General election news: Boris Johnson admits truth about ‘new’ NHS nurses and Brexit border checks, as Labour narrows Tory poll lead

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General Election 2019: Opinion polls over the last seven days

Boris Johnson has admitted that under his revised Brexit withdrawal agreement there would be checks on goods passing between Northern Ireland and Britain, and conceded that the Conservatives’ pledge to employ 50,000 “new” nurses includes the retention of 19,000 existing nurses.

The prime minister appeared on Sky News on the final Sunday ahead of the general election, and refused to say if he would stand down if he fails to win a majority, potentially becoming one of the shortest-serving PMs in history.

While the Conservatives retained a lead as high as 15 points over Labour in an Opinium poll, Jeremy Corbyn‘s party enjoyed a four-point boost in a survey by ComRes, cutting the Tory lead to six points, which would put Britain in hung parliament territory.

Meanwhile both the Conservatives and the Brexit Party again refused to take part in an election debate on Channel 4. They were represented by empty podiums as Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson was accused by an audience member of being a “Tory in disguise”.

Key Points

• Jo Swinson branded 'Tory in disguise'
• Conservative Party dodges C4 election debate
• Johnson accused of 'lying' over NHS and immigration
• PM nervous and 'fighting for every vote'
• Poll shows Labour cut Tory lead to six points

[8 December 2019 19:39 · Peter Stubley]

The latest BMG poll for The Independent on Westminster voting intentions shows the Conservatives extending their lead over Labour from six to nine points.

[8 December 2019 20:05 · Peter Stubley]

One of the best pre-prepared soundbites came from Jonathan Bartley: "If the climate were a bank, we would have bailed it out by now."

It appears to be an adaption of something said a decade ago by the late Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela: “If the climate were a bank, the United States would have already saved it”.

[8 December 2019 20:08 · Peter Stubley]

That's it for the debate - here's the moment Jo Swinson was branded a "Tory in disguise" by a member of the audience over her support for austerity.

[8 December 2019 20:51 · Peter Stubley]

Thousands of hospital beds could be filled with patients who don’t need to be there over the Christmas period, according to projections by the Labour Party.

[8 December 2019 20:53 · Peter Stubley]

Hospital bosses have apologised to the family of a four-year-old boy who was left to sleep on the floor because of a shortage of beds in the emergency department at Leeds General Infirmary.

[8 December 2019 21:18 · Peter Stubley]

A Conservative Party candidate drew gasps from the audience at a hustings in Broxtowe when he suggested that food bank users cannot manage their budgets properly. 

[8 December 2019 23:10 · Peter Stubley]

Labour's shadow education secretary Angela Rayner has won praise from The Independent's Andrew Grice for her appearance on Channel 4's Everything But Brexit TV debate.

[8 December 2019 23:26 · Peter Stubley]

That's it for our live coverage of the general election campaign this evening.

Tomorrow will see Boris Johnson attempting to appeal to Labour Leave voters by describing Jeremy Corbyn's Brexit policy as "great betrayal".

Meanwhile Labour will seek to convince the public that Boris Johnson is a danger to the country, after unearthing further controversial comments made by the prime minister in two of his books and in articles for The Spectator and The Daily Telegraph.