welcome to the programme. we start this hour with the latest on the uk general election. the leader of the scottish national party, john swinney, has launched his party s campaign ahead of the vote onjuly the 4th. at an election rally in glasgow, mr swinney pushed for independence, celebrated his party s record on fighting the cost of living as well as attacking both the conservatives and labour. he said people in scotland wanted rid of a disastrous tory government, and he accused labour of giving an awfully good impression of them. let s take a listen to some of what the snp leader said. look, there are some people telling me to forget about independence at this election. but you know what? after looking at sir keir starmer s serial u turns in the pursuit of power, i think people are crying out for political leadership that sticks to its principles. applause ..for leaders who argue for what they believe in. and i passionately believe independence is the best opportunity
this is row that has been ongoing for months but has really, really been ongoing for the past few days, and this all goes back to a letter diane abbott wrote to the observer newspaper 1a months ago now. after that letter, she was accused of anti semitism and she said in the letter thatjewish people along with irish and traveller people didn t face racism all their lives and after that was published she apologised very quickly and she was suspended from the parliamentary labour party pending an investigation. now, if you are someone who has been suspended, if you are suspended when an election is happening, you can t run again as a labour candidate so we didn t hear anything about the investigation or the outcome of it for a long, long time. then, when the general election was called, we suddenly needed an answer, needed to know whether or not dianne abbott would be allowed to run. and several days ago, the bbc s newsnight programme reported that investigation concluded five m
let s get more on this from our deputy political editor vicki young who s in the newsroom. first of all, can you remind us what actually took place here. this first of all, can you remind us what actually took place here. actually took place here. this has been quite actually took place here. this has been quite a actually took place here. this has been quite a saga, actually took place here. this has been quite a saga, and actually took place here. this has been quite a saga, and has - actually took place here. this has - been quite a saga, and has dominated the first week of campaigning for labour. i think most people agree that the leadership hasn t handled it very well. as you said there, diane abbott under investigation for many months, over a year in fact, after she wrote a letter and in it she said thatjewish, irish and traveller people do not face racism all their lives. because of that, she was suspended from the parliamentary labour party. as i say, this
challenges for customers to earn bonus points could be pushing people to spend more than they can afford. that s the warning from consumer groups. i ll be taking a look. in sport it s the start of a new adventure for emma hayes. we hear how she s settling in to her new manager role in the united states as she prepares to lead them into the olympics this summer. to lead them into the quite to lead them into the a cloudy start this morning. some quite a cloudy start this morning. some outbreaks of rain out there, but things should brighten up. a bit of sunshine developing in the afternoon. all of the details shortly. it s thursday 30th may. our main story. the conservatives and labour have both ruled out increasing vat if they are elected in five weeks time. the promises have raised questions about how the parties will fund their spending plans, and deliver on their commitments if they win the elction. our political correspondent damian grammaticas has this report. midnight