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>> we will also provide a certainty that working people, businesses, communities need. a clear direction, not the endless spinning around that successor tory governments have all subjected us to. >> this modern form of national service money and the young people look at the skills and opportunities they need which will serve them well in life, and will foster a culture of service. >> if you vote democrat, you will get a local champion who will campaign for your families, stand up for them on the nhs, local environment. ♪ christian: rishi sunak says his plan for mandatory national service for all 18-year-old will foster a culture of service and strengthen our country's security. but what about the lodge itself? one senior minister said candidates were not involved,

and relevant secretaries of state were taken by surprise. we will get a response from conservative home. israel faces international criticism on an airstrike over rafah and is reported to have killed 35 civilians. the white house says t pictures are heartbreaking but will the president enforce the embargo he threatened? and the nato secretary-general calls for western weapons to be used inside russia and a moment of high risk in the conflict. we will discuss european defense and ukraine's use of arms beyond its borders. good evening. labor leader keir starmer has today pledged to stop the chaos and rebuild the country. in his first major speech of the election campaign, he appealed to the undecided voters and urged people to trust him to deliver economic stability and protect national security. rishi sunak, who was also caaigning today, dismissed the

speech and said it showed not a simple plan for the future. we will have more on a prime minister in a minute. here is our political editor chris mason. >> a man waiting for his moment, waiting, he hopes, to be prime minister. if you've ever wondered what this man is all about, today was his attempt to give you an answer. >> the leader of the labour party, keir starmer. [applause] >> this, the village hall in lansing in west sussex. sir keir spoke at his own background. >> if you are working class, scared of, -- my mom and dad were scared of debt -- said that they would choose the bill that they wouldn't pay rather than going to bed. they would have the phone cut off rather than pay the bill because it was the easiest one to do without. >> the labor leader is also acknowledging he has plenty of

persuading to do. >> whatever the polls say, i know there are countless people who have not decided how they will vote in this election. they still have questions about us. as labour changed enough, do i trust them with my money, our borders, our security? my answer is, yes, you can. [applause] >> the challenge for in his can he convert into votes for him even enthusiasm for him? do you accept that there is perhaps an enthusiasm deficit, lack of enthusiasm for you? >> you have to ask why people are looking to labour. they can see a changed labour party that is absolutely country first, party second. >> they might be looking but are they enthusiastic? are you concerned about a lack

of enthusiasm for labour? >> there is an underlying issue. over the past 14 years, government has beaten the hope out of many people. i want to restore the idea that government can be a force for good. >> would you describe yourself as a socialist? >> i would describe myself as a socialist, as a progressive. >> that were to some people might be scary, offputting, but you are happy to answer the question directly. >> let me explain what i mean by that. because for me this is about politics, is about putting the country in the service of working people. >> there are only two people that can be prime minister after the selection. here is the verdict of his opponent. >> there is a clear contrast. another speech from keir starmer, another half-hour speech, not a single new idea. he is taking the british public for granted. >> keir starmer today talked

about this road in surrey where he grew up. he claims it's about as english as it gets. those who seek to governors seemed to personify however imperfectly of the country they seek to lead. biography, background, beliefs, it is all under scrutiny. christian: while keir starmer was setting out, rishi sunak was defending his claim for mandatory national service for 18-year-olds. during a visit to a football club in buckinghamshire, the prime minister said it was a bold proposal that would strengthen the country's security. plans would include one week of volunteering a month or a year long military placement. we will talk about that in a second. let's bring in the political editor of politics. good to have you with us, adam. sir keir starmer placi himself at the center of the political spectrum today. at times quite a personal speech.

what did you make of it? >> you are right, it was an attempt by keir starmer to introduce himself to the public. we know the labour party as a collective has enjoyed big, double digit leads over the conservatives for a long time, well over a year. i think that lead is 21%. but there have been questions about public enthusiasm for keir starmer, the individual, keir starmer the leader, who, at the moment, is likely to the next prime minister. of course, things can change over the next five weeks. there is an effort in the labour party to get voters, the public to know more about keir starmer, to want his back story to o he is. i think we will see a lot of that between now and the fourth of july. christian: we don't have a manifesto yet, so there is

criticism from the prime minister that it is light on policy. we will be to see what the manifesto looks like. what we have had today is an announcement about this 100-day security review, something akin to what was done around the time of 9/11. let's listen to what she said. >> what labour is setting out, just as we had with a counterterrorism strategy that was drawn up under the last labour government but has endured ever since. what we need now is a new, similar strategy around these hostile state challenges and threats, to make sure that we have that same coordinated, high level, strategic approach that takes immensely seriously those threats. because we are not seeing that at the government. it is like they have their eye off the ball. christian: one puzzle that people have, the second time she has announced a review, now the general threats that the u.k. is facing. does that liaison between mi6,

border security police, does that not go on doing today anyway? she is saying there has not been enough liaison between the agencies? >> i think what it reflects, defense, security, the things that she was talking about in this context of international, geopolitical instability, precariousness, is something that labour feels confident having a row about. traditionally, national security has been a weakness for the labour party, an issue where the conservatives felt very confident and bullish to attack labour. the fact that david cooper, the shadow home secretary, is talking about this, the labour party is putting this issue of defense right at the center of their pitch, reflects, i think, labour'sonfidence on this issue, to be honest, has not

been there for most of the party's history. christian: is it a confidence or recognition that post-corbyn, this is where they are exposed on national security? the campaign chair said you don't have anything in fact on this you can prove to voters that you can defend their realm. >> i think you are right to point that out. after the defeat of 2019, that crushing defeat, one of the pieces of damage done to the labour party brand was this idea that you couldn't trust the party to defend the country. keir starmer and his team, as well as preparing the party's reputation for economic competence, has been very determined to convince people that you can trust the labour party to defend the united kingdom. it is a very uncertain time in the world. you look at how many headlines

in the moment that are dominated by conflict and horrors abroad. if the labour party wins in july, that is the context it will be inheriting, very keen to reassure voters, perhaps those who are not fully convinced yet -- still not sure they can trust labour. it's about convincing the people that, yes, you don't need to worry when it comes to defending the country, its peoples, borders, etc. christian: what we need to here is what defense spending will be sent at. still don't have a policy on that, do we? >> i think a theme will be recurring in this campaign, a recence to making spending commitments. as i said a few moments ago, as well as the effort to look trustworthy on defense, there is an effort to look trustworthy on the economy. part of that, as far as keir starmer and the shadow chancellor is concerned, demonstrating to the public that

you will not make promises you cannot keep when it comes to spending, will not repeat the mistakes of the liz truss government in making unfunded commitments with tax and spend. while it may be frustrating for those thatant to hear more detail as to what it will do in government, i think throughout this campaign, there will be a general reticence from labour to tie itself to spending commitments. as you said, we will be getting a manifesto soon, and perhaps in that document we will learn more about labour's plans. christian: promising today that all of it will be fully costed. as for the conservatives, some discontent in the party about the policy announced over the weekend. we heard from various for my defense minister's, also from members of the defense staff who question whether it can be fly paid for. the veterans minister, johnny

mercer, has been on bbc radio this evening. this is what he said about the plan. >> anything that unites communities about service and awareness of what the other communities do is great, gives people pride and challenge. most people in those communities feel the most left behind. the military is a part of it. 30,000 people -- nobody will be forced into the military. if they want to, they can go into the military. fantastic. the best thing a young person can do is join the military. christian: what's been the reaction from conservative mps today, who are out there now on the campaign trail having to defend this? do they have enough detail on it? >> i have spoken to a number of conservatives. a lot of them have said to me that the general idea, the general gist of the policy they like, something interesting. the tory party should be looking at in terms of social cohesion,

breaking down barriers, etc. the issue to the tory party is they announced this bold eye-catching policyin a bid to take control of the conversation, to get people's attention. but if you are going to announce something as bold and eye-catching, if it is not also completely watertight, if you have not fully thought it through, that will become exposed. what we've seen in the past 48 hours, questions about how this policy will work. for example, questions are, if you are a parent and your 18-year-old child doesn't partake in this service, will you be punished? if so, what do those punishments look like? will it be financial? does that mean wealthier parents will essentially be able to buy their kids out of the program? also questions about how this will work in northern ireland. northern ireland has a particular context, particular

ideas of identity, which would make this policy rolled not challenging there. the issue for the prime minister and the tory party, it is not so much of the gist of the idea, the direction they are going in, it is the specifics, the details of the policy. that is where the prime minister has come under pressure on this bank holiday monday. christian: maybe come back to that later in the program, how policy is being decided within the conservative party. smaller bird on the smaller parties, liberal democrats. making the claim that his party can become the third big power in westminster ahead of the s&p. -- snp. they were second in 91 constituencies around the country. 80 of those to conservative mps, which they would say is a springboard for the current fight in the blue wall seats.

>> exactly. talking about the liberal democrats, july 4, a day they are targeting, we are mainly talking about seats in the south of england, which people like me in westminster referred to as the blue wall. these are c2 which historically have been conservative seats, but over recent years have drifted away the tories, in most cases for the dems. in most recent elections, we've started to see that trend. there are a number of seats in that part of the country which the lib dems have in their sites, also some pretty high profile tories. we have the chancellor jeremy hunt there, so if they can make serious progress in that part of the country, they could well have a strong general election. also worth saying that if the lib dems have a strong night,

that will help labor. they are taking on tories in seats where labour, by their own admission, cannot win. if the lib dems can take it to the tories and be successful, that's another source of help for keir starmer. christian: good to talk to you. thank you for summing up the day for us. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. for our u.k. viewers, let's take a look at the headlines today. cases of melanoma skin cancer are at an all-time high in the u.k. with more than 20,000 people expected to be diagnosed this year. the chair to cancer research u.k. is more new people to do more to protect themselves from the sun. they say there's been a particularly big increase in cases among older people. a woman who was stabbed to death on borman beach friday night has been named locally as amy gray. another woman remains in

hospital with serious injuries. police are still at the scene of the stabbings and a section of the beachfront remains cordoned off. the raf has grounded the battle of britain memorial flights following the death of one of its pilots in a crash on saturday. the squadron leader mark long was flying the raf aircraft when it came down. a formal investigation is carried out. as you were hearing from adam, labour has today ridiculed the plan to reintroduce nation service. they claim it would require a 300% expansion in the military training pipeline and would cost far more than a 2.5 billion price tag the government has attached to it. >> the desperation of this national service policy, a teenage dad's army, paid for --

i kid you not -- by canceling leveling up funding, money from taxes that we would use to invest in our nhs. christian: the conservative say the plan will be paid for by cracking down on tax evasion and money taken from the shared prosperity fd. that is a pot of money previously earmarked for leveling up. that money reallocated from the fund would translate into a 175 million pound cut across yorkshire, according to analysis. their chief executive is here with us. how do you know that it translates into these cuts in yorkshire? >> what we have done is look at the shared prosperity fund funding we have had the last three years. that includes just over 300 million in burnley. we have all the figures from all the authorities.

in yorkshire, 175 million. across the whole of northern england, 600 million. a tax avoidance doesn't get you the whole way. the estimates that we have looked at from observers who understand the military side of this, the assumptions on how cheaply this could be delivered, 30,000 people a year, you have to pay them a stipend, house them, train them. that will cost significantly more than the projections in the government's plan. we assume we could lose all of the shared prosperity fund. there will not be anything left over. that is problematic because the prime minister has talked today about opportunity for young people. but if you go to places like teaside, almost 40 million pounds from this budget. basically his allocation. a lot of that is going on to pay young people who are unemployed into jobs.

the previous structural funds at this replaced have already been cut by a third. they are getting much less than other parts of the country. this is taking money from the poorest parts of the country to basically pay for mandatory gap kids, volunteering for the rest. that, bluntly, doesn't feel like a good use of public money. in reality, some of those young people who would get helped into work, will not get the support, because that money will be taken away to pay for what is essentially an election gambit. if it were to happen, i'm not sure that it would achieve very much. but if you've got a government in power for five years promising leveling up, and wants to take away the most significant source of funding, you have to question the level of commitment. 10 years since that speech.

seems like the conservative party has not just rescinded on those promises george made 10 years ago, also rescinded on those promises that rishi sunak made when boris johnson was prime minister, the whole basis on which they won seats. christian: something very cle to your heart, as burnley is close to my heart, you question the point about the politics. i am sure conservative supporters would question whether this is smart policy in rentable seats. -- redwall seats. burnley is the number one target in the selection. a lot of the money invested there have been about getting people out of unemployment, lifting people out of the poverty trap. are you saying then that it is just another example here of the conservative party raiding a fu nd that they said it would make all the difference, level up some of these constituencies? >> that's exactly the case.

it was george osborne in manchester giving a speech, before the election was called, said political parties have sprinkled cash around. this fund was never like that, the shared prosperity fund, because it replaced old structural funds, seeking to address inequality, raise productivity in northern towns and cities. that is a huge cut to one of the cities that is driving the north's economy. managed to close the productivity gap in the last 15 years using these funds to do that. i think it is bad economics. you have got someone else that you will talk to who is a expert on the politics. i wouldn't want to stray outside of my field of understanding, but i think i know enough about the internal politics of the

conservative party to know that this will not go down well with those in the northern research group, between those defending those redwall seats. they will be livid. they will look at the projects which the conservative government says they want to cut in the next five years. that's a terrible message if yo are trying to hold onto your seats. christian: thank you for that. in respect of this new policy, their bid completes from the likes of steve baker, of northern ireland minister. it is decided by the leader, supported by political advisors unknown. candidates were not involved, he writes, and even relevant secretaries of state are taken by surprise when policy is announced. joining me now is the editor of the conservative hill. you've addressed this in the latest edition. you write at least one a prime minister had to get policies through cabinet, their colleagues knew what they would be defending week to week. what concerns do you have about

the way this policy has been drawn up? >> i don't know anything about how it was drawn up. i guess that is concerned number one. we have seen from rishi sunak over the past year, a real problem, he and his team are making policy in downing street in a small team without either informing or consulting their party or drawing on the resources of government. we saw this showcased in october when his party conference speech led on three policies, all of which were a complete surprise. the smoking ban. no one knew that was coming. no one told the t levels minister. christian: is it policy that is being formulated in a bunker, as one source sent to me today? is that the problem? >> that's exactly what it is. ministers have not been consulted on this, candidates

have not been consulted on this. huge amounts of confusion about the contents of the policy. i was speaking to ministers and they were jokingly asking me, are you ready to take out your ak-47 and do national service? i told him there is not a combat component to this scheme. that had not been adequately communicated. in terms of the design of the policy, it will please nobody. the critics here national service, labour has run a tick-tock campaign saying that he will send the 18-year-olds off to war. whereas the supporters will discover that actually only 5% of 18-year-olds will be able to do the military component. there is no option for them to do combat roles, even if they wanted to. you are spending a year doing procurement or cybersecurity. it will not please anyone. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james.

cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... woman: a successful business owner sells his company and restores his father's historic jazz club with his son. a raymond james financial advisor get to know you,