Climate election debate: ‘Coward’ Boris Johnson replaced by melting ice sculpture as he avoids TV clash amid outrage over NHS remarks
The day's developments in Westminster as they happened
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An ice sculpture is standing in for Boris Johnson during a Channel 4 debate on climate change after he refused to turn up.
The prime minister joined Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage in declining attend, even though Jeremy Corbyn, Jo Swinson, Nicola Sturgeon and Sian Berry will all take part.
The Tories reacted angrily to the broadcaster’s move, complaining to Ofcom and accusing C4 of “conspiring with Jeremy Corbyn”, while Labour frontbencher Clive Lewis dubbed Mr Johnson “a coward and a bully”.
It came after Labour attacked the PM’s “dark ages” attitudes after highlighting remarks he made in a Spectator column on single mothers. Other unearthed articles show the PM dismissing people’s passion for the NHS being free, and claiming young people had “an almost Nigerian interest in money”.
PM accused of ‘dark age’ attitudes to women after column unearthed
Boris Johnson described the children of single mothers as “ill-raised, ignorant, aggressive and illegitimate” in a newly unearthed article which Labour has claimed shows the prime minister’s “dark age” attitudes towards women.
In a column written for The Spectator, the Tory leader said it was “outrageous that married couples should pay for ‘the single mothers’ desire to procreate independently of men”.
And he suggested it was “feeble” for a man to be unable or unwilling to “take control of his woman”, arguing Britain needed to “restore women’s desire to be married”.
All the details here:
Neither Tories nor Labour offering ‘credible’ plans, says IFS
Neither of the big two parties are is offering a “properly credible prospectus” in their manifesto spending plans, a leading think tank has said.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said it was “highly likely” that a Conservative government would end up spending more than the party's manifesto implied - meaning either taxes or borrowing would have to rise.
It said that Labour would not be able to deliver on its promise to raise investment levels by £55bn a year as the public sector does not have the capacity to “ramp up” that much that quickly.
It was “highly likely” that a Labour government would have to find other tax increases beyond those it has announced for big business and the better off if it was to raise the extra £83bn a year in additional revenues it wants.
“In reality, a change in the scale and the scope of the state that they propose would require more broad-based tax increases at some point,” said IFS director Paul Johnson.
Johnson said that the chances of the Conservatives being able to hold spending down over the course of a five year parliament in the way that they proposed appeared to be “remote”.
“Why have they been so immensely modest in their proposals? Because to do otherwise would either mean resiling from their pledge to balance the current budget or would mean being up front about the need for tax rises to avoid breaking that pledge,” he said.
Boris Johnson? ‘I can’t bear the buffoon,’ says Molly
Do we have the new Brenda from Bristol?
Molly from Hampshire has provided some amusing election analysis – calling Boris Johnson “a buffoon”.
The 86-year-old told Sky News: “I normally vote Conservative, but I can’t bear the buffoon.”
Molly also revealed she wouldn’t be voting for “the red man” saying she wasn’t a fan “because he doesn’t like the Jewish people – and I don’t agree with that”.
Stella Creasy makes ‘labour gain’
The Labour candidate for Walthamstow Stella Creasy has revealed a “labour gain” – sharing news of the birth of her daughter Hester Corinna on Twitter and Instagram.
Chuka Umunna and others on course for defeat
Prominent centrist MPs who defected from Labour and the Conservatives are on course to lose their seats, according to the new YouGov research.
Constituency estimates by the firm indicate that candidates who quit their parties to stand as independents or for the Lib Dems will struggle to pick up seats, with a number of well-known faces under threat at the ballot box.
Labour MPs who joined the Lib Dems are struggling, with Chuka Umunna 13 points behind in Cities of London and Westminster, Luciana Berger 18 points back in Finchley and Golders Green, and Angela Smith trailing by 33 points in Altrincham and Sale West.
More details here:
YouGov poll ‘not the end of the election’
YouGov’s MRP poll – a model called multilevel regression and post-stratification – will give the Conservatives a boost this morning, showing Boris Johnson is on course for a 68-seat majority.
But surveys can be wrong, says our chief political commentator John Rentoul. And with two weeks of the campaign still to go, plenty can change.
Swinson puts positive gloss on YouGov poll
Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson tried to put a positive spin on the YouGov poll showing her party may only gain one seat at the election.
She said: “What this poll shows is that there are 134 seats where either the Liberal Democrats are in first or second place as things stand.
“That shows there’s a huge amount to play for.”
She promoted her party’s policies to tackle homelessness on a visit to east London, meeting people at the Skylight centre run by Crisis.
The Lib Dem leader said the party would scrap the Vagrancy Act and introduce a “somewhere safe to say” duty for councils to ensure they provide immediate emergency accommodation for people who need it.
Jo Swinson visits Skylight centre in east London (AP)
PM sings soul classic in south-west campaign stop
Boris Johnson has been singing Lovely Day by Bill Withers, joining in with a year seven on a visit to Chulmleigh Community College in Devon.
The PM sang the seventies hit with pupils as they performed to the school, having earlier taken part in an experiment in a science lesson.
Johnson, who toured the school with the Conservative candidate for North Devon Selaine Saxby, used a Bunsen burner to test foods for starch.
Boris Johnson at Chulmleigh College in Devon (Getty)
Most voters think PM’s wrong to snub climate change debate
Almost two-thirds of people (64 per cent) think Boris Johnson should take part in the leaders debate on climate change on Channel 4 News tonight, according to polling by YouGov for climate charity Possible and Friends of the Earth.
Johnson and the Brexit Party’s Nigel Farage look set to snub the hour-long Emergency On Planet Earth debate on the channel. Jeremy Corbyn, Jo Swinson, Nicola Sturgeon, Plaid’s leader Adam Price and Green co-leader Sian Berry have agreed to take part.
The PM’s own father, Stanley Johnson, former Conservative MEP, said it was “tremendously important that the whole climate and environment issue be fully aired during the general election”.
He added: “I would like to see the next UK government place a major focus on climate, the environment and nature protection, and make it part of the central business of the state.”
Stanley Johnson speaks at Extinction Rebellion event (AFP)
Both Labour and Tories without candidates in Scottish constituencies
More details on Labour sacking its candidate in Falkirk over allegations she made a series of antisemitic social media posts.
In a blow to the party’s hopes north of the border, Labour was forced to remove Safia Ali as its candidate in the Scottish constituency after it was informed of the Facebook remarks.
On Wednesday, the Conservatives withdrew support for their Glasgow Central candidate Flora Scarabello for allegedly using Islamophobic language.
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said “we have immediately suspended the candidate and the complaint will be thoroughly investigated”.
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