A placard held by a woman at a pro-Palestinian protest depicting former prime minister Rishi Sunak and ex-home secretary Suella Braverman as coconuts was “racially abusive”, a court has heard.
Marieha Hussain, 37, of High Wycombe, pleaded not guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
As the trial began, about 40 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the building.
Image: The trial is taking place at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London. Pic: iStock
Prosecutor Jonathan Bryan told the court the term “coconut” was a “well-known racial slur which has a very clear meaning”.
“You may be brown on the outside, but you’re white on the inside. In other words, you’re a race traitor – you’re less brown or black than you should be,” he said.
He argued Hussain had “crossed the line between legitimate political expression” and moved into “racial insult”.
“We say that the placard was abusive, it was racially abusive,” he told the court.
“There were people present who were likely to have been caused harassment, alarm and distress by seeing what was on that placard.”
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Tap here
An image of the placard, held by Hussain at a pro-Palestinian protest on 11 November, was shown in court.
It showed cut-out pictures of Mr Sunak and Ms Braverman placed alongside coconuts under a tree.
Defending, Rajiv Menon KC, said the placard was a “political criticism” of Mr Sunak and Ms Braverman.
He told the court: “What she is saying is Suella Braverman – then home secretary, sacked two days after – was promoting in different ways a racist political agenda as evidenced by the Rwanda policy, the racist rhetoric she was using around small boats.
“And the prime minister was either quiescing to it or being inactive.
“It was a political criticism of these two particular politicians.”
Read more from Sky News: First images of historic private spacewalk Spurs star charged by FA over racist joke Holly Ramsay and Adam Peaty engaged
Metropolitan Police communications manager Chris Humphreys told the court that images come to the attention of the police service if the force’s social media account is “tagged in the post”.
He added the force “actively monitors” accounts that frequently post protest-related images.
Mr Menon told the court the image of the placard had been posted by an X account with the username Harry’s Place.
He asked Mr Humphreys: “Are you aware that Harry’s Place is a secretive political blog headquartered in Washington DC that has a particular interest in opposing any criticism of the Israeli state?”
Mr Humphreys replied: “I know Harry’s Place is an anonymous political blog.”
Boris Johnson has made his first public appearance in the Conservative election campaign to warn voters against electing a Labour government on 4 July.
The former prime minister told an audience in central London that a potential Labour government led by Sir Keir Starmer would “destroy so much of what we have achieved”.
Mr Johnson, who was rumoured to make an appearance at some point in the campaign, spoke before Rishi Sunak at an event designed to rally supporters in the final hours before polling day.
Alluding to their past disagreements as prime minister and chancellor, Mr Johnson said: “Whatever our differences they are trivial to the disaster we may face.”
He said Westminster was about to go “diametrically in the opposite direction” to the progress the country had achieved over COVID and economic growth.
“None of us can sit back as a Labour government prepares to use a sledgehammer majority to destroy so much of what we have achieved, what you have achieved,” he said.
Election latest: ‘I just want to lose,’ says Tory minister
Mr Johnson, who won the largest Conservative majority in 2019 since the years of Margaret Thatcher, repeated the warnings that have been made by the Tories continuously throughout the campaign that Sir Keir was on course for a “supermajority” that could hamper democratic accountability.
“Is it not therefore the height of insanity, if these polls are right, that we are about to give Labour a supermajority which they will use to make us nothing but the punk of Brussels, taking EU law by dictation with no say on how that law is made?” he asked.
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Tap here
He accused Labour of “barely” being able to conceal their agenda of tax rises and of being “so complacent”.
“Poor old Starmer is so terrified of disobeying left wing dogma that he’s reluctant to explain the difference between a man and a woman, and he just he just sits there with his mouth opening and shutting like a stunned mullet,” he went on.
“Do we want this kind of madness? Do we want ever higher taxes? Do we want more wokery imposed on our schools? And yet this is coming now.”
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
Enable Cookies
Allow Cookies Once
👉 Click here to follow Electoral Dysfunction wherever you get your podcasts 👈
Mr Johnson’s surprise appearance came after a poll by Survation predicted Labour would win a majority of 318 seats, surpassing the 179 achieved by Sir Tony Blair in 1997.
The pollster said Sir Keir would win 484 seats out of the total of 650, while the Tories would crash to 64 seats – just three more than the Liberal Democrats.
Read more: Badenoch and Braverman deny association with Tory leadership campaign websites Is it possible to ‘ringfence’ family time when you’re prime minister?
Mr Sunak thanked his predecessor for his support, adding: “Boris was right to say now is the time for all Conservatives to come together to deny Labour that super majority that Keir Starmer craves.
“We have 48 hours to save Britain from the danger of a Labour government.”
Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said Mr Johnson’s appearance was an “insult to everyone who made heartbreaking sacrifices during the pandemic”.
“Rishi Sunak has reached a desperate new low, turning to a man who discredited the office of prime minister and lied to the country time after time.
“It is time to boot out this tired and sleaze-ridden Conservative party, and elect Liberal Democrat MPs who will stand up for their communities.”
Rishi Sunak has said he is not being investigated by the Gambling Commission as part of its probe into bets placed on the date of the election.
The prime minister also said the Conservatives would conduct their own internal investigation into the allegations that have dogged the latter part of his campaign.
Speaking to reporters in Edinburgh, Mr Sunak said his party “will act” if the Conservatives’ own inquiry into the alleged betting scandal finds wrongdoing.
“The Gambling Commission is independent of government – it’s independent of me,” he said.
“I don’t have the details of their investigation, right? They don’t report to me, I don’t have the details, but what I can tell you is, in parallel we’ve been conducting our own internal inquiries and of course will act on any relevant findings or information from that and pass it on to the Gambling Commission.”
Follow live general election updates
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
16:20
Home secretary quizzed over betting scandal
When asked whether he had ever bet on politics whilst being an MP, Mr Sunak replied: “No.”
The prime minister, who also ruled out any of his family members’ alleged involvement, is in Scotland to help Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross launch the party’s manifesto.
Speaking before the visit, Mr Sunak said the Scottish Conservatives are “sending the nationalists the strongest message possible that the people of Scotland want to move on from their independence obsession”.
The Conservative campaign has been plunged into crisis over claims several people associated with the party placed bets on the date of the general election.
Read more Bookies to reveal election bets £20 and above Another top Tory being investigated
Image: Craig Williams admitted to betting on the election date. Pic: PA
Image: Laura Saunders is the party’s candidate in Bristol North West.
Pic: Laura Saunders for Bristol North West
Craig Williams, Mr Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary and Tory candidate in Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr, admitted to placing a “flutter” on the date of the election and is facing an investigation.
Tony Lee, the party’s director of campaigns, and his wife Laura Saunders, the Tory candidate for Bristol North West, are also under investigation.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
Enable Cookies
Allow Cookies Once
👉Click here to follow Electoral Dysfunction wherever you get your podcasts👈
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has rejected calls including from within Tory ranks for those facing an investigation to have the party whip withdrawn while the probe is ongoing.
Rishi Sunak has said Nigel Farage’s comments about the West provoking Vladimir Putin were “completely wrong” and play into the Russian dictator’s hands.
The Reform UK leader is facing a backlash from across the political spectrum for saying that the expansion of NATO and the EU “provoked” Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Follow the latest updates on the general election campaign
Mr Sunak told reporters: “What he said was completely wrong and only plays into Putin’s hands.
“This is a man who deployed nerve agents on the streets of Britain, is doing deals with countries like North Korea
“And this kind of appeasement is dangerous for Britain’s security, the security of our allies that rely on us and only emboldens Putin further.”
In an interview with BBC Panorama, Mr Farage said he had been warning since the fall of the Berlin Wall that there would be a war in Ukraine due to the “ever-eastward expansion of NATO and the European Union”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:50
Farage: NATO expansion ‘provoked’ Ukraine war
He said this was giving Mr Putin a reason to tell the Russian people “they’re coming for us again” and go to war.
The Reform leader confirmed his belief the West “provoked” the conflict – but said it was “of course” the Russian president’s “fault”.
Asked about comments he made in 2014 stating that Mr Putin was the statesman he most admired, Mr Farage said: “I said I disliked him as a person, but I admired him as a political operator because he’s managed to take control of running Russia.”
Mr Putin has served continuously as either Russian president or prime minister since 1999, with elections which have been described as “rigged”.
Mr Sunak is the latest Conservative figure to condemn the comments, after Home Secretary James Cleverly said Mr Farage was “echoing Putin’s vile justification for the brutal invasion of Ukraine”.
Meanwhile, former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace branded the Reform UK leader a “pub bore…who often says if ‘I was running the country’ and presents very simplistic answers to actually I am afraid in the 21st century complex problems”.
Read more: Parties raise £5.8m in a week Who are Reform UK? Do the figures in Reform UK’s ‘manifesto’ add up?
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
6:07
Farage called out over comments
Mr Farage has so far enjoyed a relatively smooth campaign, with his party’s popularity increasing and even overtaking the Conservatives in some polls.
Senior Tories, some of whom want Mr Farage to join them to counter the threat of Reform UK, have until now refrained from the sort of personal attacks they have launched at Sir Keir Starmer.
The most that cabinet ministers have said against him up to now is that a vote for him is a vote to put Labour in Downing Street with a “super-majority”.
Starmer: Farage remarks ‘disgraceful’
Sir Keir also condemned Mr Farage’s remarks, calling them “disgraceful”.
“I’ve always been clear that Putin bears responsibility, sole responsibility for the Russian aggression in Ukraine”, he said.
“Anybody who wants to stand to be a representative in our Parliament should be really clear that whether it’s Russian aggression on the battlefield or online, that we stand against that aggression.”
Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey said: “It is Putin and Russia who are to blame for this, no one else.”
He added: :”I don’t share any values with Nigel Farage.”
Following the backlash, the former Brexit party leader posted a late-night tweet appearing to clarify his comments.
He wrote: “I am one of the few figures that have been consistent & honest about the war with Russia. Putin was wrong to invade a sovereign nation, and the EU was wrong to expand eastward.
“The sooner we realise this, the closer we will be to ending the war and delivering peace.”
Rishi Sunak has said he is “incredibly angry” to learn of allegations that Tory candidates placed bets on the election date, calling it a “really serious matter”.
The prime minister told the BBC Question Time leader’s special that “it’s right they’re being investigated by relevant law enforcement” and he is “crystal clear that if anyone has broken the rules they should face [the] full force of the law”.
Asked why those under suspicion haven’t been suspended, Mr Sunak said an investigation had to take place first – but anyone guilty would be “booted out” of the party.
Election latest: Audience shouts ‘shame’ in latest TV showdown
Two Tory party candidates are being investigated by the Gambling Commission over alleged wagers placed on the date of the 4 July contest.
Laura Saunders, the candidate for Bristol North West, has worked for the party since 2015 and is married to its director of campaigns, Tony Lee.
Ms Saunders earlier said she “will be co-operating with the Gambling Commission” probe, while her husband “took a leave of absence” from his role on Wednesday night, a Conservative Party spokesman told Sky News.
The revelation came a week after the prime minister’s close parliamentary aide Craig Williams, the Tory candidate in Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr, admitted to putting a “flutter” on the election, saying this has resulted in “some routine inquiries” which he was co-operating with “fully”.
Mr Sunak’s close protection officer has also been arrested and suspended over alleged bets about the timing of the election.
A gambling industry source told Sky News that “more names” are being looked at, though police “are not involved” in those cases.
Image: Pic: PA
The prime minister was asked by an audience member, to a round of applause, if the allegations are “the absolute epitome of the lack of ethics that we have had to tolerate from the Conservative party for years and years”.
He replied: “I was incredibly angry to learn of these allegations. It is a really serious matter.”
“I want to be crystal clear that if anyone has broken the rules, they should face the full force of the law.”
Quizzed over why the candidates have not been suspended while the investigations take place, Mr Sunak said the “integrity of that process should be respected”.
He added: “What I can tell you is if anyone is found to have broken the rules, not only should they face the full consequences of the law, I will make sure that they are booted out of the Conservative Party.”
Calls to suspend Tory candidates
Labour Party campaign sources told Sky News they noticed the odds on a July election narrow the day before Mr Sunak announced it on 22 May.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
3:42
Gove: Alleged betting ‘unacceptable’
Earlier, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called for Ms Saunders to be suspended and said it is “very telling” Mr Sunak has not already done so.
“If it was one of my candidates, they’d be gone and their feet would not have touched the floor,” Sir Keir added.
Mr Sunak faced many questions about trust during the BBC grilling, with the first audience member asking if he would “confess to [a] small amount of embarrassment” after having five Tory prime ministers in the last seven years and the UK becoming something of an “international laughingstock”.
The Tory leader said that “very clearly mistakes had been made” and asked the public to judge him on the last 18 months in office.
He faced shouts of “shame” when he launched an attack on the “foreign court” – the European Court of Human Rights – and also insisted he was glad he called the election when he did despite his standing in the polls plummeting further since then.
Having named the date of the election amid a 20-point deficit, the prime minister has failed to make up ground in a campaign dominated by political gaffes – notably his early exit from a D-day event.
Image: Starmer faced questions over his policy U-turns. Pic: PA
The gambling scandal was the latest blow, after multiple projections of a historic Labour landslide and a number of big figures – from a former Tory donor to a former Tory minister – announcing they would back Sir Keir for the first time ever when polling day comes around.
Responding to Mr Sunak’s BBC performance, Lib Dem Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson said the prime minister “has gone from ducking D-Day to blundering on betting”.
“If he was truly angry about this scandal these Conservative candidates would have been suspended,” she said.
Pat McFadden, Labour’s National Campaign Coordinator, said Mr Sunak’s “performance tonight was an abject failure”.
The Tories hit back: “It was clear from the debate tonight that Keir Starmer will say just what he thinks you want to hear.”
Read more: Has Sunak blundered by opting for long, six-week election campaign? Tory voters say gambling scandal won’t make a difference
Starmer grilled on U-turns
Mr Sunak faced questions after Sir Keir took to the stage for a grilling that mainly centred around his previous support for Jeremy Corbyn and multiple policy U-turns.
The Labour leader ducked a volley of questions over whether he truly believed his predecessor would make a “great” prime minister, but said he would have been better than Boris Johnson – who went on to win in 2019.
On his U-turns, such as rowing back on a promise to abolish university tuition fees and nationalise energy, Sir Keir said he was a “common sense politician” and those pledges were no longer financially viable after the damage the Tories had done to the economy.
Davey confronted over-coalition years
The event also heard from Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, who faced difficult questions about his record in the coalition years and as postal affairs minister during the Horizon scandal.
Challenged by a student over his party abandoning their pledge to scrap tuition fees in the coalition era, he said: “I understand why your generation lost faith in us. It was a difficult government to be in.”
On his time as postal affairs minister, and whether he was proud of that role, he said he made “two big mistakes”, including failing to initially meet campaigner Alan Bates and not seeing through assurances given to him by the Post Office that there was nothing wrong with the faulty IT system that led to hundreds of wrongful convictions.
Meanwhile, SNP leader John Swinney, when asked whether he was going to carry on with calling for independence “until you get the answer you want”, stressed his belief that Scotland would be better as an independent country.
“I want Scotland to be like Denmark, or Ireland, or Sweden as an independent country. And when you look at those countries, they are more prosperous, they are more equal, they are fairer than Scotland and the United Kingdom,” he said.
Rishi Sunak has responded to a poll showing Nigel Farage’s Reform party ahead of the Conservatives – saying a vote for the party would “give a blank cheque to Labour”.
Speaking to journalists at the G7 summit in Italy, the prime minister said: “We are only halfway through this election, so I’m still fighting very hard for every vote.
“And what that poll shows is – the only poll that matters is the one on 4 July – but if that poll was replicated on 4 July, it would be handing Labour a blank cheque to tax everyone, tax their home their pension their car, their family, and I’ll be fighting very hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Election latest: Reform overtakes Tories for first time
X
This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable X cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to X cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow X cookies for this session only.
Enable Cookies
Allow Cookies Once
Mr Sunak batted away the suggestion from Mr Farage that his party now represents the opposition to Labour – after a poll by YouGov put Reform on 19% and the Conservatives on just 18%.
The prime minister said: “Actually, when I’ve been out and about talking to people, they do understand that a vote for anyone who is not a Conservative candidate is just a vote to put Keir Starmer in Number 10.
“So if you want action on lower taxes, lower migration, protected pensions or a sensible approach to net zero you’re only going to get that by voting Conservative.
“And when people are thinking about the substance of what they want to see from a future government, if you’re someone who wants to see control over borders, you’re going to get that from us.”
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Tap here
He went on: “You’re not going to get that from Labour – they’re going to cancel the Rwanda scheme, they’re not going to put in place a legal migration cap… a sensible approach to net zero.
“I’ve already announced that; Labour would reverse those reforms and put everyone’s bills up with net zero costs.
“And if you want your pension protected, we’re the only ones offering the triple lock plus, so actually, you know, when people sit down especially now this week when everyone can see very clearly the difference in approach from the two parties… will crystallise people’s minds on polling day.”
Ed Conway analyses manifestos: Labour relying heavily on economic growth Deep question marks buried in Conservative plan Both parties are in fantasy land on tax
General Election poll tracker
Asked if the Tory party faced an “existential” threat, Mr Sunak said the publication of the two manifestos showed “there’s a massive difference on tax” between the Conservatives and Labour.
“We want to cut your taxes at every stage of your life in work, setting up a business, buying your first home, when you’re retired, you’re a pensioner or if you have a family – cutting taxes for everybody,” he said.
“The Labour Party consistently can’t tell you which taxes they’re going to put up, but they are going to put them up and as we saw yesterday, they’re going to raise the tax burden to the highest level in this country’s history. And that’s the choice for everyone at the election.”
Nigel Farage has declared Reform UK “the opposition to Labour” after his party overtook the Tories for the first time in a new poll.
In a fresh blow to embattled Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a survey by YouGov put Reform UK at 19%, compared to the Conservatives at 18%.
The results came out moments before an ITV debate between senior figures in the seven main parties.
Mr Farage wasted no time in gloating about the poll, saying in his opening statement: “Just before we came on air we overtook the Conservatives in the national opinion polls
“We are now the opposition to Labour.”
The poll was carried out after Mr Sunak unveiled a £17bn package of tax cuts in the Conservative manifesto earlier this week.
It shows Reform up two points, with Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens all down one.
Farage wastes no time in gloating at poll breakthrough
Jon Craig
Chief political correspondent
@joncraig
The opening statements in the ITV leaders’ debate may have been extremely brief, but they spoke volumes.
Predictably, Nigel Farage wasted no time in gloating about the shock opinion poll minutes before the start which put Reform UK ahead of the Conservatives.
“We are now the opposition to Labour,” he declared, in a boast that he has been wanting to trumpet at full volume for weeks as support for his party has risen gradually during the campaign.
And Penny Mordaunt served notice that she will go on the attack against Labour on tax in the debate, claiming she’ll talk about the Tories cutting taxes and Labour raising them.
Buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Will Jennings, Sky polling analyst, said the YouGov survey “represents a moment of huge danger to the Conservatives”.
“Because of the geography of their support, Reform are not projected to win many seats, but they could still cost the Conservatives wins in narrowly contested seats across the country,” he said.
“In many places this will make the difference between a constituency returning a Conservative or Labour MP.”
After announcing his shock return to frontline politics last week, Mr Farage made clear his plans to replace the Tories as the official opposition if Labour win the landslide the current polls are predicting.
He has ruled out striking a pact with the Conservatives after senior Tory Suella Braverman said her party should embrace the former UKIP leader on the grounds there was “not much difference really between him and many of the policies that we stand for”.
The poll is more bad news for Mr Sunak, who has struggled to make a come back from his D-day gaffe last week.
Read more from Sky News: Tories promise 8,000 extra police to be funded by hiking cost of visas Who are Reform UK?
Despite repeatedly apologising for skipping an international ceremony attended by the likes of US President Joe Biden to mark the allied landings, the prime minister has continued to face a backlash from rivals, veterans and some from within his own party.
Such was the extent of the furore that he was forced to quash rumours he could resign and acknowledge “people are frustrated with me” during the launch of his manifesto.
The policy document contained promises to make another 2p cut to national insurance (NI), a new tax break for pensioners and the abolishment of NI altogether for the self-employed.
But it has failed to shift the dial for Mr Sunak, who was already 20 points behind Labour when he made the surprise decision to call the election for 4 July.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
Rishi Sunak is “deeply patriotic”, a Cabinet colleague has told Sky News, as the controversy over the prime minister’s D-Day snub rumbles on in the run-up to the election.
Responding to ongoing criticism of the Tory leader, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said his boss had recognised he had made a mistake over his decision to leave the 80th anniversary events in Normandy early to carry out a TV interview and would be “feeling this very deeply”.
In the face of a backlash from rivals, veterans and some within his own party, Mr Sunak was forced to apologise for skipping an international ceremony attended by world leaders including US President Joe Biden to mark the allied landings.
Among those to wade into the row was Reform UK leader Nigel Farage who told Sky News that the debacle proved Mr Sunak was “not a patriotic leader of the Conservative Party”.
Election latest: Tories accused of putting policy through ‘desperometer’
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:33
PM apologises for D-Day departure
PM’s ‘patriotism is beyond doubt’
Mr Sunak is campaigning in Yorkshire without the usual media pack today after facing accusations of “dodging” reporters’ questions on Saturday amid the continuing D-Day furore.
Speaking to the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show on Sky News, Mr Stride said: “I do know Rishi pretty well, in fact I consider him as something of a friend, and I know he is a deeply patriotic person who cares greatly about this country.
“I know he will be feeling this very deeply.”
He added: “His commitment and his patriotism is in my opinion beyond doubt.
“Now that is not the same thing as saying a mistake was not made. He accepts that – he didn’t run away or resile from that situation.
“What he did is he stood up, he put his hands up, he accepted a mistake has been made and he unequivocally apologised.”
Image: Mel Stride was questioned by Trevor Phillips on Sky News
Mr Stride also dismissed the suggestion that Mr Sunak could hand over the leadership of the Tory Party before the 4 July poll.
He said Sunak would “absolutely” lead the party into the election and added: “There should be no question of anything other than that.”
But Conservative commentator Tim Montgomerie branded Mr Sunak’s early D-Day event departure as “the biggest gaffe I can remember in politics” and said morale in the party was at “rock bottom”.
Read more: Sunak pledges to cut rising costs of benefits Labour promises thousands of new prison spaces
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
Enable Cookies
Allow Cookies Once
👉 Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts 👈
Sunak ‘utterly disconnected from ordinary folk’
Meanwhile, Mr Farage has defended his claim that Mr Sunak’s early departure from commemoration events in France showed he did not understand “our culture”.
Pressed over whether he was trying to highlight Mr Sunak’s British-Asian background, Mr Farage highlighted the wartime contribution made by Commonwealth troops and suggested he was talking about the prime minister’s “class” and “privilege”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:47
Farage: PM ‘not patriotic leader’ over D-Day
He told the BBC: “I know what your question is leading at – 40% of our contribution in World War One and World War Two came from the Commonwealth.
“He is utterly disconnected by class, by privilege from how the ordinary folk in this country feel. He revealed that, I think spectacularly, when he left Normandy early.
“And out there now there are millions and millions of people who were Conservative voters, traditional Conservative voters, not the Red-Wallers, who are now thinking ‘Do we go on supporting the Conservatives or do we support Reform?’
“And this is going to be, I think, the acid test of this election.”
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Tap here
‘Classic Nigel Farage trick’
In his own interview with the BBC, Mr Stride argued Mr Farage’s remarks were “deeply regrettable”.
He said: “I think they are suggesting things – I’m not going to go any further than that because I didn’t want to stoke this whole thing up – but it just seems to me that that’s an ill-advised thing to have said.
“I feel very uncomfortable with that. We’ve had in our country, and it’s a source of great personal pride – as somebody who supported the prime minister, wanted him to be the leader of our party and our prime minister – that I’ve sat around a cabinet table that’s the most diverse in history.
“And I’m very proud of the fact that we have a British Asian who is right at the top of our government.”
On the same subject, Labour shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood told the BBC: “I think this is a classic Nigel Farage trick, lean just enough to signal a bit of a dog whistle and then lean straight back and sound perfectly reasonable and say something good about the contribution that Commonwealth soldiers, ethnic minorities made towards the war effort.”
Image: Shabana Mahmood
She added: “We can all see exactly what Nigel Farage is doing, he’s got form, it is completely unacceptable.
“This is a man that has a track record of seeking to divide communities who just wants to do it with a veneer of respectability whilst he’s at it.”
Rishi Sunak has laughed at a heckler after she shouted at him about the state of the NHS.
The prime minister was speaking at a rally in Wiltshire on Friday when the woman – understood to be Dr Jane Lees-Millais – began questioning government policies that see patients being sent to other primary care staff, rather than GPs.
Politics live: New poll shows what people think of Sunak’s early exit from D-Day
A GP herself, Dr Millais claimed the NHS was “disintegrating”, adding: “The country is not stupid. They know when lesser qualified people are being used to conduct consultations which are massively complex.”
But when she was then heckled by a man shouting, “most GPs spend more time on holiday than in the surgery, love”, Mr Sunak laughed.
The second heckler was heard again, adding: “You can’t get an appointment, can you?”
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Tap here
Responding to the doctor, the prime minister highlighted how his father had been a GP and his mother had been a pharmacist, adding: “My parents dedicated themselves to primary care. I know a thing or two about it.”
He said the government was “supporting” GPs, mentioning money being put into new digital telephones, before continuing: “We are also making it easier for people to see other primary care practitioners to get the treatments they need and that’s where I will respectfully disagree with you.
“Because I do think it is right that people can now see their pharmacist to get medicines for several common ailments.”
The incident comes after a difficult day for the prime minister, who is facing criticism from all sides over leaving D-Day commemorations in France early on Thursday in order to do a TV interview back in the UK.
Labour have accused Rishi Sunak of failing pensioners and posing a threat to their living standards, claiming a record number of pensioners are paying income tax.
The party said the number of over-65s paying income tax has almost doubled, from 4.5 million in 2009/10, to 8.5 million in 2023/24.
Shadow pensions secretary Liz Kendall said the Conservatives have worsened the quality of retirement.
Ms Kendall will visit pensioners in Essex on Thursday, while the Labour leader and Mr Sunak take a step back from campaigning to attend D-Day commemoration events.
She said: “Rishi Sunak was recently asked why he hates pensioners.
“It’s not hard to see why when they have so profoundly failed pensioners, from increasing levels of pensioner poverty, to breaking their promise on the triple lock, Rishi Sunak and the Tories have worsened the quality of retirement.
“Now the Tories pose a new threat to pensioners’ living standards, with reckless unfunded spending commitments and a £46bn tax black hole that threatens the economy and the future of the state pension.
More on General Election 2024
“Combined with this is the fact that under their watch a record amount of over-65s are paying income tax.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
Enable Cookies
Allow Cookies Once
Tap here to follow Politics at Jack at Sam’s wherever you get your podcasts
“My message to pensioners at this general election is simple – look at your wallet, look at the quality of your healthcare and look at the lack of housing for your children and grandchildren and ask yourself, is this as good as it gets?”
The party claims the rise in the number of pensioners paying income tax is because of freezing of income tax thresholds and people needing to work later in life, adding that Labour will “turn the page on Tory chaos with economic security and political stability”.
