Election latest: Sunak makes Fight Club quip as he launches Tory manifesto - and Lib Dems say he got one thing right (2024)

By Darren McCaffrey, political correspondent

Arriving at Silverstone for the Conservative manifesto launch, journalists latched on to lots of motoring metaphors about the prime minister turbocharging his campaign, getting it back on track, winning this election race.

Frankly, he needs it, with support for the Tories still 20 points behind in the polls.

Today it's clear that Rishi Sunak is banking on substantial tax cuts as that election winner, the dividing line with Labour.

Some £17bn of tax cuts have been pledged, with the prime minister repeatedly controversial claims that Labour will put up taxes.

It's an age-old strategy - remember "Labour's tax bombshell" from 1992?

But this isn't 1992, and as Sky political editor Beth Rigby pointed out, Labour are now more trusted on tax than the Conservatives.

This manifesto does have bold tax plans, but some will claim they are unaffordable.

What it lacks though is any surprises, nothing much beyond whatever had been pledged around national service, pensions and extra police. These might be bold but don't seem to have shifted voters' views.

This will concern many Conservatives - they wanted some more radical pledges on European Convention on Human Rights, immigration, or income or inheritance tax, and this simply hasn't happened.

And so many will struggle will see this as the game-changer the prime minister needs. That it won't shift the election dial. That the Conservatives campaign will remain in the pits.

We've now had a response from Labour following the launch of the Conservative manifesto.

Pat McFadden, the party's national campaign coordinator, described it as "a recipe for five more years of Tory chaos".

He said it was "stuffed full of unfunded spending commitments" and compared it to "the chaos of Liz Truss".

"The public is still paying the price of the Conservatives crashing the economy," he said. "Now they promise a repeat if they win again leading to higher mortgages and a weaker economy."

Lib Dems say PM 'got one thing right'

As you'd expect, the Lib Dems - who launched their manifesto yesterday - are also not fans of the PM's proposals.

Deputy leader Daisy Cooper jumped on Rishi Sunak's admission that the public are frustrated with him and his party (see 12.27 post).

"Rishi Sunak got one thing right in this speech," she said.

"This manifesto isn't worth the paper it's printed on. No one will believe anything they're promising today."

While the Tories were launching their manifesto, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was campaigning in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

While on the upper deck of an open-top bus, objects were thrown at him.

In a statement, South Yorkshire Police said: "We have arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of public order offences following disorder in Barnsley Town Centre today.

"It is believed that the man threw objects from a nearby construction area. A suspect was quickly detained and remains in police custody."

Posting on social media, Mr Farage said: "My huge thanks to South Yorkshire Police today.

"I will not be bullied or cowed by a violent left-wing mob who hate our country."

MrFaragehad been warned by police not to get off the bus.

It comes after the former UKIP leader had a milkshake thrown at him in Clacton last week.

Sky political correspondent Darren McCaffrey was in the room for the Conservative manifesto launch.

He says the prime minister was trying to hammer home his claim that the Tories would lower taxes, and Labour would raise them.

There will be arguments over this, Darren says, with Labour disputing these allegations.

But Mr Sunak wants the tax cuts vs tax rises line to be the "definitive narrative" of the election.

Darren points out that Paul Johnson of the IFS says the Conservative plans are potentially achievable but very uncertain.

He says another significant moment was the acceptance from the prime minister that the campaign had not gone massively well - and the Tories are unpopular with some parts of the electorate.

The Telegraph reminds the prime minister the Conservative Party remains 20 points behind in the polls.

Its reporter asks Mr Sunak what he would say to those who don't think the manifesto is a game-changer.

Mr Sunak repeats a list of tax cuts and border security measures included in the document, adding he believes "it is bold".

"If I am prime minister, you will have this bold action."

Sky political editor Beth Rigby highlights to the prime minister that polling shows Labour is now more trusted on tax than the Tories.

She asks Mr Sunak if - no matter what he says now - he's "blown it".

The prime minister says it was right to inject the financial support he did during the pandemic, but he is also not afraid to take decisions for the long-term future.

Mr Sunak says he was right two years ago that it wasn't right to cut taxes until inflation came down - a key dividing line between him and Liz Truss during the Tory leadership contest.

And on polling, he deploys the well-worn phrase: "The only poll that matters is the poll on July 4th."

After the prime minister pledged numerous tax cuts in the manifesto, ITV points out the Conservatives have pushed up the tax burden since 2010 to levels not seen since the late 1940s.

That's tax revenue as a share of national income.

The PM is asked: "Why should anyone believe you when you say you're going to cut tax?"

Mr Sunak says the Conservatives have already cut taxes, but he "did have to take difficult decisions after COVID" and during the energy crisis.

"Those things don't come for free, and you don't build our country's long-term financial security by shying away from difficult decisions like that."

Mr Sunak says he has a "very clear plan" to fund the tax cuts, adding the "welfare bill is growing at an unsustainable rate".

Given his praise of the self-employed today, and his vow to scrap their national insurance tax, the Daily Mail asks Rishi Sunak if "white van man" can swing the election for him.

Mr Sunak says there is "something special" about those who are self-employed - and that he came from a family with a small business.

He says it's brave to set out on your own to make a business and that is why he wants to abolish the main rate of self-employment national insurance in the next parliament.

Mr Sunak says that shows his values and the type of economy that we want to build.

The BBC puts it to Rishi Sunak that the manifesto is his "last chance saloon".

Their political editor Chris Mason notes the prime minister has tried numerous tactics to try to improve the fortunes of the Conservative Party, and asks what is in the manifesto that can move the dial.

Mr Sunak replies the country has "turned a corner" and that's why "it is right to talk about the future".

The manifesto contains tax cuts, new apprenticeships and a plan to get flights to leave for Rwanda, says the PM, and it rejects what he calls the "ideological pursuit" of net zero.

Times Radio asks the prime minister how he will stop the billions of pounds of cuts that are scheduled to happen by his current spending plans and tax cuts.

Mr Sunak says he hopes to recoup £20bn by improving "public sector productivity".

He says NHS productivity will also be improved to raise money.

Mr Sunak pledges that day-to-day spending will rise above inflation.

But he does not confirm whether non-protected budgets will go up at above-inflation rates.