Election latest: Farage urged to 'get a grip' of Reform UK amid racism row (2024)

More from Sir Keir Starmer, who has hit out at "desperate" and "ridiculous" Conservative attempts to portray Labour as a risk to national security.

Speaking on a campaign visit, he told reporters he had been granted access to sensitive intelligence by the government so it was wrong for ministers to now claim he would be a danger.

He said: "I think this is desperate stuff from the Tories. We are the party that were the founder member of NATO.

"If you go to Brussels and see the treaty there for NATO, it's a Labour secretary of state that signed that and our support for NATO has been unshakeable since then.

"On the nuclear deterrent, we're clear about the triple lock that we've put in place, not only the current deterrent but the future upgrades of that deterrent and the jobs that go with it.

"We have also - and this is why it is really desperate from the Tories - united with this government, the Tory government, on really important issues of national security. As a result of that, they have given me high-level sensitive briefings, so much do they trust us on national security.

"I'm very glad that they have and I do thank the defence secretary for facilitating that, particularly during Ukraine when they gave us very regular, very sensitive briefings.

"To now turn around and make this ridiculous claim just shows how desperate they have become going into this election. It does them no good."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has urged Nigel Farage to "set the tone" in his party after a racism row involving Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Speaking to Sky News at Aldershot Football Club in Hampshire, Sir Keir was asked what he believes attracts people to joining a party like Reform UK.

He said: "Leadership accepts the culture and the tone of an organisation, in this case a political party.

"It's no good Nigel Farage after the event saying that he doesn't agree with certain comments.

"You set the culture, you set the tone. That's what leadership is about.

"And that's why I set about changing the Labour Party four and a half years ago. And that took an act of leadership, steely determination, so that we could ensure the Labour Party going into this election is a changed Labour Party."

Sir Keir went on to insist that Mr Farage is "not a spectator" - but is the leader of Reform UK: "Leaders have to set the tone."

He added: "Leaders have to set the tone, set the standards and take the action so that people know in advance what is acceptable and what's not acceptable.

"I think that's a very important part of leadership."

Pledges and promises are coming thick and fast from every party as the general election approaches.

Struggling to keep up with who is saying what?

Here is a summary of where the main parties stand on major issues.

For a more in-depth look at what each party has pledged, scour ourmanifesto checker...

By David Blevins, senior Ireland correspondent

Fermanagh and South Tyrone is the UK's most westerly constituency and its most marginal.

Sinn Fein won the seat by just four votes in 2010 and by a mere 57 in 2019.

Witness to one of the worst terrorist atrocities - Enniskillen's Poppy Day bombing in 1987 - it has been scarred by the past.

But at Erne Wrestling Club in Irvinestown, they refuse to submit to those divisions.

Coach Alex Edgar said: "Activities like this bring everybody together and religion doesn't mean anything.

"It's all about having fun and at the end of the day, it gets them out of the house and keeps them fit and active."

One topic many people will be watching closely throughout the general election campaign is how parties are approaching LGBTQ+ issues.

Below, Sky News has wrapped up everything you need to know...

By Dr Hannah Bunting, Sky News elections analyst, and Joely Santa Cruz, data journalist

This week the party leaders made their final pleas to voters.

The Labour and Lib Dem leaders visited some of their most ambitious targets so far, while the prime minister took a scattergun approach, fighting for votes in even some of the safest of Tory seats.

This campaign is being fought on new electoral boundaries, with many constituencies undergoing significant changes since 2019.

For the purposes of this analysis, we use notional results based oncalculations by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, honorary professors at the University of Exeter, which estimate the 2019 election seat results if they had taken place on the new constituency boundaries.

You can read more from our experts in the link below...

By Megan Harwood-Baynes, digital investigations reporter

Reform and Labour have bought up advertising on two major national news sites in a bid to sway voters in the remaining days before the general election.

When looking at MailOnline, Nigel Farage's stern face beams down from both the main banner and the left of the site.

Their manifesto - which have they been calling their "contract" with the public - is pasted down the side of the news website.

Meanwhile, Labour, perhaps in a bid to emulate 1992's "It's the Sun Wot Won It" front page, have pasted their advertising all over The Sun online.

With a countdown to 4 July, they also bemoan "14 years of Tory chaos".

Crucially, neither of these papers have openly endorsed a candidate, although a regular reader may be forgiven for not noticing this nuance.

In 1992, The Sun claimed credit for the victory of the Conservative Party, after openly campaigning to drive voters away from the then-Labour leader Neil Kinnock.

It is regularly cited as demonstrative of the influence the tabloid press could have over politicians and elections.

So far, the Daily Telegraph has come out in support of the Tories, while the Guardian, Daily Mirror, Economist, New Statesman and Daily Record have all backed the Labour Party.

The Times, The Sun and the Daily Mail have not endorsed anyone, and the Daily Star has taken the unusual (but perhaps unsurprising) approach of supporting Count Binface, labelling him the "most sane politician in the UK".

And while the Mirror has already backed Labour, and despite - at first glance - appearing to be plastered with advertising for the party, the red banners promising "change" are actually for coffee brand Nespresso.

Sky News has been looking at the advertising as part of the Online Election project - a Sky News initiative to cover how the campaign is playing out online, led by Tom Cheshire, Online Campaign correspondent.

We also foundone party has been dominating social media- but it's not the one spending the most.

Reform UK has been dominating, with its page growing by more than 32,000 followers over the course of the campaign.

Meanwhile, the Tories have only seen 596 new followers.

Sixteen of the top 20 most-loved posts were also from Mr Farage.

And for some Tories, the only brand has been seen as so bad, thatsome have ditched it altogether.

John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, has urged Nigel Farage to "get a grip" of Reform UK after a racism row involving the prime minister.

It comes as a Reform UK canvasser who used a racial slur against Rishi Sunak has called himself a "total fool" and said he has learned his lesson.

Footage from an undercover Channel 4 reporter showed Reform campaigner Andrew Parker using a discriminatory term about the prime minister, as well as saying the army should "just shoot" migrants crossing the Channel.

Police are now assessing the comments to establish if an offence has been committed, while Mr Sunaksaid the insult directed at him "hurts and it makes me angry".

Asked about this, Mr Healey said: "To some extent, I see him fuelling a row over this Channel 4 film to distract, really, from the fact that there are officials and there are candidates right at the heart of the Reform party, that have been responsible for racist, anti-gay, and other deeply offensive statements.

"And it's for Farage to take action on them. And in the end, the culture and the standards of any political party are set by the leader and Nigel Farage wants to be seen as a leader.

"He needs to get a grip of his own party and he's failing to do that at the moment."

He compared the situation to the "very similar challenge" faced by Sir Keir Starmer in tackling the "antisemitism that had been allowed to fester in parts of the Labour Party".

"He did that and that's the responsibility of any leader of any political party".

More now from security minister Tom Tugendhat, who is on the media round this morning.

He did not rule out a run at the Tory leadership if Rishi Sunak quits following the general election.

Asked if he wanted to be leader, he told Times Radio: "What I want to do is to make sure we've got a Conservative leader in this country and that's why I'm supporting Rishi Sunak.

"Because the alternative with Keir Starmer, I'm afraid, is higher taxes, more regulation, worse growth and more unemployment.

"What we need to do is to make sure that Conservatives across this country win their seats and that's exactly what I've been focused on."

Pressed again on the issue of what happens after the election, he said: "Well, we'll deal with hypotheticals in a different way.

"I mean, the reality is Rishi Sunak is the candidate, there's only two candidates for prime minister, there's Rishi Sunak and there's Sir Keir Starmer.

"One of them is committed to lowering your taxes, protecting your borders and making a difference in everybody's lives.

"The other, I'm afraid, is Sir Keir Starmer who is committed to raising your taxes, to making life a little bit harder for everybody and to lecturing you on how to live your life."

By Adele Robinson, news correspondent

It's an icy cold December morning outside a Travelodge in Enfield, north London, when we first meet Nedret Batir.

She's wearing a T-shirt, but seems oblivious to the temperature - only consumed with her obvious and immediate distress.

Everything she owns, along with her two daughters' possessions, are packed up into suitcases in the corridor of the hotel.

She has just been evicted from her room and is now officially homeless.

There are dark circles under her eyes, and she looks pale, as she calls the council's housing department.