Rishi Sunak delivers ‘kitchen sink’ manifesto – but he was unable to promise biggest thing Conservative MPs want

Published

12 months ago

June 11, 2024

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As Rishi Sunak was winding up his manifesto launch at metaphor-heavy Silverstone race track, the scale of the prime minister’s task in the remainder of the election campaign was becoming clear.

According to the exclusive Sky News-YouGov poll, Sunak needs to go through the gears at once or he’s in danger of dropping to the bottom step of the podium.

He was speaking hours before it emerged voting intention for the Conservatives had dropped to the joint lowest in this parliament – 18% – now putting Sunak’s party just one point ahead of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK on 17%, tantalisingly close to a crossover.

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A full third of 2019 Tory voters – the cohort that endorsed Boris Johnson last time – now say they will switch to Reform UK, while the proportion who think Sunak will be a good prime minister is down two points – to 22% – in the last fortnight. That last figure is possibly a casualty of the PM’s decision to leave D-Day commemorations early – and could conceivably have been worse.

The notable drop in Labour’s vote – three points to 38% – will do little to cheer a Tory party in the doldrums, consumed with their own existential angst. This is because the switch seems to match the Lib Dems jumping up four point to 15%. Much of the YouGov fieldwork was done when the Lib Dem manifesto was receiving peak coverage.

The question is whether the Tory manifesto launch could possibly have provided anything new with which to turn things around, from a position as dire as any Conservative can remember in living memory.

Sunak has thrown everything at this manifesto: it’s 72 pages long, with nearly £20bn worth of tax and spending announcements.

There are pledges designed to appease and appeal to just about every demographic, from 2p off national insurance for working families, to accelerated national insurance abolition for the self-employed, to tax cuts for pensions, to help for first-time buyers and tax breaks for wealthier parents. This is to be paid for, Sunak said, in large part by yet more promises to pare back welfare, squeeze the public sector and more anti-avoidance measures.

It is a “kitchen sink” manifesto for the Tories. But it is not the first “kitchen sink” manifesto in recent memory.

Sir Keir Starmer boldly compared Sunak’s offering with that of Jeremy Corbyn – stuffed with policies that seem, and poll as, popular but are not sustainably affordable as an overall package.

The Labour leader was, of course, displaying the chutzpah of a man 20 points ahead in the polls by casually disowning a manifesto he himself stood on five years ago.

Nevertheless, his political purpose by making this point is two-fold: firstly, he is attempting to needle away further at the Conservatives’ claim of economic credibility, while also reminding people that manifestos stacked with popular policies do not automatically win elections.

But despite having individually popular ideas, the prime minister was unable to deliver perhaps the biggest thing Tory MPs might have wanted – a promise to reduce the overall tax burden in the next parliament.

It is the tax burden that hangs around the neck of a party proud of its low tax heritage, at an event at which Sunak had the audacity to invoke Nigel Lawson, the 1980s tax-cutting chancellor.

Sunak cannot bring it down. Yet he is unwilling to be completely automatically transparent over this point.

Examine carefully this painful exchange in the questions from the media afterwards, when Sunak’s sleight of hand was noticeable.

He was asked by the Daily Mail: “Can you today guarantee that if you get in, overall taxes will be lower by the time you finish?”

To this, Sunak replied: “Because of the measures that are announced in the manifesto and you can see that document afterwards, the tax burden will be about one percentage point lower in every single year compared to the forecast that you saw at the spring budget a few months ago that Jeremy (Hunt, the chancellor) outlined.”

This answer is deliberately elliptical, because the truth is hard: more people are dragged into higher tax bands because of frozen thresholds, designed to pay back some of the debt incurred in COVID.

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As my colleague Ed Conway, Sky’s economics editor, says, even after the tax cuts in this manifesto, everyone will still be paying higher taxes in 2028-29 than we are today.

So the answer to the Daily Mail is yes – the tax burden will be higher, albeit not as high as previously planned.

Sunak’s answer, while true, made it sound like the picture is better than it is when it comes to tax – and it’s a complication for a Tory leader trying to make tax the key dividing line with his Labour opposition in this election.

As Beth Rigby pointed out, a recent poll shows that only one in six voters believe Sunak won’t raise their taxes, or raise major taxes, compared with one in four for Labour – and she asked him whether this means he has “blown it”.

“I’m not afraid to do things that are difficult,” he pleaded in response. It’s not clear many on his own side believe this argument will wash with the public at this late stage in the political cycle.

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will face questions from Beth Rigby and members of the public during Sky News’ special leaders’ event on Wednesday.

The programme airs live from Grimsby from 7pm on Sky News – Freeview channel 233, Sky 501, Virgin 603, BT 313 – and streaming on the Sky News website, app and across social channels. It is also available to watch on Sky Showcase.

UK

Russell Brand: Comedian and actor pleads not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges

Published

18 hours ago

May 30, 2025

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Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges as he appeared in court in London.

The British comedian and actor, from Hambleden in Buckinghamshire, was charged by post last month with one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape as well as two counts of sexual assault.

The charges relate to alleged incidents involving four separate women between 1999 and 2005.

The 49-year-old, who has been living in the US, was flanked by two officers as he pleaded not guilty to all the charges at Southwark Crown Court today.

Brand stood completely still and looked straight ahead as he delivered his pleas.

The comedian, who has consistently denied having non-consensual sex since allegations were first aired two years ago, is due to stand trial in June 2026.

He previously told his 11.2 million followers on X that he welcomed the opportunity to prove his innocence.

The allegations were first made in a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches in September 2023.

As Friday’s hearing finished, Brand replaced his sunglasses before exiting the dock and calmly walking past reporters.

UK

Tom Daley says ‘it’s scary how LGBT rights are being dangerously threatened’

Published

18 hours ago

May 30, 2025

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Tom Daley says 'it's scary how LGBT rights are being dangerously threatened'

Even as someone who has grown up in the public eye, Tom Daley has vulnerabilities and concerns to finally reveal.

The five-time Olympic medallist has an even greater perspective as the British diver who first competed at the Games aged 14 in 2008, who is now retired and a father of two.

Having grown up in the public eye when social media was still in its infancy, Daley is deeply troubled by the toxicity online, especially for someone with an opinion.

And the 31-year-old has spoken out from a young age – from LGBTQ+ rights to bullying and mental health – but he is ready to go further now.

“There’s lots of things I think we’ll look back on this last five, 10 years of human history as being quite shocking in a way,” Daley said in an interview with Sky News.

“When social media came to prevalence – and cancel culture and people not being allowed to make any mistakes or be able to share too many opinions – it can be very scary and intimidating for certain groups of people.

“I think it definitely pits lots of people against each other and I think we always have to remember that we’re all in this together at the end of the day.

“And there’s so many more important things – being able to come together as one human race and I know that sounds very like hippie-dippie.

“But it really is as simple as that, about just being kind to each other.

“Where has that kindness and compassion gone because everybody feels like they have something to say about very small groups of people.”

A front row seat to LA 2028

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion revealed he was gay in 2013 and went on to marry Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black.

They now live as a family in Los Angeles – the city hosting the 2028 Olympics.

Having retired from diving after a final silver medal at Paris 2024, Daley will have a front row seat to the Games taking place in an America where Donald Trump has seemed to roll back LGBTQ+ protections early in his second presidential term.

“It is scary in some parts of the world how the rights of LGBT people are kind of being reversed or they’re being dangerously threatened,” Daley said when asked about Trump.

“It’s something again where minorities have to come together for the greater good because it is scary.

“And you may see someone else’s rights going away and I think it’s important that everybody, especially minorities, come together because it won’t just be one group that gets targeted.

“Once one group has been targeted, it will move on to the next, and the next, and the next.

“I think the most important thing is staying visible. I think lots of people ask, ‘What can you do to be an activist? What can you do to an advocate?’

“I think it’s being truly and authentically yourself. As long as you’re happy, your friends and family are happy, and you’re not hurting anyone else, then I think just being visible is a great form of activism.”

Trump election victory was a ‘shock’

“For lots of people living in the West Coast bubble, it was like a bit of a shock when Trump won the election in November,” Daley said.

“But I think it’s also given everybody a wake-up call. I just always believe in leading with kindness, care and compassion and trying to make life worth living for every single person.”

Daley knows what it is like to feel targeted for abuse.

In a new documentary featuring family video growing up, Tom Daley 1.6 Seconds, there is a sense of disbelief that he gave interviews as a child talking about being bullied in school after his Olympic debut at Beijing 2008.

“I never really saw it back then as something that was strange because it’s something that I had lived and grown up and just was part of how my life existed,” he said.

“But, looking back on it, I kind of was like, ‘Oh my gosh, imagine if it could have all been so different’.”

London 2012 poster boy

During the build-up to London 2012, Daley was the poster boy of the home Olympics.

But he was dealing with bulimia and body dysmorphia in private. It’s still difficult to talk about, knowing people would comment on how he seemed in great shape.

“But that’s not what an eating disorder is,” he said. “An eating disorder is not being able to think about your body, what you eat, what you put into your body rationally.

“And I think that’s something that people don’t necessarily understand with eating disorders, which is why going through that, I went through it alone.

“Because I was embarrassed to be thinking about those things. I didn’t think anybody would believe me.”

To this day, Daley feels people online are dismissive of his concerns. In interviews, he grates when it is pointed out that in retirement he is not fat.

“I’m constantly reminded of that,” he said. “So it’s definitely something that triggered the way that I think about my relationship with food.”

This is not to take away from how fondly Daley looks back on a career that saw him reach the pinnacle with Olympic gold in 2021 at the pandemic-delayed Olympics.

There is no sign of coming out of retirement again as he did in Paris last year.

“I feel incredibly proud of what I’ve been able to achieve in terms of my perseverance and resilience through lots of different things,” he said. “I do miss being on that diving board.

“It is like there is no other feeling than being on top of a diving board in a competition where you’re putting all of the work that you put in into that 1.6 seconds and I think I will forever miss that.”

UK

Kyle Enos: Man who made and sold poisonous diet pills is jailed

Published

18 hours ago

May 30, 2025

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Kyle Enos: Man who made and sold poisonous diet pills is jailed

A man who made and sold poisonous diet pills has been jailed.

DNP is poisonous to humans and has been banned for human consumption in the UK.

The industrial chemical, which is officially known as 2,4-Dinitrophenol, has been illegally sold as a pill for weight loss, according to police.

Kyle Enos, 33, from Maesteg, Bridgend, was jailed for three years on Thursday after a multi-agency investigation.

DNP can cause serious physical side effects or death, according to the Food Standards Agency.

Enos was found to have purchased the pure form sodium salt of the powder from China via the dark web.

He made the pills using cutting agents and a pill press in his bedroom and advertised them on a website he had made.

After receiving orders via email, he would ship the products within the UK and beyond, disguising them as vitamins and minerals.

Following the investigation, he was charged with multiple drug offences and pleaded guilty at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on 1 May.

‘Extremely ill or even dying’

He was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court for one count of member of public import/acquire/possess/use of a regulated substance without licence, one count of supply regulated substance to member of public without verifying licence and one count of supply of regulated poison by person other than a pharmacist.

He was also found to have failed to comply with a serious crime prevention order (SCPO) after a previous conviction for the supply of the Class A drug Fentanyl.

Detective Constable Kieran Morris, of South Wales Police’s regional organised crime unit (ROCU) Tarian, said Enos was supplying the pills “with no safety precautions in place”, which could have led to buyers “becoming extremely ill or even dying”.

“Tarian ROCU are committed to safeguarding members of the public not only within our region, but across the United Kingdom and beyond,” he added.

Alison Abbott, head of the National Crime Agency’s prisons and lifetime management unit, said SCPOs were “a powerful tool” to help prevent those convicted of “serious offences” from reoffending after their release from prison.

“This case should serve as a warning to others,” she added.

“As we did with Enos, we will actively monitor all those who are subject to such orders, and they will stay on our radar even after they are released from jail.”