‘Six people have been killed and almost 50 people were injured in a “rampage” in central London, the third terrorist attack to hit the UK in less than three months. Three attackers were shot dead by police in the attack on London Bridge and Borough Market. Police said they believed there were no more than three attackers. A white transit van ploughed into a crowd of people on the bridge at speed shortly after 10pm. The three men then stabbed people with 12-inch knives at nearby Borough Market, with a transport police officer among those injured.’ – Sunday Telegraph
>Today: ToryDiary: First, Manchester. Now London. Terror targets the election. Here are the main security options.
‘Jeremy Corbyn’s fantasy politics may seem attractive at first – particularly to a generation that is too young to remember the chaos that such an approach delivered in the 1970s – but it is our job over the next four days to remind them that we have seen this movie before and we know how it ends: in calamity for our country. With a weak Labour Prime Minister at the head of a weak government, our economy would collapse and Britain would be the laughing stock of the world. As the saying goes, it would be deja vu all over again. Friday night brought this into sharp focus, as Jeremy Corbyn showed us all why he cannot be trusted with Britain’s future – and showed beyond doubt that he has no answers to the greatest challenges of our age. When asked some serious questions by members of the public – rather than the fawning supporters he usually talks to – he was totally exposed.’ – Theresa May, Mail on Sunday
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Our survey. Party members are unenthused by ‘the good that government can do’.
‘May is on course to return to Downing Street with a 60-seat majority, a poll reveals today. She has seen her party’s lead whittled away by Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour but the Tories are still 11 points clear, according to the exclusive ICM poll for The Sun on Sunday. The gap between the two parties has dwindled on an almost daily basis and is half what it was last month. It is a far cry from the start of the campaign, when forecasts of a landslide 152-seat majority were the norm. But Mr Corbyn appears to have failed to convince voters with enough speed or in enough numbers to threaten Mrs May’s safe return.’ – The Sun on Sunday
‘It remains to be seen whether the polls are correct, but it’s undeniable that the Conservative campaign got bogged down when the manifesto derailed it from its core messages of Brexit and Corbyn. At best, time spent on such diversions is time that could otherwise have been spent more productively hammering home the real message. At worst, the focus might shift on to something for which you’ve done no preparatory work, leading to confusion and worry among voters. That’s what happened with the social care policy. The Conservatives know that victory requires them to spend this week relentlessly on Brexit and Corbyn, Corbyn and Brexit.’ – Mark Wallace, The Observer
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: In these last few campaigning days, May must spell out what the choice means for your wallet, purse and savings
‘“We all understand that the media, if it hasn’t got any news, speculates about things,” says Mr Hammond of reshuffle excitement. “What happens on June 9 is something we can talk about on June 9.” Asked explicitly if Mrs May will give him the push after a Tory victory, Mr Hammond repeats the line: “I’ve told you, we are focused on June 8, winning the election.” There have been claims of heated rows between Numbers 10 and 11 about how far to intervene in failing markets – possibly even including expletives. Are the alleged tensions real? “Massively overplayed,” he responds quickly. “We work closely together, we work very well together. “And I just want to say this for the record: I have never had an impolite or aggressive conversation with anybody in my own team [or] in Theresa May’s team. That isn’t how I work.”‘ – Sunday Telegraph
>Yesterday: Richard Short on Comment: Labour’s Garden Tax is ready to savage the homes and gardens of ordinary working people
‘In the long phone call, Corbyn and Milne discuss the series of tough questions he faced from the audience – and host David Dimbleby – on nuclear weapons. After Milne congratulates Corbyn for surviving his nuclear battering, saying: ‘You got through it,’ they discuss the fierce challenges from the audience and Mr Dimbleby. Milne says: ‘The whole discussion is completely surreal. No one has used nuclear weapons for 72 years and they are not independent at all. The idea Britain would independently retaliate for some nuclear attack is all completely off the wall…’ After Corbyn, whose comments are inaudible, apparently agrees with him, Milne continues: ‘… completely bonkers. That’s why I’m always saying we should just say we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people.’ Milne agrees with Corbyn that Mr Dimbleby ‘pushed nuclear a lot’. Milne laughs as they candidly discuss why a Corbyn Government would never use nuclear weapons in a ‘first’ or ‘second’ strike.’ – Mail on Sunday
>Yesterday: WATCH: “Answer the question!” Corbyn heckled as he ducks and dives over nuclear weapons use
‘Labour moderates will break cover this week to demand Jeremy Corbyn wins the election or quits as leader, amid growing concern that he will claim a higher poll rating than Ed Miliband as a new mandate for his socialist agenda. If Labour loses, those MPs left on June 9 will demand a formal inquiry, led by the party’s ruling National Executive Committee, to report to the party conference in the autumn. To ensure the report finds against the leader, Labour candidates are keeping notes on every voter they meet who identifies as a lifelong Labour supporter but cannot back the party because of Corbyn.’ – Sunday Times (£)
‘The former head of Ofsted has lambasted the “incompetence” of the body that recruits and disciplines teachers, the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL), after the collapse of cases against the ringleaders of the “Trojan Horse” plot. Speaking after misconduct cases against five former Birmingham school leaders were thrown out last week, Sir Michael Wilshaw said: “NCTL has always been and still is incompetent. The good work by Ofsted has been wasted and the safeguarding of children in Birmingham and beyond has been put in jeopardy.” The five included Monzoor Hussain, former head of Park View, the school at the centre of the plot, and Razwan Faraz, former deputy head of Nansen, a linked school. They were accused of imposing an “intolerant and aggressive Islamic ethos” on secular state schools in Birmingham.’ – Sunday Times (£)
‘Trump justified withdrawing from the Paris deal in terms of protecting manufacturing and mining jobs — “and I happen to love the coal miners”, he added. “It is time to put Youngstown, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . . . before Paris, France,” he declared, not to mention before China, the world’s No 1 polluter. This is not stupid politics…Let’s not make a fetish of the Paris agreement. It is not Nato. It is not even Nafta. It is a non-binding accord, dependent on voluntary commitments. Unlike its predecessor, the Kyoto protocol (which the last Republican president pulled out of), it does not set targets with legal force. It does indeed, as Trump pointed out, commit developed countries to transfer $100bn a year to developing countries. Does China gain more from Paris than America does? Yes.’ – Niall Ferguson, Sunday Times (£)