General election 2024 latest: Tory minister says Reform UK will win no seats as Sunak rocked by shock poll

SNP campaign chief Stewart Hosie has said the way David Duguid has been treated by the Scottish Tories was “indefensible”.

Following Douglas Ross surprise announcement, he said: “This is a day of shame for the Tories, with three-jobs Mr Ross taking a seat from David Duguid to keep his third salary at Westminsterr.”

He added: “The way the Tories have treated Mr Duguid is indefensible. The nasty party just got nastier.

“People in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East deserve a dedicated, full time MP and local champion. That’s what SNP candidate Seamus Logan will be.”

Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds has said the Prime Minister was “too weak to return the money donated by a man who has made violent, misogynist, and racist remarks which belong nowhere near our politics”.

She added: “If Rishi Sunak had a backbone he’d have cut ties with Frank Hester months ago, returned the money and apologised properly to Diane Abbott,” she said in a statement.

“Voters have a chance to turn the page on 14 years of sleaze and scandal on 4 July and vote for change with Labour.”

The Tories have accused Sir Keir Starmer of asking voters for a “blank cheque” to pay for his promises paid through tax rises.

Echoing Rishi Sunak’s claims on “Labour’s £2,094 tax hike on households” from Tuesday’s ITV debate, Laura Trott, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury hit out on the party’s spending plans.

She said John Healy has left the door open to stamp duty and capital gains tax hikes, adding: “You name it, Labour will tax it.”

Ms Trott said: “Labour plans to pay for their £38.5 billion blackhole by raising taxes on working people. Labour will tax the family home, drag pensioners into Labour’s retirement tax, taxing your work, taxing your car. You name it, Labour will tax it.

“This matters because at this election Keir Starmer is asking for a blank cheque and it’s becoming clear what he wants to do with it – put up your taxes.

“Only Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have a clear plan to cut taxes, backed by bold action, to chart a course to a more secure future for Britain.”

Rishi Sunak will not be attending the international commemoration of D-Day at Omaha Beach with other world leaders today so he can return to campaign in the general election, David Maddox reports.

King Charles will be at the D-Day 80 event with world leaders including President Macron of France and President of Biden and some of the last remaining veterans from the liberation of France.

The event will also be attended by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, foreign secretary Lord Cameron and defence secretary Grant Shapps.

Mr Sunak was at the heroes welcome event this morning in Normandy where he gave a short speech but then departed back to the UK.

A source said that he is campaigning this afternoon.

The Green party is unveiling funding plans for the NHS to deliver an extra £30bn a year and £20bn for social care by 2030.

Co-leader Adrian Ramsay has said the health service is in a “desperate situation” and that his party is being “honest” by saying that to both “defend and restore” the NHS “we are going to need to put in the funding that’s needed”.

He adds that the Greens have a proposal for the “very richest” to pay more tax – a 1% tax on assets over £10m and 2% on assets over £1bn wotold raise “tens of billions” over the next five years.

Nigel Farage’s decision to stand as MP and take over as party leader could change Reform UK’s chances of winning seats in the general election, says polling firm YouGov.

According to YouGov’s director of political analytics, Patrick English, the announcement “significantly increases the odds” that Reform could win at least one seat – and even up to four.

The Scottish Conservative leader is holding a press conference announcing he his intention to run as candidate for the Tories in the seat of Aberdeenshire North and Moray East. 

Mr Ross praised David Duguid who was barred from standing the Scottish Conservatives in the General Election.

He has suffered ill health recently and has spent several weeks in hospital but had said he was willing to take part in the election.

During the press conference, Ross said: “I have decided I need to lead from the front. This evening I will put myself forward for nomination as the Scottish Conservative candidate to beat the SNP in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East. I’m ready for this challenge.”

While the tax row between the Tories and Labour spirals, shadow defence secretary John Healey has refused to rule out raising some taxes.

He said Labour’s plans  “do not require us to start looking at raising taxes across the board” but he didn’t rule out stamp duty and capital gains tax. 

He said: “We will not raise taxes on working people. We will not raise income tax, we will not raise VAT, we will not raise National Insurance. Our plans, beyond the specific tax rises and changes that we set out to pay for our first steps, our plans do not require us to start looking at raising taxes across the board.”

Asked if Labour would raise capital gains tax, he said: “We will not raise the taxes that are most important to working people.”

And about hiking stamp duty, he answered: “I am not going to go through the list. The taxes that are most important to people – income tax, VAT and National Insurance – will not be raised under a Labour government.”

The chancellor has said the Conservative party plans not to increase stamp duty in a bid to exempt households from capital gains tax.

Mr Hunt said the mode won’t hold a council tax revaluation or increase the number of council tax bands.

He told The Telegraph: “That is why today we are announcing the family home tax guarantee.

“This guarantee is a commitment not to increase the number of council tax bands, undertake an expensive council tax revaluation, or cut council tax discounts. It is a commitment to maintain private residence relief, so that people’s main homes are protected from capital gains tax. And it is a commitment not to increase the rate or level of stamp duty.

“I am throwing down the gauntlet to Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer to join us in this pledge. This isn’t party political point-scoring. I actually want to see the Labour party say they will put families first and higher taxes second.”

Former cabinet minister Nadine Dorries has predicted that Reform UK will overtake the Conservatives in the next general election poll this weekend.

The Boris Johnson ally made the prediction after a YouGov shockingly revealed that the Nigel Farage’s party is two points behind the Tories.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, she said: “I’m guessing that after the appalling events of the past few days over candidate selection, that Reform will have overtaken us in the polls by Saturday evening.”