Looks like it’s not just the Tories who are scrambling after Sunak sprung a snap election on the country. The LibDems seem to have not fully recovered from the local elections, still handing out local election leaflets. One co-conspirator in Surrey received this leaflet just today…

Recycling leaflets is one way to get ahead of a sped up campaign schedule. At least they’re taking their environmental policies to heart…

Outgoing Tory MP for Telford Lucy Allan has just tweeted her support for the… Reform candidate.

“I am supporting Alan Adams to be Telford’s next MP. If you want to help Alan or donate to his campaign, sign up on his website http://alanadams.co.uk”

Guido will bring you the party unity latest as it comes…

UPDATE: Tory spokesman says: “Lucy Allan has been suspended from the Party with immediate effect. The people of Telford now have the chance to vote for a dedicated and hardworking new candidate who will put Telford first. A vote for Reform is a vote for Keir Starmer.”

TORIES

• 61-year-old Starmer is old and tired – “Sir Sleepy”, “Sleepy Keir”.
  • Sunak says “it is the substance that matters“.
• Views of Labour’s cabinet variously present threat to Britain.
• Discussion over particulars of national service policy.
• Topline(s):
  • Starmer’s keynote speech shows Labour has no policy, no substance, and no plan.

LABOUR

• Keir gives keynote speech – “country first, party second.“
• Levelling up of the NHS with Labour or more desperate chaos with the Tories.
• National service plan is desperate and will siphon funds Labour would spend on NHS.
• Topline(s):
  • Labour can be trusted with the economy and security.

LIBDEMS

• Scottish election campaign launched.
• Dental plan including hiring more dentists and removing VAT from some dental products.
• Working with the SNP on the NHS is “like pulling teeth“.
• Topline(s):
  • We can win seats off the SNP.

REFORM

• Year after year, the Tories have lied about wanting to control our borders.
• Topline(s):
  • Reform UK will freeze immigration.

GREENS

• Topline(s):
  • There should be more council house building, mainly on brownfield sites.

Cutting through:

• National service debate.

Latest polls:

Deltapoll: CON: 23 (-) LAB: 45 (-) LDEM: 9 (-1) REF: 10 (-2) GRN: 6 (+1)

Guido has obtained a leaked tape from inside a meeting between Angela Rayner and Muslim voters in Ashton-under-Lyne, held along with the recently ennobled Labour peer and former mayor, Lord Khan of Burnley. As George Galloway keeps up his campaign to remove Rayner from the seat by weaponising the Muslim vote, the deputy leader pleads for their support and says she only won the seat in the last election thanks to them:

“2019 was a very difficult year in Ashton. My voters were very upset with the Labour Party: I was with you and you saw me over the line. You supported me. In seats that are similar to mine people lost their seat – you were there for me and I don’t believe I could have done that without you.”

Rayner goes on to try to convince the community to lend their help by stressing that Labour and she personally can be trusted on Gaza and that the fault for the lack of a ceasefire rests on the “international community”:

“If me resigning as an MP now would bring the ceasefire I would do it… we can’t affect anything when we’re not in government. I’ll be honest with you, if Labour get into government we are limited… Biden who’s the US who has way more influence has only got limited influence in this. And Qatar, Saudi Arabia, all of these people we are all working to stop what’s happening at the moment – we want to see that, so I promise you that’s what we want to see and if Labour get into power we will recognise Palestine.”

She puts her own spin on Starmer’s line last week that Palestine should be recognised at some point “as part of a peace process”:

“I will push to recognise it: there is nothing to recognise at the moment, sadly. It’s decimated. We have to rebuild Palestine, we have to rebuild Gaza.”

That’s a justification for Labour’s current policy to push for recognition after a deal is secured as opposed to before. Is “there is nothing to recognise” the official Labour line?

Tory turmoil continues in the aftermath of Sunak’s snap decision to hold the election in July. Now it appears that CCHQ have taken to blaming Tory MPs for focusing too much on doing their job rather than campaigning. The rocky start to the Tories campaign continues…

An email sent by a senior campaigning figure at CCHQ accidentally sent to party MPs outlined the “key theme” was that candidates were not “getting behind” the campaign with some on holiday or refusing to knock on doors, instead, focusing on ministerial work. If MPs weren’t already angry about the snap election, CCHQ’s accusation that they aren’t doing enough will certainly fuel their frustration…

Keir Starmer has called on Benjamin Netanyahu’s offensive against Rafah to “stop” in a bid to appeal to pro-Palestine voters. After his first major speech this morning, he was asked what he would say as Prime Minister to the Israeli leader. He had a punchy response:

“Stop. Those scenes, those reports, are horrifying and what makes it worse was this was a safe zone with women and children and families that have already fled a number of times.”

He went on to describe his “shock” at the Rafah offensive, which “should not take place.” A stronger stance on the situation..