Boris Johnson news – live: PM rambles about Anthony Gormley to school children, after contradicting own government in false Brexit claims to supporters
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson has insisted Northern Ireland businesses can put customs forms “in the bin” as he doubled down on his claims there would be no checks on goods coming into Great Britain under his Brexit deal.
He faced questions on the campaign trail after footage emerged of the prime minister contradicting his own cabinet ministers by saying there would be no checks at the border.
The Tory leader inspired bemusement as he told party members that he had secured a “great” Brexit deal for Northern Ireland – by retaining access to the single market and freedom of movement.
Elsewhere, Mr Johnson told a group of school children the sculptor Sir Antony Gormley was “an interesting chap” but his work had been too expensive to commission for the 2012 Olympics.
It comes as veteran Labour candidate Dame Margaret Hodge declined to say whether she would prefer Jeremy Corbyn or Mr Johnson as PM, while Nicola Sturgeon claimed a hung parliament would give the SNP the “power” to demand an independence referendum in 2020 and try to stop Brexit.
BBC announces plans for head to head TV debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn
Nick Robinson will host two debate programmes on BBC One - including one between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn on 6 December and another on 29 November featuring seven party representatives.
Labour candidates sign remain pledge
More than 50 Labour candidates have signed a pledge to back remain in a new referendum after Jeremy Corbyn said voters would be left in the dark on how the party would campaign until spring.
Prominent pro-EU MPs seeking re-election such as David Lammy and Margaret Beckett underlined their commitment to fighting to stay in the EU, with more signatures expected ahead of the election on 12 December.
If elected, Labour will seek to negotiate a new Brexit deal with greater protections for workers, before putting that deal to the public in a Final Say referendum.
Lib Dem fury over BBC leaders debate
The announcement of the BBC's new TV debates has triggered a furious response from the Liberal Democrats, who believe Jo Swinson should be included in all leaders debates.
Tories paying to push anti-Corbyn interview with ex-Labour MP Ian Austin to voters
Footage and quotes of the MP criticising Jeremy Corbyn on the Today programme has been pushed into the feeds of as many as 100,000 Facebook users in 24 hours, the party’s advertising return shows.
The Tories have bought six different versions of the advert, on which they have spent over £1,000 in a single day, excluding production costs.
Labour candidate faces calls to quit over abusive posts
A Labour parliamentary candidate is facing calls to resign after it emerged that he shared a social media post calling a female Tory peer a "c***".
Ian Byrne, the party's candidate in the safe Labour seat of Liverpool West Derby, shared a Facebook post about Baroness Michelle Mone, the founder of the Ultimo underwear brand, calling on people to "hit this c*** where it hurts".
He also described Tory minister Esther McVey as a "bastard", adding that she was "soon to be gone".
Polls not showing ‘dramatic movement,’ says top polling expert
The country’s leading psephologist, Sir John Curtice says the polls “certainly don’t suggest there has been any dramatic movement during the course of the first week”.
“The polls last weekend basically showed two things – one is the further continuation of the Conservative squeeze on the Brexit Party. Also, equally crucially, Labour for the first making some progress in getting some of the Remain vote off the Liberal Democrats.”
On the Lib Dems’ poll position, he says his “best guess” is that Jo Swinson’s party will only win an extra “half a dozen” seats as a result of the Remain alliance electoral pact.
Labour targets Remain voters with anti-Lib Dem ads
Labour is telling voters in key marginal seats that switching to the Lib Dems will end up causing Brexit, in a bid to encourage tactical voting against the Tories.
Jeremy Corbyn’s party is pushing a series of targeted adverts on Facebook.
One advert pushed out to around a quarter of a million people's Facebook feeds says: “A vote for the Lib Dems gets you Brexit. Labour will give the people the Final Say. It's time for real change.”
Jon Stone has more details:
Indyref2 condition of support for Corbyn-led government, Sturgeon suggests
Our political editor has more on that campaign launch speech by Nicola Sturgeon.
Nicola Sturgeon claimed hung parliament would give the SNP “significant influence and power” to demand an independence referendum in 2020 and try to stop Brexit.
And Scotland’s first minister also suggested that a referendum next year would be a condition of support for a minority Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn, though she said she could not see the SNP entering a formal coalition.
All the details here:
Candidate who once said she’d ‘celebrate’ Blair’s death endorsed by Labour, says report
Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) has reportedly endorsed Zarah Sultana as the party’s candidate for Coventry South.
Sultana, remember, was the candidate forced to apologise after it was revealed that in 2015 she wrote on social media: “Try and stop me when the likes of Blair, Netanyahu and Bush die.”
The 26-year-old was subjected to another endorsement interview by a NEC panel this week.
PM says ‘no forms, no checks, no barriers of any kind’
There’s new video on Boris Johnson’s appearance with Tory supporters and business owners in Northern Ireland last night.
Posted by Sky News’ Lewis Goodall, it shows the prime minister insisting on “no forms, no checks, no barriers of any kind” on goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain under his Brexit deal.
One business man asks if he will have to fill in customs declaration forms, Johnson: “You will absolutely not. If anybody asks you to do that [fill in a form], tell them to ring up the prime minister and I’ll direct them to throw that form in the bin.”
The business said: “Steve Barclay said we would.”
After a joke about illegal weapons and endangered species, Johnson said: “There will be no forms, no checks, no barriers of any kind.”
Johnson, as was clear from previous video, is contradictory what his Brexit secretary Steve Barclay has said about the Brexit deal.
Barclay had told MPs that “minimal targeted interventions” would be required on some goods leaving Northern Ireland for the British mainland.
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