General election: Corbyn talks free broadband as Johnson launches campaign bus – live news

Munchetty is now quizzing the PM on the NHS. He tells a story of how he had to go to Hillingdon hospital because of a piece of glass in his foot last year. He says staff asked for more funding, and that the way to fund the NHS is to have a strong, robust economy. He says a Conservative government will rebuild Hillingdon hospital.

What about record A&E waiting times? £20.5bn is the figure for increased NHS funding the Tories have pledged she has, Munchetty says. Johnson retorts the correct number is £34bn, but seems startled. The PM is quizzed on GP numbers. 272 is the actual increase of GPs achieved last yeart, Munchetty says, not 5000 like Jeremy Hunt promised as health secretary. Johnson says Labour wrecked the economy when they were in power.

Boris Johnson is now on the BBC Breakfast sofa.

Presenter Naga Munchetty says she wants to get clarity from party leaders in these interviews.

She kicks off by challenging the PM’s “Let’s get Brexit done” campaign slogan. Brexit won’t be “done” anytime soon, she says, there will be a transition period, and a second phase of negotiation on the future relationship. She says Brexit was in charge while a Conservative government
was in charge. Boris Johnson responds saying it was parliament that caused the delay, and repeats his standard catalogue of Brexit-related soundbites, taking back control etc. He says if he gets a majority he will try to “get Brexit done by January”, adds he thinks Brexit can “turbo-charge” a one-nation agenda.

One problem for Corbyn and McDonnell today will be that BT says that a full-fibre rollout will cost £40 billion — double the Labour estimate.

This from Neil McRae, the chief network architect at BT:

Chris Leslie, who defected from the Labour party to join what is now the Independent Group for Change, tweeted this yesterday evening, for those who missed it.

Let’s look at some reactions to Labour’s pledge to roll out free broadband to every household and business over the next 11 years.

This from Labour’s David Lammy:

And this from the Lib Dems’ Sam Gyimah:

Labour peer Andrew Adonis:

This from Sky’s Rowland Manthorpe:

The drama around deals between parties continues to roil. Nigel Farage has attacked the Conservative party after it was claimed that senior Brexit party figures – including Ann Widdecombe – had been offered post-election roles or peerages as part of an attempt to get him to stand down more candidates at the general election.

Farage said it showed “the system is corrupt and broken”.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the day’s political news. I’m Kate Lyons and will be with you on the liveblog for the first hour or so of the day, before I hand over to my excellent colleagues. As usual, you can get in touch with your questions, thoughts, witticisms etc on Twitter or email (kate.lyons@theguardian.com).

It’s a big day for promises as both Labour and the Conservatives roll out big-spending, crowd-pleasing election pledges.

The Conservatives are offering a package to revitalise neglected towns while Labour is promising free full-fibre broadband for homes and businesses.

Boris Johnson says a Tory government would spend hundreds of millions of pounds reviving dying high streets and struggling communities. It includes discounts on business rates, rate relief for pubs, money to reopen train stations and a £150m fund to help groups trying to take over and run pubs and post offices threatened with closure. Labour has criticised the proposal, saying the Conservatives are the ones responsible for destroying high streets and towns through “a decade of vicious cuts to the services that people on our communities rely on”.

Meanwhile, Labour is promising free full-fibre broadband for every home and business by partly nationalising BT. Jeremy Corbyn will outline the plan during a speech in Lancaster, saying: “What was once a luxury is now an essential utility.” The plan, estimated to cost about £20bn, will be funded partly by high taxes on internet companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Google. The Conservatives have criticised the policy, saying it was a “fantasy plan to effectively nationalise broadband [that] would cost hardworking taxpayers tens of billions”.

As for what will happen today:

• Jeremy Corbyn will be announcing his broadband plan in a speech on digital infrastructure in Lancaster this morning.
• Boris Johnson will launch his campaign bus in Oldham at lunchtime.
• The Lib Dems go to Leeds where Ed Davey will be giving a speech in the afternoon on economics.
• And there is a big question mark hanging over the Brexit party’s campaign events. There is meant to be a launch in Dudley for their candidate but it’s unclear if that will go ahead – given the candidate has pulled out of the seat.

Join us for the ride!