Election latest: Minister criticises 'celebrating' of Banksy migrant boat inflatable at Glastonbury - as campaign enters final straight (2024)

Sky News' deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico's Jack Blanchard with their guide to the election day ahead.

This is day 40 of the campaign. Jack and Sam look at where the parties are now as the election approaches,with Labour’s attack ads and the Conservatives pushing back against Reform UK. Plus, the reaction to the first round of the French elections which has seen the far-right make significant headway.

Email Jack and Sam: jackandsam@sky.uk

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Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general, has insisted that the election isn't over until "the final whistle blows" as politicians gear up for polling day.

Labour has consistently been 20 points ahead of the Conservatives throughout the six-week campaign, with all pollsters pointing to a victory on Thursday.

But despite this, the party has continued to emphasise that it will fight for every vote.

Mr Ashworth said: "There's an election on Thursday, and if people want to bring an end to the chaos, to the scandals from the party in Number 10 to the insider gambling scandals, if people have had enough of being stuck on an NHS waiting list, if people who've had enough of having their family finances hammered and pay more on their mortgage, they've got to come out and vote Labour.

"Don't wake up, don't switch on Sky News on Friday morning and hear that Rishi Sunak has been re-elected.

"If you don't want that, we don't want that feeling in the pit of your stomach."

He does on to explain that there are still "a lot of undecided voters".

"But let me give you some meat," Mr Ashworth adds.

"We're going to deliver 40,000 extra appointments in the National Health Service.

"We are going to help young people get on the housing ladder by significant reforms to planning."

By Tom Cheshire, online campaign correspondent

If you want a good idea of what matters to each party - its deepest desires, its darkest fears - look at where it's spending money.

What it shows is a story of Labour spending big and spending everywhere, as it pursues a plausible supermajority, while the Conservatives retreat to fight for some of their heartland constituencies, and spend much less.

It shows the current state of play for all parties across the country. The map shows which is the biggest spender in each constituency - which parts of the country they're fighting to win, or not to lose.

The map was created by Who Targets Me (WTM), which tracks digital political advertising and has partnered with Sky News as part of our online campaign team.

"Our map of advertising activity shows where the parties have targeted their Facebook and Instagram ads in the last week," Sam Jeffers, executive director of WTM, says.

Steve Reed, the shadow environment secretary, just handed out pillows to journalists on the Labour campaign bus - emblazoned with Rishi Sunak's face.

The pillows are printed with a mocked-up photo of the prime minister in bed and the words "Don't wake up to five more years of the Tories".

By Nick Martin, people and politics correspondent

"We eat according to price rather than enjoyment," Sarah Bowmer tells me when we meet on the high street of her hometown of Bakewell, Derbyshire.

It's a sunny day and the tourists have flocked to this picturesque market town in the heart of the Peak District.

Day-trippers wander around the souvenir shop and queues have formed to buy the famous Bakewell pudding, which has made this town famous since the 1820s.

But Sarah isn't feeling it.

Food prices are still 25% more expensive than when I first met Sarah and Paul in 2022. She calls that period the "dark days".

Home Secretary James Cleverly is now asked about a migrant boat artwork that appeared above the crowds during a set at Glastonbury.

The inflatable boat, seemingly created by Banksy, was filled with dummies designed to look like migrants attempting to cross the Channel.

While the anonymous artist doesn't usually explain his work, he is known for using art to make political commentary and it seems clear the installation was designed to highlight the tragedy of these desperate journeys, which after dipping last year are now rising again.

It was hoisted above the crowd and passed around by festival-goers during Idles' performance on the Other Stage at Worthy Farm on Friday night.

Asked about this, Mr Cleverly criticises what he perceived as "joking and celebrating about criminal actions which cost lives".

He says: "People die - people die in the Mediterranean, they die in the Channel.

"This is not funny, it is vile.

"It is a celebration of loss of life in the Channel."

Mr Cleverly is asked how he knows this installation is not a commentary on the Conservative inability to handle the situation.

He dodges the question, saying he is "determined to break the criminal gangs".

Mr Cleverly says the art installation was "deeply distasteful".

Home Secretary James Cleverly says high taxes under the Tories are down to "genuinely unique circ*mstances".

Pushing the line that taxes will rise from their already modern-high record level if Labour wins on Thursday, he says: "We are committed to cutting taxes.

"Taxes are higher than we would like, we've said that, and as Conservatives we are determined to bring them down.

"Labour will send them up."

Mr Cleverly goes on to reiterate: "We are determined to bring taxes down, we have started to do that.

"That is in contrast with the Labour Party, who we know because they've said so, they're going to put taxes up."

Labour has said it won't raise VAT, national insurance or income tax - but has been non-committal on other taxes.

It says it would abolish the VAT break on private schools, introduce windfall taxes on oil and gas companies and close loopholes in the non-dom rules.

Later in the conversation with Sky News, the home secretary dismisses Reform UK as a threat to the Conservatives.

He says there are only two people who could credibly be in Number 10 on Friday: Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer.

"The best case scenario is predicted that Reform UK might get a small number of seats, but in doing so give Labour a huge majority."

They came in their droves: thousands of Reform supporters poured into a vast hall in a Birmingham conference centre on Sunday to hear Nigel Farage.

His backers brought with them Union Jacks, and brandished Reform placards. There were even one or two red baseball caps emblazoned with the slogan "Make Britain Great Again", which seemed fitting for an event that felt quite Trumpian in style and tone.

Mr Farage came onto the stage to pounding music, smoke machines, fireworks, and a sea of "it's time for Reform" placards to a 5,000-strong crowd with a speech that spoke about how Britain was broken and it was time for Reform.

He said his party would be the "leading voice of opposition" as he attacked "the establishment" in all its guises, from the Conservative Party to Labour, the BBC, and Channel 4 to the Governor of the Bank of England.

Pledges and promises are coming thick and fast from every party as the general election approaches.

Struggling to keep up with who is saying what?

Here is a summary of where the main parties stand on major issues.

For a more in-depth look at what each party has pledged, scour ourmanifesto checker...

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.