UK election at-a-glance: Neutrality, dementia and 300,000 new voters
Corbyn would stay neutral in referendum
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has announced he would stay neutral in a second Brexit referendum. triggered by a Labour election win.
Speaking on a BBC Question Time special featuring the four party leaders individually, he said neutrality would enable him to “credibly carry out the results of that [second referendum], to bring our communities and countries together rather than continuing an endless debate.”Labour’s stated policy is to renegotiate a deal with the European Union, then to hold a referendum between that deal and remaining in Europe.
Appearing after Corbyn, Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson insisted “I don't see how he can do a deal when he is going to be neutral or indifferent.” Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson also decried his “absence of leadership,” but Corbyn defended his “sign of maturity” as an “honest broker”.
In the 1975 Common Market referendum, Labour prime minister Harold Wilson stepped back while his ministers campaigned on either side. Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May backed Remain in the 2016 referendum, then resigned as prime minister after her deal with the EU was repeatedly rejected by parliament.
Johnson faced his own cross-questioning from the Question Time audience and host Fiona Bruce - notably on trust, the National Health Service and alleged Russian interference in the referendum, which Johnson decried as “Bermuda Triangle stuff”.
Asked about a hung parliament, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon ruled out working with the Conservatives but said she would work with Labour if Corbyn committed to ending austerity and granting a second referendum on Scottish independence. Swinson, whose Liberal Democrats would revoke Brexit without a second referendum, was asked by an audience member if she regarded 17.4m Leave voters as “stupid”.
Eye-catching policy updates
A Labour government would levy a 20 percent tax on foreign companies and trusts buying UK property. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the tax, on top of existing stamp duties and surcharges, would raise about $4.2 billion dollars, cool the housing market and “prevent illicit flows” of money.
The Conservatives, who earlier this week announced a similar three percent levy on companies and individuals who are not UK tax residents, accused Labour of “lashing out” at investors. The Lib Dems have also pledged to raise the stamp duty for foreign buyers.
Property ownership is a key election issue, with many among the electorate feeling they are priced out. A recent study suggested 13 percent of homes sold in London between 2014 and 2016 were bought by non-UK residents.
Another hot-button issue is care for the elderly, and the Conservatives have pledged an extra $106m per year into dementia research if re-elected. Around 850,000 people in the UK currently suffer from dementia, with their families frequently bearing the burden of care.
Earlier this week, Labour pledged to cap the cost of care in old age at $128,000, while the Lib Dems unveiled a package for carers including allowance protections and respite breaks.
300,000 sign up to vote on national campaign day
Friday witnessed the fourth-largest number of voter registrations in UK history as 308,000 signed up. The only three days to have witnessed higher levels of registration were the final deadline days before the 2015 and 2017 general elections and the 2016 referendum.
Friday was an unofficial National Voter Registration Day, targeting the estimated nine million eligible voters who have not yet signed up. The deadline is Tuesday 26 November. Friday’s campaign was heavily pushed online but also offline: mosques and Muslim community groups joined in after an Electoral Commission study suggested that ethnic minorities are under-represented on the voter lists.
UK election jargon buster: Marginal constituencies
Also known as swing seats, marginal constituencies are the ones which attract the most campaigning before an election and the most excitement among analysts as the results come in. The campaigning happens because each party will have “target seats” it believes it can win from rivals; the excitement comes because the voting patterns discernible in these crucial areas can be indicative of how the wider election will turn out.
There is no official definition of a marginal seat but it is usually one in which the previous margin of victory was less than 10 percent. The very close 2017 general election produced 97 marginals that could change hands on a swing of five percent or less, 51 “ultra-marginals” with a majority of two percent or less and 31 “hyper-marginals” resting on a difference on one percent or less. Eight had a majority under 50, with the tightest result coming in North East Fife, where the incumbent Scottish National Party held off the Liberal Democrats by just two votes out in a 41,822 turnout.
