4

FIVE KEY POINTS Labour and the Tories continue to fight over which party is best suited to keep the UK safe. Diane Abbott insisted she is qualified to be Home Secretary, while Amber Rudd denied the Tory manifesto had nothing to say on improving security and boosting counterterrorism efforts With polls showing Labour gaining ground and closing th egap on the Conservatives, Jeremy Corbyn held a rally in Glasgow to tell voters their real choice was whether to put him or Theresa May in 10 Downing Street. He asked them to reject the SNP, accusing the nationalists of passing on austerity measures A new poll of voting intentions in Scotland suggested the SNP could lose more ground on the 2015 landslide result, winning just 39 per cent of the vote and losing over a dozen seats. The poll put the Tories on 29 per cent and showed Labour recovering on 25 per cent. Labour’s James Kelly called it “encouraging” In an interview with Andrew Neil, Nicola Sturgeon defended the Scottish Government’s record on education and the economy, and hinted the SNP manifesto out tomorrow will give a boost to public sector pay. She confirmed the SNP would back a ‘progressive alliance’ with Labour at Westminster The First Minister also insisted an SNP victory on 8 June would force a u-turn out of Theresa May on a second independence referendum. Ms Sturgeon said the Prime Minister’s position was “unsustainable”, but Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson hardened her stance, ruling out indyref2 “any time soon” TODAY The Scottish Green Party launches its manifesto Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn appear live on Sky News and Channel 4 at 8.30pm in separate interviews by Jeremy Paxman