Election latest: Deputy PM dismisses threat from Reform; Farage facing questions amid racism row (2024)

Finally, Trevor asks the deputy prime minister if will he run for leader of the Conservative Party if it loses the election.

Mr Dowden says any stories about his potential candidacy for the party's leadership was "total and utter nonsense".

"There's only one thing that I'm focused on, and that is making sure we have an overall majority for the Conservative Party, to fight for every single vote."

Oliver Dowden has said he is "deeply saddened" by the racist language used by Reform activists.

Footage from an undercover Channel 4 reporter showed Reform campaigner Andrew Parker using a discriminatory term about the prime minister.

Rishi Sunak later said the insult "hurts and it makes me angry".

Asked about the incident, Mr Dowden tells Trevor Phillips: "I grew up in the 1980s, and I thought the use of the P word was was long behind us.

"Actually, I've been quite heartened by the fact that political parties from across the spectrum have come together to condemn the hurt, not just felt by the prime minister, but felt by the prime minister's family as well.

"I think it's right that we should all come together and call out the use of that deplorable language."

Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden has dismissed Reform's chances in the election, saying: "There are only two people that can walk through the door of 10 Downing Street - Keir Starmer or Rishi Sunak.

"Rishi Sunak has a plan to cut people's taxes, to control migration, to protect our green belt. The alternative is Keir Starmer, who has a plan that will involve putting up people's taxes," he says.

When asked to try and persuade Nigel Farage to spare the Tories from a humiliating defeat, Mr Dowden says: "I'm not in the business of persuading any of my political opponents. I'm in the business of persuading people to vote for the Conservative Party.

"I do genuinely understand people's frustrations. But in the end, in this last week, it's the choice - Labour or Conservative to stop Labour getting in."

First up on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips is deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, who warns there is a "threat in all elections" from "hostile state actors".

The frontbencher is asked about reports the government is gravely concerned about the Russian influence on Nigel Farage's Reform UK.

This comes after claims by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that it had unearthed a Russian operation in support of Reform UK.

Mr Dowden says: "This is something that I've warned about for some time.

"There is a threat in all elections, and indeed we see it in this election, from hostile state actors seeking to influence the outcome of the election campaign.

"Russia is a prime example of this and this is a classic example from the Russian playbook."

This is a "low-level use of bots", Mr Dowden says.

Earlier, a spokesperson for Reform UK had said: "[Oliver] Dowden must have forgotten that his party had been stealth cutting the defence budget for a decade.

"He clearly thinks that the electorate are as stupid as his colleagues and campaign manager, who abused private information to make a quick buck on the election date."

Our flagship Sunday morning show, hosted byTrevor Phillips, is live on Sky News and we have a packed line-up for you after this eventful first week of the campaign.

Trevor will be chatting to:

• Deputy prime ministerOliver Dowden;
• Labour's national campaigns co-ordinatorPat McFadden;
• Reform UK leaderNigel Farage;
• Scottish First MinisterJohn Swinney.

On Trevor's expert panel will be:

• Alastair Campbell, former Number 10 communications director;
• Sir Craig Oliver, former Number 10 communications director;
• Daisy McAndrew, former Liberal Democrat adviser.

Watch live on Sky News and in the stream at the top of this page - and follow updates here in the Politics Hub.

WatchSunday Morning with Trevor Phillipsfrom 8.30am every Sunday on Sky channel 501, Virgin channel 602, Freeview channel 233, on theSky News websiteandappor onYouTube.

Both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have made various claims about the state of the UK's economy and their plans to change that.

But Sky's economics and data editor Ed Conway has fact-checked one of the Labour leader's pre-election claims about "British people falling behind".

"I'm not comfortable with a trajectory that will soon see Britain overtaken by Poland," Mr Starmer said last year.

So will Poland's economy soon overtake the UK's?

Not quite.

When considering both countries' GDP per capita, Poland's economy is indeed growing at a faster rate than the UK's at the moment.

"If you just assume that those lines continue as they have been for the last 10 years,Poland [will have] overtaken the UK [by 2030]. That is the point that Keir Starmer is making," Ed says.

"But here's the thing. You can't really treat economics like this because fast-growing frontier economies don't always maintain their growth rate. You can't always assume that that's going to continue as it was before."

Forecasts from the International Monetary Fund show that while the gap between both countries is narrowing, the UK is still 8% bigger in terms of GDP per capita than Poland by the end of the decade.

Using the same logic that the Labour leader is, Poland would overtake the US as the world's wealthiest economy by 2050 - a claim Ed calls "ridiculous".

"That is the mathematical trick that's being played in order to make it seem like the UK is falling behind. And it's just one of the tricks that we've seen in this long election campaign."

By Tom Cheshire, online campaign correspondent

If you want a good idea of what matters to each party - its deepest desires, its darkest fears - look at where it's spending money.

What it shows is a story of Labour spending big and spending everywhere, as it pursues a plausible supermajority, while the Conservatives retreat to fight for some of their heartland constituencies, and spend much less.

It shows the current state of play for all parties across the country. The map shows which is the biggest spender in each constituency - which parts of the country they're fighting to win, or not to lose.

The map was created by Who Targets Me (WTM), which tracks digital political advertising and has partnered with Sky News as part of our online campaign team.

"Our map of advertising activity shows where the parties have targeted their Facebook and Instagram ads in the last week," Sam Jeffers, executive director of WTM, says.

Reform UK has withdrawn support from three of its parliamentary candidates as the racism row engulfing the party continues to grow.

The party led by Nigel Farage is no longer supporting Edward Oakenfull, who is standing in Derbyshire Dales, Robert Lomas, a candidate in Barnsley North, and Leslie Lilley, standing in Southend East and Rochford, after alleged comments made by them emerged in the media.

It comes as party leaders from across the political spectrum have lined up to condemn Reform UK, and told Mr Farage he needs to "get a grip" of his party.

Oakenfull has been suspended after reportedly having written social media posts about the IQ of sub-Saharan Africans - which he told the BBC were "taken out of context".

Meanwhile, Lomas said black people should "get off [their] lazy arses" and stop acting "like savages", The Times reported.

Lilley, according to the newspaper, described people arriving on small boats as "scum", adding: "I hope your family get robbed, beaten or attacked."

By Adam Boulton, Sky News commentator

Becoming prime minister is a shock. Not so much the moment of being elected - any sensible democratic politician knows that opinion polls can be wrong and gets ready for all eventualities.

No incoming prime minister can ever be fully prepared for the demands of the job, placed on them from day one, when - among many other demands - they are taken aside to be briefed about their role in a nuclear war.

The process is particularly challenging in the UK because the change is so quick. There are no weeks of transition as in most other countries. Nobody else does it like us.

AsTony Blairremarked to Alastair Campbell: "Imagine preparing for a new job by working flat out travelling the country for six weeks and then going a few nights without sleep."

There are seemingly three things on the minds of British people at the moment - the Euros, the election, and Taylor Swift.

But while the Royal Family have been quick to send their backing to England's footballers and catch the pop star's Eras shows at Wembley, they'll be keeping their distance from the politics.

That's despite the fact that, apart from the monarch, the royals are technically allowed to vote in UK general elections.

Sky News explains why they don't.