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Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are set to begin a frantic final few days of campaigning as polling day rapidly approaches.

Both men will today reiterate their core messages as they try to motivate their backers to get out to the polling booths on Thursday.

The Labour leader will impress on the nation that if they want change they “have to vote for it” – while the Conservative leader will warn there are “four days to save Britain from a Labour government”.

Election latest – England win gives Sunak hope of glorious comeback

Mr Sunak has suggested that Labour are on track for a “supermajority”, with the opposition having managed to maintain a roughly 20-point lead in the opinion polls, according to the Sky News Poll Tracker – something Sir Keir will do everything to ensure does not change.

The Liberal Democrats are set to continue their push to replace the Tories in seats that have traditionally been considered their heartlands – while the SNP will try to convince Scots to back them as polls show Labour could become the largest Scottish parliamentary contingent once again.

Mr Sunak is set to campaign in the Midlands today, where he will warn against giving “Keir Starmer and Labour a blank cheque”.

Speaking at a rally later, the prime minister will say of Labour: “If they get the kind of majority, the supermajority that the polls suggest, they will set about entrenching themselves in power.

“They will rewrite the rules to make it easier for them to stay in office and harder for anyone to replace them. So, don’t surrender your voice to Labour on Thursday.”

Seemingly in a bid to limit the scale of the defeat, rather than emerge victorious, the Tory leader will say that “an unchecked Labour government would be a disaster from which it would take decades to recover”.

“We Conservatives will stand up for you and make sure your voice is heard, your values represented.”

The Conservative Party is also claiming today that Labour’s immigration plans will result in a “deluge” of asylum seekers, leading to tax hikes of £635 per family each year – something a Labour spokesperson has branded a “ludicrous lie from an increasingly desperate Tory party”.

The opposition claimed the Tories have “completely lost control of the asylum system or border security” and if they are re-elected “the chaos will continue and costs will soar further”.

Labour win ‘not inevitable’ – Starmer

Labour will also vow to ensure petty theft is punished by scrapping a rule allowing people stealing goods worth under £200 to escape punishment, it is understood.

More broadly, the party will continue to make the wider case for change, with national campaign coordinator Pat McFadden saying: “If people don’t want to wake up on 5 July to five more years of economic chaos, to wake up knowing that all the future offers is the same as the recent Tory past, then they have to vote Labour and vote for change on Thursday.”

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Leader interviews: Labour Party

Sir Keir Starmer also hammered home that message in an interview with The Guardian, saying: “People talk about the inevitable outcome. It isn’t inevitable. I think there’s a yearning for change. But, you know, what we always say, if you want change, you have to vote for it.”

He also told the paper “hope has been kicked out of many people” because of the Tories’ failure to deliver, adding: “There’s a near universal view that almost everything is broken, and we’re going backwards as a country. That’s very demoralising.

“They’ve also had to witness the politics of self-entitlement and self-enhancement from Westminster… I’m not surprised that people feel disaffected by politics. But we do have to restore it.”

The Labour leader gave the interview before exit polls showed the far right in the lead after the first round of voting in the French parliamentary elections, but he nonetheless warned against “the rise of populism and nationalism”.

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Sir Keir expressed concern about the rise in support for the populist right across Europe, and for Reform in the UK.

“You have to understand why that’s happening,” he said. “It’s based in this disaffection, this sense that politics cannot be a force for good, and you can’t trust politicians.”

He argued that progressive parties and governments could restore faith, however, saying: “That goes back to credible hope, deliverable hope, making the change that will be material for people’s lives.”

Lib Dems on bereavement payment cuts

First minister John Swinney will also be out on the campaign trail today, reiterating his core message that Scots need an “alternative” to Labour in Westminster to “represent Scotland’s values”.

The SNP leader said in a statement that the general election in England is a “foregone conclusion”, with a Labour win on the cards, and claimed Sir Keir Starmer would “carry on with the same broken politics and right-wing policies as the Tories”.

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Swinney pledges to continue push for indyref

He is arguing that the result in Scotland is on a “knife edge” – despite polls showing Labour in the lead – and that Sir Keir “simply represents more of the same broken Brexit Britain that does not reflect Scotland’s values”.

“The SNP is offering an alternative – a vision of hope with an end to austerity, rejoining the EU, eradicating child poverty and a future made in Scotland, for Scotland where Scotland’s interests are always put first,” said Mr Swinney.

“The only way to deliver that and put an end to the failure of Brexit which has caused so much damage to Scotland is to vote SNP on Thursday.

“Only the SNP offers Scotland the hope of a better future back in the EU – but we have to vote for it.”

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Leader interviews: Liberal Democrats

Sir Ed Davey and the Liberal Democrats will be continuing their bid to take seats off the Tories – and are promoting a pledge they launched yesterday to reverse “heartless Tory cuts” to bereavement payments.

On the latter as it stands, a bereaved family where a spouse or partner has died receives a lump sum of up to £3,500, followed by a monthly payment of up to £350 for 18 months.

The party is calling for this period to be extended, and is pledging to inject an additional £440m a year into the system by 2028-29 to fund it.

‘Labour could take Wales for granted’

Plaid Cymru will be making their case to voters in Wales, arguing that the Welsh people will be “voiceless” if they do not have a “strong cohort” of MPs in Westminster.

The party’s leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth, said Wales “simply doesn’t feature” in Tory and Labour electoral plans, while his party would push for “fair funding deal for Wales”.

“When people vote on Thursday, they expect their MP to speak up for them and their community, not to follow the Westminster whip at any cost,” a statement said.

“We know that the Tories are finished and the contempt they show Wales is nothing new – but with Labour set to enter Downing Street on Friday, there is a real danger that they will simply take Wales for granted.”

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Leader interviews: Plaid Cymru

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He added: “For a member of parliament who will always give Wales a voice in Westminster, who will always champion fairness and stand up against more cuts which have already devastated our public services, vote Plaid Cymru on 4 July.”

Reform UK will also be on the campaign trail as the party tries to stabilise its campaign following racism allegations.

Nigel Farage after his interviews to reporters.
Pic: Reuters
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Farage’s Reform party will be trying to steady the ship after racism claims. Pic: Reuters

Yesterday, one of the party’s candidates disowned them and backed the Tories, saying he had become “increasingly disillusioned” with the behaviour of the party and accused leader Nigel Farage of not taking it seriously.

It followed the controversy over a Reform canvasser who was caught making a racial slur about the prime minister in an undercover investigation.

Reform UK has also had to drop several election candidates because of racist remarks they have made.

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Sir Keir Starmer to sign 100-year ‘friendship’ deal with Ukraine in first Kyiv visit since becoming PM

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Sir Keir Starmer to sign 100-year 'friendship' deal with Ukraine in first Kyiv visit since becoming PM

Keir Starmer will sign a century-long partnership with Ukraine today, as the prime minister makes his first visit to the war-torn country in an effort to shore up support for Kyiv – just days ahead of the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House.

Sir Keir said the 100-year agreement underpinned Britain’s “steadfast support” for Ukraine as he reiterated European unity in the face of Russian aggression. The treaty and political declaration will be laid in parliament in the coming weeks.

“Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away for its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure. Instead, we are closer than ever and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level,” said the prime minister.

“The power of our long-term friendships cannot be underestimated. Supporting Ukraine to defend itself from Russia’s barbaric invasion and rebuild a prosperous, sovereign future, is vital to the government’s security and Plan for Change.”

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The PM’s visit is part of a wider effort on the part of European leaders to shore up support for Kyiv as they ramp up discussions over regional security ahead of the handover of power in Washington. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland on Wednesday.

The flurry of diplomatic activity comes as the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has intensified ahead of the inauguration of president-elect Trump, with Vladimir Putin trying to take as much territory as possible ahead of expected peace talks.

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On Wednesday, Ukraine’s state energy company was forced into emergency cuts after a massive Russian military attack.

Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine after nearly three years of war and says any deal to end the conflict must take that into account.

In September 2022, it proclaimed four regions that it only partly controls as part of its own territory, which was condemned by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as an “attempted illegal annexation”.

While President Joe Biden was steadfast in the US’s continuing support of Ukraine’s military effort, Trump has made it clear he wants to end the conflict quickly, hastening discussions about what a settlement might look like between Kyiv and Moscow.

In November, President Zelenskyy said for the first time in an interview with Sky News that Ukraine was prepared to temporarily cede territory to Russia to end the war if the conflict was frozen along current lines.

He added after a ceasefire was agreed, Kyiv could negotiate for the return of seized territory.

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to Sky’s Stuart Ramsay in Kyiv back in November about how a ceasefire could work.

Sir Keir has also changed his tone, from insisting allies must “double down” on support for Ukraine for “as long as it takes” at the November G20 summit, to saying British policy was now “to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations”.

The prime minister will want to reiterate to President Zelenskyy that nothing is off the table, as the duo discuss the ongoing conflict, the impending Trump presidency and what a settlement could look like.

As part of the partnership deal, the UK will bolster military collaboration on maritime security through a new framework to strengthen the Baltic, Black and Azov seas.

President Zelenskyy has reportedly told journalists the two leaders will discuss the possibility of British troops joining a post-war peacekeeping force, as other European leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron – who visited the PM at his Chequers country residence last week – and Tusk have similar conversations.

Ukraine relies on US support to continue the conflict, given it provides the bulk of military aid. But Trump has made it clear he is reluctant to keep funding the war, saying during the election campaign he would end it “within 24 hours” of taking office.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is greeted by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as he arrives in Downing Street, London, ahead of meetings with the Prime Minister and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, at number 10. Picture date: Thursday October 10, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story POLITICS Ukraine. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Downing Street back in October.

He has subsequently acknowledged that ending the conflict will be more difficult, but his administration is keen to press ahead: Trump has said he will arrange a call with Putin soon after his inauguration on 20 January, while the new US envoy to Ukraine, retired lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, said last week he wanted a solution to the war in the first 100 days of office.

The discussion around peacekeeping forces is part of a wider conversation among European allies about what security guarantees should be put in place for Ukraine, including buffer zones and the threat of more weapons for Ukraine in the absence of NATO membership.

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President Zelenskyy has said any guarantees must be backed up by the US as the prospect of a NATO membership invitation fades from view.

Ukraine becoming a member of NATO is a clear red line for Moscow, with Putin describing Kyiv joining the security alliance as “an unacceptable threat”.

Last week, Trump acknowledged Moscow’s longstanding opposition to Ukraine’s ambition to join NATO, given it would mean “Russia has somebody right on their doorstep, and I can understand their feeling about that”.

European leaders are concerned Trump will force Ukraine into an unjust peace deal, and they will be shut out of the negotiations which will shape the security of the continent for many years.

NATO chief Mark Rutte last month cautioned Trump over his plans for a peace deal, warning it would lead to the West’s enemies “high fiving” and would only serve to embolden China, North Korea and Iran.

The PM has come under criticism from Conservative rivals for not visiting Ukraine sooner, with former defence secretary Grant Shapps saying he was “astonished” is has taken the PM six months in power to visit the country.

However, Sir Keir has met the Ukrainian leader six times, as well as hosting him twice at Number 10 since taking office in July.

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SEC files opening brief in its appeal against Ripple over XRP

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SEC files opening brief in its appeal against Ripple over XRP

The securities regulator wants an appeals court to rule that XRP tokens sold to retail investors were unregistered securities, the latest in its years-long case against Ripple Labs.

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Arkansas lawmakers float bill to ban crypto mining near military facilities

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Arkansas lawmakers float bill to ban crypto mining near military facilities

The bill restricts crypto mining within a 30-mile radius of military bases, camps, hospitals, clinics and arsenals.

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