Rishi Sunak says the money, paid over 10 years, would help regenerate areas such as Mansfield, Rotherham and Hartlepool

The Conservatives have promised to give another 30 towns in the UK £20m each in levelling up funding over the next decade if they win the election.

Rishi Sunak said the 30 would be added to the government’s long-term plan for towns, which is intended to pay for the regeneration of underfunded areas.

Exclusive: Leader challenges Labour to match £500m pledge, to be paid for with US-inspired share buyback tax

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The Liberal Democrats would extend free school meals to all primary schoolchildren, starting with those in poverty, Ed Davey has said in a challenge to Labour to match the pledge.

Speaking in his first newspaper interview of the general election campaign, the Lib Dem leader announced a manifesto policy aimed at nearly 1 million more children living in poverty in England and their families.

Tory policy would be funded by scrapping courses with high drop-out rates and low job progression

Rishi Sunak has promised to create 100,000 high-skilled apprenticeships a year by scrapping “rip-off degrees” if he wins the general election.

In the latest of a flurry of announcements as the Conservatives try to narrow Labour’s 20-point poll lead, the party pledged to replace “low-quality” university degrees with apprenticeships.

Concerns London listing of retailer facing forced labour allegations goes ahead while parliament is dissolved

Senior politicians, including three parliamentary committee chairs, have called for more scrutiny of Shein as the fast-fashion retailer founded in China sets its sights on a London stock market listing.

Shein is reportedly in talks to float on the London Stock Exchange after an attempt to float in New York faced regulatory hurdles.

Shadow chancellor rules out income tax and national insurance rises and says manifesto will have no unfunded proposals

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Rachel Reeves vowed that there would be no “return to austerity” under a Labour government as she ruled out increases to income tax or national insurance. On the first weekend of the general election campaign, the shadow chancellor said she and Keir Starmer wanted taxes on working people to be lower.

Pressed on how Labour would fund public services, Reeves ruled out raising income tax or national insurance and insisted that there would be no “unfunded proposals” in the party’s election manifesto.

Minister Maria Caulfield says she has contacted Dulwich Hamlet and police over damage to Newhaven constituency office

A minister has accused fans of a south London women’s football club of vandalising her constituency office in East Sussex after their team won the league on Sunday.

Maria Caulfield, the Conservative MP for Lewes and a minister for health, posted on X that she had contacted police after “supporters of a London women’s football club playing in the local area yesterday felt it appropriate to damage my office”.