General election: Tories and Labour locked in VAT tax plan row as Diane Abbott vows to stand as MP – live

The chancellor is pressed on his commitment that he will not raise income tax the Tories win the general election.

With income tax already set to go up for another, four years as the thresholds are being frozen, which means people pay more tax as their wages increase.

Talking to BBC Radio 4, Mr Hunt confirms the thresholds will “stay for their allotted time period” until 2028.

But he claims a Conservative Treasury will not continue the threshold freeze beyond that date.

The shadow chancellor has taken an aim at shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves over VAT rises.

Speaking to BBC Radio, he said: “I absolutely do think it is my job to highlight the risks of a Labour government that crashed the economy before. “And I believe would, even if they didn’t crash it, would fail to grow it in the way it needs to go. “I would just say one more point about risk. If Keir Starmer can’t deal with Diane Abbott, how on earth is he going to deal with Vladimir Putin?”

The former Labour leader was suspended by the party in 2020 for refusing to fully accept the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s findings that the party broke equality law when he was in charge.

MPs and leaders from all parties are currently heading to key constituencies to convince people to vote for them.

Here’s what we can expect from today:

• Sir Keir Starmer is set to unveil six pledges to change Wales.

• The Green Party launch their general election campaign.

• Reform UK are expected to outline their migration policy.

• Rishi Sunak is visiting South East England.

Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury was asked on BBC Radio whether he felt sorry for Diane Abbott.

He said: “Yeah, I suppose I do really, because it’s unfortunate that we’re in this position after her service to her community and her country.

“But the independent complaints process in any party and in the Labour Party is independent of any politician’s status or history. Where we’ve ended up now because of this snap election is in this accelerated process.”

Dodging the question on whether he thought Ms Abbott should stand, he said: “That’s a question for Diane and for Diane to have that conversation with the Labour Party. It’s not for me to speak for Diane or the Labour Party.”

Asked whether mortgages remain high because of what the Tories did, he says it is a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

He told BBC: “If the higher mortgage rates were the result of Liz Truss, why is it that living standards have fallen further in Germany or Austria or Sweden? The reason why we’ve had 11 per cent inflation and interest rates have to go up was because of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Of course the Labour Party would like to say that it’s something that a Conservative Government did. But look at what the independent International Monetary Fund (IMF) said last week.

“They said the difficult decisions that Rishi Sunak and I have taken are ‘paying off’… [They] said that it is good news for the UK economy, that we have turned a corner, and we are heading for a ‘soft landing’.”

Jeremy Hunt said his party won’t raise national insurance or VAT if elected.

On BBC Breakfast he was asked: “Will household budgets be better in five years than they are now under a Conservative administration?”

Mr Hunt said: “I hope so. What I can confirm is that a future Conservative government will not increase income tax, national insurance or VAT, and that is a very important commitment to people who are worried about cost of living.

“I think people are right in an election campaign to be worried about a Labour Party that can’t make up its mind on those basic questions.”

Ms Shaheen said she was in a “state of shock” and offered an emotional apology to her supporters, David Maddox reports

“There’s so many people that have helped me,” she said.

“My phone is blowing up with local people trying to organise a rally and I just want to thank my old school teachers and the kids that came out tonight and I’m so sorry. I’m genuinely so sorry that it’s come to this.

“I know you really wanted me to be your MP and I really wanted that too.”

Asked what she wants to say to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Ms Shaheen referenced Diane Abbott, whose position in terms of whether she can stand as a Labour candidate for Hackney North and Stoke Newington has yet to be clarified by the party.

Ms Shaheen said: “On top of Gaza, on top of Diane Abbott and now this to me, when there’s such clear double standards of how other people have been treated when stuff has happened… what message are you sending my community? What message are you sending the black community?”