Ukip to resume election campaign after Manchester attack

Ukip has become the first party to announce it will resume election campaigning, with its leader, Paul Nuttall, announcing the party would launch its manifesto on Thursday morning.

It remained unclear whether the other parties would also resume campaigning, which was suspended after 22 people were killed in the Manchester bomb attack.

The other main parties were still discussing when to resume election efforts. The Conservatives have stopped all local and national campaigning for now. Labour has halted all central efforts, but some leafleting has taken place, at the discretion of local parties.

Ukip had been due to launch its manifesto on Wednesday morning in central London. Nuttall was also supposed to appear on BBC1 the previous evening for a rolling series of interviews with party leaders, but these were also put back.

In a statement, Nuttall said it was “right and proper that political parties suspended their campaigns for a short period as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives or suffered appalling injuries”.

He continued: “But 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.

“The best response we can make is to ensure that the democratic process continues and therefore I have decided that we must to go ahead with the launch of the Ukip general election manifesto tomorrow.

“For those who say that nothing must change, but then complain, it is by prolonging the disruption to normality that we allow the terrorists to win. Politics has never been more important. Politicians must deal with these issues.”

Theresa May has been in contact with the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, since the Manchester attack to discuss, among other issues, the halt in campaigning.

Officials from the various parties have also been discussing when election activities should start again.

Thursday was seen as the earliest possible date for this, though there had been some doubt as to whether this should happen following the terror threat level being raised to critical, meaning another attack could be imminent.