Election latest: Starmer's 6pm finishes on Fridays to spend time with his kids attacked by minister who says she works '20-hour days' (2024)

Sir Ed Davey continued his campaigning in Taunton today.

In his latest stunt, the Lib Dem leader knocked down a number of blue dominos with a yellow "Lib Dem domino".

He invited a young campaigner up to knock them down after doing so himself.

He spoke with a hoarse voice, which he put down to hard campaigning.

"Thank you for everything you're doing," he told those who attended.

"I think this is a once in a century election," he said.

"If we knock down that blue wall, I think the Conservatives could fall like dominos."

He stressed the need for a clean water bill to be passed quickly as the new parliament is formed.

"People want clean water... people want to swim, I've been doing a bit of that," he joked, referencing his paddle boarding stunt at the beginning of his campaigning.

Rishi Sunak has insisted that predictions of a Tory defeat on Thursday are "not going to stop me" from campaigning "till the last moment".

It was put to the prime minister that polling expert Sir John Curtice said there is more chance of lightning striking twice in the same place and a bit more than Mr Sunak remaining as prime minister.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said: "That's his view.

"That's not going to stop me from working as hard as I can over these final few days to talk to as many people as possible about the choice.

"And I was up at 4 this morning talking to workers at a distribution facility. I'm here talking to you. I'll be out till the last moment of this campaign because I think it's a really important choice for the country.

He added: "I will continue as I've said fighting for every vote till the last moment of the campaign."

Mr Sunak also denied that his switch from talking about his plans to warnings about a Labour landslide was the language of defeat.
"No, I'm very much still talking to people about our plan," he said.

Disabled people have the right to vote independently and in secret - and local authorities have a legal duty to make sure they can do this.

There are minimum access requirements that must be in place at polling stations, and people who may have difficulties voting are also entitled to ask for help from staff.

Here's what you need to know about voting as a disabled person, drawn from an advocate with lived experience, charities campaigning on accessible voting andElectoral Commissionguidelines.

You also can findeasy readguides to voting on the My Voice My Vote website.

Our live poll tracker collates the results of opinion surveys carried out by all the main polling organisations - and allows you to see how the political parties are performing in the run-up to the general election.

With under a week to go, the Tories and Labour have taken a drop, while support for Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats is on the rise.

Read more about the trackerhere.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, has accused the Conservatives of a "desperate attack" over their criticism of Sir Keir Starmer's potential working hours.

Today, health minister Maria Caulfield said "it is slightly concerning" that the Labour leader has suggested he would not work past 6pm on Fridays.

The father-of-two said he would continue to have "protected time for the kids" at the end of the week if he were to take over the top job on 5 July.

Asked about the latest Tory attack, Mr Streeting said: "What we've seen this morning is just the latest, desperate attack from the Conservative Party.

"The party that brought you the biggest lockdown party in Downing Street now talking about other people's work ethic.

"The stench of their lies and hypocrisy is even more overwhelming than the vomit they left for Downing Street cleaners to clean up."

The Labour frontbencher adds: "If we're given the chance on Thursday, Labour will clean up the Tories' mess too.

"As far as I'm concerned, this is the latest example of why the circus needs to be brought to an end."

This is day 41 of the campaign. Sky News' deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico's Jack Blanchard look atLabour’s preparation for government, the Conservative's preparing for the election fallout, and the problem with some postal votes.

Email Jack and Sam: jackandsam@sky.uk

👉Tap here to follow Politics at Jack and Sam's wherever you get your podcasts👈

The government is "urgently" investigating delays to postal ballots being delivered, health minister Maria Caulfield has said.

It comes after postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake criticised Royal Mail for apparently failing to deliver some votes in time for the general election, which is due to take place on Thursday.

Ms Caulfield told Sky News: "Kevin is taking this very seriously. He's in direct contact with the Royal Mail.

"It doesn't seem to be an issue in my constituency, but I know a number of colleagues where people haven't received their postal votes and are worried about that.

"Kevin is investigating this urgently. I know there's extra resources going into this to try and do a sweep of all the sorting offices and make sure they're out there.

"If people have only just received their postal vote, they can take it to their polling station on election day and it will still be counted."

Postal votes must arrive at counts before polls close at 10pm to be counted, but can arrive by hand if delays to their arrival make this impossible.

It has been reported that voters across 90 constituencies have voiced concerns over delays, which have been blamed on a short turnaround time for processing applications, problems with printers and issues with Royal Mail deliveries.

But Downing Street played down the issue on Monday, claiming that Number 10 is "aware of some concerns", but it will not have an impact on results.

Health minister Maria Caulfield has admitted "your family does suffer" when you work in politics after Sir Keir Starmer suggested he would not work beyond 6pm on Fridays as prime minister.

The father-of-two said he would continue to have "protected time for the kids" at the end of the week if he were to take over the top job on 5 July.

He told Virgin Radio that he would "not do a work-related thing after 6pm pretty well come what may", adding that these protected Friday evenings would continue in Number 10.

The Conservatives were quick to condemn this idea, with Rishi Sunak saying: "I haven't finished at 6pm ever."

Asked about this, Ms Caulfield said "it is slightly concerning" that the Labour leader would take this approach.

She sought to claim that Sir Keir would want to work a "four-day week" as prime minister.

The Labour leader has never said this.

The minister said: "He has indicated that he wants to kind of have a more flexible working life approach. That's just not possible.

"I'm just a junior minister and I work seven days a week, often close to 20-hour days at times. So, it is slightly concerning that that's the approach he's taken."

She added: "When you're running the country, you do have to put the country before your party and a lot of other things as well.

"Your family does suffer - there's no doubt about it."

Ms Caulfield added that, to be successful in politics, you have to "put in the hours".

Nothing says two days from polls opening like a 2.45am start on a campaign battle bus.

By 5am the pack of bleary-eyed reporters following the Tory campaign were shivering in the refrigerated section of an Ocado distribution centre near Luton.

Here, we were shown the "grid" – something best described as a giant metal frame populated by hundreds of R2-D2-like "bots" that whizz around within 5mm of each other picking up crates of food and dropping them at stations where human workers finish the job of sorting the products for delivery.

We're told the prime minister especially enjoyed this visit, hardly a surprise given his Silicon Valley "tech bro" credentials.

There is perhaps a parallel electoral universe where Rishi Sunak spent more of his campaign at sites like this talking about high tech, high productivity investment and how it feeds into his vision of what a modern UK economy looks like.

But that's not where we are.

Instead, today will likely again be taken up with attempts to punch holes in the Labour campaign and unsettle voters about the prospect of a Starmer majority.

By Paul Kelso, business correspondent

Hulme Grammar School in Oldham doesn't feel like a bastion of privilege, but the children whose parents pay around £15,000 a year for them to attend are nevertheless among an elite minority.

A selective fee-paying school, Hulme is one of around 2,500 independent schools that educate 7% of the school population, a minority that is the target of one of Labour's few unapologetically tax-raising policies.

If elected, Labour says it will end the VAT exemption on fees, making them subject to 20% tax, raising an estimated £1.6bn the party says will be used to hire 6,500 teachers in the state sector that educates 93% of children.

Private school parents fear the increase will be passed on directly, pricing some children out, while industry bodies claim some schools will close.