Starmer to chop voting age to 16 as Labour and Tories conflict over economic system on first weekend of election marketing campaign | EUROtoday

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Sir Keir Starmer has introduced plans to decrease the voting age to 16 – as Labour and the Tories kicked off the primary weekend of the final election marketing campaign.

On a marketing campaign go to to Stafford, the Labour chief confirmed plans observe Scotland and Wales in extending the vote to an extra 1.5 million individuals, telling reporters: “If you can work, if you can pay tax, if you can serve in your armed forces, then you ought to be able to vote.”

The “extremely straightforward” laws will seemingly even seem as quickly because the King’s Speech, a Labour supply advised The Timeswhich estimated that such a transfer might flip eight Tory seats purple in England alone. It comes as Rishi Sunak is scrambling to search out greater than 190 candidates amid the most important exodus of Tory MPs for the reason that Second World War, with 78 now saying they’re stepping down on the July election.

Following a morning assembly with native veterans in his constituency during which he warned the world was changing into extra harmful, the PM’s whereabouts on Saturday afternoon have been unclear. Minister Bim Afolami was compelled to reject recommendations Mr Sunak was “taking the day off” however Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth accused the PM of “hiding away in his mansion”.

Sir Keir took a swipe on the departures of senior Tories Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom, claiming that, if Mr Gove “has effectively lost faith in what Rishi Sunak is putting before the electorate, it does beg the question as to why the voters should have faith in what Rishi Sunak is putting forward”.

“They have effectively got off the bus, because they don’t think the bus is going anywhere, I do think that’s significant,” he mentioned.

The Labour chief was compelled to defend his occasion’s resolution to rebrand its package deal of staff’ rights pledges – from the “New Deal” to “Labour’s plan to make work pay” – after Unite union chief Sharon Graham warned the plans had “more holes than Swiss cheese”.

Sir Keir denied he was watering down insurance policies on areas like zero-hours contracts, parental depart and sick pay, regardless of Ms Graham warning that “the number of caveats and get-outs means it is in danger of becoming a bad bosses’ charter”.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves mentioned on Saturday she needed to see decrease taxes for staff, however insisted that “unlike the Tories” she wouldn’t make pledges she can’t hold.

Pressed by reporters throughout a gathering with grocery store staff to speak about the price of dwelling disaster, Ms Reeves insisted Labour had no plans to boost taxes past its proposed levies on non-public colleges and rich non-doms to assist fund enhancements in public companies.

It got here after the right-wing Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank cautioned that the state of public funds hangs over each main events’ election campaigns “like a dark cloud”, in a stark warning that the following authorities could also be compelled into tax rises or cuts to public companies.

Reports that the PM was readying himself to “double down” on his stalled Rwanda scheme by saying hopes for copycat schemes with different international locations have been overshadowed by the information {that a} additional 288 individuals crossed the Channel in small boats – bringing the whole this 12 months to greater than 10,000.

In one other blow to Mr Sunak, The Independent revealed that the boss of childcare agency Koru Kids, who was backed by his spouse Akshata Murty and hosted at a Downing St reception, was endorsing Labour – warning that the Tories “are not serious people” after seeing how infighting had hampered key insurance policies to assist mother and father.

Sir Ed Davey’s occasion was additionally persevering with its path throughout the South East on Saturday, with the Lib Dem chief hitting two marginal constituencies to focus on sewage-dumping as a key electoral battleground in areas close to the coast.

The occasion chief was out doorstepping in training secretary Gillian Keegan’s constituency of Chichester, the place he hopes to flip the Tory majority on 4 July. The Lib Dems claimed that occasion evaluation exhibits water firm bosses have pocketed some £54min bonuses since 2019 as they introduced plans for a brand new, strengthened water business regulator to switch Ofwat.

And Reform Party chief Richard Tice formally launched his marketing campaign for the constituency of Boston and Skegness on Saturday, channelling Donald Trump’s well-known marketing campaign slogan by declaring: “This great nation of ours…. we’ve got to make it great again” in a short speech to supporters.

Additional reporting by PA