The Andrew Marr Show
The fall-out from the Manchester attack dominated the Sunday shows, and kicking it off on Marr, Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood hit out at cuts to the police budget.
Green co-leader Caroline Lucas criticised the Government’s anti-terrorism strategy Prevent, saying it is “perceived as a toxic, big brother brand” by Muslims.
Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott was grilled on statements she made in the mid-1980s when she claimed the defeat of the British state by the IRA should be welcomed. Abbott claimed that like her hair-style, her views had changed in the subsequent 30 years. There’s a full write-up here
Home Secretary Amber Rudd was up next, and said MI5 was looking at around 20,000 separate plots and tip-offs relating to terrorism. She also said the security services could be allocated more funding if necessary.
Rudd was asked about Theresa May’s u-turn on social care funding, and admitted she did not know where the cap would be on what someone would be expected to pay.
Peston on Sunday
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was on Robert Peston, and the pair did that annoying thing they always do and talked about Arsenal.
Once the football chat stopped, Peston asked Corbyn about his previous interactions with the IRA. During his interview with Andrew Neil on the BBC on Friday, Corbyn said he had never met with any IRA members. On Peston, he admitted he had met with former prisoners.
On Diane Abbott’s haircut/IRA views ratio, Corbyn echoed the views of the nation with the slightly perplexed tone of his answer.
On Labour’s tax plans, Corbyn said if corporation and other tax rates didn’t go up, it would lead to more food banks and homelessness .
Ukip leader Paul Nuttall said his party’s plan to ban the burka wasn’t just about concerns over Muslim women not getting enough vitamin D, it was also for security reasons. He went on to say that all masks should be banned in public, although there would be an exception for carnivals.
On immigration, Nuttall refuted the notion that reducing migrant numbers would lead to a reduction in economic growth.
The SNP’s Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, who is a Muslim, said she wouldn’t take lessons on what she can or cannot wear from Paul Nuttall.
Peston had a right old ding-dong with Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon. The pair clashed over whether Jeremy Corbyn’s claims that UK military interventions overseas had made the UK less safe were that different from comments Boris Johnson made in 2005. A full write up is here.
Sir Michael refused to accept meeting Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad in 2007 was a misjudgment.
When quizzed on the Tories negative campaign strategy, Sir Michael claimed Theresa May was trying to paint a positive message on security and Brexit.
Sophy Ridge On Sunday
Sophy Ridge travelled up to Glasgow for a special show dedicated to Scottish politics, and first up was Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson. She said Corbyn’s speech on the causes of terrorism was “too simplistic”, and fundamentally Isis/Daesh hate the Western way of life.
On the election campaign, Davidson said Theresa May had “grasped the nettle” on social care, despite her u-turn on the spending cap.
Lib Dem Scottish Leader Willie Rennie repeatedly told Ridge his party would “make gains” in the election, but wouldn’t put a figure on it.
Kezia Dugdale was up next, and she is of course the leader of Labour in Scotland. That’s ‘Labour’, right Sophy?
After being questioned about Corbyn’s boasts of voting against anti-terror legislation, Dugdale pointed out the Labour leader had also been against police cuts.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was pushed on who she would like to see as UK Prime Minister after June 8. Sturgeon says Corbyn lacks credibility, but she never wants to see a Tory PM.
Pienaar’s Politics
Security Minister Ben Wallace was on Radio 5Live to discuss the leaking of information around the Manchester attack by US intelligence agencies. Wallace said the Prime Minister and Home Secretary “made it absolutely clear” to the Americans that leak to the press was “unacceptable.”
On dealing with extremist content on the internet, Wallace said “financial pressures” could be brought to bear on companies that don’t do enough to remove such material.
Sunday Politics
Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon said “austerity has to stop at the police station door”, and that a Labour government would give the security and intelligence services the “resources required to keep our communities safe”. But he refused to name any specific new powers a Labour government would grant the security services to help them fight terrorism.
Asked by Jo Coburn about Jeremy Corbyn’s long history of voting against any expansion of powers for the security services, Burgon said: “It’s a complex situation. With this legislation as you will know, the devil is often in the detail. If it were as simple that you could stop terrorism by voting a piece of legislation through parliament then terrorism would have been stopped a long, long time ago.”
Polling guru John Curtice – who can read the tea leaves better than most – said the Tory lead has narrowed in the past 10 days. The Conservatives are set for a majority, but it might not be a landslide.