grant Shapps 'angry inside' over infected blood scandal ahead of inquiry report

The defence secretary has said he is “angry inside” over the infected blood scandal ahead of a long-waited report into the decades-long injustice.

Grant Shapps told Sky News he agreed it had been one of the most “shameful failures” of government and said he was dismayed by the “lack of anybody taking responsibility”.

The findings of a public inquiry into the scandal, chaired by Sir Brian Langstaff, are due to be published on Monday.

From 1970 to the 1990s, tens of thousands of people were infected with contaminated blood through blood products or blood transfusions given via the NHS. People were infected with hepatitis or HIV – in some cases with both.

An estimated 3,000 people died as a result.

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Mr Shapps told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that the scandal was a “massive injustice which needs to be put right” and said the government would act on the report.

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Thousands of people died after being given infected blood

He said that while he was yet to see the report, he hoped it would finally allow families’ pain and loss to be acknowledged and for the government to properly respond.

Mr Shapps said he had spoken to relatives of several victims, including a couple who had lost their son, and said their stories made feel him “angry inside”.

He added: “It just made me angry to know they had lost their son without anyone ever taking responsibility, so I think this is why this report tomorrow is very important.”

Successive governments have been blamed for failing to take responsibility and the current government has been accused of trying to delay compensation to victims after an inquiry was first set up by Theresa May in 2017.

It is estimated that the compensation bill could now exceed £10m.

The defence secretary admitted the process of delivering payouts to victims had gone on for “so long”.

He added: “This is a massive injustice which needs to be put right.

“And I know the government said we will. The report tomorrow, I think, will be the day for that family and others and I know the government will want to respond quickly.”

Asked whether Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would apologise to the victims, Mr Shapps said: “I don’t want to mislead because I don’t have special insight into that.”

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Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting also told Trevor Phillips that he expected “successive governments” to be criticised in the report by Sir Brian.

“Everyone has got their responsibility to bear in this appalling scandal and we have got a shared responsibility to put it right,” he said.

“The moment to act can’t come soon enough.”

Sir Brian is due to deliver his final report just after midday on Monday.

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Venezuela bans crypto mining to protect power grid

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Venezuela bans crypto mining to protect power grid

This move follows a recent crackdown that involved confiscating 2,000 cryptocurrency mining devices as part of an anti-corruption initiative.

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Sir Jim Ratcliffe scolds Tories over handling of economy and immigration after Brexit

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Sir Jim Ratcliffe scolds Tories over handling of economy and immigration after Brexit

Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has told Sky News that Britain is ready for a change of government after scolding the Conservatives over their handling of the economy and immigration after Brexit.

While insisting his petrochemicals conglomerate INEOS is apolitical, Sir Jim backed Brexit and spent last weekend with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Manchester United – the football club he now runs as minority owner.

“I’m sure Keir will do a very good job at running the country – I have no questions about that,” Sir Jim said in an exclusive interview.

“There’s no question that the Conservatives have had a good run,” he added. “I think most of the country probably feels it’s time for a change. And I sort of get that, really.”

Read more: Sir Jim’s mission to succeed at ‘the one challenge the UK has never brought home’

Sir Jim was a prominent backer of leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum but now has issues with how Brexit was delivered by Tory prime ministers.

“Brexit sort of unfortunately didn’t turn out as people anticipated because… Brexit was largely about immigration,” Sir Jim said.

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“That was the biggest component of that vote. People were getting fed up with the influx of the city of Southampton coming in every year. I think last year it was two times Southampton.

“I mean, no small island like the UK could cope with vast numbers of people coming into the UK.

“I mean, it just overburdens the National Health Service, the traffic service, the police, everybody.

“The country was designed for 55 or 60 million people and we’ve got 70 million people and all the services break down as a consequence.

“That’s what Brexit was all about and nobody’s implemented that. They just keep talking about it. But nothing’s been done, which is why I think we’ll finish up with the change of government.”

Watch Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s full interview on the Trevor Phillips on Sunday morning programme on Sky News from 8.30am

UK needs to get ‘sharper on the business front’

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has indicated an election is due this year but Monaco-based Sir Jim is unimpressed by the Conservatives’ handling of the economy.

“The UK does need to get a bit sharper on the business front,” he said. “I think the biggest objective for the government is to create growth in the economy.

“There’s two parts of the economy, there’s the services side of the economy and there’s the manufacturing side. And the manufacturing, unfortunately, has been sliding away now for the last 25 years.

“We were very similar in scale to Germany probably 25 years ago.

“But today we’re just a fraction of where Germany is and I think that isn’t healthy for the British economy… particularly when you think the north of England is very manufacturing based, and that talks to things like energy competitiveness, it talks to things like, why do you put an immensely high tax on the North Sea?

“That just disincentivises people from finding hydrocarbons in the North Sea, in energy.

“And what we need is competitive energy. So I mean, in America, in the energy world, in the oil and gas world, they just apply a corporation tax to the oil and gas companies, which is about 30%. And in the UK we’ve got this tax of 75% because we want to kill off the oil and gas companies.

“But if we don’t have competitive energy, we’re not going to have a healthy manufacturing industry. And that just makes no sense to me at all. No.”

‘We’re apolitical’

Asked about INEOS donating to Labour, Sir Jim replied: “We’re apolitical, INEOS.

“We just want a successful manufacturing sector in the UK and we’ve talked to the government about that. It’s pretty clear about our views.”

Sir Jim was keener to talk about the economy and politics than his role at struggling Manchester United, which he bought a 27.7% stake in from the American Glazer family in February – giving him an even higher business profile.

Old Trafford stadium in Manchester. Pic: AP
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Old Trafford stadium in Manchester. Pic: AP

Push for stadium of the North

He is continuing to push for public funds to regenerate Old Trafford and the surrounding areas despite no apparent political support being forthcoming. Sir Keir was hosted at the stadium for a Premier League match last weekend just as heavy rain exposed the fragility of the ageing venue.

“There’s a very good case, in my view, for having a stadium of the North, which would serve the northern part of the country in that arena of football,” Sir Jim said. “If you look at the number of Champions League the North West has won, it’s 10. London has won two.

“And yet everybody from the North has to get down to London to watch a big football match. And there should be one [a large stadium] in the North, in my view.

“But it’s also important for the southern side of Manchester, you know, to regenerate.

“It’s the sort of second capital of the country where the Industrial Revolution began.

“But if you have a regeneration project, you need a nucleus or a regeneration project and having that world-class stadium there, I think would provide the impetus to regenerate that region.”

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