Inside Politics: Corbyn yearns for another youthquake

Nobody likes being told they can’t have their say. Two anti-Brexit campaigners in Essex were fuming at being pulled over by the Old Bill and told to remove a “bollocks to Brexit” slogan from the side of their car. It was “bang out of order” of the cops to censor the message, they said. Plenty of angry people will make sure they get their say at this election, with a huge surge in voter registration applications expected before tonight’s deadline. The latest figures show around two-thirds of recent applications have come those under 35. Could another “youthquake” help bollocks up Johnson’s majority and Brexit plans? I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter.

Our chief political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for on the campaign trail today:

A big day for Labour today, fighting back on two defensive fronts. The party launches its “pensioners pledge card” to try to turn the tide among the unfavourable older demographic. It has seven promises (that’s at least two too many), including compensation for women born in the 1950s who had their state pension reduced. Jeremy Corbyn, Dawn Butler and Diane Abbott start the day, though, by launching the party’s “race and faith manifesto” – at which journalists can be expected to ask whether the party is doing enough to counter prejudice against Jews. Corbyn also has the pleasure of being grilled by Andrew Neil at 7pm this evening.

NAME YOUR POISON: Corbyn may have reason to recall the great James Joyce line about history being “a nightmare from which I am trying to awake”. The Labour leader will advocate the teaching of the “historical injustice, colonialism and role of the British empire” in the national curriculum to address the legacy of racism. But Corbyn can’t ever seem to get past the issue of antisemitism in his own party. Ephraim Mirvis, the Orthodox chief rabbi of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, has launched a stinging attack on the Labour leader, saying a “new poison” had been “sanctioned from the very top” and Corbyn’s handling of antisemitism allegations made him “unfit for high office”. Mirvis did not go as far as telling people not to vote for Labour. But his claim that “the overwhelming majority of British Jews are gripped by anxiety” at the thought of Labour winning is, at the very least, terrible timing for Corbyn.

IF YOU’RE FEELING SINISTER: The mother of dragons wants you to vote. Emilia Clarke, best known as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, is among the many celebs pushing young people to register ahead of tonight’s 11.59pm deadline. Since the end of October, more than 2.8 million people have applied to join those already the electoral rolls. According to the Electoral Reform Society that’s around a million more than the same pre-deadline period in 2017. In another encouraging sign for Labour, around 35 per cent of them – more than a million people – are under the age of 25. Some more numbers for you. Stormzy told his 2.6 million Instagram followers he’s voting for Labour because Corbyn is “committed to giving the power back to the people”. The grime star also dubbed Boris Johnson “a sinister man with a long record of lying”. Has anyone said it better?

DEALS AND DEMANDS: Is it possible we could get a Labour-led government with someone other than Corbyn at No 10? It seems unlikely, but Lord Kerslake, a close ally of John McDonnell who has been advising the party, has suggested replacing the leader of the opposition (and a second Scottish independence referendum) could “form part of the conversation” with the Lib Dems and the SNP in the event of a hung parliament. The peer also suggested minds are turning to discussions and possible deals on 13 December. “I bet they are all thinking through those scenarios,” he said. Although Corbyn has said he wouldn’t allow indyref2 in the first two years of a Labour government, Sturgeon ridiculed the timing in her interview with Andrew Neil, demanding it takes place in 2020. “For the sake of a year he’s going to turn his back on his chance to govern with a Labour government … I don’t find that credible.”

MY LOVELY HORSE: Tony Blair has called this the “weirdest election of my lifetime”. He’s not wrong. In the past 24 hours we’ve seen some pretty strange things. Tory candidate James Airey was forced to remove his election poster from a country lane in Cumbria after a resident complained it “could make horses skittish”. On his equine-spooking image, Airey said: “I'm sorry that my face scares not only children but animals now as well.” A town councillor in Penistone who owns a fish and chip shop has been reported to the police after he offered free fish and chips if the Brexit Party wins two seats in South Yorkshire. The practice of “treating” is banned, but councillor David Wood said the offer stood. As for Blair, he said he “had” to vote Labour but suggested a Labour majority would be a bad thing. Which is a pretty weird thing for a former Labour party leader to say.

HOT MIC HELL: The past 24 hours have also seen fresh questions raised about disinformation in the Conservative party. Lee Anderson, the Tory candidate for Ashfield, was caught getting one of his friends to pose as an anti-Labour swing voter. Wearing a live microphone while he phoned his pal to set up the fake encounter to impress a journalist, Anderson was heard saying “Make out you know who I am ... but not a friend, alright?” More seriously, the inventor of the World Wide Web condemned the Tories’ adoption of a fake fact-checker on Twitter as “unbelievable”. Sir Tim Berners-Lee said: “Don’t do that. Don’t vote for people who do that.” The BBC, meanwhile, admitted it made a mistake by editing out the audience laughing at Johnson during a clip of the PM on the recent Question Time debate.

GREAT DICTATOR: The suspension of parliament may feel like a very long time ago now. But we could be in for more huge rows over Johnson’s plans to curb the power of the courts after the election. A little-noticed section of the Tory manifesto said the party would look at the “broader aspects of our constitution” and make sure judicial reviews were “not abused to conduct politics by another means or to create needless delays”. Gina Miller, the campaigner who mounted and won the Article 50 case, told The Independent: “Is Boris Johnson intending to get a majority, change the scope of the royal prerogative and become a dictator?” According to The Telegraph, the PM is considering giving his Brexit bill its first reading on Friday, 20 December – followed by a second reading and vote the very next day.

“I think Boris Johnson is a sinister man with a long record of lying and policies that have absolutely no regard for the people that our government should be committed to helping and empowering.”

Stormzy critiques the PM and his policies, as he tells his followers “​your vote really does count”​.

“Boris Johnson has NEVER tweeted about registering to vote, because he doesn't want another #youthquake.”

Labour candidate Dr Rosena Allin-Khan says the PM fears young people voting...

“Boris Johnson could urinate through my mam’s letterbox and I’d still vote for him.”

...but young pro-Brexit campaigner Darren Grimes says the PM can count on him.

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