UK poll campaigns suspended

TV channels postpone electionrelated programming, Take That cancels show

LONDON Conservative leader Theresa May and Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn were joined by leaders of other parties in a collective decision on Tuesday to suspend the ongoing campaign for the June 8 election in view of Monday night’s terror attack in Manchester.

Prime Minister May, Corbyn and others cancelled their scheduled engagements across the country, while BBC and other television channels cancelled election-related programming, including debates between leaders.

After May announced the suspension of her party’s campaign, Corbyn said: “I have spoken with the prime minister and we have agreed that all national campaigning in the general election will be suspended until further notice.”

The Scottish National party was due to unveil its election manifesto on Tuesday, but it has now postponed the event. Instead, the SNP leader and Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon will chair a meeting of the local government’s resilience committee.

The Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron cancelled a scheduled visit to Gibraltar, where he was to speak about Brexit and meet overseas-based voters, and said: “This is a shocking and horrific attack targeting children and young people who were simply enjoying a concert”.

May had called the mid-term election to resolve Brexit-related political divisions inside and outside Westminster.

Latest opinion polls suggested that the gap between the favourite Conservatives and Labour was narrowing, but the former was still tipped to win another term in office.

The Liberal Democrats is the only major party to promise another referendum on Brexit before the United Kingdom formally leaves the European Union in mid-2019, if all phases are completed as scheduled by then.

Many other leaders and entertainers have cancelled events in a show of respect for the victims of the terror attack that left at least 22 dead and up to 60 injured.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her conservative ally Bavarian governor Horst Seehofer called off a pre-election event at a beer tent in Munich.

The band Take That, formed in Manchester in 1990, was playing a show in Liverpool when the attack happened. It cancelled the following night’s show.