Live updates: Follow the latest news on the UK general election
Bad-tempered clashes over immigration were at the heart of the latest UK general election television debate between the parties.
The panel featured Penny Mordaunt, the Conservative Leader of the House of Commons, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper, Stephen Flynn, leader of the Scottish National Party at Westminster, Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer, and Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage.
The debate was opened by Mr Farage, leader of the populist anti-immigration party, who was a driving force behind Brexit.
The net legal migration figure last year was 685,000, the second-highest in the UK’s history. Both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his challenger, Labour leader Keir Starmer, have pledged to lower the number.
Mr Farage used the evening to focus on immigration and claimed he was “on a platform tonight with six other people whose parties have been wholly unconcerned” with the issue, but was later accused of bigotry as he sparred with opponents.
The tone of the debate was set when Mr Farage began by saying “let’s deal with some logic” at which point Mr Flynn interjected: “That would be a novelty for you.”
The Reform leader accused both the Conservative government and its Labour predecessor of creating a population crisis by allowing net migration to rise, which had put a strain on public services,
“Frankly, it's making us poorer, it’s diminishing our quality of life and it’s nothing to do with race, or any of those issues but putting the interest of our communities first,” he said.
Mr Flynn said there needed to be an “end to the demonisation of migration”.
“Migration is absolutely essential to our public services, it’s absolutely essential to our businesses, and it’s absolutely essential to our economic growth,” he said.
He said Scotland needed migration and there had been a “race to the bottom” on the issue “led by Nigel Farage, followed by the Conservative Party and hotly chased by the Labour Party”.
Mr Flynn said voters had been “led down the garden path by the right wing in British politics for far too long. We need to stand against it, we need to promote our economy, promote our public services, and do so by promoting migration”.
Mr Farage was also attacked by Mr ap Iorwerth, who drew applause from the audience when he said Mr Farage “wants to make this an immigration election for his own self-interest”.
“Let’s change the tone of the debate on immigration. Too much of it is framed around, frankly, the bigotry of Nigel Farage,” he said.
He said Ms Mourdant “can’t stand up to Nigel Farage because she wants her party to be like Nigel Farage, and Angela Rayner can’t stand up to Nigel Farage because of the shift in her party to the right”.
A snap viewer poll later found that Mr Farage had been the most persuasive voice during the debate.
The poll, conducted by research company More In Common, asked more than 1,000 viewers who carried the debate, with 25 per cent of respondents opting for Mr Farage.
Among those who voted Conservative in 2019, 47 per cent placed the Reform leader first.
Ms Rayner was favoured by 19 per cent of the respondents, while 14 per cent said there was no winner.
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'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window'
Director:Michael Lehmann
Stars:Kristen Bell
Rating: 1/5
Tenet
Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh
Rating: 5/5
Fixtures
Wednesday
4.15pm: Japan v Spain (Group A)
5.30pm: UAE v Italy (Group A)
6.45pm: Russia v Mexico (Group B)
8pm: Iran v Egypt (Group B)
Company Profile
Company name: NutriCal
Started: 2019
Founder: Soniya Ashar
Based: Dubai
Industry: Food Technology
Initial investment: Self-funded undisclosed amount
Future plan: Looking to raise fresh capital and expand in Saudi Arabia
Total Clients: Over 50
Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
