Election latest: Reform candidate disowns party amid racism row - and backs Tories (2024)

Rishi Sunak has described Nigel Farage as a "Putin appeaser" - but speaking to ourpolitical editorBeth Rigbytoday, the Reform UK leader labelled it "a load of cobblers".

But he said Ukraine should enter peace talks with Russia, saying: "Wars end in two ways - either one side gets annihilated, literally annihilated, as happened, of course, to Germany in 1945, or there are negotiations."

He said he is "anti-war" and "against the warmongering parties of Labour and Conservative over the last 25 years".

He acknowledged that Russia will have to return the territories it has forcibly taken from Ukraine, saying it "has to happen".

But he added: "I really do fear for what is going to happen to Ukraine, if this goes on for another three or four years."

Nigel Farage has previously described social media personality Andrew Tate as an "important voice" for men.

Sky'spolitical editorBeth Rigbyasked him about the comment in an interview earlier, and he repeated that Tate is a "huge voice for men".

The Reform UK leader added: "Doesn't mean I agree with him in any way at all. Doesn't mean that I'm not horrified by seeing some of the charges and the extradition that's probably going to happen."

Andrew Tate, along with his brother Tristan, have been charged with allegations ofrape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang - charges they deny.

But Mr Farage said he remains an important voice for young men, saying: "Why do you think he's got the massive following he's got? What do you think's going on here?

"And there are so many young men feeling that they aren’t allowed to be blokes in any way at all, and that's the gap that Tate is filling.

"And this is the problem, isn't it?"

He added that he does not support Tate "in any way at all", and the support he has "should worry you".

Our daily politics showPolitics Hubwill be live on Sky News from 7pm with ourpolitical correspondentAli Fortescuehosting this evening.

The fast-paced programme dissects the inner workings of Westminster, with interviews, insights, and analysis - bringing you, the audience, into the corridors of power.

Tonight will be a slightly different show, as we take in reaction to the result England's Euros match against Slovakia, and also the exit poll from the French parliamentary elections.

To discuss the Euros, we will be joined by our correspondents in Germany and here in the UK.

To dissect the French election, we will be joined from Paris throughout the show by French political commentator Agnes Poirier.

And as the UK general election campaign enters its final days, we will speak to Treasury minister Bim Afolami.

On Ali's panel are:

• Luisa Porritt, former Lib Dem MEP;
  
• Lucy Fisher, Whitehall editor at the Financial Times.
  

Watch live on Sky News, in the stream at the top of this page, and follow live updates here in the Politics Hub.

WatchPolitics Hubfrom 7pm every night during the election campaign on Sky channel 501, Virgin channel 602, Freeview channel 233, on theSky News websiteandappor onYouTube.

In the undercover report from Channel 4 looking at Nigel Farage's activists, one of them made comments deemed hom*ophobic.

A close aide to the Reform UK leader said when a police car passed that displayed a pride flag: "You see that f****** degenerate flag on the front bonnet? What are the old bill doing promoting that crap? They should be out catching nonces, not promoting the f******."

Asked what he made of those comments by Sky's political editor Beth Rigby, Mr Farage said: "Yeah, on the point the police should not show political symbols, agreed. On the point they should be doing stop and search. Agreed. Of course, I agree with that totally.

"On the language that was used - crass, drunken, vulgar, rude, wrong."

He said he was "very angry" and "furious" when he heard that his aide had made the comment because he "didn't expect him to do it".

Mr Farage said: "The football was on, and he was down a few drinks. We could all say silly things when we're a bit half cut."

Beth challenged him on that, but Mr Farage insisted that "people say all sorts of things when they're drunk and often don't even remember it the next day".

But he added: "It was, it was awful."

Rishi Sunak spoke this afternoon at theMachzike Hadath Synagogue in Golders Green, north London, and told the congregation that a government under his leadership will stand behind Israel.

Recalling the "horror" of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, he said he will "never equivocate on who was to blame for this ugly, abhorrent act of terror".

"I will be steadfast in standing by Israel in its time of need, and I will not try and bully Israel into making concessions that are not in its interests. Israel deserves to live in peace and security."

He called for Hamas to release the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza.

The PM also referenced Iran's attack on Israel in April, saying: "I am proud that I'm the first British prime minister to have ordered our military into action to protect the state of Israel, and I'm even prouder of the role our military played in ensuring Iran's missile and drone barrage did not succeed."

Mr Sunak also criticised the "shocking increase in antisemitism" in the UK since the 7 October attacks, and hit out at those who "blame Israel for defending itself, for doing what any state would do in response to such a horrific, barbaric attack".

"The whole fabric of our nation is under threat. This antisemitism is a sickness, and I am determined to confront it."

He pledged to "lead a long term effort" to do so, and "change our culture so we tackle the root causes of this hatred".

The PM said, if re-elected, he would "tell the police to take a zero tolerance approach to antisemitic hate crimes".

Finally, Mr Sunak hit out at Labour's plan to add VAT to private school fees, saying: "It is particularly wrong to put VAT on the fees of Jewish schools when there is not sufficient alternative provision in the state sector.

"Your values, education, hard work and enterprise are very British values, and they are also Conservative values."

By Adam Boulton, Sky News commentator

Becoming prime minister is a shock. Not so much the moment of being elected - any sensible democratic politician knows that opinion polls can be wrong and gets ready for all eventualities.

No incoming prime minister can ever be fully prepared for the demands of the job, placed on them from day one, when - among many other demands - they are taken aside to be briefed about their role in a nuclear war.

The process is particularly challenging in the UK because the change is so quick. There are no weeks of transition, as in most other countries. Nobody else does it like us.

As Tony Blair remarked to Alastair Campbell: "Imagine preparing for a new job by working flat out travelling the country for six weeks and then go a few nights without sleep."

If this general election goes to usual form either Prime Minister Keir Starmer or Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be installed in 10 Downing Street by lunchtime the day after the vote.

Neither of them will have had any sleep the night before, waiting for the declarations in their own constituencies into the small hours, and then dealing with the fallout from the results elsewhere.

Read Adam's full piece here:

Nigel Farage has finally ruled out joining the Conservative Party after the general election after weeks of failing to give a categorical answer.

Just two weeks ago, the Reform UK leader repeatedly sidestepped questions from Sky's deputy political editor Sam Coates, saying hedid not know what he would be having to eat in five years time, called the question "moronic" and said he had no intention of joining the Tories.

But he refused time and time again to give a more categorical answer.

Speaking to Sky's political editor Beth Rigby today, however, he finally said he would not seek to join the Tories.

He described the party as "ghastly", saying: "They betrayed the 2019 election result, Brexit voters. They have no interest in the truth. For them, it's all a game about being in power. [I have] no interest."

Pushed by Beth on if he would rule out joining the Tories, he said: "This [Reform UK] is a new political movement. I want nothing to do with them."

Asked again, Mr Farage did rule it out, saying: "If you don't work out that's a yes, I don't know what else I've got to say."

By Matthew Thompson, political correspondent

The finish line is in sight. Most of us, politicians and journalists alike, have been on the road for weeks.

Batteries are running low. And yet, Sir Ed Davey's enthusiasm for hurling himself into the nearest body of water remains undimmed. The Lib Dems have a strategy, and they're sticking to it.

Which therefore begs the question: is that strategy actually working?

Such things are hard to measure. But polling data, as well as admittedly less scientific chats with the voting public, suggest it isn't exactly doing him any harm.

"I mean, it's entertaining," says Charlotte, watching Sir Ed prance around with a water noodle in the Cheltenham Lido.

"I don't know how much it really affects my political view, but he's likeable. He seems more relatable."

"I suppose it's a bit of fun really," says Joan, another onlooker. I ask her whether she rates the Lib Dems' chances of winning here, and she replies: "I’d like to think so, but I think possibly not."

According to Ipsos, a pollster that tracks party leader popularity, Sir Ed's personal satisfaction ratings have risen seven points since early June. 30% of people are satisfied with him, whilst 35% are not.

If a net satisfaction rating of -5 seems low, it's worth comparing it to others, with Sir Keir Starmer (-19) and Rishi Sunak (-55) lagging far behind.

The Lib Dems as a party also seem to be performing well, with seat predictions uniformly suggesting considerable gains on the 15 MPs they had before the election. Although this could easily be a function of Tory unpopularity as much as enthusiasm for the Lib Dems.

And speaking to journalists in Cheltenham today, a key Lib Dem target, Sir Ed said the party has expanded the number of seats it thinks are winnable, particularly in the South West of England.

His own constituency visits have suggested a similar pattern, with a trend towards visiting seats that would require larger swings to the Lib Dems.

So the mood on the big yellow bus is about as buoyant as Ed Davey in his customary life jacket. The stunts will keep coming.

But as politicians are fond of repeating, there's only one poll that counts. And there are still four days to go.

Both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have made various claims about the state of the UK's economy and their plans to change that.

But Sky's economics and data editor Ed Conway has fact-checked one of the Labour leader's pre-election claims about "British people falling behind".

"I'm not comfortable with a trajectory that will soon see Britain overtaken by Poland," Mr Starmer said last year.

So will Poland's economy soon overtake the UK's?

Not quite.

When considering both countries' GDP per capita, Poland's economy is indeed growing at a faster rate than the UK's at the moment.

"If you just assume that those lines continue as they have been for the last 10 years,Poland [will have] overtaken the UK [by 2030]. That is the point that Keir Starmer is making," Ed says.

"But here's the thing. You can't really treat economics like this because fast-growing frontier economies don't always maintain their growth rate. You can't always assume that that's going to continue as it was before."

Forecasts from the International Monetary Fund show that while the gap between both countries is narrowing, the UK is still 8% bigger in terms of GDP per capita than Poland by the end of the decade.

Using the same logic that the Labour leader is, Poland would overtake the US as the world's wealthiest economy by 2050 - a claim Ed calls "ridiculous".

"That is the mathematical trick that's being played in order to make it seem like the UK is falling behind. And it's just one of the tricks that we've seen in this long election campaign."