PM must take some blame over

● May accused by MEP of failing to tackle hate preachers while home secretary as Ukip launches its general election manifesto

Theresa May “must bear some responsibility” over the Manchester terrorist attack, a senior Ukip figure has claimed as the party cut short a campaign truce to launch its general election manifesto.

Suzanneevansmepaccused the Prime Minister of failing to stop radical hate preachers from entering the UK and not doing enough to control immigration while she was home secretary. Ms Evans later tried to walk back her comments, but continued to insist that “politicians should have taken action on that long ago”.

Returning to the campaign trail today, Jeremy Corbyn will also seek to put pressure on the Prime Minister, pledging that Labour will reverse cuts to emergency services that have seen police numbers drop by 20,000 in England and Wales.

In a speech in London today, the Labour leader will say: “No government can prevent every terrorist attack. If an individual is determined enough and callous enough sometimes they will get through.

“But the responsibility of government is to minimise that chance – to ensure the police have the resources they need, that our foreign policy reduces rather than increases the threat to this country and that at home we never surrender the freedoms we have won and that terrorists are so determined to take away.”

Launching his party’s manifesto yesterday, Ukip leader Paul Nuttall said he would take a “far more muscular approach” to social integration in order to stop young British Muslims from being radicalised.

Journalistswerethetargetof angry heckles from Ukip supporters after asking Mr Nuttall if he was disrespecting the victims in Manchester by saying “it is not good enough to light candles and proclaim that extremists will not beat us”.

The party said it was sending a message that terrorists “will not win” by launching its manifesto a day before other major parties had agreed to restart national campaigning after the attack at the Manchester Arena, which killed 22 people and injured dozens more.

Mr Nuttall said Islamic fundamentalism was “one of the major issues” facing politicians, and backed seizing the passports of Britons who leave to fight for the Islamic State.

“I am proud Ukip is setting out its patriotic agenda for defending our country and our way of life,” he said.

“Be in no doubt, the problem will not be solved if politicians are too cowardly to confront or even identify where the problem lies.

“Moreover, without the political will to take difficult decisions, challenge communities and most importantly secure our borders, things are only going to get worse.”

Mr Nuttall added that he made no apologies for calling radical Islam “a cancer in our society”.

Ms Evans used the manifesto launch to mount an attack on the Prime Minister’s record, saying: “Theresa May has allowed jihadists who fought alongside Islamic State back into our country. She has failed to prevent extremists spreading hatred in our universities and our mosques.

“Under her watch, even non-eu migration spiralled out of control and net migration reached record highs. A growing backlog of failed asylum seekers and a failure to deport illegal immigrants or foreign criminals were further hallmarks of her time as home secretary.”

Responding to the comments, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said it was “not the time to make political points”.

Ukip said it would introduce a net migration target of zero through a “one in, one out” policy, increase defence spending by £1 billion annually, and add 4,000 officers to the border force.

The party said it would cut the foreign aid budget from 0.7 per cent of GDP to 0.2 per cent.

The manifesto also pledges to ban full face coverings in public and ban the practice of sharia law in the UK.

There would be no tax rises at all under a Ukip government, and low and middle earners would see their tax bill cut by raising the personal allowance to £13,500 and the 40p threshold to £55,000.

On welfare, Ukip said it would keep the pensions triple lock, introduce flexible pensions to allow early retirees to claim a lower state pension, and protect benefits for the disabled and carers.

The party would scrap the HS2 rail project, the Barnett Formula and the TV licence.

Ukip also said it would refuse to pay any Brexit “divorce bill”, make 23 June – the date of the Brexit referendum – an annual “Independence Day” bank holiday and restore the blue British passport.