Manifesto Day 1) May sets out new plan for funding social care…
“Theresa May will today promise the elderly they will not have to sell their homes to pay for care. Launching the Conservative Party manifesto, the Prime Minister will say she wants to end the heartache suffered by thousands of families a year. Under her plans, no one will have to sell up – whether they live in a care home or in their own property. Mrs May also pledges to quadruple to £100,000 the wealth that can be kept before you have to pay for care. But the plans are also likely to cause tens of thousands more people to pay for social care in their old age.” – Daily Mail
- Thousands hit by new elderly care costs – The Times (£)
- Middle-class pensioners lose out to fund care – Daily Telegraph
- Pledge to cap care costs to be dropped – FT
More care:
- May warned to tackle ‘spiralling pressures’ facing GPs – The Independent
More policy:
- Tories promise free breakfast for every primary pupil – The Times (£)
>Yesterday: James Fredrickson in Local Government: Financial flexibility helps councils to cope with the cost of social care
Manifesto Day 2) …and outlines how firms will pay for hiring migrants…
“Theresa May will promise further curbs on migrants, forcing firms to pay £2,000 to hire them and the NHS to charge more to treat them. The Prime Minister will announce the measures in the upcoming Tory manifesto in a continued effort to bring net migration down to the tens of thousands. Mrs May will deliver an ‘uncompromising’ message and ‘bear down on immigration from outside the EU’ across all visa routes. Sources told the BBC that Mrs May is ‘clear this means the end of freedom of movement’ post-Brexit and will commit to reducing immigration from Europe.” – Daily Mail
- Foreigners face charges for using the NHS – Daily Express
- Osborne ‘steps up feud’ over migration cap – Daily Mail
EU:
- Let in immigrants or ‘pay the price’, warns Merkel – Daily Mail
- Norway says UK could join EFTA – Daily Express
- Number of EU workers recovers after slump – The Times (£)
- UK can leave by paying £5 billion, says Institute of Chartered Accountants – Daily Telegraph
- Brussels’ chief negotiator disowns €100 billion ‘divorce bill’ figure – The Sun
- Lessons from EU’s judgement on Singapore deal – FT
Comment:
- Time for Blair and co to stop fighting Brexit – Iain Martin, The Times (£)
- Planning for post-Brexit Britain’s place on the global stage – Georgina Wright and Richard G Whitman, Times Red Box
>Today: Garvan Walshe’s column: Macron’s victory means that May’s Brexit strategy must change fast
>Yesterday: Joshua O’Connor in Comment: Don’t allow Brexit to eclipse the Conservative social justice agenda
Manifesto Day 3) …whilst dropping Cameron’s no-tax pledge
“Theresa May will today ditch David Cameron’s promise not to raise income tax, VAT or national insurance. However, she will repeat her predecessor’s pledge to increase the personal allowance and raise the higher rate threshold, generating tax cuts for millions. She will also commit a Tory government to clearing the deficit by 2025, later than previously promised. The challenge posed by Mr Cameron’s pledge was highlighted when the prime minister and Philip Hammond were forced to drop proposals in the budget to increase national insurance for the self-employed because Tory MPs were worried that it was a breach of the “tax lock” in the 2015 manifesto.” – The Times (£)
- May refuses to say that Hammond is safe – The Times (£)
- Tories to crack down on rip-offs – The Sun
- What MailOnline readers think of the leaders – Daily Mail
Theresa May: We’ll give everyone the economic security they need
“The manifesto we are publishing on Thursday is designed to confront the great challenges of our time. It is a commitment to take the big, difficult decisions that are right for our country in the long term. Dealing with these challenges is dependent on having a strong economy. And under my leadership we will create that by making the most of our existing strengths, investing in infrastructure and people, and ensuring that our economy grows across the whole country. We will deliver a smooth and orderly Brexit and forge a deep and special partnership with our friends and allies across Europe. It will allow our United Kingdom to emerge from this period of great national change stronger and more prosperous than ever before.” – Daily Telegraph
- I’ll govern in the interests of ordinary working families – Theresa May, The Sun
- Corbyn has dragged the Tories left, and the ‘just about managing’ are the losers – Philip Booth, Daily Telegraph
- Don’t be fooled, May will raise your taxes – Rafael Behr, The Guardian
>Today: ToryDiary: It’s time for Conservatives to get over Thatcher, get on with May – and look forward, not back
>Yesterday:
- Alex Morton’s column: May must keep the Conservative coalition of liberals, Tories and others together
- Henry Hill’s Red, White, and Blue column: May must start to close the gap between Britain and Ulster
Senior Liberal Democrats put pressure on leader over lack of breakthrough
“Tim Farron is under mounting pressure after senior Liberal Democrats accused him failing to win over the public with the party’s anti-Brexit message and controversies over his views on abortion and gay sex. Senior figures warned that if the Lib Dems fail to make a breakthrough Mr Farron must consider his position, with polls suggesting that the party’s support has fallen to 8 per cent. It came as the Lib Dem leader launched a programme for opposition as he effectively conceded that the Lib Dems will not be in Government because Theresa May will win the election comfortably… But the manifesto launch threatened to be overshadowed by questions over his views on abortion after it emerged Mr Farron previously said it was “wrong”.” – Daily Telegraph
- Labour incumbent sues Hughes for libel over ‘election lies’ – The Sun
Manifesto:
- EU flag on the stage as Farron launches Liberal Democrat manifesto – Daily Mail
- Legalising cannabis will net £1 billion per year, party claims – The Times (£)
- Party would ban diesel cars outright – Daily Telegraph
Comment:
- Defence of the 48 per cent is starting to look like rubbish politics – Anne Perkins, The Guardian
Sketches:
- A brighter future? More like a danker gloaming – Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
- Sick moves on display at Manifestofest – John Crace, The Guardian
- A darker future – Tom Peck, The Independent
Editorial:
- Farron’s unrealistic manifesto leaves a clear field for May – Daily Mail
- A manifesto not to be dismissed – The Times (£)
- The Lib Dems’ fate was sealed by Coalition – The Independent
>Yesterday:
- ToryDiary: The Liberal Democrat parrot. Not quick, not dead, but moulting feathers.
- Video: WATCH: When Clegg told people to accept the referendum result and “move on”
Rayner insists that the Shadow Cabinet can send their children to grammar schools they oppose
“Angela Rayner today backed the right of the shadow cabinet to use grammar schools despite Labour’s campaign against them. The shadow education secretary said it was not for her to tell parents which schools they should use for their children. Labour has described Theresa May’s plans to expand grammar schools as a ‘vanity project’ and Ms Rayner has attacked them as an ‘ideological attack on the working class’. But today she insisted she would not criticise Labour colleagues for using the schools, which are based on academic selection at age 11.” – Daily Mail
- Post-manifesto boost for Labour – The Times (£)
- Fletcher suspect ‘told he was in the clear’ by Blair Government – Daily Telegraph
- Morgan, First Minister and ‘Father of Wales’, dies – The Sun
Comment:
- Labour has let the Tories off the hook on rising crime – David Blunkett, The Times (£)
>Yesterday:
- Video: WATCH: Ici Londres – All taxes fall on people. Obvious? Not to the Labour Party, says Daniel Hannan.
- Video: WATCH: Rudd savages Labour’s record of opposing the police
Sturgeon faces calls to suspend high-profile Nationalist candidate
“Nicola Sturgeon faced fresh calls to suspend a high profile SNP candidate embroiled in a legal probe following “devastating” allegations levelled at her. Former solicitor Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, the party’s candidate for Ochil and South Perthshire in the General Election, confirmed last week she was being investigated by law chiefs. The Scottish Tories said the “whole episode stinks” and repeated calls for her immediate suspension. Scottish Labour branded the allegations into “financial impropriety” at her former legal practice as “devastating”. But Scotland’s First Minister insisted the probe didn’t mean “wrongdoing” has taken place.” – The Sun
- First Minister urged to ‘come clean’ over knowledge of probe – Daily Express
More Scotland:
- Labour suspend Aberdeen councillors over Tory coalition – The Scotsman
News in Brief:
- Trump insists he has not colluded with Russia as special counsel appointed – Daily Mail
- Muslim activist charged under terror laws – The Times (£)
- British MPs targeted by hackers in coordinated attack – FT
- Wage falls hit families – The Sun