THE General Election campaign will resume fully on Friday after a three-day pause initiated out of respect for the victims of the Manchester terror attack.
The Conservatives, Labour, the Scottish National Party and the Greens all announced they would resume low-key local campaigning on Thursday, before restarting their national campaigns the following day.
Ukip became the first party to say it would be resuming its national campaign when leader Paul Nuttall announced he would unveil his party's manifesto on Thursday.
The MEP said it was right to have suspended campaigning following the “horrific events” on Monday night but he insisted: “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.”
He added: "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."
Announcing Labour's plans, Jeremy Corbyn said: "The British people are united in their resolve that terror 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 the unity that the terrorists have sought to attack," he added.
It is thought the Labour leader will mark the return to campaigning with a keynote speech on Friday on the importance of democracy.
Local Labour activists did some low-key campaigning on Wednesday, such as delivering leaflets, but nothing that involved contact with voters.
A Tory spokesman said: “The Conservative Party will resume local campaigning for the General Election at noon on Thursday, after the minute’s silence to remember all those who lost their lives and others who were affected by the callous attack on innocent life in Manchester. National campaigning will resume on Friday.”
The SNP had been due to launch its manifesto on Tuesday but postponed it out of respect for the victims of the terror attack. It is now expected to take place next Tuesday.
The suicide bombing in Manchester halted the momentum of the election and occurred at the end of a day when Theresa May had been thrust onto the defensive over her U-turn on social care policy and her announcement that there would, after all, be a cap on how much people south of the border would have to pay for their care.
It is hard to say, once full campaigning resumes, whether or not the pressure on the Prime Minister over her party’s volteface on social care will have eased or whether or not the Tory poll lead continues to contract.
However, the atmosphere of the campaign is likely to be more restrained and subdued in the wake of the Manchester bombing.
On Thursday and Friday, the Prime Minister will be seen on the world stage at a Nato summit in Brussels and at the G7 summit in Italy.
The Tory leader is expected to return to the campaign trail at the weekend.
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