with our project hope, the tories would subtly seek to exploit it. but seriously, after failing to deliver change, after ludicrously pretending that they could represent change, they now sense the opportunity of a new strategy, an attempt to take the change option off the table altogether. and notjust at the next election. no, their strategy also has one eye on salting the earth of britain's future. a plan to make sure that if labour does earn the right to serve, we will find it harder to bring our country together for the common good. so, i say to every voter in this country, know that all this is coming your way, know that if we are to heal

the wounds of the past 1a years and move forward, britain must come together. and that means we will need you. but also know that, whether you are thinking of voting labour for the first time, whether you always vote labour or whether you have no intention of voting labour whatsoever, my party will serve you. that is who we are now, a changed party, no longer enthralled to gesture politics, no longer a party of protest. a party of service. rebuilt, renewed, reconnected to an old partnership, a labour partnership that we serve working people as they drive britain forward. during that event in mansfield, the prime minister reacted to the labour leader's speech. let's hear what he had to say. since i became chancellor,

since i became prime minister, we have continued to increase funding for local government, particularly for social care where that is very clearly the biggest pressure that local authorities face. look, the situation here is crystal clear. you have a labour—run council in nottingham which has declared bankruptcy and that is a demonstration of their poor financial mismanagement, they have let down people here in decisions that people will remember like the failed robin hood energy programme that they set up and that is costing people now. the contrast is nottinghamshire county council which is conservative—lead which is doing a good job for its residents. and i think more broadly... crosstalk right here, you can see that contrast but more broadly, i think that gives you a sense of the difference between conservative and labour party. i think i am someone who people know, know how to manage the economy responsibly and well. that is why we are able to say we halved inflation last year like i said we would. and this saturday we are going to be cutting people's taxes, £450 tax cut for an average person in work.

and i want to go further, to keep cutting peoples taxes and putting more money in their pockets to give their families financial security and that peace of mind. we can do that because we manage the responsibility well, in contrast what have you got from keir starmer and the labour party? a promise to spend £28 billion a year and pretend it you can do that without raising inflation, your mortgage rate or putting up your taxes. that is just simply not credible. and it would damage working families up and down the country and that is not what i want to see happen. live now to joe twyman, the co—founder of deltapoll. on the differences between the main leaders at the moment, rifihi on the differences between the main leaders at the moment,— leaders at the moment, rishi sunak has his five — leaders at the moment, rishi sunak has his five pages _ leaders at the moment, rishi sunak has his five pages and _ leaders at the moment, rishi sunak has his five pages and keir- leaders at the moment, rishi sunak has his five pages and keir starmer| has his five pages and keir starmer has his five pages and keir starmer has the emissions, so how do they play with voters? —— pledges and keir starmer has his missions. in terms of overall ratings but also specific attitude in terms of the people and who they trust, it is not great news for either leader. keir starmer is on a net approval rating

of —3, slightly more people think he is doing a bad job than a good job, and that might not sound great but by historical standards it is not bad, and a lot better than the rating of —25 that rishi sunak is on, when you ask people can be most trusted and who could represent normal people and who can speak to the country better, in all of those cases keir starmer wins out, but not overwhelmingly. the difficulty keir starmer and labour generally may face is the skein of the challenge in historical terms, and when the election comes they need to gain 124 seats and the only person who has managed to get that kind of number was tony blair in 1997. keir starmer�*s ratings are not where tony blair's was at that stage, so just because it hasn't happened before, doesn't mean it can't happen again, but it is an illustration of the challenge ahead.— but it is an illustration of the challenge ahead. what about the messa . e challenge ahead. what about the message he _ challenge ahead. what about the

message he came _ challenge ahead. what about the message he came upward - challenge ahead. what about the message he came upward today, j message he came upward today, describing the country as downtrodden and asking people to believe in politics again. how will that play? believe in politics again. how will that -la ? , , ., believe in politics again. how will thatla? , ., , ., that play? this is an attempt to re eat that play? this is an attempt to repeat barack _ that play? this is an attempt to repeat barack obama's - that play? this is an attempt to repeat barack obama's idea - that play? this is an attempt to repeat barack obama's idea ofl that play? this is an attempt to - repeat barack obama's idea of hope and change in the 2008 presidential election in the us, and keir starmer has already talked about project hope so we would probably hear a lot of that, the idea that hope and change from the basis of the labour party approach because for most people in this country, it is not about the specific policies in the details around them, the average person on the street and the 50% people less engaged is not paying too much attention to that, but it is about what we call the broad narratives and the stories we tell ourselves and each other about leaders and the parties and their approach. keir starmer wants to very much emphasised that labour are the party of change and the party of the future of this country and we will hear more of that because the gun

has fired on the start of the general election campaign, in a fight, even if we might have to wait until november or december for it to happen —— in effect. we until november or december for it to happen -- in effect-— happen -- in effect. we could have the us election _ happen -- in effect. we could have the us election and _ happen -- in effect. we could have the us election and the _ happen -- in effect. we could have the us election and the uk - happen -- in effect. we could havej the us election and the uk election running parallel. do we have any figures who does a spring election? relatively few autumn elections in the post—war period and most tend to take place in the spring. it is wrong to draw any conclusions given they have only been four but what i would say is that there is the interesting question about timing with the us presidential election that has only happened once before when lyndonjohnson romped home in the 1960s, so no real comparison there, but it represents a big unknown, especially if there is a fractious debate, fractious period of voting and fractious results

between donald trump and joe biden, nobody knows what effect that could have on the uk voters, it represents a big unknown and if there's one thing politicians do not like going into a general election, it is a massive unknown like that. what about the smaller _ massive unknown like that. what about the smaller parties? - massive unknown like that. what about the smaller parties? how will they manage what is a long period in waiting for this election? if you look at the _ waiting for this election? if you look at the green _ waiting for this election? if you look at the green party, - waiting for this election? if you look at the green party, they l waiting for this election? if you i look at the green party, they have been around 6% in polling and that has been pretty consistent, and we would expect the micro—targeting and the concentrated targeting around very specific constituents, like brighton, that would continue for that party going into the next election. they might conceivably pick up one seat but it is unlikely. they will probably hold onto the one they have got. reform uk had their press conference yesterday and they have seen their numbers increase noticeably in the last few months, they are now around 9% in our

polling but the difficulty is that in the previous incarnation, the brexit party, and before that new kit, they had two very positive things, nigel farage, —— ukip. and they had brexit as the thing to focus on. without either of those things to focus on this time around they may struggle but there is no doubt there is a small constituency of people in this country do believe that none of the above are appropriate and that reform uk are the answer. the lib dems are around 11, 12% which has been consistent for months but they have picked up in by—elections and they will be hoping that areas like the south—west of england and surrey, where historically they could be strong areas, they could gain more, and they have a strong ground campaign and the other smaller parties and they will be hoping that

could be utilised to bring about big gains at the expense of the conservatives in those kind of areas. ,., conservatives in those kind of areas. . ~ conservatives in those kind of areas. ., conservatives in those kind of areas. . ~ ., ., conservatives in those kind of areas. ., , . areas. going back to a sub'ect raised this �* areas. going back to a sub'ect raised this morning, i areas. going back to a sub'ect raised this morning, the h areas. going back to a subject raised this morning, the issue areas. going back to a subject i raised this morning, the issue of apathy, is that something that all parties have got to contend with or do some have more of a problem than others? ~ , , , , others? absolutely. it is the case that there is _ others? absolutely. it is the case that there is a _ others? absolutely. it is the case that there is a group _ others? absolutely. it is the case that there is a group of _ others? absolutely. it is the case that there is a group of people i others? absolutely. it is the case that there is a group of people in | that there is a group of people in this country that are dissatisfied and distrusting and disapproving, notjust and distrusting and disapproving, not just of and distrusting and disapproving, notjust of individual political parties, or politicians, but the political class and a system generally. there is a danger they will turn around and say, promises that have been made amongst many governments of different colours over the last decade have not been kept, and that it effectively does not matter who they vote for because nothing ever changes. all of the parties will be attempting to change those mines and capture the vote, presenting themselves as the

solution. we have seen this from rishi sunak and keir starmer and it will be particularly an emphasis for the smaller parties, but whether they can win those people over or if they can win those people over or if they sit on their hands and don't vote this time around, it remains to be seen. to vote this time around, it remains to be seen. ., ., . ~' vote this time around, it remains to be seen. ., ., . ~ ., ., be seen. to go back to the timing of this, are be seen. to go back to the timing of this. are you — be seen. to go back to the timing of this, are you surprised _ be seen. to go back to the timing of this, are you surprised that - be seen. to go back to the timing of this, are you surprised that it - be seen. to go back to the timing of this, are you surprised that it is - this, are you surprised that it is announced at this point, do you think rishi sunak has everything to gain by playing the long game? you can't win in — gain by playing the long game? 7m, can't win in the situation if you are the prime minister and in 2007 gordon brown was ahead in the polling at the time, announced that the election would not be called, and never recovered, and part of that was because of the financial crisis but a lot of that was to do with the fact he was seen as having part of the election and then you have theresa may who was in a strong position and then called the election because she did not want to be seen as gordon brown and went on to suffer badly and just scraped through with a minority government. so there is no playbook for the right way to handle this but it does

not surprise me that the conservatives are earning towards autumn. it would take a substantial turnaround in the polling as a result of announcements made in the budget to grow enthusiasm for the month of may for an election to be called for them, and if you are behind in the polling in may, you may think about something might turn up may think about something might turn up ijy may think about something might turn up by autumn that could improve our position but the difficulty for the conservatives is the position, if it does not improve and actually gets worse by autumn, especially if the strong winds in the local elections and the london mayoral elections, hand momentum back to labour and the other parties, in the aftermath of the may local elections, and effectively the conservatives are running on empty until the election is called either in november or early december.— is called either in november or early december. what do you make when ou early december. what do you make when you watch _ early december. what do you make when you watch the _ early december. what do you make when you watch the news _ early december. what do you make | when you watch the news conference with keir starmer this morning? quite a few of the questions were about tax and specific tax policies

and whether he would keep things or get rid of things. can we expect more of that?— get rid of things. can we expect more of that? ~ , , more of that? absolutely. there will be a focus on _ more of that? absolutely. there will be a focus on economic— more of that? absolutely. there will be a focus on economic policy - be a focus on economic policy generally and financial policy generally and financial policy generally but specifically on taxation by both parties but labour will be hoping to avoid the kind of repeat of events they saw especially in 1992 where they were saddled with the accusation of a tax bombshell, so they will be hoping to keep their cards close to their chest and not an ounce the big stories until the election actually locked in and we know when it is happening. when the campaign begins proper, then we will start to see the policies coming out, but until then i imagine it will be a focus on broad stories that all the parties want to get across about them and their leaders. that would be the emphasis for the next six months and then after that, it is all down to detail and policies.

it is all down to detail and policies-— it is all down to detail and olicies. ., ., ., , policies. thanks for “oining us. do sta with policies. thanks for “oining us. do stay with h policies. thanks forjoining us. do stay with us. breaking _ policies. thanks forjoining us. do stay with us. breaking news - policies. thanks forjoining us. do stay with us. breaking news that l policies. thanks forjoining us. do i stay with us. breaking news that the prime minister rishi sunak said he is expecting to have a general election in the second half of the year. our political correspondent peter saull recaps the day's events. cameras trained, journalists gathered, a sense of anticipation in the year. it certainly feels like an election year. please welcome keir starmer. he hopes to become prime minister in 2024, so no surprised he has his sleeves at least partially rolled up. it is what we have been waiting for, preparing for, fighting for. a year of choice, a chance to change britain, a clock that is ticking on this government. there was an acknowledgement that voters had become weary of politics. you are right to be anti—westminster. angry about what politics has become.

but hold on to the flickering hope in your heart that things can be better. that message of project hope is designed to persuade you to put a cross in a box and he attempted to counter the argument, including from some within his own party, that his parties are unambitious. why labour? because we serve your interests. why labour? because we will grow every corner of our country. why labour? because we have a plan to take back our streets, switch on great british energy, get the nhs back on its feet, tear down the barriers to opportunity and get britain building again. can i welcome, rishi sunak, the prime minister. - as for number ten's current incumbent, he has been at a battleground in the east midlands and gave the strongest hint yet about when polling day might be. my working assumption is we will have a general election in the second half of this year but in the meantime i have a lot i want to get on with.

this saturday we are introducing a significant tax cut for millions of people in work. worth £450 for the average worker. but he argues taxes are at a record high. it is one of the issues the election will be fought on and there will be plenty more pressing afresh the ship but the campaign proper could be many more months away. live now to our political correspondent, harry farley. the reaction from opposition parties, labourand the reaction from opposition parties, labour and the lib dems, has been to attack this and they have accused rishi sunak of dithering and delaying, and they have said he is squatting in downing street. that because rishi sunak said his working plan is to have the general election in the second half of the year. there was no obligation or even any expectation that the

government would call the election before then in may or in the spring, and opposition parties talked up the prospect and really in order to enable them to use the attack line that rishi sunak is by delaying the election until the second half of the year, they can use this attack line that he is delaying and dithering and squatting in downing street. but the choices as to when to hold the election is down to the prime minister and it must be held before the 28th of january next year but before then it is totally up to him and he said he is assuming, is working basis is it will be the second half of this year. what are the political _ second half of this year. what are the political risks _ second half of this year. what are the political risks for _ second half of this year. what are the political risks for either - the political risks for either calling it early or leaving it late? at the moment rishi sunak and the conservatives are trailing labour in the polling by quite some margin, somewhere between 17—20 percentage points behind labour, so for them they may be thinking, why would we

go any one we have more time to try and close the gap and narrowed the gap in the polling? the risk is they look like they are holding on for too long and it looks potentially a bit and decisive and a bit weak but from the perspective they say it gives them more time to implement the policies they want to implement and to try and close the gap in the polling. the risk that the opposition is that they have this big gap in the polling and there is more time for the gap to close. that is why they are pushing for the early election because they see the gap they have and they are ahead in the polling and they want the election sooner rather than later. what was your take on the speech that keir starmer gave this morning? some within his own party so they do not know enough about the man himself and how he comes across so there is a bit of background noise within the labour party itself that he is not cutting through. did what he is not cutting through. did what he did today make any difference? at,

he did today make any difference? former policy adviser to the labour party, jon cruddas, said he does not understand what keir starmer is about, and what he is hoping to achieve. as the prime minister. i think what we saw from keir starmer the spine, it was a message full of rhetoric and he mentioned the word hope of more than 20 times —— where we saw from keir starmer this morning. so he was starting the new year trying to play on people does make sense of expectation and new beginning at the start of the new year but what we did not see was any new policies and any new detail of how they would implement those policies and that is the criticism we have seen from not only those within labour but also opposition parties. that this speech was maybe strong on rhetoric but may be lacking in the policies and new detail. ., , ., ., ., detail. harry, thanks for “oining us.

even if the election isn't until the autumn, there's a call today for talks to begin between labour and civil servants to allow them to be ready for the possibility they will this yearform a government. under the british system, the new prime minister assumes office straightaway. joining me now is dr catherine haddon, programme director at the institute for government. what does it may now we sort of have a date, although not officially, where does it take us? it gives eve one where does it take us? it gives everyone a _ where does it take us? it gives everyone a chance _ where does it take us? it gives everyone a chance to - where does it take us? it gives everyone a chance to planning| where does it take us? it givesl everyone a chance to planning a where does it take us? it gives - everyone a chance to planning a bit more meaningfully, for the latter part of the year, rather than assuming there might be a election in may, and we can hopefully roll that out. in terms of talks, this is the opportunity for the opposition parties to be able to talk to the civil service and give them running of the plans they have for office and it is important because when a government wins a majority it takes off his often the next day and that does not give it much time for putting plans into place and they have to hit the ground running and

they usually have a king speech within a few weeks, so allowing the civil service some time to prepare, they won't do the detailed preparation until closer to the campaign but access talks usually happen over many months because timetables are difficult to coordinate. they need to start as soon as possible in order to give the opposition and the civil service that time to prepare for what could be a labour government. tell that time to prepare for what could be a labour government.— that time to prepare for what could be a labour government. tell us more about the access _ be a labour government. tell us more about the access talks, _ be a labour government. tell us more about the access talks, how _ be a labour government. tell us more about the access talks, how detailed l about the access talks, how detailed are they? about the access talks, how detailed are the ? , .., , about the access talks, how detailed are the ? , .. , ., are they? they can be quite detailed but it is u- are they? they can be quite detailed but it is up to _ are they? they can be quite detailed but it is up to the _ are they? they can be quite detailed but it is up to the opposition - are they? they can be quite detailed but it is up to the opposition about l but it is up to the opposition about how much detail they want to share. they are an opportunity mostly to worm the civil service but there is a conversation —— mostly to warn. it allows them to probe what it is that the opposition are planning and work out whether those plans are reasonable to implement quickly and whether they will be very complex and will take many months, and therefore to start planning what

advice they will give to a new government about the timetable for their policy plans and it is just an opportunity for them to get to know each other a bit and to develop a relationship because they can be very close working relationships, so they are very confidential and really important that they happen. confidentiality must be critical because one of the things happening at the moment is that the labour party is keen not to give too much detail out about their policies because they do not want to be attacked on some of them, that seems to be the method. if civil servants then leaked what they hear, that would be a problem.— would be a problem. trust is so important. _ would be a problem. trust is so important, and _ would be a problem. trust is so important, and they _ would be a problem. trust is so important, and they have - would be a problem. trust is so important, and they have got . would be a problem. trust is so| important, and they have got to would be a problem. trust is so - important, and they have got to know that the civil service are not going to share them and they never have in the past, and it would be unthinkable that anyone would leak any of those conversations and the same is true for the opposition. it is important that the civil service maintains the trust of the

government and also important that none of the questions they are asking with opposition shadows are linked and they have never happened in the past and they have always been dealt with very well with confidentiality but it depends on when they start and making sure it happens over many months leading up to the election campaign and not just in the last few weeks when priorities are really focused especially for the opposition on campaigning, and that tends to quite understandably become the priority so it is much more difficult to later on nearer the election date. what are the practicalities? for the opposition. — what are the practicalities? for the opposition. the _ what are the practicalities? for the opposition, the key _ what are the practicalities? for the opposition, the key for _ what are the practicalities? for the opposition, the key for them - what are the practicalities? for the opposition, the key for them is - opposition, the key for them is working out their policy priorities, and it is a real rush when you take government, take office for the first time, and with a kings speech likely within three weeks they have almost got to work out their entire

legislative agenda for the year before parliament begins again which is a real difficulty and a real rush that happens within government, so they have got to work out what of they have got to work out what of the key things they want to achieve in a first term and that of big issues they want to deal with in a parliamentary term as a whole that they need to start tackling in that first year and one of the other ways they can start to show progress that does not involve legislation and if they can give the civil service a real sense of what are the priorities, especially when you have the missions keir starmer has been talking about which are crosscutting issues that will involve several different apartments, the civil service have a good idea of what that means in practice, that means they can start to have a fair amount of preparation which means government will be more effective. thank you very much indeed.

what numbers will you be polling on after hearing this news? iuntimely what numbers will you be polling on after hearing this news?— after hearing this news? when you asked people _ after hearing this news? when you asked people about _ after hearing this news? when you asked people about when - after hearing this news? when you asked people about when the - after hearing this news? when you i asked people about when the election should be there is a division very much on party terms, and if you support labour or the smaller parties, in favour of an election as soon as possible but with conservatives it is more complex, and some favoured an election in may but most favoured an election in the autumn and very few wanted to wait, sorry, as long as possible, and that would be damaging for the conservatives, because what they wish to avoid is the accusation that they are holding on by their fingernails or indeed squatting in downing street, and a year out from the election that has less resonance thanit the election that has less resonance than it does if there is only a month until the election has to be called. ., , ., ., , , called. could it be a double bluff? i don't called. could it be a double bluff?

i don't think— called. could it be a double bluff? i don't think this _ called. could it be a double bluff? i don't think this as _ called. could it be a double bluff? i don't think this as concrete - called. could it be a double bluff? i don't think this as concrete as i called. could it be a double bluff? i don't think this as concrete as it| i don't think this as concrete as it is perhaps being interpreted and if the budget goes extremely well, if there is a long—standing change to there is a long—standing change to the government's fortunes in terms of voting intention and the underlying data around the economy and leadership, and i don't think we can rule out a spring election but the likelihood of that actually happening, given how little movement there has been until this point, is very very small, and i would not be absolutely amazed because of the last ten years if they have taught us anything, you cannot rule anything out but it is very unlikely and i imagine that the election will take place in november or early december but that in turn raises questions and when they will be taking place and in what form or whether they will take place at all. still a lot to be decided but i think maybe november 21 could be a

date for people to put in their diaries but don't hold me to it. thanks for you are watching bbc news. hello. weather across the uk has certainly been testing our patience in recent weeks, but there are indications of something a little quieter as we head towards the weekend. but until then, most of the countryside looking like this, fairly waterlogged, a lot of flooding out there. at the moment, there are hundreds of flood warnings in effect across the country. and in fact, we may well add to those across southern england overnight tonight as there's yet more rain to come. it's this basic swirl of cloud that's moving in from the southwest. it will bring a brief spell

of heavy rain once again and strengthening winds ahead of it, spilling in quite a lot of cloud across much of wales and the midlands. the best of any brighter skies through northern england, northern ireland and western scotland still pretty windy across the northern isles with a trail of showers through northeast scotland. temperatures generally around single figures between seven and nine degrees. but let's zoom in. a look at this rain in a little more detail once it arrives. gusts of winds are likely to reach 50 to 60 miles an hour in exposed coasts through the channel. perhaps there'll be a spell of wet weather. we're going to see another inch or two of rain falling on already saturated ground in areas where we've got flooding. so this is just going to exacerbate the issue. it will move through at quite a pace, lingering across lincolnshire perhaps, and there will be a scattering of showers through the night across the east coast of england and scotland. but elsewhere, temperatures perhaps into low single figures for many — two or three degrees first thing. so we've got that weather front continuing to bring some windier and slightly showery conditions across north east scotland. our weather front through the night has eased away. and so that means first thing on friday morning, it will be a cloudy story with a little bit of mist and fog around.

but on the whole, quite quiet. the best of the sunshine on friday out to the west, a few scattered showers through wales and again, those temperatures generally at around 6 to 9 degrees. now, as we move out of friday, it looks likely that we could see areas of high pressure building. so friday into the start of the weekend, here's that high quietening things down, but the blue tones taking over means temperatures will be just that below par for the time of year. and that could be a bit of a shock to the system. we will be chasing cloud amounts around, but certainly it's going to be a drier story and a slightly cooler story with a brisk northeasterly wind at times. take care.

feeling the pinch? well, not if you're one of britain's top bosses. new research claims ftse 100 executives have earned more money in 2024 so far than the average worker makes all year. but are their salaries justified? and its the 35 trillion dollar question — just when will the federal reserve cut interest rates? minutes from the last meeting hint they may have to remain high �*for some time'. welcome to world business report — i'm lukwesa burak. starting here in the uk, and while many people struggle with the cost of living crisis, as of today, the bosses of britain's

biggest companies will have made more money in 2024 so far