Rishi Sunak accuses the Pentagon of being ‘hacked’ by China and ‘gaslighting’ the UK economy – UK Politics Live

While denying suggestions that the UK is headed for a hung parliament, the shadow chancellor said Labor would contest the economy at the next election.

In a speech in the City of London, Rachel Reeves said her party would use every day to “expose what the Conservative Party has done to our country” and insisted Britain had “turned the corner”. He accused the government of “gaslighting” the people.

She said: “Rather than believing the Prime Minister’s claims that we have turned a corner, the questions people will have going into the next election are simple.

“Do you and your family feel better off than after 14 years of Conservative government? Our schools, hospitals, police and transport systems work better than they did 14 years ago. Frankly, is anything working better in our country than it did when the Conservatives came to power 14 years ago?”

Train drivers are on strike again in a long-running dispute with the government.our travel correspondent Simon Calder Here are the details:

Defense Secretary Grant Shapps will update MPs on a cyberattack on a database containing details of military personnel, following reports that China was behind the hack.

david hughes This report goes into more detail.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the UK said: “China’s so-called cyber attack on the UK is a complete fabrication and malicious slander.”

“We strongly oppose such accusations. China has always resolutely countered all forms of cyber-attacks in accordance with the law.

“China does not encourage, support or condone cyber attacks. At the same time, we oppose the politicization of cybersecurity issues and baseless slander of other countries without factual evidence.

“China has always upheld the principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. China has no interest or need to interfere in the internal affairs of the UK. We urge UK officials to stop spreading false information. , we call on them to stop fabricating the so-called China threat theory and end their anti-China political farce.”

Downing Street has announced that the government is investigating the work of a third-party contractor whose systems were hacked in a cyber attack on the Ministry of Defence.

Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson said: “In relation to the specific contractor involved in this incident, an investigation into the safety of that contractor’s work is ongoing and appropriate action will then be taken.” Stated.

Downing Street refused to attribute the reported cyber attack on the Ministry of Defense to any particular nation state or attacker.

Asked whether China was responsible for the attack, Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson said: “The Secretary of Defense will provide an update to Congress this afternoon.

“You will understand that I am clearly limited in what I can say until then, other than that the Ministry of Defense has already taken immediate action and isolating the affected networks and support personnel.

“We will not enter into further speculation about the source of the attack.”

Muslim campaign groups have issued 18 demands to Sir Keir Starmer in a bid to win back support lost by his stance on Israel’s war in Gaza.

Islamic Vote, which aims to organize voters against MPs who did not support a ceasefire in the conflict, is calling on Labor leaders to apologize for their earlier stance on Israel’s anti-Hamas movement.

He urged Sir Keir to cut military ties with Israel, allow Muslims to pray in schools and promise to return “Zionist money” to Labor Party officials.

our political correspondent archie mitchell Report:

Just one in five voters expects the Conservative Party to win the next general election, according to Redfield & Wilton’s latest poll.

By comparison, 63% of people thought Labor would win, the highest percentage ever recorded by the polling organization.

This situation is a complete reversal from the summer of 2021, before the Partygate scandal, when 55% of voters believed the Conservatives would win the next election, compared to 25% who thought Labor would win. It was less than

In the early days of Liz Truss’s tenure as prime minister, support between the two parties was tied at around 40%, but her disastrous mini-budget saw the Conservatives’ fortunes plummet, and Labour’s support slumped in response. rate has increased.

Outgoing Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf has signed his formal resignation letter to King Charles.

Mr Yousaf signed the letter at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

He will later give a speech at Holyrood ahead of the vote on new SNP leader John Swinney to become Scotland’s new First Minister.

Cllr Mel Stride said “disaffected” Tory voters must be won back to give the party any hope of a general election victory, Labor and pensions.

Mr Stride insisted the Conservative Party still had the ability to “go all out” in the general election, despite the damage it suffered in local and regional elections. But in a message to critics of the Prime Minister’s Conservative Party, Mr Stride said the party needed to “come together” to win back voters.

Stride, a close ally of Mr Sunak, said many Tory voters were “dissatisfied” and had “walked away” from the ballot box, but insisted the upcoming general election would be “a contest of utter differences”. did.

He said this while acknowledging that the results of the local elections were “very painful”. times radio: “This is a volatile electorate and there are definitely people who need to restore the Conservative cause.

“I suspect that many of these people did not go out on voting day last Thursday. We are united as a party in doing everything we can to bring these people back into the Conservative fold. It is now up to us to do so.”