Steerpike

Boris Johnson has launched his party's manifesto in Telford this afternoon, joined by his Cabinet who were all confidently clapping away in the front row. All of them, that is, except for one Jacob Rees-Mogg. Eagle-eyed viewers will have spotted the conspicuous absence of the Leader of the Commons. Mr Rees-Mogg has been keeping a low profile after committing the first major blunder of the election campaign. During a discussion with LBC's Nick Ferarri, the MP for North Somerset said that he thought that it would have been 'the common sense thing to do' for Grenfell residents to have ignored the fire brigade's advice and leave the burning building. So is Mr Rees-Mogg currently grounded back in his native Somerset or was he simply watching from backstage? https://twitter.

The Liberal Democrat leader had an awful time on Friday night's Question Time special. The audience was, at best, uninterested in her pitch. A notable moment was when a Remain voter criticised the Lib Dems for their policy of revoking Article 50, calling it 'undemocratic'.

Labour's manifesto wasn't to everyone's liking, but it has found one fan: Lily Allen. The pop star has released a video of her tearful reaction to Jeremy Corbyn's blueprint for Britain. 'It's the best manifesto I've ever seen,' she said, as she openly wept in a video posted to her Twitter account, https://twitter.com/lilyallen/status/1197501067560443904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Mr S has some sympathy: he has frequently felt like crying at the prospect of reading an election manifesto...

Dawn Butler is no fan of Boris Johnson. But Mr S couldn't help but notice the Labour MP's apparent approval for the Prime Minister in the aftermath of last night's ITV debate. Butler attacked Boris as 'full of bluster' but then added: 'Boris Johnson talked about the NHS with compassion, he talked about nurses and doctors. He talked about schools. He talked about all the policies that's going to make the difference in real peoples' lives.' Butler later appeared to realise her mistake by saying Boris Johnson 'isn't even in touch with his own feelings'. Mr S, for one, is confused...

Jo Swinson has branded accusations she fired stones at squirrels as 'very fake news'. Screenshots of what appeared to be a Daily Mirror story have been widely circulated online. The article alleges that a private video of the Lib Dem leader has surfaced on Facebook, showing her pelting the furry mammals with pebbles using a slingshot. The Remain campaigner told LBC's Iain Dale she was becoming increasingly concerned about such viral stories: 'They're quite sophisticated in that people can believe them.

On the Marr show this morning, Jeremy Corbyn was asked – and refused to say – five times whether he would campaign for Leave or Remain in a second referendum. Referring to himself in the third person, Corbyn said the only thing Corbyn could reveal was that we would have a close trading relationship with the EU. Mr S. says that Mr S. thinks this is a bit of a cop out. Here is a clip of part of the discussion: [embed]https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1196011540257722368?s=20[/embed] Andrew Marr: If you become prime minister, when you become prime minister, do you want this country to leave the EU or not? Jeremy Corbyn: We're going to put that choice to the British people and they will make that decision.

Oh dear. It's been a difficult week for Nigel Farage. The Brexit party leader announced on Monday that he would not be standing candidates in Tory-held seats. He had hoped that in return the Conservatives would consider standing down candidates in a number of Labour heartlands where he believed the Brexit party would fare better. The Tories, however, were having none of it. To make matters worse a number of Brexit party candidates have got cold feet about Farage's strategy. All election candidates had to submit their documents by 4pm to stand. Dudley North was seen as a key target seat of the Brexit party. However, the candidate for that seat announced at 3.59pm they would not be seeking election. https://twitter.com/RupertLowe10/status/1195008427778596867?

After being heckled and called a 'terrorist sympathiser' when he was out campaigning in Glasgow today, Jeremy Corbyn was presumably hoping for an easier time once he escaped the crowds outside. Unfortunately though, the Labour leader proved this afternoon that he is more than capable of causing his own gaffes. In a later interview with LBC, Corbyn was reminded of the time he said it was a 'tragedy' that Osama bin Laden had been killed by US special forces in 2011, rather than arrested and tried. Corbyn was then asked if he believed the same about the Isis leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was assassinated by the US last month. In response, Corbyn reaffirmed his belief and said that if it was possible to arrest the Isis leader, that would have been the 'right thing to do'.

When it was revealed this week that the Labour parliamentary candidate in Coventry South, Zarah Sultana, had previously said she would celebrate the deaths of Tony Blair and Benjamin Netanyahu, few would have thought to defend her comments. In fact the candidate herself apologised this week for the remarks she made in 2015. One person though seemed to struggle with how best to respond to the past allegations today. Labour's candidate in Pudsey, Jane Aitchison, was on 5Live today, and was asked by presenter Emma Barnett whether Sultana should be allowed to stand, after these comments had come to light. The prospective MP first pleaded ignorance, saying: 'I think that needs to be looked at' and 'I don't know the details of it'.