Rishi Sunak hints he might not quit as Tory leader immediately if he loses election – as it happened

Rishi Sunak has revived his claim that British support for Ukraine would be at risk under a Labour government.

Speaking to journalists this morning, when it was put to him that Labour backs the government’s stance on Ukraine, Sunak said:

You have to back up words with actions, that’s what we are doing, we’re investing more in defence.

You have to have strength to signal to your adversaries that we’re not going anywhere,. That’s why under the Conservatives we’re increasing defence spending to 2.5% of GDP. If Keir Starmer is in charge those plans are going to be cut. That’s going to send a signal of weakness to our adversaries and to our allies and crucially will mean that we won’t have the funding to continue providing multi-year support to Ukraine.

Sunak went further in comments given to the Daily Telegraph for a story published this morning in which he claimed that Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, wanted Labour to win. Sunak told the paper:

The Conservatives have stood up to our adversaries to protect British interests and British values time and time again. We have stood shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine against Russian aggression, and we will keep doing so if re-elected.

It is clear from the evidence Russia does not want us to be re-elected. Putin would like nothing more than for Britain to step back, to appease his aggression rather than face it down, and that is what will happen with another party in power.

Nigel Farage has talked of appeasing Russia, which will only play into Putin’s hands, and Labour will cut UK defence spending on day one. This will embolden our enemies and send a signal to our allies that Britain is not with them any more. We cannot allow that to happen.

Labour says it does want to raise defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, but it has not matched the Tory plan to achieve this by 2030. The Conservatives say they would fund this by cuts to the civil service, but Labour argues that those savings are not realistic.

This morning, asked about Sunak’s Putin comment, Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, dismissed this as a desperate claim. He said:

If Rishi Sunak wants to play this type of politics, maybe he should tell us about all the money that has flowed into the Tory party, which people suspect is connected with Russian business people.

He’s making a desperate, desperate intervention, because he knows that his authority is crumbling, and that Mr Nigel Farage is eating into a lot of his traditional support.

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It was not entirely clear, from reports this morning saying that he was about to do a bungee jump, why Ed Davey had chosen this particular stunt. In the BBC Question Times leaders’ special, when a woman complained that his daredevil election photocalls were a bit silly and did not look very prime ministerial, Davey argued that they were all intended to make a serious point.

You can imagine various political messages from a Lib Dem bungee jump: that you can go down a long way without hitting rock bottom; that if you go down a lot, you tend to bounce back; that principles can be elastic, but also strong enough to function.

Davey, though, had a simpler message. He wants to encourage people to “do something you’ve never done before” and vote Lib Dem. Peter Walker has the video of Davey shouting his message as he was dangling mid-air.

Voting Lib Dem is also safer, and not as scary, Davey might have added.

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One problem the SNP have at this election is that, having been in power at Holyrood since 2007, Scottish voters regard them as in incumbent government and may be inclined to vote on that basis – even though they have never been in power at Westminster, and these are elections for MPs, not MSPs.

As Rajdeep Sandhu reports for the BBC, this was evident when John Swinney, the SNP leader and Scottish first minister, took part in a phone-in on Radio 5 Live this morning. Many callers wanted to complain about Holyrood isssues, Sandhu says. She explains:

Even though this isn’t an election for Holyrood - that will happen in 2026 - Scottish voters may intentionally or perhaps accidently end up punishing the SNP if they feel things in Scotland aren’t working as well as they should.

Some of that frustration was clear from the questions callers had on BBC Radio 5 Live for SNP leader John Swinney. They wanted to know about ferries, drug deaths and NHS waiting times.

At the Downing Street lobby briefing this morning the PM’s spokesperson said Rishi Sunak was not concerned that some people could be disenfranchised by delays to receiving their postal ballots. The spokesperson said the problem was being addressed.

He told reporters:

We are aware of some concerns around the printing and delivery of postal ballot packs in some local areas.

We’re working closely with the Electoral Commission, returning officers, Royal Mail and the print suppliers to support the resolution of these issues.

We understand that the Royal Mail will also be conducting sweeps of their delivery system on polling day to make sure that any ballot packs still in the postal system are identified and passed to returning officers ahead of polls closing.

And anyone who hasn’t received their postal ballot yet may want to contact their returning officer or arrange for it to be reissued, or to arrange for an alternative avenue to cast their ballot.

4d ago13.08 CEST

Lisa O'Carroll

Scotland’s first minister John Swinney has said there is “nothing that can be done” about delayed delivery of postal votes across Scotland.

When Rishi Sunak called the elections at the start of the Scottish school holidays, Swinney said the decision showed lack of respect for Scotland.

Over the weekend councils, including those in Edinburgh, Glasgow and East Renfrewshire, set up units for those going on holidays to pick up alternate documents or vote ahead of polling day.

Swinney said there had been “significant reports” of people not receiving their vote. The Electoral Management Board for Scotland said there had been “many difficulties experienced with the delivery of postal votes” across the country. In an interview this morning he went on:

Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done.

There are no other proxy arrangements that can be put in place, but I think it’s illustrative of the fact that there was no thought given to summer school holidays.

Twice as many Britons support tax increases to pay for public services as those who believe they should be reduced even if it means further public service cuts, according to a new report. Hazel Sheffield has the story.

John Swinney, the SNP leader and Scottish first minister, said this morning that he would remain party leader regardless of how well his party does in the general election. He told the Today programme:

I became leader of the SNP eight weeks ago today and I came into leadership in the SNP to bring my party together and to bring my country together.

I committed to do that for the long term, I committed to that task, to take my party well beyond the 2026 Scottish parliament elections, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.

Back at the Q&A, a man called Jordan says the far right have done well in the French election because of their stance on immigration. Does that affect Sunak’s thinking?

Sunak says he is starting to bring down legal migration. The net migration levels are forecast to halve. And, if he wins the election, he will let parliament vote every year on a cap on legal migration.

On illegal migration, he says he thinks it is unfair. He says that as someone coming from a family of immigrants, he says – jumping the queue is unfair. That is why he wants to stop people arriving illegally from applying for asylum.

He claims that 15 other European countries are now in favour of Rwanda-type policies.

If Labour wins, the numbers will go up, and the problem will not stop, he says.

He says Keir Starmer backed “free movement” when he was standing for Labour leader.

He avoids the the main thrust of the question, which was about the far right’s success in yesterday’s French election.

This is from my colleague Rowena Mason, who is covering the Sunak campaign today.

Rishi Sunak giving a stump speech at a warehouse in Stoke… which happens to be owned by Tory donor Lord Choudrey - one of the few businessmen left donating to his campaign

Rishi Sunak is now taking questions at the event in Staffordshire. He is at a warehouse, and the questions are from workers, not journalists.

The first one is about funding for pharmacies.

Sunak says his worked in his mother’s pharmacy when he was a child. And he used to deliver prescriptions on his bike. He knows what pharmacies can do for people. That is why he introduced Pharmacy First, he says. If he wins the election, he will build on that, he says.