Lib Dems and Labour in fightback after Conservatives’ success in local elections

Labour and the Liberal Democrats are attempting to launch an instant fightback after their drubbing by the Conservatives in the local elections.

The Lib Dems are announcing a controversial plan to increase all rates of income tax by 1p to raise an extra £6bn for the NHS and social care.

And Jeremy Corbyn is warning that Labour faces "a challenge on an historic scale" as he campaigns in the key general election battleground of the Midlands.

:: PM could win Commons majority of 48 based on local election analysis

For the jubilant Conservatives, however, Theresa May is reacting to predictions of a Tory landslide on 8 June by warning she and her team will "not take anything granted".

After his party’s poor showing in the local elections, the Lib Dem leader Tim Farron says 1p on income tax will be the flagship spending commitment in his party’s manifesto.

"Theresa May doesn’t care about the NHS or social care," he said. "People are lying on trolleys in hospital corridors and she has done nothing. The truth is you can’t have a strong NHS with a hard Brexit.

"The Liberal Democrats will rescue the NHS and social care. We are prepared to be honest with people and say that we will all need to chip in a little more."

The Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb added: "The NHS was once the envy of the world and this pledge is the first step in restoring it to where it should be. A penny on the pound to save the NHS is money well spent in our view.

"Simply providing more money on its own is not enough and that’s why this is just the first step in our plan to protect health and care services long-term.

"We also need to do much more to keep people fit and healthy and out of hospital, and that is why this new funding will be targeted to those areas that have the greatest impact on patient care such as social care, general practice, mental health and public health."

Attacking the plan, the Tories’ Financial Secretary to the Treasury Jane Ellison said: "Now we know – a vote for anyone other than Theresa May means you will pay more tax. Jeremy Corbyn, the Lib Dems and SNP will hit 30 million people in the pocket with higher income taxes.

"Only a vote for Theresa May on 8 June can provide the strong and stable leadership we need to get a good deal in the Brexit negotiations, keep taxes low, and secure our growing economy. It is the only way we can build on the record funding we’ve given the NHS."

And Labour’s Lucy Powell said: "You can’t trust the Liberal Democrats. They broke their promises and would do it again.

"Their promises are undermined by their record. In government they helped the Tories take our NHS backwards by making it harder to see your GP, putting hospitals into financial crisis and wasting £3bn on a top-down reorganisation of the NHS.

"And on tax, they promised fair taxes and no VAT increase only to give millionaires tax breaks while working families were hit by a VAT rise."

Reacting to the local election results after the final votes were counted and ahead of another full day of campaigning, Mr Corbyn said: "The results were mixed.

"We lost seats but we are closing the gap on the Conservatives. I am disappointed at every Labour defeat in the local elections. Too many fantastic councillors, who work tirelessly for their communities, lost their seats.

"We have five weeks to win the General Election so we can fundamentally transform Britain for the many not the few.

"We know this is no small task – it is a challenge on an historic scale. But we, the whole Labour movement and the British people, can’t afford not to seize our moment.

"The British people have been held back for too long. Labour will put more money in people’s pockets with a £10 real living wage, look after our pensioners by protecting the triple lock on state pensions and give everybody the care and dignity they deserve by properly funding our NHS and social care system."

But the Prime Minister said despite the huge Tory gains: "I will not take anything for granted and neither will the team I lead, because there is too much at stake.

"The reality is that today, despite the evident will of the British people, we have bureaucrats in Europe who are questioning our resolve to get the right deal.

"And the reality is that only a General Election vote for the Conservatives in 34 days’ time will strengthen my hand to get the best deal for Britain from Brexit."

(c) Sky News 2017: Lib Dems and Labour in fightback after Conservatives’ success in local elections