General election TV debate – live: Sunak and Starmer gear up for ITV debate

Voters across the country are braced for the first general election debate and the biggest moment of the campaign.

Tories would expect this to mark a game-changing moment and sensationally close the gap in the opinion polls.

Labour would hope to emerge triumphant from the debate to reaffirm their pledges and convert some indecisive voters.

We’ve had general election debates since 2010 and they often offer big moments.

Viewers can expect Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer to throw campaign lines, party slogans, stats and numbers at each other – and maybe personal jibes.

There are many smaller parties who are contesting seats across the country, and they’ll have their time to fight their case on a seven-way debate next Friday on the BBC.

But is now time for the two main leaders to face off for the title of Prime Minister today at 9pm on ITV.

Our Political Correspondent Archie Mitchell is reporting from the spin room at the ITV studios in London, and he is giving us his own spin ahead of the big debate.

Jonathan Ashworth has promised to be sat at the back of the so-called spin room watching the debate “like a hawk” for any further unfunded promises from the Conservatives, he writes.

The Labour frontbencher has handed journalists a dossier of £71bn of supposedly unfunded commitments made by Rishi Sunak.

The dossier includes policies such as abolishing inheritance tax entirely, which Labour say would cost £10bn a year by 2030.

The Conservatives have not committed to the policy, but Jeremy Hunt said in an interview that inheritance tax was “against Tory values”.

Asked whether Sir Keir Starmer was worried about the debate, Mr Ashworth said: “He is really worried… about the Tories’ £71bn of unfunded commitments made by Rishi Sunak.”

Rishi Sunak is likely to get hit on his Rwanda plan. Labour previously said the scheme has showed to be a “con from start to finish” and promised to scrap it completely.

But in a last move to mirror Nigel Farage’s promise to reduce immigration, the Conservatives waisted no time in announcing a cap on migrant visas if elected.

If the policy goes ahead, 300,000 fewer people will be able to enter the UK and the Tories would say they have curved migration levels.

However, net migration is already falling by 10 per cent. According to the Office for National Statistics, net migration in 2023 was 685,000 – down from 764,000 in 2022.

Sir Keir Starmer will likely be accused of having no control over UK borders. Mr Sunak previously said on PMQs that Labour has a secret deal with the EU that would see “an additional 100,000 migrants” arrive in the UK every year.

Although the party hasn’t explicitly set out a policy to curve migration, Labour promised to tackle people-smuggling gangs by introducing a new Border Security Command.

Both leaders will try to convince the audience that they are better at handling the country’s money.

Rishi Sunak will say that the economy is heading into the right direction and he will likely want to get the credit for lower inflation rates. The Tories welcomed with open arms the announcement that the UK is no longer in recession with an economic growth of 0.6 per cent.

According to the Office for National Statistics, that was only in the first three months of the year. The latest figures come after two quarters of decline – which represents a technical recession – in the back half of 2023.

But Starmer won’t hold back and he might use his favourite line: “14 years of Tory economic chaos.” After the disastrous mini-budget of Liz Truss, the Labour leader will try to convince voters that he can lead on economic stability.

But the party has already faced criticism for limiting itself from making bolder pledges, with the Tories accusing Labour of having nothing to bring to the table.

Voters, particularly younger generations, need to see that Keir Starmer is more than ‘diet Tory’, writes Femi Oluwole.

He argues: “The Labour Party has stayed relatively quiet on these issues because they’ve been trying to ride two horses at once: appealing to disillusioned Conservative voters while simultaneously holding onto their progressive base.

“Can you remember one speech from Keir Starmer that really set the Labour Party’s values apart from the Conservatives?”

One name that will not be rubber stamped by Labour’s powerful NEC today is Darren Rodwell, the party’s candidate for Barking, Kate Devlin reports.

At the weekend The Independent revealed he was under investigation over an allegation of sexual harassment.

Labour sources insist he is going through a separate process and there is enough time for him to be signed off before nomination close.

Televised election debates in the UK celebrate their 14th birthday this year. Long a mainstay of American elections, they are relatively new in Britain.

But they have already been the subject of controversy – and even looked as if they could change the shape of an election in the past.

Keir Starmer, the man who seemingly has everything to lose, and Rishi Sunak, the prime minister trailing in his wake, are gearing up for what could be a crucial moment in the election campaign – the first televised showdown.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has plans to lower the voting age to 16 if his party wins July’s general election — but Tories have been critical of the proposal.

On a campaign visit to Stafford last week, the Labour leader confirmed plans to follow Scotland and Wales in extending the vote to a further 1.5 million people, telling reporters: “If you can work, if you can pay tax, if you can serve in your armed forces, then you ought to be able to vote.”