Reform UK’s leader has made some eye-opening statements on the climate, and his party’s manifesto is packed with even more falsehoods

Despite 40C record heat in 2022 and the wettest 18 months on record this winter, this general election seems set to test the UK’s political consensus on climate change like never before.

Reform UK, the rightwing party that describes itself as offering “commonsense” policies on immigration and energy, has eschewed the consensus in favour of outright climate scepticism. So what exactly does the party have to say about global heating and the UK’s net zero target?

Cutting degrees to pay for more apprenticeships is plain barmy – just look at the facts and ask yourself who this is aimed at

Once upon a time, elections used to be all about kissing babies. But for parents of teenagers, this one has felt more like a smack in the teeth. Last weekend, our children were threatened with compulsory national service, for no obvious reason beyond keeping nostalgic pensioners happy. Now, just in the middle of their GCSE revision, Rishi Sunak is threatening to scrap one in eight degree places.

“You don’t have to go to university to succeed in life,” tweeted the prime minister, who to be fair is currently proving that you can go to lots of universities – he has a degree from Oxford and a master’s from Stanford – and still see your career end in failure. The money saved by slashing 130,000 supposedly “Mickey Mouse” places would, he promised, fund 100,000 apprenticeships. Though given the enduring failure to get these off the ground over the past decade, it would be unwise to bin the Ucas form just yet. Meanwhile, the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, called the apprenticeship she did at 16 her “golden ticket” but failed to mention her subsequent degree in business studies, followed by a master’s.

Our Nige at least manages to sound slightly plausible while talking utter rubbish

It’s not hard to pick out where the power lies at any Reform party event. Just check out the middle-aged men with a tan. Richard Tice, Nigel Farage and David Bull all look like they’ve spent a suspiciously long time on the sunbed. Or maybe they’ve got a bulk offer on spray tan. Either way, you have to blink several times when you see them in the flesh. The glare is oppressive. Welcome to the party with heavy 1970s Benidorm vibes.

Nigel Farage had insisted that when he first booked Glaziers Hall near London Bridge, it had been to announce that he was planning to stand as a candidate in the election. Like a lot of things Our Nige says, this may be wishful thinking. Or a straight porky. Check out the timings. Rishi Sunak calls a general election last Wednesday. Nige books the room the next day. All set to go. Then changes his mind within days. Mmm. Maybe not.

Brexit campaigner suggested he and prime minister should ‘have a conversation’ after favours he had done Tories over the years

Rishi Sunak has ruled out a deal with Nigel Farage after the Reform politician suggested they should “have a conversation” before the election.

Farage has held back from running as a candidate for the Reform party, which is led and funded by Richard Tice, but on Wednesday he extended an olive branch to Sunak in an interview with the Sun, telling him: “Give me something back. We might have a conversation.”

President of Reform UK rejects accusations that comments made on Sunday were Islamophobic

Nigel Farage has said Britain is moving towards “sectarian politics with women completely excluded” in inner cities and towns, as he called for rising levels of Channel crossings to be declared a “national security emergency”.

Reform UK’s honorary president also defended comments he made on Sunday saying a growing number of Muslims do not share British values, and rejected accusations over the years that he had used antisemitic and Islamophobic dog whistles.

Labour reiterates claims that pensions will have to be cut to fund Tory idea to scrap national insurance

Labour has opened applications for a string of new safe seats after half a dozen MPs announced last-minute retirements, with key allies of Keir Starmer expected to be lined up to take their place.

Those standing down include the former shadow minister Barbara Keeley, the chair of the parliamentary Labour party Jon Cryer, as well as John Spellar, Virendra Sharma and Kevin Brennan.

Pensioners used to have a bigger personal allowance than people of working age – it was the Conservatives who got rid of it.

So this is one of many examples actually of tax policy that has been reversed by the same Government. George Osborne got rid of it in the 2010s when the personal allowance of people under pension age continued to rise.

Prime minister campaigns in Buckinghamshire as his military service plan is criticised and MP defects to Reform

Rishi Sunak struggled to keep control of his fractured party on a chaotic fifth day of the Tory election campaign, as one MP defected to Reform and a minister criticised the prime minister’s pledge to bring back national service.

Sunak was in Buckinghamshire as he sought to get back on the front foot after a bruising start to the snap election, with Tory insiders increasingly worried about his strategy and performance.

MP for Telford, who is standing down at general election, tweeted support for Alan Adams in further blow to Rishi Sunak

The Conservative MP Lucy Allan has been suspended from the party after saying she will back Reform UK at the general election, in a further blow to Rishi Sunak and his faltering campaign.

The MP for Telford, who announced last year that she was standing down, was suspended from the Conservatives after posting a tweet saying she would support her local Reform candidate in the coming contest.

Tories hope to make voters – particularly Reform supporters – nervous about prospect of major change under a Labour government

On the first weekend of the general election campaign, Rishi Sunak unveiled his first headline-grabbing policy promise: introducing mandatory national service for teenagers.

The proposal – wherby 18-year-olds would either join the military for 12 months or volunteer at weekends – sparked incredulity and ridicule. But Tory strategists introduced it for a very specific reason – one that goes to the heart of their election strategy.

From Reform and Redwood to a Titanic misstep, early electioneering has offered much unintentional hilarity

Every election needs some questionable statistics. Lovers of crimes against line graphs will be pleased to hear of one from Reform UK showing migration since 1066, which missed out migration spikes long before William the Conk was even a twinkle in the Duke eye. A major peak came, for instance, about 25,000 years ago, when the population went up from zero – a startling increase – and Reform also had nothing to say about the Romans, Anglo-Saxons or Beakers. And why leave the Vikings out? Reform’s obsession with small boats might have actually captured the zeitgeist.

Barring miracles or disasters on the campaign trail, a change of government appears to be just weeks away

Here we go again. For the third time in a row, the general election starting gun has been fired early by a Conservative prime minister. Theresa May started well ahead and nearly lost it all. Boris Johnson started well ahead and took that lead to the bank. Rishi Sunak doesn’t start with his predecessors’ advantages – his is the gamble of a man with nothing to lose.

Victory requires an unprecedented turnaround. All the evidence suggests it is instead Sunak’s Labour opponent, Keir Starmer, who is about to make history. But he, too, faces a mammoth task in the coming weeks as he seeks to take Labour from its worst Commons defeat in 90 years to a governing majority in one big leap.

Tories say stick to the plan, Labour wants change and Lib Dems, SNP, Greens and Reform UK fight for attention

• UK politics live – latest updates

The general election machines are lurching into action, albeit with some initial grinding of gears as the parties respond to the unexpected summer election date. So what will they be saying? And how will they be saying it? Here is our guide to the six most prominent parties.

A drowned-rat PM, a blank-page contender and frit Farage refusing to stand at all. All in the first 48 hours – are you not entertained?

Even in a year of largely lacklustre summer movies, you have to accept the reality that Rishi Sunak has scheduled his election against the release of Beverly Hills Cop 4. Coming back again, you say? Same old hapless colleagues? Straight to streaming? Whether the public really craves a fourth consecutive outing for previously beloved franchise The Conservative Government is not altogether unclear: audience tracking suggests the IP is knackered and people want to see this one about as much as they wanted to see the Cats movie. At least in that they were able to VFX out the arseholes.

But look, stay with the PM on this one! And please note, we’re already into the phase of election berserkery in which you can always find a sympathetic party thinker to tell you that, actually, the bad thing you just saw with your own eyes will play so, so well where it matters. “Rishi did not look like someone who is ready to compromise, and I think that’s really good,” judged the Mail’s Sarah Vine of his election announcement. “I thought his vibe was really good.” Mm-hm.

The beleaguered PM maximised the only weapon he had left – surprise. But the ruse will worsen his prospects, not improve them

Cut your losses short and let your winners run. It’s the oldest cliche on Wall Street, and, at heart, Rishi Sunak is more of a banker than a politician. So, in retrospect, perhaps we should have guessed how he would react to the current collapse in the Conservative party’s share price.

His bet on turning the country around hasn’t worked out, so he’s unwinding his position; dumping his stocks and getting out. On Wednesday, Sunak had the air of a man who is tired of waiting for the inevitable and would rather get it over with. What he doesn’t seem to have realised – although judging by their seasick expressions as they lined up behind him, plenty of his cabinet ministers have – is how much politics is not like banking. Cutting and running now, against the reported advice of the Tories’ election guru, Isaac Levido, is a tacit admission that things are not going to get better; that, if anything, they are likely to get worse. And just like that, he has effectively turned his campaign into a public admission of failure.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

Bills, including smoking ban for people born after 2009, unlikely to become law before 4 July vote

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Rishi Sunak is now speaking at an event in Ilkeston in Derbyshire. It is in the Erewash constituency, where the Tory MP Maggie Throup had a majority of 10,606 at the last election.

He repeats the claim that a Labour government would cost every family £2,000.

Labour’s spending promises cost £16 billion per year in 2028-29, or £58.9 billion over the next four years.

But their revenue raisers would only collect £6.2 billion per year in 2028-29, or £20.4 billion over the next four years.

I don’t really think the arrangements in Scotland for the school holidays have really been anywhere near the calculations made by the prime minister …

I think it would be respectful if that was the case but it’s pretty typical of the lack of respect shown to Scotland that we’re an afterthought from the Westminster establishment and particularly the Conservative establishment.

Blow to Reform as Farage says he needs to be free to focus on helping Donald Trump’s election campaign

Nigel Farage has said he will not stand in the UK general election, dealing a blow to his Reform party on the first day of its election campaign.

Farage announced on Thursday he would not stand for the party he once led, putting an end to weeks of speculation that he would make an eighth attempt to enter parliament.

Polls show Labour more than 20 points ahead, an opposition lead usually only seen at exceptionally bad moments in a midterm

• UK general election – latest updates
• News: Sunak calls election for 4 July
• Why is Sunak calling an election now?

Rishi Sunak has taken an astonishing gamble in going for a general election at a time when there is still a little room to delay and the governing party is in such poor shape with public opinion.

The Guardian’s poll of polls shows Labour 21.7 points ahead of the Conservatives, with 44.7% of the vote to 22.9%. Poll leads of more than 20 points are usually only seen at exceptionally bad moments in the midterm.

Ahead of the byelection in Blackpool South, the Guardian takes the temperature in the once prosperous northern coastal town, with many voters expressing complete apathy and disdain for the state of politics.

The area is going to the polls because the former Tory MP Scott Benton resigned after being found guilty of breaching standards rules in a lobbying scandal. Labour is hopeful of taking back the seat, which Benton won with a majority of 3,690 in 2019

• Polls open in England’s local elections with Tories braced for heavy losse

• Analysis: Will Tories dump Rishi Sunak if election results worse than expected?