Election latest: Nigel Farage 'playing into hands of Putin', Rishi Sunak says - as Labour condemn 'Tory s***show' (2024)

Our daily politics showPolitics Hubwill be live on Sky News from 7pm with ourpolitical correspondentAli Fortescuehosting this evening.

The fast-paced programme dissects the inner workings of Westminster, with interviews, insights, and analysis - bringing you, the audience, into the corridors of power.

Joining Ali tonight:

• Tom Tugendhat, security minister
• Scarlett Maguire, director at JL Partners polls

And on her panel are:

• Ava Santina Evans, political correspondent at PoliticsJOE
• Charlie Rowley, former special adviser to Michael Gove

Watch live on Sky News, in the stream at the top of this page, and follow live updates here in the Politics Hub.

WatchPolitics Hubfrom 7pm every night during the election campaign on Sky channel 501, Virgin channel 602, Freeview channel 233, on theSky News websiteandappor onYouTube.

Our live poll tracker collates the results of opinion surveys carried out by all the main polling organisations - and allows you to see how the political parties are performing in the run-up to the general election.

It currently shows a drop in support in recent days for Labour and the Tories - with a jump for Reform and the Liberal Democrats.

Read more about the tracker here.

By Gurpreet Narwan, political correspondent

Reform UK bills itself as the party "for the left behind" but its flagship tax policy disproportionately benefits those on higher incomes, analysis for Sky News shows.

Nigel Farage hailed the plan to raise the threshold at which workers start paying tax to from £12,571 to £20,000, saying it would lift millions of low-paid workers out of paying tax altogether.

However, Reform's plan to raise the higher rate threshold from £50,271 to £70,000 would amount to a tax cut worth almost £6,000 for the top 10% of earners, vastly overshadowing the benefit to the lowest earners.

The top 10% of households, by disposable income, have £3,000 a month to spend after housing costs, council tax and direct taxes. A couple in this category would have £5,290 to spend.

These people would gain almost £5,983 in disposable income each year as a result of the changes.

The bottom 10% of households have less than £693 to spend on things such as heating and food each month. The figure rises to £1,195 for a couple. These households would gain an extra £221 per year.

Despite the vast discrepancy, Reform UK has repeatedly framed this as a policy for the lowest paid.

At the party's manifesto launch in South Wales, Mr Farage said: "I think the most innovative policy that we've put out in here is to raise the level at which people start paying tax to £20,000 a year.

"Why? Well, number one, it would take seven million people out of the tax system altogether, a devilishly complicated tax system. That would be a good thing, of course, for those on low pay."

Read the full analysis here:

Nigel Farage has doubled down on his comments about the Ukraine war, saying he was "telling the truth" when he said the West "provoked" the Russian invasion.

In an opinion piece forThe Telegraph, the Reform UK leader insisted he was not a supporter of Vladimir Putin and called the Russian president's actions "entirely wrong".

But he claimed he saw the conflict coming "a decade ago" and said the West has spent the last 10 years "playing into Putin's hands".

Mr Farage said he warned in 2014 that a war would emerge and has "made clear on multiple occasions since then, if you poke the Russian bear with a stick, don’t be surprised if he responds".

He said the West had failed to "tackle Putin's mix of paranoia and assertiveness" and suggested it had pursued a dangerous foreign policy.

"There is no easy solution to the war. But facing up to the truth about the causes and consequences must be a start," he said.

Rishi Sunak said Mr Farage's earlier comments were "completely wrong", while Sir Keir Starmer branded the remarks "disgraceful".

Scottish First Minister John Swinney has also weighed in, calling the Reform leader a "traitor to the interests of the people of these islands".

By Rob Powell, political correspondent

The architect of the government's delayed reforms to social care has told Sky News politicians need to "grow up" and tackle the crisis in the sector.

Amid a bitter election row over public spending, Sir Andrew Dilnot said he believed the two main parties were reluctant to discuss care reform for fear of being accused of plotting future tax hikes.

Sir Andrew - whose 2011 report laid out several key measures adopted by the government - described social care as the "biggest risk that isn't managed" that the country faces.

He said: "Four out of five people are going to needsocial carebefore they die, we should grow up and face it."

"I think politicians are reluctant to talk about it firstly because they're worried about anything that means an increase in public spending and therefore possible taxation," he added.

You can read more below:

By Tom Cheshire, online campaign correspondent

If you want a good idea of what matters to each party - its deepest desires, its darkest fears - look at where it's spending money.

What it shows is a story of Labour spending big and spending everywhere, as it pursues a plausible supermajority, while the Conservatives retreat to fight for some of their heartland constituencies, and spend much less.

It shows the current state of play for all parties across the country. The map shows which is the biggest spender in each constituency - which parts of the country they're fighting to win, or not to lose.

The map was created by Who Targets Me (WTM), which tracks digital political advertising and has partnered with Sky News as part of our online campaign team.

"Our map of advertising activity shows where the parties have targeted their Facebook and Instagram ads in the last week," Sam Jeffers, executive director of WTM, says.

From first past the post to voter ID, here's everything you need to know about the general election in less than five minutes.

The Conservative Party is seen as "tawdry", Ruth Davidson has said, as two of its candidates are being investigated over alleged bets placed on the election date.

The Gambling Commission islooking into two Tory candidates over alleged wagerson the date of the 4 July election.

An industry source has told Sky News that "more names" are being looked into, but police are so far "not involved".

Speaking on theElectoral Dysfunctionpodcast with Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, and former broadcaster and presenter Carol Vorderman, the former leader of the Scottish Tories waded into the fallout of the alleged betting scandal.

"What an absolute sh*t show. Firstly, I mean, how tawdry is it?" she said.

She described it as akin to "insider trading" and criticised Rishi Sunak's response, saying he had repeatedly failed to get out in front and take control of events.

👉 Click here to follow Electoral Dysfunction wherever you get your podcasts👈

By Laura Bundock, news correspondent

The election might seem like a two-horse race, but other parties are jockeying for votes too.

We put their manifestos to the Sky News YouGov Voters Panel.

Representing different political backgrounds and more than 40 different constituencies, they pored over the promises and policies.

Our live poll tracker collates the results of opinion surveys carried out by all the main polling organisations - and allows you to see how the political parties are performing in the run-up to the general election.

It currently shows a drop in support in recent days for Labour and the Tories - with a jump for Reform and the Liberal Democrats.

Read more about the tracker here.