Election latest: Sunak accused of 'desperate lies' over Labour tax claims in fiery TV debate (2024)

Jonathan Ashworth has accused Rishi Sunak of spouting "desperate lies" in last night's debate, after the prime minister pointed to a "black hole" in Labour's spending plans.

Mr Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general, says Mr Sunak had made claims that were "categorically untrue".

This relates to Mr Sunak's claim that Labour has a £38.5bn black hole over four years, which would force the party to hike taxes substantially.

The frontbencher says: "I think last night what was exposed was just how desperate Rishi Sunak has become, because he lied about Labour's tax plans.

"What he said last night about Labour's tax plans is categorically untrue. Labour will not put up income tax, not put up national insurance, will not put up VAT.

"And I think what we showed last night with Rishi Sunak, what we saw last night was just how desperate he becomes.

"What desperate people do, is they lie."

He compared this to Boris Johnson and partygate.

"Rishi Sunak last night proved himself to be no better and no different with these lies."

This refers to Mr Sunak's claim that Labour has a £38.5bn black hole over four years, which would force the party to hike taxes substantially.

Mr Ashworth says this is a "desperate lie from Rishi Sunak".

"This is not true," he adds.

The leaders of the two main parties clashed on Tuesday night in their first debate of the general election campaign.

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer arguedover issues including tax, the NHS, immigration and the cost of living in a debate that at times seemed bad-tempered, as the two men were repeatedly told to stop talking over each other on the debate on ITV.

Below, Sky News looks at some of the key moments...

Tax and the economy

Mr Sunak claimed Labour's plans for the country were not costed and would require tax rises of £2,000. He pointed to the Conservatives bringing inflation down, cutting NI and his pledge to cut taxes for pensioners through the "triple lock plus" as reasons why people should vote for him.

Sir Keir said Mr Sunak's £2,000 claim was "absolute garbage" and his plans are fully costed. He pointed out the tax burden has risen to the highest level in 70 years under the Tories and used Mr Sunak's vast personal wealth to suggest he doesn't understand the cost of living crisis.

The NHS

Mr Sunak was groaned at and laughed at for claiming waiting lists were coming down and blaming industrial action on the backlog.

Sir Keir pointed to Labour's plans to create 40,000 new appointments while bigging up his credentials as the husband of an NHS worker.

When Mr Sunak claimed "waiting lists are coming down", Sir Keir responded: "They were 7.2 million, they're now 7.5 million. He says they are coming down and this is the guy who says he's good at maths."

Education

Mr Sunak said parents who "work hard" should be allowed to send their children to private schools, in an attack on Labour's VAT policy to tax private schools.

Sir Keir said that one of Labour's first steps would be to recruit 6,500 teachers to fill gaps, and he "will get rid of the tax break on private schools to pay for it, that's a tough choice, I do understand that".

Immigration

Mr Sunak offered his strongest suggestion yet that he could be willing to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if the government's stalled Rwanda deportation plan remains blocked by the courts, but said flights should be taking off in July.

Sir Keir said the UK risked becoming a "pariah" state if it left international conventions and pointed to his plan to target criminal people-smuggling gangs to stop small boat crossings.

Climate

Mr Sunak defended his decision to water down policies designed to help the UK reach net zero carbon emissions, saying the targets will still be met, it will cost households less, and maintain the UK's energy security.

Sir Keir said there was a "huge opportunity" in the renewable energy sphere that would see cheaper bills, energy security for the UK, and more jobs. He said he will deliver clean power by 2030, despite scaling back the initial investment he intended to put forward to get there.

Closing statements

Rishi Sunak appealed to voters wavering between the Tories and Reform UK in his closing statement at the ITV debate.

He said: "Either Keir Starmer or I will be your prime minister and a vote for anyone else makes it more likely that it will be him."

He also told voters "you don't know what you'd get" if they chose Labour.

While in his closing argument, Sir Keir said: "I don't offer you the gimmicks or unfunded promises that Rishi Sunak does.

"I don't pretend there's a magic wand that will fix everything overnight. Instead, I offer a practical common sense plan to change Britain."

On 12 June, Sky News will host an election leaders' event in Grimsby - a key marginal seat and one of our Target Towns this election year.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and the Conservative leader Rishi Sunak have been invited to attend, and we are looking for a live audience to join us on the night.

If you would like to be part of this studio audience, and be given the opportunity to ask a question to one of the party leaders, please complete the short questionnaire in this link.

By Faye Brown, political reporter

Sir Keir Starmer said it was "garbage" to claim he would raise taxes by £2,000 as he traded blows with Rishi Sunak in their heated first TV debate.

The Labour leader initially failed to challenge the prime minister's repeated accusations that Labour's spending plans would cost each family £2,000.

He eventually called it "nonsense" and "absolute garbage", saying his pledge to invest in green projects would result in cheaper energy bills.

Labour said the figure is based on misleading information put out in a "dodgy Tory dossier" and called on Mr Sunak to correct the record.

You can read more from Sky News below:

General Election campaigning is to take a back seat for a couple of days, as commemorations for the 80th anniversary of D-Day begin.

The leaders' differences on the economy, immigration and the NHS, which were brought to light during the first debate of the campaign last night, will be put to one side as the Normandy landings are remembered.

Both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will attend the UK's national commemoration event in Portsmouth alongside members of the Royal Family and armed forces veterans today.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey and Reform UK's Nigel Farage will also be in attendance.

Tomorrow, attention will then turn across the Channel for further anniversary events in Normandy.

The sombre proceedings follow a heated showdown on ITV in which Sir Keir rejected Mr Sunak's claim that he would hike taxes by £2,000 as "absolute garbage", branding the attack line as "nonsense" after the prime minister deployed it repeatedly.

In his opening pitch to voters, Mr Sunak sought to draw dividing lines with his rival as he claimed Sir Keir would "raid" pension pots and raise taxes on families.

Meanwhile, the Labour leader questioned the timing of the election, accusing Mr Sunak of calling a summer polling day because he "knows" inflation and energy prices will take a turn for the worse later in the year.

Good morning!

We're in the midst of the second full week of the tooth-and-nail fight for all 650 parliamentary seats - and the keys to Number 10.

Political parties are spreading out across the country to get their message out ahead of polling day on 4 July.

Here's what you need to know as campaigning continues today:

• Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives aren't on the campaign trail today, but we're still expecting to hear from the party leader at a D-Day event in Portsmouth;
• Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy will also be in attendance, as the UK prepares to mark 80 years since the Normandy landings on Thursday;
• Despite the pause in active campaigning to mark the anniversary, Labour has today proposed new legislation to establish an Armed Forces Commissioner - and "strengthen the rights of veterans";
• Both Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey and Reform UK's Nigel Farage will also be in Portsmouth today;
• Sir Ed will continue his election campaign in Hampshire this afternoon;
• Scottish Labour and the SNP will also be out on the campaign trail, with Anas Sarwar expected to visit a food poverty charity in Glasgow West;
• Away from the general election campaign, Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething will face a motion of no confidence tabled by the Welsh Conservatives at around 4pm;
• And fall out will likely continue after the first televised debate of the election took place overnight.

We'll be discussing all of this and more with:

• Labour's Jonathan Ashworth at 7.10am;
• Keith Brown, deputy leader of the SNP, at 8.15am.

Stick with us for all the latest political news throughout the day.

Thank you for joining us for live coverage of the general election campaign today - and updates and analysis throughout the first TV debate between the two men vying for the keys to No 10.

Scroll down to read our full coverage, and we'll be back from 6am tomorrow with the latest.

If you want to relive tonight's prime ministerial debate, watch the highlights below...

We were just speaking with the shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, when the veterans minister, Johnny Mercer, wandered over to join the conversation.

He asked if he could pose a question, but our chief political correspondent Jon Craig(somewhat jokingly) replied: "No, I ask the questions."

Mr Mercer ploughed on, questioning how Mr Streeting is claiming that the Tories have made £71bn of unfunded pledges.

Mr Streeting replied that "it comes from adding up all the things you guys said you would do".

He listed scrapping national insurance and inheritance tax and the "teenage dad's army" national service plan.

Mr Mercer responded that the plan to scrap inheritance tax is "an ambition", to which Mr Streeting replied: "I've got an ambition to be an Olympic swimmer - doesn't mean it's going to happen."

The minister repeats that it is an ambition, and accuses Labour of "perpetrating a bit of a fraud on people" by claiming it is an immediate plan.

He also defended the national service proposal the debate audience laughed at, saying: "The idea of young people contributing, and volunteering, and being part of something greater than themselves... I think that's fantastic."

Watch their exchange below...

Amidst all the interrupting, criticising, and attack lines, the two prime ministerial hopefuls did manage to discuss some of the issues at stake as well.

YouGov viewers were asked how they think each man performed in the various sections of the debate.

Rishi Sunak came out on top in the sections about tax and immigration (just).

But Sir Keir Starmer was victorious in the discussions about the cost of living, the NHS, education, and climate change.

See the detailed results below...

Viewers polled by YouGov after the TV debate gave a rather mixed reaction.

1,657 people were asked to pick three words describing how they felt about the debate.

See the results for yourself...