Party leaders in final bid for votes

PARTY leaders were making a last push for votes today as the general election campaign entered its final day.

Theresa May highlighted Conservative plans for £23 billion of investment in housing, roads, rail and ultrafast broadband if she is returned to No 10, while the Labour leader warned voters have “24 hours to save the NHS”.

The prime minister pledged to ensure the benefits are spread across the UK — while returning to her core theme of the campaign that the country’s hopes of a brighter future outside the European Union depend on making a success of the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.

Jeremy Corbyn — who was to due to start his final day of campaigning with a speech in Glasgow — highlighted Labour’s plans to provide £37 billion in additional funding for the NHS over the course of the next parliament.

“The Conservatives have spent the last seven years running down our NHS, our proudest national institution,” he said.

“Our NHS cannot afford five more years of underfunding, understaffing and privatisation.”

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron was to use his final rally to appeal to people to vote tactically to keep the Tories out.

Scottish party leaders were also making their final appeal to voters.

The SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon, her Tory counterpart Ruth Davidson, Labour’s Kezia Dugdale and Willie Rennie of the Scottish Liberal Democrats went headto-head yesterday in the final TV debate of the campaign.

Some of the most heated exchanges in the STV Scotland Debates programme were about the issue of independence, with the Scottish Government having already put forward plans to hold another referendum at the end of the Brexit process.

Ms Sturgeon said that in the aftermath of the Brexit poll, Ms Dugdale had told her that Labour would drop its opposition to a second independence referendum — a claim later branded a “categoric lie” by the Labour leader.

The four party rivals were due to clash at Holyrood at First Minister’s Questions, which was moved from its regular Thursday slot as the Scottish Parliament is not sitting tomorrow because of the election.

Scottish party leaders on the STV debate.