be a pivotal moment in this general election campaign. studio: and other news, major london hospitals are hit by a cyber attack, leading to cancelled operations and emergency patients being moved. tests have revealed a newborn baby discovered and then east london park earlier this year is the sister of two other children abandoned by the same parents. we set hello. now, we arejust under 30 minutes same parents. we set hello. now, we are just under 30 minutes away from the first leaders debate of the general election campaign. rishi sunak and keir starmer will go head to head in front of a live studio audience in an hour long programme on itv. today s debate is part of several televised discussions involving political leaders, and using different formats in the run up to the vote on the 4th ofjuly. the bbc is hosting a seven party debate on friday. night will
cheers of the afternoon. let s not forget that five or six weeks ago no one was expecting john swinney to be leader of the scottish national party, to be first minister, let alone to be leading the scottish national party into a general election. he touched on that at the start of his speech and said it was a surprise and he described it as the loveliest of surprises. he then went on to talk about the dates of this election, the 4th ofjuly, independence day he said four friends in the us. that went down very well with the crowd. but he was trying to talk to people beyond the room. the room was full of activists and candidates and he was trying to get the message out to people beyond that room, that the snp will be a champion for everyone in scotland. we had the election campaign launched today. what happens next forjohn swinney? forjohn swinney? well, this election campaign forjohn swinney? well, this election campaign is - forjohn swinney? well, this election campaign is only i for
are concerned when it comes to the future of scotland. we heard he made a oke riaht future of scotland. we heard he made a joke right at future of scotland. we heard he made a joke right at the future of scotland. we heard he made a joke right at the very future of scotland. we heard he made a joke right at the very start a joke right at the very start saying the 4th ofjuly is independence day in the us and he said, it is a really good day for scotland to follow suit. how much will we hear about independence between now and july the 4th? it is im ortant between now and july the 4th? it is important to between now and july the 4th? it 3 important to put that in context, that was a joke. he said at last weekend and some people got carried away, saying he was going to declare independence on the 4th ofjuly. it is a light hearted take on what is happening. but he is as well as saying what he is saying to the voters, you can use us to get the tories out and speak up for scotland.
jacques i am deeply honoured to be leading our party as first minister. here we are and we are ready to make the case for scotland. applause polling day, of course, is on the 4th ofjuly. also known, of course, is independence day by our american friends. it is independence day by our american friends. , :, :, , is independence day by our american friends. , . ., , is independence day by our american friends. ., friends. it is a really good day for scotland to friends. it is a really good day for scotland to follow friends. it is a really good day for scotland to follow suit. scotland to follow suit. laughter in these next few weeks, we need to set out our case to the people of scotland with energy, optimism and hope. and it is the people of scotland i want to speak to directly today as we set out our message. to set out why voting snp will lead to a better country and a better future for you and your family. the people in this room and the wider snp, it
amount of cynicism from the public that they think that the country is facing some really serious issues when it comes to things like the economy, nhs waiting lists. some peoplejust economy, nhs waiting lists. some people just aren t so sure that politicians can fix it. but there is a very anti conservative mood. the conservatives have been in month 1a years. what the polls tell us is that they are blaming the conservatives for that. i think you can say that keir starmer, voters do tend to tune in more during the general election campaign, we are only one week in. you can save keir starmer has a way to go in terms of telling the public who he is but at the same time that is not really affecting what is going on in the polls. affecting what is going on in the olls. ., y , . polls. 0k, sonia they re very much talkin: polls. 0k, sonia they re very much talking about polls. 0k, sonia they re very much talking about the polls. 0k, sonia they re very much talking about the polls, poll