Election latest: Starmer avoids weighing in on US election - as minister admits 'none of' polls look good for Sunak (2024)

By Tomos Evans, Wales reporter

Doctors in Wales have accepted a pay offer from the Welsh government.

This will be seen as a win for the Labour Party, which is in power in Wales.

The British Medical Association announced on Friday that the three separate disputes between the government and consultants, junior doctors, and specialists, had come to an end.

In a referendum, 96% of junior doctors voted to accept a pay uplift of 7.4%, bringing the total to of 12.4% backdated to April 2023.

Some 86% of consultants and 82% of SAS doctors also voted to end their disputes.

Dr Oba Babs-Osibodu and Dr Peter Fahey co-chairs of the BMA's Welsh Junior Doctors Committee said junior doctors had been "undervalued".

"While we are pleased with the progress we have made, the fight for full pay restoration is far from over," they added.

Wales's first minister, Vaughan Gething, said the Welsh government had "listened to doctors" - and had negotiated a deal which "ensures doctors are back at work".

Health secretary Eluned Morgan said the government had negotiated the deal "despite the most severe financial situation we've faced in the devolution era".

"It means all our efforts are now focused on ensuring the best possible clinical outcomes for people in Wales," she added.

Our live poll tracker collates the results of opinion surveys carried out by all the main polling organisations - and allows you to see how the political parties are performing in the run-up to the general election.

With under a week to go, the Tories and Labour have taken a drop, while support for Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats is on the rise.

Read more about the trackerhere.

During his BBC radio interview, Sir Keir Starmer said the tax-free withdrawal of lump sums from pensions would lapse in two or three years.

Labour have since clarified the leader was talking about something else.

A party spokesperson said: "The ability to withdraw 25% of your pension as tax-free lump sum is a permanent feature of the tax system and Labour are not planning to change this.

"Keir was referring to temporary tax breaks in the system that are due to expire and which the public finances assume will not continue, like increasing the stamp duty threshold for first-time buyers from £300,000 to £425,000."

The final question put to Sir Keir Starmer during his BBC interview is whether he will resign if he loses the election badly.

He simply responds "yes".

Considering his party is 20 points ahead in the polls, it is not immediately clear what a "bad" loss would equate to.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is wrapping up his interview with callers on BBC radio.

He clashes with one caller - Jane - about access to women's spaces.

The caller pushes Sir Keir on whether biological men will be allowed access to women's spaces if he becomes prime minister.

The Labour leader is repeatedly cut off by the caller when he references his past work on violence against women and girls.

Jane says that 51% of the population need to be listened to, rather than a small number of biological men.

The Labour leader says he does not want to allow a "toxic" discussion to take place - and people who do not identify as their birth gender are often "traumatised".

He does not commit to saying that biological men will not be allowed access to women's spaces - but says he will protect women.

Sir Keir Starmer is asked on the BBC about Nigel Farage - and it is put to him whether the Reform UK leader is racist.

The Labour leader says he doesn't want "call him names".

He does say, however, that comments which have come from Reform UK campaigners are racist, and condemns them.

You can read more about that below:

Speaking on BBC radio, Sir Keir Starmer is asked about the tax-free lump sums people can take from their pensions.

According to Hargreaves Lansdown, "this applies to the tax-free element of certain lump sums, capped at £268,275 - amounts exceeding this allowance are taxed at your marginal rate".

Sir Keir says: "It runs out in a number of years, and we're not going to renew it."

He then says, however, that Labour would review the plans in two or three years when they come up for renewal.

This, Sir Keir says, is not something he can promise now due to the economic conditions.

Labour later clarified the leader of the party was talking about a different policy.

A spokesperson said: "The ability to withdraw 25% of your pension as tax-free lump sum is a permanent feature of the tax system and Labour are not planning to change this.

"Keir was referring to temporary tax breaks in the system that are due to expire and which the public finances assume will not continue, like increasing the stamp duty threshold for first-time buyers from £300,000 to £425,000."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is speaking on BBC radio to callers.

But the interview begins with questions about the debate in the US overnight - for which Joe Biden has been criticised.

Sir Keir says he has "enough on his plate" with his own election campaign.

But he says he will work with "whoever is president".

The Labour leader praises the "historic" nature of the relationship between the UK and the US.

And he says he doesn't think it would be "helpful" to comment on the contest on the other side of the pond.

Asked about previous comments shadow foreign secretary David Lammy made about Donald Trump - which were extremely critical - Sir Keir distances himself from the remarks.

SNP leader John Swinney is speaking to broadcasters this morning.

As a member of the Scottish parliament, he is not standing for election this month.

He has implored voters in Scotland to support his party to face up to what he says is an inevitable Labour win.

Exclusive polling for Sky News carried out by YouGov shows Labour is currently on 35% in Scotland, compared to 29% for the SNP - a slight narrowing in the gap (read more here).

Mr Swinney says: "I think the election essentially has been decided in England.

"The Labour Party has a commanding lead over the Conservatives south of the border, and it's a certainty that Keir Starmer is going to become the next prime minister.

"But in Scotland, there's a hotly contested election between the SNP and the Labour Party.

"If they want to make sure that decisions about Scotland are made in Scotland for Scotland, then they've got to vote for the SNP because it's only SNP votes and SNP voices in the House of Commons that will hold the Labour government to account, given that they're going to win hands down in England."

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones is out for Labour this morning.

Speaking to Sky News, he is asked about Labour's financial plans - especially with the tax burden at a 70-year-high.

Mr Jones says that, if his party wins, they will "inherit the country as it is - not as we might like it".

The situation on tax thresholds is put to the Labour man.

By keeping the levels at which people go up income tax bands frozen, more and more people end up paying higher taxes as wages naturally increase.

This effect has been dubbed a "stealth tax rise", and has led to greater proportions of people paying higher income tax rates than previously.

Mr Jones says: "We would like to unfreeze them, but of course we have to be able to afford to do so.

"And we've not done that at this point in the election because the money's not available right now to be able to do that.

"And that's why when you point to the Conservative Party's promise to change thresholds for certain voters, it's very clear that that's not a promise that anyone can believe, because the money's not there to pay for that commitment"