General Election 2019 latest: TV debate and ‘whole life’ sentences for child killers

With just over three weeks to go until the 12 December general election, today marks the first big treat of the campaign: a live televised debate.

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn will go head to head on ITV at 8pm, but won’t be joined by Jo Swinson or Nicola Sturgeon after they lost a legal challenge against the exclusion of the Lib Dems and SNP leaders.

The Green Party will launch its election manifesto later today, saying it wants to invest £100bn a year by 2030 as part of a “green new deal” in response to the climate crisis.

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The Greens are also in favour of increasing NHS spending, holding a second Brexit referendum and lowering the national voting age to 16.

The Conservative Party has said that, if it wins the election, some adults who murder children will face life in prison without the prospect of parole. The Tories would bring in “whole life orders” for over 21-year-olds who commit the premeditated murder of a child.

The proposed measures are “largely symbolic – designed to boost confidence in the criminal justice system”, says Danny Shaw, the BBC’s home affairs correspondent.

The general election has caused UK house prices and the number of properties coming on to the market to fall.

The Guardian says the “big drop” in the number of houses coming on to the market is down to people waiting to see who wins the December vote.