Summary
A police officer in the prime minister's close protection team has been suspended and arrested over alleged bets about the timing of the general election, the BBC can reveal
The Metropolitan Police were contacted by the Gambling Commission last Friday, who told the force they were investigating the alleged bets
Meanwhile, a second Conservative candidate is being looked into by the Gambling Commission for allegedly placing a bet on the election date
It comes after a different Conservative candidate, Craig Williams, last week apologised for placing an election bet
Earlier, Sunak hits out at Keir Starmer on defence spending - claiming Labour would immediately cut the government's planned increases
The SNP has launched its manifesto, focusing on "major investment" in the NHS, independence and Brexit
Live Reporting
Edited by Patrick Jackson
Thank you for readingpublished at 00:06 20 June
00:06 20 June
Patrick Jackson
Live page editorAnd with that, we're wrapping up our general election live coverage for today. But if you're still itching for more political news, fear not – we've got plenty for you to dig into across the BBC, including Second Tory candidate looked into over election betting.
Tomorrow marks two weeks until the general election, and Thursday is already shaping up to be an interesting day.
As usual, we'll be bringing you live updates from the campaign trail, but we'll also have Question Time's leaders' special – with the leaders of the four main parties in Britain – to look forward to.
The two-hour long programme will be broadcast from 20:00 BST tomorrow evening here and across the BBC.
My colleagues will be back bright and early to bring bring you live updates, reaction and analysis throughout the day here on this page.
But for now, thank you for joining us and goodnight.
Allegations of betting on the election - what we know so farpublished at 23:49 19 June
23:49 19 June
As we've been reporting, the BBC has revealed that the Gambling Commission is looking into a second Tory candidate over an alleged bet relating to the timing of the general election.
It follows the revelation last week that the gambling watchdog was investigating Tory candidate Craig Williams, who was a parliamentary aide to Sunak, over an alleged bet on the date of the election.
Williams apologised, saying he had made a "huge error of judgement".
Then earlier this evening, the BBC also revealed that a police officer working as part of the prime minister's close protection team had been suspended and later arrested over alleged bets about the timing of the general election.
The officer was arrested on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was taken into custody and bailed pending further enquiries.
Second Conservative candidate looked into over alleged election date betpublished at 22:59 19 June
22:59 19 JuneBreaking
Chris Mason
Political editorA second Conservative candidate is being looked into by the Gambling Commission over an alleged bet relating to the timing of the general election, the BBC can reveal.
Laura Saunders (pictured below) is the party’s candidate in Bristol North West and has worked for the party since 2015.
It is understood she worked most recently in the party’s International Division – a department of Conservative campaign headquarters which liaises with other centre right parties around the world.
It is not known when the alleged bet was placed or for how much money.
A Conservative Party spokesman told the BBC: “We have been contacted by the Gambling Commission about a small number of individuals. As the Gambling Commission is an independent body, it wouldn’t be proper to comment further, until any process is concluded.”
Saunders has been approached for comment and has not offered a response.
Last week another Conservative candidate – who had been a parliamentary aide to the prime minister – apologised and said he had made a “huge error of judgement” over an alleged bet on the date of the general election.
Craig Williams is alleged to have placed a £100 bet on a July election three days before Rishi Sunak announced it would happen on 4 July.
Find the full list of candidates standing in your area here.
Image source, FacebookReeves wants to 'close gender pay gap once and for all' as chancellorpublished at 22:30 19 June
22:30 19 June
Image source, PA MediaLabour's Rachel Reeves has vowed to "close the gender pay gap once and for all" if she becomes chancellor at the general election.
Speaking to the Guardian, external, the shadow chancellor says her party's plans are “not about naming and shaming" and that "everybody can do something to close that gender pay gap".
Reeves tells the paper that if Labour wins power on 4 July, her party would introduce flexible working, except where it is not reasonably feasible.
"In the position of chancellor, I believe the biggest impact that I can make to the lives of ordinary women, women who go out to work, is to close the gender pay gap once and for all. That's what I'm setting out to do," she says.
What is each party promising? Your guide to the manifestospublished at 21:58 19 June
21:58 19 June
We've been bringing you analysis from our correspondents on the SNP's election manifesto, after the party unveiled its pledges in Edinburgh earlier today.
Among its pledges, the party made a renewed focus on negotiations for Scottish independence its central offer to voters. You can read more about it here.
We also shared details from the Sinn Féin and Workers Party of Britain manifestos, also published today.
As a reminder, a manifesto is a document issued by a political party that outlines what it would do if it formed the next government.
Over the past fortnight, correspondents from across the BBC have been busy compiling handy guides to the key pledges from each of the major parties. If you'd like to read more, we've listed them below:
What is the two-child limit?published at 21:32 19 June
21:32 19 June
Douglas Fraser
Business & economy editor, BBC ScotlandThe "two-child limit" has become a totem of this electioncampaign, seven years and two Westminster elections after it was introduced.
There are other measures that could have gained thatprofile, including the household cap on benefits, or plans to toughen "fit-to-work" tests on disability.
But rivals to Conservatives and Labour have chosen tohighlight the two-child limit, with the SNP, Lib Dems and Greens arguing itshould be removed. Labour has said it would like to remove it, but only when "fiscal conditions" allow.
Introduced from 2017, it means Universal Credit payment orChild Tax Credit of, typically, £3455 for each first and second child, butnothing for any further children born after 5 April 2017. Child Benefitcontinues to cover all children, but is clawed back from higher earners.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates the two-childlimit currently affects 550,000 UK households with nearly two million children,and that will rise to 690,000 households and 2.6 million children by the end of the newParliament.
Half are single parent homes, and more than half have aworking adult. The impact is on the poorest households, and feltdisproportionately by parents from ethnic minorities who tend to have largerfamilies.
The cost of removing the two-child limit, or the saving tothe Treasury from having introduced it, is this year £2.1bn, rising to£3.4bn after five years.
Listen: Electioncast dissects the SNP's manifestopublished at 21:10 19 June
21:10 19 June
Image source, .Electioncast host Adam Fleming is in Birmingham with Newsnight’s VictoriaDerbyshire and Nick Watt ahead of a special programme tonight.
A live audience of around 50 people will be joining the Newsnight team as they discuss healthcare with party representatives from the Conservatives, Labour, the SNP and Lib Dems.
BBC News' Scotland editor James Cook, who was at the SNP manifesto launch earlier today, also joins the Electioncast line-up to discuss the party's pitch.
Bar chart wars: What to watch out for on election leafletspublished at 20:46 19 June
20:46 19 June
Kate Lamble
More or Less, BBC Radio 4It’s a two-horse race and rival parties can’t win here. That’s the claim you often see on political leaflets, often with a bar chart appearing to back it up.
But can you trust it?
This is about tactical voting: for instance, the Liberal Democrats trying to get Labour voters or Green voters to back them to get the Conservatives out, or vice versa.
The use of these tactical messages is on the rise, according to Professor Caitlin Milazzo from the University of Nottingham. Around half of leaflets seen this year by Prof Milazzo’s Open Elections project contain tactical messages, up from 25% in the 2019 general election.
But not all bar charts are created equal. Parties often use data from totally different sources to back up claims that they are in the running.
What does the UK spend on defence?published at 20:29 19 June
20:29 19 June
Joe McFadden
Live ReporterIt has been a busy day on the campaign trail – so now let's take you back to earlier comments from Rishi Sunak on defence spending.
The prime minister claimed that if Keir Starmer won the election, he would quickly head off to a Nato summit and “cutBritish defence spending”.
As a reminder, the Conservatives have pledged to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030. Labour has not matched the specific commitment – but it says it will hit the 2.5% target "as soon as we can".
Nato’s defence spending targetfor its members is currently 2% of GDP – although the UK exceeded that targetlast year, having spent 2.28% on defence according to Nato estimates., external
Just 11 out of 30 Nato members were estimated to have met the target in 2023, according to those same estimates.
Just joining us? Here's what you might have missedpublished at 20:09 19 June
20:09 19 June
It's been a hectic few hours in the newsroom. If you're just joining us, here's some of the key developments from the day so far:
- A police officer in Rishi Sunak's close protection team has been suspended and arrested over alleged bets about the timing of the election
- Meanwhile, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told the BBC that Labour would need an "effective opposition" if the party was to win power
- He was also asked if some of his Tory colleagues had given up – watch that moment here
- Elsewhere, Labour said it would lift an onshore wind ban in England within days if it came to power
- Figures released earlier today showed UK inflation falling to the 2% target for the first time in almost three years
- Sunak said his plan was working, but Starmer said people were still "paying the cost of the government losing control of the economy"
- The SNP launched its manifesto, focusing on "major investment" in the NHS and Brexit
- Sinn Féin also launched its manifesto. The party called for more devolution, but has not outlined a desired timeframe for any border poll on the island of Ireland
- George Galloway launched the Workers Party's manifesto, with pledges on improving "poverty pay" and boosting social housing
We still have plenty more updates and analysis to bring you, so stick with us.
'Limited' promises on school funding – IFSpublished at 19:52 19 June
19:52 19 June
Branwen Jeffreys
Education editorImage source, Getty ImagesThere are huge challenges in England’s education system, according to economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, with “limited” promises from the main parties on funding for schools and colleges ahead of the general election.
The IFS points to 37% of disadvantaged pupils missing at least a day of school per fortnight, rising mental health problems and teacher shortages as the biggest issues.
As school pupil numbers are set to fall, keeping funding per pupil at the same level in real terms would potentially lead to a £3.5bn cut in total school spending by 2028.
This analysis warns that Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems are not offering “significant” extra core funding.
The picture from the political parties is less clear for 16-18 year olds, says the IFS, apart from a Lib Dem promise to increase spending above inflation for each student, each year.
If the next government wants to keep real-terms spending per student constant at today’s level, the IFS says it would require an extra £400m, and for these young people, funding would still be around 9% lower in real terms than in 2010.
Watch: What does today's inflation figure mean for the election?published at 19:33 19 June
19:33 19 June
Earlier today, it was revealed that UK inflation fell to 2% in the year to May.
That figure comes from the Office for National Statistics, and it means inflation has fallen back to the Bank of England's 2% target for the first time in nearly three years.
In the clip below, our chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman talks you through what that means for the general election campaign:
Timing of Hunt's remark is prescientpublished at 18:47 19 June
18:47 19 June
Harry Farley
Political correspondentImage source, PAThe timing of Jeremy Hunt’s comments warning that Labourwould need an “effective opposition” is prescient.
In the last few moments we’ve had another one of these MRPpolls - this time from YouGov, external. They have large sample sizes and try to predict the results in differentconstituencies. Now we need to be careful. It is still just one poll and weshouldn’t overly read into it. Plus there are still two weeks of campaigning togo.
But they matter psychologically as much as anything. Thesheer scale of defeat that poll after poll is predicting for the Conservativesis adding to the sense of gloom in the Tory campaign.
If these polls are correct in the broad sense of directionthen the Conservatives are on course for their worst result in many, manyyears.
We’ve seen more and more the argument from Conservatives that voters should back them, not to get a Tory government, but to avoid givingLabour a “blank cheque”. Jeremy Hunt’s comments are the latest iteration ofthat argument.
Hunt: It's important to have an 'effective opposition' if Labour winpublished at 18:36 19 June
18:36 19 June
Turning back to an interview Chancellor Jeremy Hunt gave to the BBC a little earlier, we can now bring you a clip of the moment he was asked whether some of his Tory colleagues had given up.
- Hunt is standing in the Godalming and Ash constituency. A full list of candidates can be found here.
Postpublished at 18:33 19 June
18:33 19 June
Emily Atkinson
Live editorAfter that flurry of breaking news, we're turning back once again to the campaign trail.
We've got plenty of reaction and analysis to bring you on some of today's other top stories, including the SNP manifesto launch and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's "effective opposition" remarks.
Stay with us.
Police watchdog to decide on involvement in election bet allegationpublished at 18:29 19 June
18:29 19 June
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) says it will make a decision on its level of involvement over the arrest of a police officer from Rishi Sunak's protection team.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the IOPC says: "We have received a mandatory referral from the Metropolitan Police Service and will make a decision on the level of IOPC involvement in due course".
Officer arrest follows separate Tory candidate election bet allegationpublished at 18:02 19 June
18:02 19 June
Image source, UK ParliamentWe just brought you the news that a police officer working as part of Rishi Sunak's close protection team has been arrested over alleged bets about the timing of the general election.
It's not the first allegation linked to election date betting we've seen over the course of this campaign.
Separately, Conservative candidate Craig Williams, who was a parliamentary aide to Sunak, last week apologised and said he made a "huge error of judgement" after allegations that he placed a £100 bet on a July election three days before the 4 July poll was announced.
Williams said he would cooperate with inquiries being made by the Gambling Commission.
You can read more about this story here.
Gambling Commission 'investigating possibility of offences'published at 17:56 19 June
17:56 19 June
A spokesperson for the Gambling Commission has just said: "The Gambling Commission regulates gambling in the interests of consumers and the wider public.
"Currently the commission is investigating the possibility of offences concerning the date of the election.
"This is an ongoing investigation, and the commission cannot provide any further details at this time."
Sunak protection officer arrested over alleged election date betspublished at 17:36 19 June
17:36 19 JuneBreaking
Chris Mason
Political editorA police officer working as part of the prime minister's close protection team has been suspended and later arrested over alleged bets about the timing of the general election, the BBC can reveal.
The Metropolitan Police were contacted by the Gambling Commission last Friday, who informed the force that they were investigating alleged bets made by a police constable from its royalty and specialist protection command.
The Met told the BBC that the matter was "immediately referred to officers in the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards, who opened an investigation, and the officer was also removed from operational duties".
The officer was then arrested on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.He was taken into custody and bailed pending further enquiries.
The matter has also been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The Met said the Gambling Commission continues to lead the investigation into the alleged betting offences, and "our investigation is running in parallel to that".
Return to the latest post
No mention of culture in SNP manifestopublished at 17:30 19 June
17:30 19 June
Pauline McLean
BBC Scotland Arts CorrespondentImage source, PA MediaUnlike some of the other party manifestos, there’s no specificsection devoted to culture, media and sport.
Is this because the SNP believes its handling of culturalmatters on home turf needs no adjustment?
Those who continue to campaign for increased publicsupport and fear further cost-cutting across the sector may beg to differ.
The SNP’s plan for Scotland to rejoin the EU as anindependent country would benefit creatives with freedom of movement. They notethat it would also provide access to the Creative Europe scheme, external.
Their hope for broadcasting is that it’s devolved fromWestminster but until then they want to see greater investment by the UKgovernment in Scottish broadcasting.
They also want BBC Alba to receive the same level offunding for Gaelic television as S4C does for Welsh language broadcasting andthey want national football matches included on the list of sporting events forfree-to-air channels.
