Tories pledge to end ‘vexatious’ historic claims against veterans
The FT’s Laura Hughes reports:
Ben Wallace, the UK Defence Secretary, has confirmed a new Conservative government would end “vexatious” claims against veterans.
Amendments to the Human Rights Act would prevent repeated inquests into historic killings, he said, including deaths during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Wallace said: “This isn’t an amnesty, because if people haven’t been investigated and they haven’t had an inquest, then of course, they won’t be able to avail themselves of that.
“This is about repeated and vexatious claims. This is about people who have already had trials, have already been prosecuted, already had inquests.”
Labour’s Keith Vaz not standing in election
Keith Vaz, the Labour MP facing a six-month suspension from the House of Commons over drugs allegations, will not be standing in next month’s election.
An inquiry last month recommended Mr Vaz be suspended for six months – the longest period since the second world war – after finding “compelling” evidence he offered to procure class A drugs for other people.
Mr Vaz, who has represented the Leicester East constituency for 32 years, said on Sunday night he had “decided to retire”.
“It has been an honour and a privilege to serve my constituency since I came to the city in 1985.”
Mr Vaz was forced to resign as chair of the Commons home affairs select committee three years ago after a newspaper exposé claimed he had paid for male escorts with enticements of cocaine and other drugs. He was referred to the Commons standards committee for investigation.
Kathryn Stone, the standards commissioner, said last month that Mr Vaz’s actions amounted to a “very serious breach” of parliament’s code of conduct, which had “caused significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons as a whole”.
Today’s papers
Several of this morning’s newspapers cover the row over Labour’s spending promises, while the Daily Express says the Conservatives are expecting to be boosted by the release of economic growth figures later today.
Elsewhere, the Daily Mail and Telegraph splash on Tory campaign pledges to help veterans following Remembrance Sunday, while the Daily Mirror has a Labour promise to boost children’s mental health funding.
Weekend roundup
Row over spending
The two major parties clashed over spending after the Conservatives claimed a Labour government would cost £1tn over the next five years. Labour said the report was “ludicrous” and promised a fully costed manifesto. The Liberal Democrats suggested the independent Office for Budget Responsibility should play a role in costing claims in future elections.
You can read the FT’s take here.
Questions over Brexit and Northern Ireland
The business secretary backed Boris Johnson’s assertion that companies in Northern Ireland would not have to fill in forms to export from the region to Great Britain.
Mr Johnson’s new Brexit deal details new trade barriers in the Irish Sea, while the prime minister’s remarks to business leaders in Northern Ireland also contradicted previous comments by the Brexit secretary.
But Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, told Sky News: “The prime minister is absolutely right.”
Moody’s lowers UK outlook
Late on Friday ratings agency Moody’s lowered the UK’s credit outlook to negative, saying Brexit “paralysis” has made policymaking less predictable.
Poll trackers
There were several polls released over the weekend, but none showed a decisive break from the solid Tory leads.
We will publish the FT’s updated poll tracker on this page later today.
And finally, the bookies think the Tories had a good weekend. William Hill said 91 per cent of all weekend bets had backed the party, slashing the odds of a Conservative majority from 11/10 to 4/5.
Welcome to week two
Good morning and welcome to the FT’s coverage of the UK general election as we enter the second week of full campaigning.
We will keep you updated with all the latest developments, along with commentary and analysis from the FT’s correspondents and editors.
With the economy and spending in focus, we will also have the latest UK economic growth figures when they are published later this morning.
