General election latest: Latest poll has more bad news for the Tories - as Labour accused of 'humiliating' Abbott (2024)

Ali Fortescue is back tonight at 7pm with the Politics Hub.

Joining her tonight will be health minister and Conservative candidate Maria Caulfield.

And from Labour's side will be shadow schools minister Catherine McKinnell.

On the panel giving their view on today's events will be James Starkie, a former Home Office adviser, and Freddie Hayward, a political correspondent at the New Statesman.

WatchPolitics Hubfrom 7pmevery night during the election campaign on Sky channel 501, Virgin channel 602, Freeview channel 233, on theSky News websiteandappor onYouTube.

Earlier today, the SNP's leader in Westminster Stephen Flynn spoke to Sky News.

He was asked why Labour's flagship energy policy - the creation of GB Energy - would not work (read about the plans here).

Mr Flynn said: "GB Energy as it stands is a sham.

"It is not going to produce energy, it's not going to generate energy, it's not going to sell energy, and it's not going to own any energy infrastructure.

"Keir Starmer did a very revealing interview over the weekend - he finally outlined what GB Energy is.

"And all this is going to do is provide investment to the private sector to make even more money off of Scotland's renewables, just as has happened to Scotland's oil and gas sector, which has pushed £450bn south into the Treasury over decades.

"And on the back of that, 100,000 potential job losses in Scotland, thanks to Keir Starmer's energy proposals - this is not the way that Scotland's energy should be run.

"And it's why Scotland's energy should be in Scotland's hands, and this is a very clear point for this general election".

This attack shows again that the SNP is trying to fight against Labour, following polling suggesting Sir Keir will do well in Scotland at the SNP's expense.

With the general election campaign officially under way, what better time to keep a close eye on the latest polling?

The Sky News live poll tracker - collated and updated by our Data and Forensics team - aggregates various surveys to indicate how voters feel about the different political parties.

See the latest update below - and you can read more about the methodology behind the trackerhere.

Sky'spolitical correspondent Darren McCaffrey was in the room during the SNP's election launch.

He points out that, speaking to people behind the scenes, there is "an expectation that the SNP are going to lose MPs".

"It's just - frankly - how many they're going to lose."

At the last election, the SNP won 48 MPs of 59 in Scotland.

Darren points out it is clear the SNP think Labour are the party likely to take seats off them.

He says: "If you listen to John Swinney's speech, it was mostly aimed at the Labour Party.

"Attack line after attack line on Labour - when it came to migration, when it came to Brexit, when it came to the NHS.

"And that is a sign the SNP are having to turn their guns on Labour."

But Darren caveats this by noting Mr Swinney is popular in many parts of Scotland, including some of those outside the SNP membership, and he is also an experienced campaigner.

"He's been here before, he's a good orator, he's very relaxed in these situations," Darren says, describing Mr Swinney as "formidable" - and that this could save some MPs for the party.

The SNP leader finishes his address, thanking the audience for respecting the Q&A with journalists.

He is then seen posing for pictures with the slate of Commons hopefuls behind him.

Asked about his relationship with Westminster, John Swinney says his engagements with the likes of Gordon Brown and Theresa May were "pretty constructive".

But things went downhill with the advent of Boris Johnson.

Mr Swinney says that if Sir Keir Starmer becomes prime minister and acts in a "serious, mature and respectful" manner with regards to Scotland, then he will have "absolutely no issues" negotiating with the SNP.

Another journalist asks whether Mr Swinney would seek to negotiate for the powers to hold another independence referendum.

The SNP lost a court battle to try to take this power in recent years.

But Mr Swinney says of course he wants this power - and that he wants to "engage" in discussions to try and offer a choice to Scottish people on whether they want independence.

Sky'spolitical correspondent Darren McCaffrey asks John Swinney whether the SNP believes it needs to reduce migration and employ more Scots, and what victory looks like to the party.

Mr Swinney says Brexit removed tens of thousands of people from Scotland and the biggest economic threat to Scotland is the hostility to migration in the UK.

He adds that migration helps drive growth, and so implies he would want more people entering Scotland.

On what victory looks like to the SNP, Mr Swinney says he wants the SNP to be the "largest party in Scotland" after 4 July.

As part of the Q&A, the BBC asks a question about the logic in the SNP stating that leaving a 50-year-old union like the EU has caused damage to Scotland - but leaving a 300-year-old union like the UK would be advantageous.

At this, the crowd boos and jeers the journalist.

Mr Swinney calms the crowd, and tells them in the spirit of open debate not to cheer, boo, or applaud any questions or answers.

The same crowd then applauds their leader's position.

Moving to answer the question, Mr Swinney says the idea of independence from the UK is to take more decisions that benefit the nation, but Brexit has damaged Scotland due to the decisions made on areas like trade.

Moving onto independence - the raison d'etre for the SNP - the party's leader says his "passionately believes independence is the best opportunity" for Scotland.

But that is "not enough", he adds.

He says austerity from the Conservatives and Brexit shows being under Westminster is bad for the nation.

Mr Swinney adds that Sir Keir Starmer is "still willing to impose all that damage [of Brexit] on Scotland – whatever the cost - so he can win power".

He highlights nations like Denmark, Norway and Ireland as being independent European countries that are "fairer, with greater equality".

But despite laying out his ideological position, the SNP leader does not address how he would approach independence.

In 2022, the SNP's then-leader, Nicola Sturgeon, said the next general election would be a referendum on independence.

But this rhetoric has been wholly dropped.

The inability of Ms Sturgeon to lay out how she would achieve independence contributed to her downfall from the top of the party.

John Swinney, the leader of the SNP, is giving his party's keynote speech at their general election launch.

He is a member of Scottish parliament, and is not standing in Westminster.

Mr Swinney says it is the "loveliest of surprises" to be leading the party at this time.

He only became first minister and party leader a few weeks ago after Humza Yousaf's leadership collapsed.

The leader quips that polling day is 4 July - the US independence day - and it would be "a really good day for Scotland to follow suit".

This election represents the "biggest challenge the SNP has had for years".

Mr Swinney claims people in Scotland "want rid of this disastrous, chaotic, Tory government".

He adds that the SNP has a "clear task" to "demonstrate why achieving independence is relevant and indeed vital to their core concerns".

The SNP leader says voters in England will send the Tories "packing" and vote them out.

As part of Sir Keir Starmer's Labour campaign, he is targeting as many seats as possible in Scotland.

Mr Swinney claims Labour is doing an "impression" of the Conservatives, and attacks shadow health secretary Wes Streeting for wanting to increase private-public partnerships in the NHS.

The SNP leader says he wants Scottish voters to "unite" on 4 July to "protect Scotland's National Health Service".