Urgent memo to Labour activists. Go where you are most needed.

There is just one week to go until polling day, and Labour is not currently on track to win this general election. The Lib Dem vote is being squeezed, but that success is being balanced out by the irrelevance of the Brexit Party, which could otherwise have suppressed Tory support.

Two national newspapers today are leading with the ridiculous story of Jeremy Corbyn not watching the Queen’s speech on Christmas Day and getting its broadcast time wrong. I’ve actually never seen it, and apparently only 10% of Brits watched the royal message last year. My excuse is that I’m always too busy eating as many roast potatoes as possible before entering a festive food coma, whereas Corbyn goes to a homeless shelter.

More seriously, Labour’s handling of antisemitism complaints is in the news again as The Times has revealed further details of the Jewish Labour Movement submission to the Equality and Human Rights Commission. According to the paper and the BBC, 70 serving and former party officials have contributed sworn statements to the investigation. This includes one staffer who has claimed that they were ordered to lie about alleged interference from the leader’s office. A Labour spokesperson said: “The allegation about numbers of outstanding cases is not accurate. And it is categorically untrue that anyone has been instructed to lie. The Labour Party is not institutionally antisemitic.”

The preferred focus of Labour today is on two policy areas and announcements seeking to reverse the impact of austerity. On rough sleeping, Labour has declared a “moral mission” – which sounds a lot like the homelessness ‘moral emergency’ line of Liam Byrne’s metro-mayoral campaign – to end rough sleeping within five years. The number of homeless people dying increased by 50% between 2013 and 2018, which is thoroughly shameful. On schools, Labour has promised to invest an additional £25bn over three years. To “poverty proof” schools, the party would limit class sizes to 30, cap school uniform prices and offer free breakfasts, too.

The battle in this election is ultimately between the need to save our NHS and the urge to “get Brexit done”. The first is a necessity and the second pledge is a lie. The good news is that health appears to have overtaken Brexit as the priority for voters. But Remain and Leave voters are still largely sticking to parties that align with their Brexit position. And from what I’ve heard on the doorstep in Leave seats, people who don’t pay attention to politics know the “get Brexit done” slogan very well. Too many are willing to give renowned liar Boris Johnson a chance on the basis that he seems to be a man on a Brexit mission.

In this final week of the campaign, Labour needs activists on the ground to be more evenly dispersed. I’ve visited seats where the organisers are very happy with 20 people turning up to knock on doors, even on a weekend, and yet literally hundreds are joining sessions in London. To make the biggest impact, it is crucial that you venture out and go where your support is most needed. As well as Momentum’s campaign map, which is most useful for comparing majorities and finding event details, take a look at our on-the-ground reporting from marginals for an idea of where to visit.

• Jeremy Corbyn interview airs on ITV (7.30pm)
• Jeremy Corbyn addresses rally in Birmingham (8pm)