Johnson’s Opponents Push Trump Center Stage: U.K. Campaign Trail

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Donald Trump will take center stage in the election campaign on Tuesday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's opponents seized on his arrival to stoke voters' fears over the price Washington might demand for a trade deal.

While Johnson will get the benefit of looking prime ministerial as world leaders descend on the U.K., Labour's Jeremy Corbyn and Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson will take the opportunity to accuse the premier of being ready to sell out to the United States. Corbyn has written to Trump demanding assurances on the National Health Service, while Swinson will focus on threats to U.K. agriculture and food standards.

Knowing that anything Trump says might be used against him, Johnson will be hoping Trump doesn't rise to the bait.

Must Read: Russia-Style Disinformation Tactics Used in Run-Up to U.K. Vote

For more on the election visit ELEC.

Coming up:

• U.K. hosting NATO summit, with events in London Tuesday, then Hertfordshire, northwest of the capital, on Wednesday. Corbyn will join Johnson at a reception with world leaders at Buckingham Palace
• Corbyn to give speech on workers' rights in London
• Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab doing morning media interviews
• Liberal Democrat Leader Jo Swinson will meet with farmers at 3 p.m. to discuss their concerns over food and welfare standards in a trade deal with the U.S. after Brexit

Polls:

• ICM/Reuters survey: Tories on 42%, Labour Party 35%. Both up a point on last week, Lib Dems unchanged on 13%, Brexit Party down a point on 3%.
• A Times focus group of 100 swing voters from marginal seats found a “quietly incensed cynicism” and “something close to despair” at the quality of leadership on both sides.

Catching Up:

• Reports linking leaked documents about U.K.-U.S. trade talks to Russia shouldn't distract people from the threat to the NHS, Labour says.
• Labour ratcheted up its attack on big business and pledged to extend workers rights, singling out five companies it said are some of the country's worst employers. They include Amazon.com Inc., Uber Technologies Inc. and Walmart Inc.'s Asda supermarket chain.
• Johnson and Corbyn traded blame over the murder of two people in a terrorist knife attack in London on Friday
• Background: Johnson's Tories are worried about the effect Trump's visit might have on their campaign

The Markets:

• The pound was little changed at $1.2943 at 6:30 a.m. in London
• The chances of a Conservative majority slipped to 67%, according to bookmaker Betfair, down from 69% a day earlier.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Penny in London at tpenny@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Guy Collins

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