General election campaign to return on Friday, parties confirm

Ballot box - PA

Political parties will recommence campaigning for the general election on Friday, after a suspension in the wake of the terrorist attack on Manchester.

Labour and the SNP have said local campaigning in constituencies will begin tomorrow with the national campaigns returning on Friday.

UKIP has already said it will launch its manifesto as planned tomorrow.

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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “The British people are united in their resolve that terrorism will not prevail. It will not prevent us going about our daily lives, or derail our democratic process.

“Resuming democratic debate and campaigning is an essential mark of the country’s determination to defend our democracy, and that unity that the terrorists have sought to attack.”

Theresa May is also thought to have agreed to the timescale.

Using the party’s official twitter account, the SNP said: “Following tragic events in Manchester, we’ll be starting low-key local campaigning tomorrow, with the national campaign on Friday.”

The campaign was suspended as a mark of respect to those killed in the attack on a pop concert on Monday evening which left 22 people dead and several more seriously injured.

Earlier UKIP leader Paul Nuttall said he would launch the party’s manifesto on Thursday morning.

“We cannot be cowed or allow our way of life to be undermined by those who wish to do us harm. These people hate the way we live, hate our freedom and hate our democracy,” he said.

The SNP, Scottish Green and Scottish Liberal Democrat manifesto launches are now expected next week.