2024 general election: Parties discuss taxes, child benefits in seven-way debate

Seven political party candidates traded blows over immigration, child benefits, taxes and trust in a debate on ITV News.

Representatives from the Conservatives, Labour, SNP, Liberal Democrats, Greens, Reform UK and Plaid Cymru faced questions from an audience in Salford, as well as each other, in a debate taking place in the middle of the six-week general election campaign.

Conservative Penny Mordaunt has directed her attack quite relentlessly at the Labor Party, repeatedly accusing it of planning to raise taxes – a claim that Labor Party deputy leader Angela Rayner has tried to debunk.

Smaller parties, including the SNP, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru, also focused on Labour, often arguing that it was too similar to the Conservatives.

UK Reform leader Nigel Farage argued that he was now the “opposition to Labour”, pointing to a single poll that suggested his party could defeat the Conservatives and come third, albeit within the margin of error.

A tracker of all election polls can be found here.

During the campaign, Conservative figures urged the party’s traditional voters not to support Reform UK, arguing that it would put Keir Starmer in Downing Street.

On Thursday, Farage sought to reflect this attack on the Conservatives, saying that a vote for them would “enable” a Labor government.

“A vote for you is now, in effect, a vote for Labour,” he told Mordaunt.

Conservatives, he said, have repeatedly promised, but failed, to reduce immigration.

“Why on earth should anyone believe the fifth manifesto that promises cuts in the migration balance?” he asked.

Mordaunt’s response – “because of this prime minister’s record” – provoked laughter from some audience members.

She pointed to a recent reduction in visa applications and forecasts that suggested immigration would be halved next summer.

She accused Farage of being “a Labor enabler” by dividing the Tory electorate.

However, for most of the debate, Ms Mordaunt focused her attention on Labour.

In her closing comments, she said the Labor Party would raise taxes and bills.

“These are hard truths, but it’s better to face them now than regret them later… don’t give the Labor Party a blank cheque.”

Ms. Rayner emphasized her party’s message, saying it would deliver growth “in every corner of the country.”

“Why are you so shy, why wait for growth?” Greens co-leader Carla Denyer asked as she urged Ms Rayner to adopt her party’s plan to increase taxes on society’s richest.

She said the Conservatives were “toast” and accused Labor of offering the “same broken politics adorned with a red rosette”.

The Labor deputy leader also faced criticism from the SNP’s Stephen Flynn.

He said it was “disgraceful” that the Labor Party had not committed to rejoining the EU.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth expressed surprise that the Labor Party was not promising to get rid of the two-child benefit cap, while Mr Farage appeared to support it.

“What happened to the Labor Party?” he asked while arguing that the cap hurt poorer families.

Ms Rayner said her party would not commit to “unfunded” policies and pointed to the Labor Party’s plan to provide breakfast clubs for children.

Asked about the cap restricting some benefits to the first two children in a family, Farage said: “I think we should encourage people to have families.”

In a previous discussion on immigration, Ap Iorwerth said politicians needed to listen to people’s “genuine concerns”, while also accusing Farage of “exploiting the anxieties that people have”.

Flynn said Scotland’s businesses need more migrants, not fewer, while Rayner said the country’s economy has been too dependent on foreign workers and spoke about the Labor Party’s plan to upskill people.

Asked by ITV presenter Julie Etchingham whether they thought immigration was too high, four in seven raised their hands – Mr Farage, Ms Mordaunt, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper and Ms Rayner.

For the final question, politicians were asked how they would rebuild public trust in politics.

Ms Cooper said trust had been “shattered” in recent years.

She said more power should be returned to local communities and called for proportional representation to replace the current voting model “so that every person’s vote really counts in the general election”.

His call for the introduction of proportional representation was also supported by Denyer and Farage.