Election latest: No 10 'aware of concerns' around postal ballots - as Starmer warned he could face 'shortest honeymoon ever' (2024)

This month's polling day has been coined the TikTok election.

For the first time, political parties have been taking to the social media platform to campaign directly to young people - using viral sounds and memes with varying levels of success.

But there has been another phenomena that has emerged this election season - politicians caught in 4K on a Ring doorbell.

Lord Cameron, for example, was caught on recorded doorbell footage while out canvassing "on a random Tuesday".

In the clip, he says: "Hi, it's David Cameron. I was calling because of the election on 4 July."

The foreign secretary was joined by the area's local MP.

Watch for yourself below...

Now, former prime minister Theresa May has been spotted doing the same - also on Ring doorbell footage.

Asked by an automated voice to leave a message - as nobody is home - she introduces herself, and "pops a leaflet through the door".

It appears that when it comes to canvassing - the future is now.

Pledges and promises are coming thick and fast from every party as the general election approaches.

Struggling to keep up with who is saying what?

Here is a summary of where the main parties stand on major issues.

For a more in-depth look at what each party has pledged, scour ourmanifesto checker...

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is delivering a speech in Buckinghamshire - which you can watch in our stream below...

Both he and rivals including Rishi Sunak and Sir Ed Davey have been on the campaign trail today- with just three days to go until the country heads to the polls.

Rishi Sunak is not concerned that some people could be disenfranchised by delays to receiving their postal ballots ahead of Thursday, Downing Street has said.

Asked this question, the prime minister's spokesman said simply: "No."

He added: "We are aware of some concerns around the printing and delivery of postal ballot packs in some local areas.

"We're working closely with the Electoral Commission, returning officers, Royal Mail and the print suppliers to support the resolution of these issues.

"We understand that the Royal Mail will also be conducting sweeps of their delivery system on polling day to make sure that any ballot packs still in the postal system are identified and passed to returning officers ahead of polls closing.

"And anyone who hasn't received their postal ballot yet may want to contact their returning officer or arrange for it to be reissued, or to arrange for an alternative avenue to cast their ballot."

The official said this could include applying for an emergency proxy.

The UK's national security will be undermined under a Labour government, Rishi Sunak has claimed.

"I'm fighting hard for every vote," he said

The prime minister also said he wanted people to be aware of the dangers of Britain "sleepwalking" into a massive Labour majority.

"I worry about our nation's security," he said, before claiming that Sir Keir Starmer will cut the Tories' planned defence spending increase and NATO contributions.

Sir Keir has pledged to continue the UK's support for NATO and Ukraine, but will only commit to upping defence spending to 2.5% of GDP when the economic conditions allow.

Our live poll tracker collates the results of opinion surveys carried out by all the main polling organisations - and allows you to see how the political parties are performing in the run-up to the general election.

With under a week to go, the Tories and Labour have taken a drop, while support for Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats is on the rise.

Read more about the trackerhere.

Both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have made various claims about the state of the UK's economy and their plans to change that.

But Sky's economics and data editorEd Conway has fact-checked one of the Labour leader's pre-election claims about "British people falling behind".

"I'm not comfortable with a trajectory that will soon see Britain overtaken by Poland," Sir Keir said last year.

So will Poland's economy soon overtake the UK's?

Not quite.

When considering both countries' GDP per capita, Poland's economy is indeed growing at a faster rate than the UK's at the moment.

"If you just assume that those lines continue as they have been for the last 10 years,Poland [will have] overtaken the UK [by 2030]. That is the point that Keir Starmer is making," Ed says.

"But here's the thing. You can't really treat economics like this because fast-growing frontier economies don't always maintain their growth rate. You can't always assume that that's going to continue as it was before."

Forecasts from the International Monetary Fund show that while the gap between both countries is narrowing, the UK is still 8% bigger in terms of GDP per capita than Poland by the end of the decade.

Using the same logic that the Labour leader is, Poland would overtake the US as the world's wealthiest economy by 2050 - a claim Ed calls "ridiculous".

"That is the mathematical trick that's being played in order to make it seem like the UK is falling behind. And it's just one of the tricks that we've seen in this long election campaign."

The prime minister is speaking while on a business visit in Staffordshire, with the general election now just three days away.

"I'm going to cut straight to it - I know many of you who supported us in the past have some hesitations about doing that again," he admits.

"I know you're frustrated with me, frustrated with our party, it hasn't been an easy few years for anybody. I get all of that."

He warns against allowing Labour to gain a "supermajority".

"Crucially, you should think about what it means for your bank accounts, because I promise you Labour will do what they do every single time, and that is raise your taxes."

"If I am still the prime minister on Friday… I will keep cutting your taxes," he says.

"I will always work my socks off for you," he says in closing.

A Scottish National Party politician has challenged Sir Keir Starmer to "repeal the dangerous anti-devolution legislation introduced by the Tories" when he becomes prime minister next week.

Fiona Hyslop MSP has said Labour must repeal post-Brexit legislation, adding Westminster has increasingly grabbed power with legislation blocked by the UK government, despite receiving cross-party support in the Scottish parliament.

It comes as the Scottish parliament marks 25 years to the day since its opening on Monday.

Ms Hyslop said: "Scotland's parliament has been transformative for the lives of people who live here.

"On its 25th anniversary, the SNP affirms our commitment to protecting our national parliament and its hard-fought-for powers from the shameful power grabs of Westminster."

He said Holyrood's powers "have been under threat" in recent years, having seen Westminster "over-riding decisions" made.

The Scottish Labour Party was contacted for comment.