CAMPAIGNING in the General Election will resume in a subdued manner today after it was halted in the aftermath of the Manchester terror attack on Monday night.
Nicola Sturgeon suspended the launch of the SNP’s manifesto at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Tuesday morning and it is now expected to be unveiled next week. Details have yet to be announced.
Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie was due to publish his party’s manifesto in Glasgow tomorrow, but that has been put off until Monday.
The SNP, Labour and the Conservatives all announced last night that local campaigning would restart today and national campaigning tomorrow.
The SNP confirmed on Twitter that its local campaigning today would be “low-key”.
A statement issued on behalf of the UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “As a mark of respect for the victims of the horrific terrorist attack in Manchester on Monday, the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn suspended the party’s General Election campaigning after consultations with the Prime Minister.
“Following further discussions with all the main parties, the Labour Party – including Scottish Labour – will resume local campaigning tomorrow (Thursday) followed by a phased return to national campaigning on Friday.”
Corbyn added: “The British people are united in their resolve that terror will not prevail. It will not prevent us going about our daily lives or derail our democratic process.
“Resuming democratic debate and campaigning is an essential mark of the country’s determination to defend our democracy and the unity that the terrorists have sought to attack.”
Conservatives will resume local campaigning today, with the national campaign getting back under way tomorrow. Theresa May will not take part in tomorrow’s events as she will be out of the country in Sicily for the G7 summit.
Ukip became the first party to say it would be resuming its national campaign when leader Paul Nuttall announced he would be unveiling his party’s manifesto today.
Labour activists did some low-key local campaigning yesterday, such as delivering leaflets, but nothing that involved contact with voters.
Earlier yesterday Labour deputy leader Tom Watson told a newspaper he was suspending his personal national campaign for the rest of the week.
“I’ve taken a personal decision to suspend my national campaign activity for the rest of the week,” he said. “I think we need time to come to terms with the attack on the children and families in Manchester and to understand how it happened.
“There’s a balance to strike between honouring the victims of this terrible attack and continuing with our daily lives. But we can’t allow these terrorists to disrupt our democracy and for that reason I hope that national campaigning can begin again shortly.”
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