General election latest: Home Secretary James Cleverly to face questions on National Service pledge (2024)

Our flagship Sunday morning show, hosted byTrevor Phillips, is now live until 10am, and we have a packed line-up.

Here's who Trevor will be chatting to:

• James Cleverly, the home secretary;
• Liz Kendall, Labour's shadow work and pension secretary;
• Nigel Farage, from Reform UK.

On Trevor's expert panel this morning are:

• Lord Daniel Finkelstein, former Conservative adviser;
• Baroness Ayesha Hazarika, ex-Labour adviser;
• Rachel Johnson, broadcaster.

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

WatchSunday Morning with Trevor Phillipsfrom 8.30am every Sunday on Sky channel 501, Virgin channel 602, Freeview channel 233, on theSky News websiteandappor onYouTube.

While the economy took centre stage as the first weekend of campaigning kicked off, immigration remains a key election battleground.

Yesterday we learned the number of migrants crossing the Channel so far this year surpassed 10,000 (read more here).

This was earlier than the threshold was reached in the record year of 2022, when 45,000 people arrived within 12 months.

Despite the figures, Home Secretary James Cleverly has said Labour's plans to scrap the Rwanda scheme would make the UK "a magnet" for illegal immigration.

"This Conservative government has a clear plan to stop the boats and deliver a more secure future in an increasingly uncertain world," he added.

But shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has penned an article in The Sun accusing the Conservatives of "chaos and failure", leading to "criminal smuggler gangs" which undermine border security.

"Labour's new elite Border Security Command will bring full force of government and law crashing down on gangs - work starts on day one," she said.

Mr Cleverly will be joining Trevor Phillips on Sky News later this morning - watch from 8.30am at the top of the page and follow along with the key moments here.

By Adam Boulton, Sky News commentator

Whether you heard the wet outdoor version of Rishi Sunak's election campaign launch or the dry indoor one, his message on national security was the same.

"The world is more dangerous than it has been at any point since the end of the Cold War," he told the small banner-waving crowd bussed in to the Excel centre, and it is only "we Conservatives who have that plan and are prepared to take that bold action to ensure the better future for our country and our children."

The Conservative leader likes to remind voters that his Labour opponent, Sir Keir Starmer, served under and supported his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, who opposed Britain's membership of NATO and the nation's nuclear deterrent.

Labour has chosen the single word "change" as their main campaign slogan.

Sir Keir's Labour Party has certainly changed a lot since the days of Mr Corbyn in relation to his views on defence.

Mr Corbyn has been kicked out of Labour on antisemitism issues and is challenging his old party as an independent in the Islington North constituency, which he has represented for 40 years.

Meanwhile, danger signals are flashing red over the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel and Gaza, amid identification of a new axis of anti-Western aggression, dubbed CRINK from the initial letters of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Foreign policy is seldom a determining factor in UK general elections.

All politicians agree with opinion polls which show that voters are usually much more concerned with domestic issues such as the NHS, the economy and law and order.

Yet Conservative campaigners clearly see it as one of their main attack lines against Labour in this election.

Read on here...

Our flagship Sunday morning show, hosted byTrevor Phillips, will be live this morning on Sky News from 8.30am until 10am, and we will have a packed line-up as the general election campaign kicks off.

Here's who Trevor will be chatting to:

• James Cleverly, the home secretary;
• Liz Kendall, Labour's shadow work and pension secretary;
• Nigel Farage, from Reform UK.

On Trevor's expert panel this morning are:

• Lord Daniel Finkelstein, former Conservative adviser;
• Baroness Ayesha Hazarika, ex-Labour adviser;
• Rachel Johnson, broadcaster.

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

WatchSunday Morning with Trevor Phillipsfrom 8.30am every Sunday on Sky channel 501, Virgin channel 602, Freeview channel 233, on theSky News websiteandappor onYouTube.

The Conservatives would bring in National Service for 18-year-olds, they will announce on Sunday.

In the first new policy announcement of the election campaign, the prime minister has unveiled a plan that would see new adults given the choice of a full-time military placement for 12 months or a scheme to volunteer for one weekend a month for a year.

The placement would be selective - with tests used to decide who is eligible - and involve working with the armed forces or in cyber defence.

Read more from our political correspondent Rob Powell:

At a breakfast with veterans on Saturday morning, Rishi Sunak made light of the wetter-than-hoped election announcement earlier this week.

Standing at a lectern outside Number 10 on Wednesday, the prime minister had to ignore the steady rain as he outlined his plan for the upcoming polling day.

This morning - a sunnier one - he met the group of eight veterans and sat in The Buck Inn, a Wetherspoon's pub on the High Street in his Richmond constituency, where the group were sipping tea and some tucked into breakfasts.

But it was the wet weather that was the subject of conversation...

The Conservatives would introduce National Service for 18-year-olds, it will be announced on Sunday.

Hailed by the party as a "bold new model", the plans would see new adults working in the armed forces or volunteering in their community.

The scheme would be mandatory.

"We have so much to be proud of in the United Kingdom, but we also need to be open and honest about the long-term challenges that our country and our society faces," the party said.

"And one of the problems in our society is that we have generations of young people who don’t have the opportunities they deserve."

Young people would be able to choose from:

-A selective, full-time12-month placement in the armed forces or UK cyber defence

-Volunteering the equivalent of one weekend per month (25 days per year) in their community with organisations such as fire, police and the NHS as well as charities tackling loneliness andsupporting older, isolated people

It has not been confirmed that the 12-month placement option would be paid.

This National Service will provide valuable work experience and ignite a passion for a future career in healthcare, public service, charity or the armed forces, the Conservatives say.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: "This is a great country but generations of young people have not had the opportunities or experience they deserve and there are forces trying to divide our society in this increasingly uncertain world."

What was Labour's reaction?

Responding to the plans, a Labour Party spokesperson said: “This is another desperate £2.5bn unfunded commitment from a Tory Party which already crashed the economy, sending mortgages rocketing, and now they’re spoiling for more.

“This is not a plan – it’s a review which could cost billions and is only needed because the Tories hollowed out the armed forces to their smallest size since Napoleon.

“Britain has had enough of the Conservatives, who are bankrupt of ideas, and have no plans to end 14 years of chaos. It’s time to turn the page and rebuild Britain with Labour.”

UNISON has commented on Sir Keir Starmer's package of workers' rights.

Earlier, the Unite criticised Labour's plans for having "more holes in it than Swiss cheese".

General secretary Sharon Graham accused the party of watering down its policies after rebranding "Labour's new deal for working people" as "Labour's plan to make work pay".

ButChristina McAnea,UNISON's general secretary, backed the plans.

She said: "Labour's new deal best illustrates that choice. It will make work fairer and boost the economy too."

She said its measures are "proving popular on the doorstep" and said that "bad employers" will no longer be able to cut corners and costs by exploiting staff.

"An end to dodgy zero-hours contracts, paid travel time for care workers and a new fair pay agreement to help boost recruitment in that crisis-stricken sector too. Plus a wave of bringing public service contracts back in-house to end the profiteering in frontline services. Labour is the only party with a plan to help working families."

The Liberal Democrats are "way more in tune" with young voters than "any other party", their leader has argued.

Sir Ed Davey spoke in Chichester in reaction to Labour's pledge to lower the voting age to 16.

He pointed to his party's position on housing, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and their pro-European stance as policies that may appeal to younger people.

Sir Ed welcomed Labour's promise to reduce the voting age to 16 but said "bolder" reform is needed to fix the country's "broken" political system.

When asked how the Lib Dems could regain the trust of young voters following the U-turn on their pledge to scrap university fees during the 2010 coalition government, Sir Ed said his party had "fought the Conservatives every single day" during the power-sharing agreement but "weren't able to get everything we wanted".

Under the coalition, university tuition fees were trebled to a maximum of £9,000-a-year from 2012.

Now that Rishi Sunak has called the next general election for Thursday 4 July, the nation is preparing for its first polling day since December 2019.

Here's everything you need to know about the general election and how it's going to work...