Labour, Tory leaders clash over taxes, defence

THE SEVEN-PARTY BBC election debate saw a fierce clash between Tory minister Penny Mordaunt and Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner over taxes and defence policy

Mordaunt repeated the controversial claim that Labour would raise taxes by £2,000 per household, which Rayner termed as "a lie".

The UK statistics watchdog has criticised the use of this figure by Conservatives and claimed it risked "misleading" the people.

In an earlier debate between prime minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer, Sunak had claimed that Labour's plans would mean "£2,000 in higher taxes for every working family".

Rayner insisted that it was a lie and pointed out that the Conservative government has raised taxes to a "record level".

BBC too has rubbished this claim. It said the figure was based on dubious assumptions about Labour's spending divided by working households over four years.

Immigration

During the 90-minute debate, the issue of immigration also generated a lot of heat with Reform UK’s Nigel Farage coming under fire from the SNP, Lib Dems, Greens and Plaid Cymru.

However, Farage insisted that the "population explosion" has raised housing prices and the answer lies in cutting migration to "net zero".

He was also in favour of abolishing NHS in its current form and funding it by general taxation. He argued that the French-style insurance system would get better results "for the same money".

SNP’s leader at Westminster Stephen Flynn argued for a change in the tone of the debate on immigration and claimed it was framed around the "bigotry of people like Nigel Farage".

Sunak's D-Day faux pas

Mordaunt, a navy reservist, came under attack over the prime minister Rishi Sunak's decision to leave before the D-Day event got over in France to take part in a TV programme.

She said it was "completely wrong" and Sunak was right in issuing an apology. However, she said it should not be used as "a political football".

Lib Dem Deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Sunak's actions were "politically shameful", while Farage called it a "complete and utter disgrace" from an "unpatriotic prime minister".

Defence

Mordaunt criticised Rayner for her past votes against renewing the Trident nuclear weapons programme.

She said this would make Russian President Vladimir Putin doubt Labour's willingness to use nuclear arms and the country could become a target.

Rayner insisted that Labour will keep its nuclear deterrent and match the Conservatie's plan to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP when the economy allows.

She criticised the Conservatives for cutting the armed forces and making the country an international laughing stock.

Daisy Cooper said her party was also committed to maintaining the UK's nuclear deterrent and would reverse cuts to the number of troops in the armed forces.

The Green Party, Plaid Cymru and the SNP all confirmed they opposed renewing Trident - arguing the money could be better spent on other areas of defence.

The debate gave the smaller parties a chance to grab the spotlight.

Plaid Cymru's leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said politicians need to be honest about taxes and improve fairness in the system.

He called for a fairer tax system to stop people like Sunak from paying less on investments than workers do on their "hard graft."

Green co-leader Carla Denyer attacked Labour for ditching backtracking on its policy to spend £28 billion a year on its green investment plan.