Campaign highlights: NHS and immigration dominate debate

Monthly NHS figures and the immigration debate were among the top talking points on the campaign trail on Thursday.

Labour accused the Tories of being “staggeringly out of touch” as stats showed some 4.42 million patients are on the waiting list for treatment.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Priti Patel pledged that a Conservative government will cut immigration if the party returns to power.

Here are some of the highlights of Thursday’s campaign trail:

– Monthly NHS figures were the talk of the day

New NHS figures showed that some 4.42 million patients – the highest ever number – are on the waiting list for treatment.

They also showed that one in six patients waited longer than four hours in A&E in England during October – the worst ever performance since the four-hour target was introduced in 2004.

Labour accused the Tories of being “staggeringly out of touch” after Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the NHS was in many ways “performing better than it ever has”.

Home Secretary Priti Patel pledged that a Conservative government will cut immigration if the party returns to power.

Security minister Brandon Lewis added that the Tories are “not setting some arbitrary target”, but want to introduce a new points-based system that is fair and would allow immigration to be controlled and reduced.

Labour has yet to announce its policy.

– Labour pledged to close the pay gap between men and women by 2030

Shadow women and equalities secretary Dawn Butler said the party would roll out a host of wage-related measures, including fining companies with gender pay gaps, to ensure women are on an equal footing with men in the workplace by 2030.

The Conservative Party, which in 2017 introduced gender pay gap reporting for companies with 250 employees or more under Theresa May, said that Labour was “over-promising”.

The CBI said 93% of firms are already taking action and that Labour should “engage with businesses” rather than “adding bureaucracy with government certification”.

The Fawcett Society called for Labour to go further, arguing that women should have the right to know what their male colleagues are being paid if they suspect pay discrimination.

– Nigel Farage claimed Arron Banks has ‘Brexhaustion’

Mr Farage said co-founder of Leave.EU Mr Banks has “just had enough of Brexit” and is “happy to go along with Mrs May and Boris’s deal”.

Mr Farage said the Brexit Party must press ahead to hold Boris Johnson to account and make sure a “proper Brexit” is secured.

– Donald Tusk urged British voters to ‘not give up’ on Brexit

Outgoing European Council president Donald Tusk warned British voters that leaving the EU would leave the UK a “second-rate player” and urged them “not to give up” on the fight against Brexit.

Mr Tusk also added that Brexit was likely to mark the “real end of the British Empire”.

He is due to step down from the role in December after holding the post for five years.

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