Election debate: reaction and analysis after Jeremy Corbyn and party leaders spar – as it happened

Jeremy Corbyn has arrived for the debate.

31 May 201714.04 EDT

Andrew Sparrow

I’m back, taking over from Kevin.

Half an hour to go. Here is where the debate will take place.

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A special deal allowing Northern Ireland to remain in the single market and customs union is the only way to overcome the political and economic threats posed by imposing a hard border with the Republic, the Alliance party has said.

It would be “toxic” to conflate calls for special status for Northern Ireland and any debate over the region’s constitutional future, the party’s deputy leader, Stephen Farry, said.

His party’s general election manifesto also calls for a second referendum on the terms of the final Brexit deal negotiated between the UK and the EU.

We must decouple the concept of a special deal for Northern Ireland with the broad constitutional question because if the notion of a special deal gets caught up in orange versus green politics, as opposed to building a broad, cross-community coalition behind it, then it will not have that support and will be seen as politically toxic, as opposed to something that is absolutely necessary.

Other key elements of the manifesto include:

• An end to community designations in the Stormont assembly and the reform of the petition of concern vetoing mechanism.
  
• The formation of the Stormont executive on a voluntary, rather than mandatory, basis.
  
• A UK-wide constitutional convention to reshape a more federal UK.
  
• The repeal of “English votes for English laws” in Westminster.
  
• A target of 20% of school children in Northern Ireland to be in integrated education within 10 years.
  
• Compelling the NI Housing Executive to facilitate mixed housing.
  
• Opposition to any potential repeal of the Human Rights Act post-Brexit.
  
• Higher tax rates for foreign companies making profits in the UK.
  
• The reduction or abolition of air passenger duty.
  
• Pressing for continued UK participation in the European arrest warrant post-Brexit.
  
• The repeal of the bedroom tax.
  
• Retaining the triple-lock on pensions.
  
• A ban on the use of wild animals in circuses.
  
• Opposition to Trident renewal.
  

Tim Farron has taken part in a mock TV debate with a group of schoolchildren, ahead of his appearance alongside other major party leaders.

The Liberal Democrat leader asked the children what they would do if elected as prime minister. Their answers included banning homework, picking their mother to lead the country and stopping Brexit.

31 May 201712.58 EDT

Afternoon summary

Andrew Sparrow

• Jeremy Corbyn has said he will take part in tonight’s televised leaders’ debate, reversing his original decision, and has called on Theresa May to join him.

• May has defended her decision not to take part in the debate, saying “debates where the politicians are squabbling among themselves doesn’t do anything for the process of electioneering”. (See 2.57pm.)

• Corbyn has dismissed May’s claim that he wants “uncontrolled migration”, after a leaked Labour policy paper proposing a visa route for unskilled workers found its way to the Daily Mail and Telegraph. As Rowena Mason reports, the document indicates that Labour could create a US-style green card scheme and suggests the party does not consider cutting net migration a priority. According to the document, policy advisers suggested: “We envisage a requirement to make continued use of the current five-tiered visa system, including the currently unused tier applicable to those seeking low-skilled, unskilled or seasonal work.”
  The document proposes scrapping a means test that requires a UK sponsor to have a minimum gross annual income of £18,600 before they can apply for spouses or partners from non-European Economic Area states to join them. Speaking at an event in London, Corbyn said the paper was not party policy and Labour was simply exploring options.

• Corbyn has claimed that another five years of Tory government would be “disastrous” for the public services. (See 11.14am.)

• A Conservative candidate in a key marginal seat has said a woman’s “promiscuity” is relevant in determining how likely it is that she consented to sex in alleged rape cases.

• A protest song that repeatedly accuses Theresa May of lying and mocks her claims for strong and stable leadership is heading to the top of the charts, days after it was released and a week before the general election.

My colleague Kevin Rawlinson will be taking over the blog for a while now.

I’ll be back for the BBC debate at 7.30am.

The leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has said voters are switching to his party from the SNP in target seats. As the Press Association reports, Willie Rennie launched his party’s election manifesto in Edinburgh and pledged to stop a second Scottish independence referendum, saying voters are “spitting mad” about the SNP’s continuing push for another ballot on the issue. First minister Nicola Sturgeon unveiled her party’s manifesto on Tuesday, claiming an SNP victory in Scotland in the general election on 8 June would “further reinforce” her party’s mandate for another referendum. Rennie said in “so many seats” across the country voters face a “straight choice between the Liberal Democrats and the SNP”. He predicted tactical voting could give his party a boost in close seats such as East Dunbartonshire, Edinburgh West and Caithness.

Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, has been quite complimentary about Theresa May in the past. But he was critical of her after Monday’s Sky/Channel 4 showdown, and today he has mocked her claim to be “strong and stable” in the light of her decision to duck tonight’s debate.

The Conservatives may have the FT (see 5.19pm), but Labour has Russell Brand. In an article for HuffPost, the comedian has explained why he is backing Jeremy Corbyn. Here’s an extract.

Compared to the buffet of neoliberal homogeneity that we chewed through in 2015, the possibility of voting for a politician that offers change seems oddly exotic. Jeremy Corbyn has somehow been in politics for decades with his integrity perfectly preserved, like his much-derided beard has functioned as hairy formaldehyde for his principles.

Theresa May has chosen to make this election about ‘personality’ rather than principles, which seems increasingly unwise. The delirious sycophant that had her ear when they were plotting this smash ‘n’ grab clearly saw Theresa as some kind of female Freddie Mercury set to dazzle voters from the podium rather than a vindictive librarian drawn by Quentin Blake.

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has said the general election will go a long way in determining if Northern Ireland faces devolution or five years of direct rule, the Press Association reports.

Launching the DUP’s election manifesto at the Old Courthouse in Antrim, Foster said every vote would not just determine who would be returned to Westminster, but also as a mandate for the political negotiations aimed at restoring power-sharing at Stormont.

The former first minister said after the election the DUP would enter Stormont negotiations positively but insisted it “will not be a one-way street”.

She said any deal to restore devolution would be judged by five core tests. These tests would include that an agreement would increase support for Northern Ireland’s position within the UK, would be fully consistent with the region remaining a “full and integral part” of the UK, would be fully compatible with British citizenship and result in better government than a return to direct rule.

Foster said, for her, the most important issue at the forthcoming election “is not devolution but the union itself”.

She called on all unionists to rise to the challenge from Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and put a border poll off the agenda for generations.

“Sinn Fein want to use this election as a precursor to a border poll,” she said. “Gerry Adams has declared that this election will be a barometer on Irish Unity.

“Let us rise to that challenge and seek to ensure that unionism still returns a majority of unionist MPs to Westminster and puts the notion of a divisive and destabilising border poll off the agenda for generations to come.”

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The Financial Times, which is non-partisan, leans more to the right than the left, but has backed Labour at some elections in the past, has published its election editorial (paywall). And it is backing the Conservatives – but with some reservations.

Here is an excerpt:

Labour’s team are unfit for government, let alone the delicate Brexit talks. The Liberal Democrats have failed to make an impact with their pledge of a second EU referendum. All the evidence points to the end of European-style coalition and the return of two-party politics, with the exception of Scotland where the independence movement remains slightly diminished but a potent force.

Faced with such uncertainty at home and abroad, Mrs May is the safer bet. But accepting her as prime minister does not amount to a blank cheque. A substantially increased Conservative majority, even a landslide, could lead to an increase in the number of hardline Eurosceptics, who advocate a crash exit from the EU, a contemporary version of the Charge of the Light Brigade.

If Mrs May is returned, her management style must change. Her inner circle should be widened beyond the current Praetorian guard. The next few years will require the best and brightest and, yes, experts. Mrs May’s gamble on a snap election may pay off. Her resolve on Brexit is not in doubt; but her ability to deliver the best deal for Britain in terms of the closest possible relationship with the EU is worryingly unclear.