Rishi Sunak: ‘I am not blind to the fact people are frustrated with me’
Rishi Sunak said he is not “blind to the fact people are frustrated with me” as he unveiled a £17bn package of tax cuts in the Conservative manifesto.
The prime minister admitted he has “not got everything right” as he set out “big ideas” to turn around his faltering campaign.
Having called the election amid a 20-point poll deficit, things became worse for Mr Sunak when he left an international D-day event early last week – sparking such a furore he was forced quash rumours he considered resigning.
Election latest: Tory manifesto launch
Mr Sunak’s headline offering to voters includes a further 2p cut to national insurance (NI) and the so-called “triple lock plus” for pensioners – which will create a new “age-related” tax-free allowance.
He also wants to cut taxes to support the self-employed by abolishing the main rate of self-employed national insurance entirely by the end of the next parliament.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
PM launches party manifesto
In a bid to boost home ownership, he has also set a new target of building 1.6 million new homes, promised to abolish stamp duty on properties up to a value of £425,000 for first-time buyers, capital gains tax relief for landlords who sell to their existing tenants and a new Help to Buy scheme.
Pic: PA
For young people, the manifesto includes previously announced plans for mandatory national service, banning the use of mobile phones during the school day and scrapping A-Levels in place of a new system, the Advanced British Standard.
“Now is the time for bold action, not the uncertain Keir Starmer as prime minister”, Mr Sunak said.
In a nod to polls suggesting the Tories are heading for an electoral wipeout, the prime minister said he is not “blind to the fact that people are frustrated with our party and frustrated with me”.
He admitted “we have not got everything right” but claimed the Conservatives are the only party “with the big ideas to make our country a better place to live”.
“We will keep cutting taxes in the coming years meaning by 2027 we will have halved national insurance to 6%, that is a tax cut my friends of £1300 to the average worker,” Mr Sunak said.
Migration caps and tougher sentencing
In his launch speech, he also committed to “halve migration as we have halved inflation and then reduce it every single year”.
The plans on how to achieve this were thin on detail, but Mr Sunak said he will introduce a cap that means MPs will be able to vote every year on how many people can come into the country.
On law and order, pledges include a 25-year prison term for domestic murders, a review of homicide sentencing and a ban on protests outside schools.
Other policies in the manifesto include:
• Moving the threshold to pay high income child benefit charge for single-earner families to £120,000, up from £60,000 currently
• A guarantee not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT
• A workplace pension guarantee to not introduce any new taxes on pensions or increase existing ones for the whole of the next parliament
• A commitment not to change the number of council tax bands, undertake a council tax revaluation or cut council tax discounts
• An ambition to abolish national insurance when financially responsible to do so
• A “binding, legal cap” on work and family visas which would “fall every year of the next parliament and cannot be breached”
• A requirement for migrants to undergo a health check in advance of coming to the UK – with the prospect of paying a higher rate of the immigration health surcharge or forcing them to purchase insurance if they are “likely to be a burden on the NHS”
Pic: Reuters
PM denies manifesto ‘last chance saloon’
In total, the package of giveaways would amount to a £17.2bn annual cost to the Exchequer by 2029-30.
The Tories say they will pay for the measures by reforming the welfare system to make savings of about £12bn.
The other £5bn will come from cutting the civil service and saving on consultancy.
The 2p cut to NI is the third reduction promised by the Tories as part of a drive to eliminate the tax altogether.
The party reduced employees’ national insurance from 10% to 8% at the March budget, following a similar cut in autumn 2023, at an annual cost of almost £10bn by 2028/29.
But critics have pointed out that this followed the tax burden reaching the highest level since the Second World War under the Conservatives’ watch, with frozen income tax thresholds previously announced by Mr Sunak dragging people into higher tax bands.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Election: Sky’s Beth Rigby asks if PM has ‘blown it’ with voters on tax
Pressed on why anyone should believe his promise to cut taxes, the prime minister said he previously had to make difficult decisions because of the COVID pandemic and energy crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine.
He denied the manifesto was a “last chance saloon”, claiming he took the job as prime minister under challenging circumstances but the country had “turned a corner” and “it is right to talk about the future”.
Asked by Sky News political editor Beth Rigby if he had blown it no matter what he says, he said: “The only poll that matters is the poll on July 4th.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the money was not there to pay for the prime minister’s pledges, warning it was a “recipe for five more years of chaos” under the Conservatives.
A 53-year-old man has been charged after a car was driven into a crowd at Liverpool FC’s trophy parade.
Paul Doyle, from the West Derby area of Liverpool, has been charged with seven offences, Merseyside Police said.
The businessman, who is a father-of-three, is accused of two counts of unlawful and malicious wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and two counts of causing unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Paul Doyle
Doyle is also accused of two counts of attempted unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and one count of dangerous driving.
He is due to appear before Liverpool Magistrates Court on Friday.
The charges relate to six people, including two children. A wounding charge and an attempted grievous bodily harm charge relate to a child.
A police car was outside Doyle’s four-bedroom detached family home in the West Derby area on Thursday morning.
According to his social media, he has travelled extensively including Japan, Fiji, India and Australia. Doyle has posted pictures of himself competing in triathlons, and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
New Liverpool incident footage
Thousands of fans were gathered in Liverpool city centre on Monday to celebrate the Premier League champions’ title win when a car struck a crowd on Water Street.
Police said a total of 79 people were injured in the incident, with the youngest aged nine, and the oldest being a 78-year-old.
Seven people remain in hospital in a stable condition.
Forensic officers at the scene in Water Street. Pic: PA
‘Huge volume of evidence’
Chief crown prosecutor for the CPS Mersey-Cheshire, Sarah Hammond, told a news conference on Thursday that the investigation was at an early stage and a “huge volume of evidence” was being reviewed.
“This includes multiple pieces of video footage and numerous witness statements. It is important to ensure that every victim gets the justice they deserve.
“The charges will be kept under review as the investigation progresses.”
Police ‘working tirelessly’
Also at the briefing where the charges were announced was Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Jenny Sims, who said: “I fully understand how this incident has left us all shocked and saddened, and I know many will continue to have concerns and questions.
“Our detectives are working tirelessly, with diligence and professionalism, to seek the answer to all of those questions. When we are able to, we will provide further information.”
The youngest victim injured in the Liverpool parade crash on Monday is nine years old, police have said.
They added that the oldest is 78, with all 79 people injured understood to be British. Seven remain in hospital in a stable condition.
Merseyside Police declined to say what drug the 53-year-old man arrested over the incident is alleged to have taken.
“We wouldn’t go into this detail at this stage of the investigation,” the force said.
Police at the scene in Liverpool. Pic: AP
Forensic officers in Water Street. Pic: PA
Police are still questioning the driver and were granted further time to do so on Wednesday.
Officers have until Thursday evening to question the man from West Derby.
He is in custody on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug driving.
Police believe the car which struck pedestrians was able to follow an ambulance crew attending to someone suffering a heart attack after a road block was temporarily lifted.
Hundreds of thousands of Liverpool fans had turned out to celebrate their team’s Premier League title when the incident unfolded on Water Street just after 6pm on Monday.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘My boy in his pram, got bounced’
‘The best day of my life turned into worst’
Sky News interviewed a lifelong Liverpool fan who said his five-month-old son was “bounced” 15ft (4.6m) in his pram after they were hit by the vehicle.
The child was not counted in the police’s injury tally.
Daniel Eveson, 36, also said his partner had been driven over.
“The best day of my life turned into [the] worst,” Mr Eveson said.
He added: “Me and my partner were flat on the roof, on the bonnet… we were just both trying to hold on for dear life with Ted next to us.
“And my partner went under the wheels of the car, of the front of the car, and it rolled over her leg, and I just bounced off to the side, but my boy and his pram got bounced totally in the opposite direction – about 15ft down the road.”
Read more:
How the parade crash unfolded
Police given more time to question Liverpool suspect
Why police released ‘unprecedented’ details
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer travelled to Liverpool to meet with police chiefs and the local metro mayor.
He said he was being kept informed of developments, adding: “The scenes on Monday were just awful, to see how incredible joy at an amazing achievement turned to horror in a moment.”
Messages of support have been sent to the people of Liverpool, including from the King who said: “I know that the strength of community spirit for which your city is renowned will be a comfort and support to those in need.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales said they were “deeply saddened” by the incident.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway