Rishi Sunak ‘incredibly excited’ about daughters taking part in national service
Rishi Sunak said he was “incredibly excited” for his daughters to do national service while undergoing questioning in Sky News’ Battle for Number 10.
The prime minister was asked by a student from Grimsby, where the event was being held, why a young person would believe the Conservative Party had their best interests at heart in light of the policy announcement.
Mr Sunak replied: “I have two young girls. I’m incredibly excited for them to do it because I think it’ll be transformative for our country.
“It will provide skills and opportunities for young people that will set them up for the rest of their lives, foster a culture of service in our society, bring people closer together and contribute to our long-term resilience and security.”
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The national service announcement was one of a number of policies that was put under the microscope during Mr Sunak’s grilling by Beth Rigby in Grimsby.
A snap poll taken after the event revealed that almost two-thirds of voters believed Sir Keir Starmer performed better than Mr Sunak.
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The YouGov poll for Sky News found 64% of those questioned said the Labour leader came out on top, compared with 36% for the prime minister.
During the grilling by Sky’s political editor, the prime minister was also challenged about his record on NHS waiting lists, immigration and the tax burden.
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Sunak: Immigration ‘too high’
He was told net migration over the last three years is more than double compared to the three-year period before the 2016 EU referendum.
Asked how he thought voters in Grimsby – who overwhelmingly voted for Brexit – would feel about such figures, he said: “It’s too high. I have been very clear that it’s too high and I’m sure people feel frustrated and angry about it.”
He added: “Since I have been in charge, numbers down 10% and visas issued this year down by a quarter. I’ve had this job for 18 months, numbers were down last year, they’re down considerably at the start of this year and they will keep coming down because of the measures I’ve already announced.”
‘Actions taken by this government actually make me feel ashamed’
The prime minister also faced tough moments with the audience when quizzed about his record and recent behaviour.
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PM ‘deeply sad’ over D-Day ‘mistake’
Amy, a voter from Leeds, said that although she had been a “lifelong true blue” she now considered herself an “undecided voter”, explaining: “Actions taken by this government actually make me feel ashamed.”
She cited Mr Sunak’s early departure from D-Day commemorations and pandemic rule-breaking in Downing Street when he was chancellor.
Mr Sunak repeated his apology over his D-Day departure and said of COVID rule-breaking: “Those rules were difficult for everyone to follow and the government should absolutely have gone above and beyond in following them.
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“I deeply regret what happened, I apologised for it at the time and it was an extraordinarily difficult time for our country.
“I know that and I know people will remember that and all I can say is, look, trust takes time to rebuild through actions.”
Mr Sunak’s announcement that he would introduce a new form of mandatory national service if re-elected on 4 July provided the main talking point at the beginning of the election campaign.
Under the plan, 18-year-olds would be given the choice of a full-time military placement for 12 months or a scheme to volunteer for one weekend a month for a year.
Labour immediately dismissed the idea as “desperate” and said it amounted to a “teenage Dad’s Army”.
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Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.
MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.
Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.
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Rachel Reeves’s fiscal dilemma
In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.
“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.
“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.
“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”
Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.
The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.
It comes after Ms Reeves said she was “totally” up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions.
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Why was the chancellor crying at PMQs?
Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.
Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”
In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.
“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”
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Reeves is ‘totally’ up for the job
Sir Keir also told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he “didn’t appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.
“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.
“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”
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