Monday, 4 May 2015

Election 2015: David Cameron 'tells Nick Clegg he can't win election' – live

Lord Scriven with Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg

Latest

11.52

Speaking in support of Ed Miliband in Brighton, Delia Smith has described her speech as her "coming out day". Until now her agent banned her from all political involvement. What happened to having the courage of your convictions, Delia!?

11.50

Natalie Bennett, who is from Australia but has since become a British citizen, had this to say in her immigration speech:
Quote I'm standing here today as a migrant, as someone who came to this country and chose to make my life here. And today I'm here to take a stand against those who seek to demonise me and those like me for making that choice.
At this election the open and caring Britain I am so proud to be a citizen of is at stake. Our tolerance, our welfare state and our beloved NHS are under threat from a Tory Party hell-bent on rebuilding Britain to work only for the privileged - and a Labour Party unable and unwilling to effectively challenge them.
So, in the next three days I know that our candidates up and down this country will be focussed on providing the real opposition we so desperately need. We'll be fighting for a truly public NHS, we'll be saying loud and clear that in the sixth richest country on earth no one should need food handouts to survive, and we'll be boldly and unapologetically standing up for migrants.

11.39

Ed Miliband has now arrived in Brighton, and is speaking to a large election rally. He says:
Quote In our first 100 days we’ll put before Parliament a bill to repeal the Tories’ terrible Health and Social Care Act, stopping the drive towards privatisation. And where private companies are involved in delivering NHS-funded clinical services, we will cap the profits they can take out of the public purse.
This is part of Labour’s better plan for a better NHS, a plan that prepares our National Health Service for the challenges of the future, a fully-funded plan that’s built on solid foundations, a plan that can give our health service the time to care and give Britain the NHS we want: an NHS with people at its heart, an NHS that inspires the country; an NHS that will once again lead the world.

Ed Miliband is greeted by a supporter in Brighton

11.34

Natalie Bennett has begun speaking at the Greens' immigration launch in Haringey, north London. She says:
Quote We will never blame migrants for the failure of government policy. We will never attack the most vulnerable in society.

11.32

Jim Murphy is campaigning with the comedian Eddie Izzard in Glasgow. They're getting a wee bit of hassle from SNP supporters in the crowd.

11.25

Fresh from describing the #milistone as a "weird Commie slab of rock," Boris Johnson is campaigning today in Hendon.

11.15

More from Emily Gosden, as Nick Clegg moves on to Kingston and Surbiton, his second stop on his tour of saaaf London:
Nick Clegg may deny getting Paul Scriven to tweet about his conversation with David Cameron, but little wonder people are suspicious: it's given a well-timed publicity boost to the message that the Lib Dem leader has been shouting about over the Bank Holiday weekend - that no party will win a majority. Indeed, just as Nick Clegg was busy denying a role in the tweet ("I'm the leader of a political party not a sect," he protests), the Lib Dems were issuing a press release to reinforce the "no majority" message.
In it, Mr Clegg says: "David Cameron doesn’t need 23 seats to win a majority, he needs 323 seats and he knows he can’t do it. Everybody knows that no one is going to win this election outright – even if David Cameron and Ed Miliband won’t admit it publicly."
Lib Dem sources are privately very pleased the message that we're on for a hung Parliament is becoming accepted wisdom - they think it can only help them in the polls.

11.07

Hugh Grant appears to be a little confused. Last week he tweeted his support for the Lib Dem Danny Alexander, now he says he wants Labour's Tom Watson to be PM.

10.56

Ed Miliband is off to Brighton to campaign with celebrity chef Delia Smith. He's campaigning on the NHS today, and is expected to say:
Quote In the final days few days of this General Election, the future of the NHS is at risk in the way it hasn’t been for a generation.
We know that if David Cameron wins a second term there will be a drive for more privatisation, more broken promises and more people waiting longer for treatment.
In this election , you have the chance to put the NHS first by voting Labour on Thursday. There is no bigger choice at this election than the future direction of our National Health Service, the bedrock of security for so many working people in our country.
But our NHS is in huge danger. It’s fighting for its life because of choices this Government has made. We’ve got people queuing out the doors of GPs’ surgeries, unable to see a doctor, one million people last year waiting over 4 hours in A&E, seriously ill people lying on trolleys in corridors for hours on end, we’ve even seen a treatment tent put up in a hospital car park.
David Cameron calls his record a success. It’s not a success. It’s a disgrace.
Michael Gove, the Tory Chief Whip, has rejected the charge. He's told ITV that David Cameron would protect the NHS because it had been there for him in his life, accusing Labour of a "desperate, low and negative tactic that will rebound on them. He added:
Quote David Cameron has been completely clear that the National Health Service is safe in his hands.

Ed Miliband and adviser Rachel Kinnock at Victoria Station

10.55

Emily Gosden brings us this report from Nick Clegg.
Nick Clegg has in effect confirmed Paul Scriven's tweet claiming David Cameron told the Lib Dem leader he wouldn't win a majority.
He says: "It's not for me to comment on private conversations or tweets from Paul Scriven, but how can I put it? I've never met a senior Conservative ever who will tell you privately that they think they are going to win this election.
"I wish I could reveal some of these private conservations because the difference between what the Conservatives say privately and what they are claiming publicly is now quite a gulf. They are not going to win with a majority, with 23 seats, they know that, nobody thinks they're going to win a majority, they need 323 seats and there's absolutely no way they are going to get that."
He says the Tories are telling a "big fat fib" that they can win 23 more seats. "The Conservatives know they are not going to win a majority. I have never met a senior Conservative who has ever claimed in private that they are going to win a majority," he repeats.
Mr Clegg denies that he authorised the tweet. "Paul is old friend of mine from Sheffield but I really don't control even my closest friends' tweets," he says.

Nick Clegg campaigns in Twickenham

10.52

Lord Scriven isn't backing down. He's told the BBC's Radio 5Live: "I stick by my tweet," and reveals he was motivated to send it after reading The Telegraph's front page.
Quote I don't take back anything I said in the tweet. People are not stupid. The opinion polls show what's happening, the private opinion polls show what is happening.
When I read what's on the front page of the Daily Telegraph, that David Cameron is not telling the truth to try to scare people to vote, then I think that his private feelings do need to be made clear.

10.50

The Spectator has this grim story of a Labour election rally in Birmingham in which men and women were apparently segregated by gender. Speakers included Tom Watson, Liam Byrne, Sion Simon, the former MP who is now an MEP. For shame.

'Segregated' Labour election rally in Birmingham.

10.47

And now David Cameron on Sky has been asked about Lord Scriven's remarks. He says it shows that Mr Clegg is "desperate" - but pointedly does not deny telling the Lib Dem leader he would not win a majority.

David Cameron campaigns in Bexhill

10.40

Nick Clegg has failed to deny Lord Scriven's claim, or rebuke the peer for spilling coalition secrets. Indeed he doubles up, saying he has "never met a senior Conservative who has ever claimed in private that they are going to win a majority".
Quote They’re now trying to tell people they can win a majority... it’s a big fat fib.


10.30

Confused with all this talk of coalitions, deals, majorities, arrangements and stick-ups? Here's our handy guide to what could happen after May 8. Clear as mud.

10.15

Emily Gosden is out with Nick Clegg today. She reports:
Nick Clegg has begun his whistle-stop tour of South London seats with a visit to Vince Cable's constituency office in Twickenham, where they are greeted with a chorus of "for he's a jolly good fellow" from activists and a cake that says "winning here".
Nick Clegg attacks the Tories' "big fat fib" that they need 23 seats to win - they need 323 and they won't get them, he says.
Vince Cable says they're being told the Tories have to win Twickenham to win a majority, which shows they're even more desperate than thought. He's confident he will win.

10.00

Here's the Prime Minister campaigning in Bexhill this morning.

09.57

The Conservatives are flatly denying Lord Scriven's claim (see entry for 09.37) that David Cameron told Nick Clegg he did not expect to win a majority. The Liberal Democrats are certainly expecting that to be the case. They've been making major overtures in recent days to place themselves in a position where it would be possible to enter into a second coalition with the Tories.

09.54

There's trouble at t'mill for Respect's George Galloway, who is standing in Bradford West. A former aide, Aisha Ali-Khan, has filed a formal complaint with Ipsa claiming she spent most of her time on non-parliamentary duties, including running errands such as buying underpants and helping organise his wedding arrangements.

No comments:

Post a Comment