Rolling coverage of the 2019 general election campaign, including Jeremy Corbyn‘s speech on Brexit and the Liberal Democrat launch
- Corbyn’s Brexit speech and Q&A – Summary
- Lib Dems accused of using misleading data on election material
- Brexit transition period will not be extended past 2020, says Gove
- Gove’s morning interviews – Summary and analysis
1.20pm GMT
The UK and European Union face “a moment of truth” in post-Brexit trade talks in the summer 2020, Michel Barnier has said.
In a sign that he does not share Boris Johnson‘s confidence that no extension of the Brexit transition period is needed (see 9.45am), Barnier warned that the risk of a no-deal “cliff edge” remained.
1.16pm GMT
Some Tories have been assuming that Brexit will work best for them, not Labour, as an election issue. There are many voters, including people who voted remain, who are desperate for this to disappear as a problem facing the country, and in No 10 there was an assumption that Jeremy Corbyn‘s stance – promising to a second referendum, but refusing now to say how he would campaign in it – would prove a liability.
But it did not particularly look like that this morning. Rather than duck Brexit as an issue, Corbyn this morning sought to switch it into a campaign positive for him, particular with his claim about how he could actually put it to bed as an issue more quickly than Boris Johnson.
Our annual drugs bill for the NHS is £18bn, if we had to have American drug prices we are talking about £18bn a year going up to £45bn, so that’s an extra £27bn a year, or £500m a week extra for the NHS to pay.
He doesn’t actually offer anything to any of those communities. Our message and manifesto is about investing in all parts of this country.
