UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set for a crucial ballot box test as Labour seeks major gains in Thursday's local elections.
The Conservative leader is under pressure to perform well as his party continues to trail the opposition in opinion polls.
Issues at the forefront of voters’ minds include the government’s response to the cost-of-living crisis, the state of the National Health Service and cross-sector strikes that have disrupted the lives of millions of people. Local issues such as planning and transport also feature high on the list, according to a recent Ipsos survey.
Labour leader Keir Starmer on Wednesday used home ownership as his latest weapon to condemn the Tories’ record after 13 years in power. During Prime Minister’s Questions in parliament, he accused the ruling party of committing “economy vandalism” by causing rising mortgage payments.
“It’s not just those who already own their home that are counting the cost of Tory recklessness, the average deposit for a first-time buyer is going up to £9,000 [$11,260],” Mr Starmer said.
Mr Sunak countered by saying his government has introduced a “95 per cent mortgage guarantee scheme” and is “helping people in social housing own their own home through our first homes and our shared home ownership schemes”.
In a personal dig at the Prime Minister, Mr Starmer said it would take an average person four years to save £9,000, which is “roughly the annual bill to heat his swimming pool”.
Mr Sunak in turn took aim at Labour’s record on house building, claiming former London mayor Boris Johnson outperformed his successor Sadiq Khan on the issue.
“In London, the former Conservative mayor [Mr Johnson] built 60,000 affordable homes in his first five years in office, how many did the current Labour mayor manage? Half of that,” Mr Sunak said.
Labour, he said, stood for “higher council tax, higher crime and a litany of broken promises”.
“Meanwhile, we’re getting on with delivering what we say, with lower council tax, lower crime and fewer potholes,” he added.
The elections will take place in every region of England, excluding London, and will give about 70 per cent of the electorate the opportunity to cast their vote. More than 8,000 council seats across 230 authorities are up for grabs.
After last year’s political upheaval, in which there were three Tory prime ministers in as many months, voters’ trust in the ruling party plummeted.
Mr Starmer’s party has an 18-point lead over the Conservatives in the latest opinion polls.
The former director of public prosecutions is believed to be taking inspiration from Tony Blair’s method of leadership as part of his plan to lead a Labour government.
Political scientist Sir John Curtice has said if Labour scores a victory of more than 10 per cent over the Conservatives in the local elections, it could signal the party is on course to win the next general election. He said projected national vote share, rather than the number of council seats gained, would offer a better indication of how the electorate views Labour.
Since taking office in October, Mr Sunak has come up against mounting pressure from opposition MPs and those in his own party to address the migration crisis.
An Ipsos poll showed immigration is among the national issues most important to voters.
Fears have been raised over new rules on voter identification. For the first time, voters in England will be required to present photographic identification before casting their ballot.
Only certain types of ID — including a passport, driving licence and blue badge — will be accepted.
The Electoral Commission has estimated about 4 per cent of Britain’s population were unlikely to have a valid form of photo ID to vote — the equivalent of about two million people.
Labour MP Clive Betts warned the government “simply won’t know” how many people have been turned away from polling stations because they lack acceptable proof of identity.
He raised concerns after receiving a letter from the Electoral Commission that said data from team greeting voters outside polling stations would not allow them to “accurately quantify the wider impact of the policy”.
“It appears that the government has designed a system, which denies the prospect of sensible and co-ordinated information collection and makes it almost impossible to judge the true impact of the introduction of voter ID,” he said.
More coverage from the Future Forum
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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More on Turkey's Syria offence
Intercontinental Cup
Namibia v UAE Saturday Sep 16-Tuesday Sep 19
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Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US' most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was first created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out projectiles, namely ballistic missiles, as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 93 miles above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then deployed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
Hidden killer
Sepsis arises when the body tries to fight an infection but damages its own tissue and organs in the process.
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Of those about three million are newborns and 1.2 are young children.
Patients with septic shock must often have limbs amputated if clots in their limbs prevent blood flow, causing the limbs to die.
Campaigners say the condition is often diagnosed far too late by medical professionals and that many patients wait too long to seek treatment, confusing the symptoms with flu.
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Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
