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Election latest: Minister says election 'not about the past' as poll suggests Tory wipeout on 4 July

A new poll suggests the Tories could be left with just 72 seats - less than half the number they won in their worst election in 1906. Transport secretary Mark Harper told Trevor Phillips live on Sky News his party are "fighting for every vote".

Sunday 16 June 2024 10:59, UK

• General Election 2024

• Election 'not about the past' says minister
• NHS funding will go up under Labour 'if conditions allow'
• Tories 'facing electoral extinction' as two polls show support cratering
• Sunak explains how faith guides him
• Green Party targeting four seats
• Adam Boulton: Starmer may echo Blair by getting into No 10 but heavy burden awaits
• Live reporting by  Tim Baker

Election essentials

• Check parties' manifesto pledges:  Conservatives | Greens | Labour | Lib Dems | Plaid Cymru
• Trackers:  Who's leading polls? | Is PM keeping promises?
• Campaign Heritage:  Memorable moments from elections gone by
• Follow Sky's politics podcasts:  Electoral Dysfunction | Politics At Jack And Sam's
• Read more:  Who is standing down? | Key seats to watch | How to register to vote | What counts as voter ID? | Check if your constituency is changing | Your essential guide to election lingo | Sky's election night plans

With it being Father's Day today, Labour has committed to improving paternity rights.

Angela Rayner, the party's deputy leader, says she wants to see a "cultural shift".

One of the pledges is to make parental leave a day one right.

Currently, employees need to have been working for 26 continuous weeks.

The Liberal Democrats recently unveiled a "dad month" policy – a month of use-it-or-lose-it leave for fathers which would be paid at 90% of earnings.

A Conservative spokesman said: "We have taken bold action to empower parents in making the choices that are best for them – whether that be by giving parents more flexibility and choice surrounding their paternity leave or rolling out the largest ever expansion of childcare."

The Labour Party has reiterated its plans to tackle cancer waiting lists should it enter government.

The opposition party is claiming that a new Conservative government would see 700,000 cancer patients waiting too long.

Labour's plan includes previously announced pledges like 40,000 extra appointments, scheduling scans on weekends and evenings, doubling the number of CT and MRI scanners, introducing AI-assisted scanners, and expanding NHS staff numbers.

Wes Streeting, the party's shadow health secretary and someone previously treated for cancer, said: "Since the Conservatives took office in 2010, hundreds of thousands of patients have waited too long for tests, scans, and treatment. 

"If the Conservatives are given another five years, nothing will change, the crisis in cancer care will continue, and hundreds of thousands more cancer patients will wait too long."

Both parties are coming under criticism for their lack of clear plans to fund the NHS after the election.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Streeting said his party would increase NHS spending if "conditions allowed".

A Conservative spokesperson said: "The Conservatives have taken bold action to cut waiting lists and secure the future of the NHS, with the total budget increasing by over a third in real terms since 2010 and our £2.4bn long-term workforce plan – the first of its kind – delivering record numbers of doctors and nurses."

Our Sunday morning show has finished for today.

Join us again next week for the big political interviews.

Trevor Phillips is now talking to Lord Peter Mandelson, the former Labour communications chief and cabinet minister.

A key cog in the New Labour campaign machine, Lord Mandelson is asked by Trevor what he thinks has gone wrong for the Conservative attempt to get reelected.

Lord Mandelson says there are two in his view.

One is Rishi Sunak's failure to "repudiate" and reject Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, as that would have been needed to get "a hearing" from the public.

Secondly, Lord Mandelson says Mr Sunak is having to "constantly" outflank Reform UK on the right of the Tories, and that appeasing and throwing red meat to Nigel Farage he is only emboldening the former UKIP chief.

On Labour, Lord Mandelson is asked if he thought Sir Keir Starmer would get the Labour Party to where it is now.

The peer says a "lot of people underestimated Keir Starmer" - particularly because Labour had slumped to such a defeat under Jeremy Corbyn.

He says many people felt Labour "couldn't come back in one go".

Adrian Ramsay, the co-leader of the Green Party, says his group is setting a target of winning four seats in the general election.

This includes holding Brighton Pavilion, and winning Bristol Central, Waverley Valley and North Herefordshire.

Currently, the Green Party only has the one seat.

Mr Ramsay says these areas are ones where there is a "strong concentration of local support".

He says his party wants to try and push the next government to take a more green-friendly stance.

Trevor asks Mr Ramsay where the Greens would find the £350bn it wants to spend - close to the debt the UK incurred during COVID.

Mr Ramsay says his party wants to tax"multi-millionaires and billionaires" - and also implement a carbon tax to raise this amount of money.

Transport secretary Mark Harper tells Trevor Phillips that he believes the election "is not about the past" - and is rather about the future.

Mr Harper highlights his party's record on increasing schooling levels, before attacking Labour over tax.

He repeats that Labour will put up taxes if they take power - and the Conservatives are bringing it down.

Trevor challenges this, saying that the tax burden has risen to its highest level in decades under the Conservatives since 2010 - and is still set to go up further under the Tory's plans.

Mr Harper says: "I didn't say we had cut taxes over that period - I said we were cutting taxes."

 The Conservative minister claims Labour will raise multiple taxes as the move has not been rule out.

You can read  economics and data editor Ed Conway 's analysis of the various manifestos and their costs  here .

Trevor Phillips is now speaking to transport secretary Mark Harper.

They are speaking after another poll showed the Tories are on the way to electoral wipe out.

Trevor repeatedly asks Mr Harper if the Conservatives do believe they can win.

The minister says his party are "fighting for every vote".

"I know what all the polls say, but it's about what people do when they're actually voting," Mr Harper says.

Mr Harper adds that he is "very much up for this fight".

When asked if the Conservatives talking about a Labour "supermajority" is an admission of defeat, Mr Harper says the polls are saying Labour will win a "very large majority" - and that it is "reasonable to point out" that this scenario will give Labour a "blank cheque".

He says voting for smaller parties will lead to Labour getting a bigger majority. 

Trevor Phillips asks Labour's shadow health secretary Wes Streeting if their claim that income tax will not go up is a "con".

He bases this point on the fact that Labour wants to keep income tax bands frozen - meaning more and more people are having to pay the higher tax rate on their wages.

Mr Streeting says "it isn't" a con, and that the position is a "reflection of the fact that the public finances are in a state". 

But the Labour politician does concede that the party is "not comfortable" with more and more people being dragged into higher tax brackets.

He says the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves "has said she wants to reduce the burden on working people".

"But it comes back to the fundamental test of our manifesto - everything in it has to be a promise we can keep and a promise the country can afford. 

"Of course, we would like to go further on so many fronts, but we are dealing with a fundamentally weak economy."

As we reported at 7.48am  a thinktank has claimed both Labour and the Conservatives would see the NHS face spending cuts harsher than under austerity.

Asked about this on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting says he disagrees with the analysis.

Mr Streeting says the Labour manifesto is not "the grand sum total of any future budgets" and spending reviews.

He goes on: "Where Labour is making the fundamental argument at this election is, we've got to get the economy back to growth.

"Because if the economy had grown under this government at just the same rate it did under the last Labour government, there'd be tens of billions of pounds more to either invest in our public services or to put back in people's pockets."

He adds that NHS spending would go up "if conditions allow" in the next parliament, should Labour take over.

Mr Streeting says his party cannot do what the last Labour government did and say national insurance will go up by one pence as "families can't afford it". 

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