dropped figures show. inflation dropped to 2.3% last month, but people in birmingham say they're still struggling to make ends meet. >> i think it's propaganda to go in the shops and that the prices that they're either going up or you're getting less for your money. so i'm not seeing where the inflation is actually hitting . we can do a lot better, hitting. we can do a lot better, can't we.7 >> can't we? >> as as people, we are feeling the pinch at the moment, aren't we? we all are. >> i think the prices have increased so much over the past 24 months. the fact that they're coming, they're slowing down is a good thing. but ultimately, people's disposable income just isn't there . isn't there. >> and some breaking news in the last hour, one person has died in a mudslide on the edge of the nonh in a mudslide on the edge of the north yorkshire moors as rain continues to batter the uk . it continues to batter the uk. it happened at carlton in cleveland at around 130 this afternoon. nonh at around 130 this afternoon. north yorkshire police have asked the public to avoid the area. we'll bring you more as we get it. a nursery worker has been convicted of manslaughter

and sentenced to 14 years in prison at manchester crown court over the death of a baby, kate, roughly strapped the nine month old girl face down on a beanbag for more than an hour and a half at tiny toes nursery in stockport in may 2022. the 37 year old then failed to check on the distressed child and later found genevieve meehan was unresponsive . former unresponsive. former subpostmaster alan bates has said he has no sympathy for paula vennells after she broke down twice during her first day of evidence to the horizon it inquiry. the former post office boss at the centre of the scandal admitted making mistakes dunng scandal admitted making mistakes during her time in charge, but she insists she didn't know about the rise in system when she joined and that no one told her of any bugs. she's also denied any conspiracy to cover up the scandal, and conservative mp craig mackinlay has made his first appearance in parliament, eight months after contracting sepsis . oh he received a

sepsis. oh he received a standing ovation as he entered the commons . standing ovation as he entered the commons. the member for south thanet, who had extreme surgery to remove both his hands and feet, was given a 5% chance of survival after being put in a coma for 16 days. and for the latest stories , sign up to gb latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. corach rambler . that's now news. corach rambler. that's now it's back to . it's back to. tom. >> good evening. it's 7:04 and what an extraordinary day it has been. first, let's hear what rishi sunak has had to say about the labour leader, sir keir starmer. he has shown time and

time again that he will take the easy way out and do anything to get power . get power. >> if he was happy to abandon all the promises he made to become labour leader once he got the job. how can you know that he won't do exactly the same thing if he were to become prime minister if you don't have the conviction to stick to anything you say, if you don't have the courage to tell people what you want to do, and if you don't have a plan, how can you possibly be trusted to lead our country, especially at this most uncertain of times? well that was our very wet prime minister speaking two hours ago live from downing street. >> he said that he'd spoken to the king, and the king had agreed to dissolve parliament. that will happen a week tomorrow on the 30th of this month. from that moment, there will be no sitting mps and the short campaign of the general election will be on. it will then be five

weeks of intense campaigning across the length and breadth of the country before people go to the country before people go to the polls on the 4th of july. now that means that there'll be a new parliament in place by the 5th of july, and potentially a new prime minister the man currently leading the polls, of course, is sir keir starmer. here's how he reacted to the announcement tonight . announcement tonight. >> the prime minister has finally announced the next general election, a moment the country needs and has been waiting for , and where, by the waiting for, and where, by the force of our democracy , vie force of our democracy, vie power returns to you a chance to change for the better. your future, your community, your country. >> sir keir starmer there standing in front of not one but two union jack flags. well, let's cross to downing street now with christopher hope. our political editor. christopher, what a day it has been, very few

people woke up this morning thinking we were going to enter a general election campaign. it's been reverberating through westminster. what's the reaction? been on the ground ? reaction? been on the ground? >> well, it depends who you ask. laboun >> well, it depends who you ask. labour, of course. can't wait for an election. they are the opposition. they have to be ready for an election. tory mps, the ones i'm speaking to , are the ones i'm speaking to, are pretty cross. tom. i'm hearing letters are going in tonight . letters are going in tonight. the prime minister, they are concerned about why on earth the pm is going, having election when he's 21 points behind in the polls . we heard what he said the polls. we heard what he said from the lectern behind us. it's about certain vie delivery of the tory party's, his plans against uncertainty of labour. but a lot of tory mps do not understand it. they listen again to that statement, saying the pm has spoken to the king already and they wonder why that's happened. because, of course, normally you go to the king and ask him to dissolve the parliament. you don't do it in the past, they tell me that there could be a challenge against him by the time before

parliament is dissolved on july 30th, not prorogued as it will be later this week. i don't know if that will get to anything. there is a lot of concern, though, amongst tory mps faced with losing their livelihoods by a by a prime minister calling election six months before he has to when he's mild miles behind in the polls. that's the concern from the tory side , chris. >> i think one of the most extraordinary things about today was potentially the optics just how wet the prime minister became. the rain was torrential. why do you think he chose to do it on today of all days ? it on today of all days? >> i don't know, and they they won't tell us. they clearly think that they think this. labour lead 21 polls, according to ipsos mori is a soft lead. so so why not go for the election before you need to or. and while you've got the element of surprise and so you can try and

ensure that labour isn't ready for it . and by the way, labour for it. and by the way, labour isn't the only party not ready for it. the reform uk party only has 500 candidates selected. a spokesman tells me tonight out of 630 a question you may want to ask one of your guests tonight, nigel farage, is will he stand to be a candidate for reform uk at the july 4th election? of course , he's been election? of course, he's been tipped to win clacton if he chose to stand as things stand. when i spoke to him a few moments ago, he said he won't say anything to us yet, but it's worth asking him. i think there's so many imponderables here. many tory mps were expecting to go away on holiday next week. instead, they're being cancelled as we speak and it's a full on general election campaign . but tory mps are many campaign. but tory mps are many of the ones you speak to me don't understand why it's happening now. and as things stand, he hasn't yet even addressed the 1922 committee of backbench tory mps normally get them on side when you call an election or do anything big with the party in their futures . that

the party in their futures. that hasn't happened yet, tom. >> well, christopher hope it's an absolutely fascinating angle that no doubt will be explored over the next 7 or 8 days until that formal dissolving of parliament, things could move and the prime minister may be at risk. well, christopher hope will be back with you later in the programme, but for now, thank you very much. sitting beside me in the studio is the man who normally presents this programme, nigel farage and nigel. i've got to say i've got to start with that question that christopher hope so ably set us up for. are you going to stand? >> i think the timing of this general election has quite a lot to do with me, quite a lot to do with me, he was scared. he'd heard rumours. true or not, he'd heard rumours. true or not, he'd heard rumours. true or not, he'd heard rumours that i was going to go back into the frontline political fray. and if he gave me a six month run against the worst, most insincere conservative prime minister in history, against the most boring

house party guests, as leader of the labour party, you know, and even matthew laza won't disagree with that , will i? well, not with that, will i? well, not much, i think no, i think reform was a very big factor in this decision, the idea that reform wouldn't be able to build up a ground game build up ahead of steam reforms , problem is not steam reforms, problem is not what it stands for. >> reforms . problem is a lack of >> reforms. problem is a lack of infrastructure on the ground. so i do think that's a major part of the problem. so what the prime minister has chosen suicide over obliteration . they suicide over obliteration. they they're going to lose whether they're going to lose whether they get 150 seats, 180 seats. i have no idea , they feared leave have no idea, they feared leave it six months. it could be 50 seats. it could be the end of the conservative party. up to 200 years as we know it. that's what he's chosen. so i'm unsurprised that chris hope tells us there are backbenchers putting letters in now. quite what that all means. i've no idea , given the general election idea, given the general election has been called and they are on course to lose the election,

they deserve to lose the election. i personally hope they lose the election. i hope them in 2019, more than any other human being. the formation of the brexit party proved theresa may i the tories to down 9% in the polls. yeah, yeah. and they could get back their they could get back there. i mean why would you for vote them if you're a red wall voter concerned about open borders , given what these open borders, given what these guys have done with record levels of legal and illegal immigration, why would you vote for them? >> but what you're saying today, nigel, is that this six week campaign that the prime minister fired the starting gun on today is too short a campaign time for reform to make any serious damage in the tory vote. >> no reform will make a richard tice has got the party up and running. there are 500 candidates selected. he will get more. and the whole plan for reform was that it was a six year plan, a six year plan. fight this election, get ready for when labour fail, which they will. i mean , you know,

will. i mean, you know, starmer's first cabinet will not have the competence that blair's first cabinet had by an absolute mile , so reform will fight the mile, so reform will fight the election. as for what i do , i'll election. as for what i do, i'll think about it overnight. >> so that's no commitment either way. >> no commitment either way from me at the moment. i will think about it overnight. wow, but i do think it's funny. i met a cabinet minister at a social event on monday of this week, and the venom directed towards me was quite extraordinary. the fear was quite extraordinary. they're about to become a losing party. they may, over the next couple of years , become an couple of years, become an extinct tribe. i have no love for them. i stood aside for 319 of their candidates. i helped them get an 80 seat majority which did deliver brexit. >> it delivered brexit, but nothing else. >> nothing else . the >> nothing else. the constitutional change happened. the rest of it was literally betrayal, what everyone stood for. so i, i, you know, i'm no

fan of labour. i suspect our taxes will go up even more. i suspect that immigration won't get dealt with. but you know what? for most people out there working, they won't even notice the difference . the difference. >> it's a it's a strong statement for you to make. i wonder, in your view, was the prime minister's decision today about cutting his losses? yes >> yes of course. as i say, suicide, not obliteration and the mismanagement of it. i mean, i tell you what, it won't just be private eye next week that shows him standing in the rain . shows him standing in the rain. this will be an image for the next 30, 40, 50 years of total incompetence and i mean, give him an umbrella. i thought. i thought it was just a i mean, that would look quite british, wouldn't it? i mean, the whole thing was a shambles. his speech . so i watched it with a group. >> are you sure it wasn't just a. well pitched attempt at tory wets? >> well , well, he wets? >> well, well, he certainly wasn't that one, but i watched

it. i've had a dozen of us watched it, and what was really funny was all of this a very involved in politics and what's going to happen. and within minutes we weren't listening. we were laughing at the sheer farcical spectacle. i mean, disorder , ionised, without any disorder, ionised, without any bafis disorder, ionised, without any basis of underlying philosophy, with no agreement . the with no agreement. the conservative party of today stands for nothing. it will lose the election. and whether i intervene or not, it's irrelevant. i it loses very heavily because it's interesting , because it deserves to because what rishi sunak today was saying was that keir starmer stands for nothing. >> he's right. he's right. you've got you've got a choice. nobody understood nothing. >> honestly, these are the two most boring leaders. i mean, sunak reading out like a blubbing robot. you know, and you've got the rain coming down. >> you've got that took some metal standing in the rain. >> if you want to think that that's a good image, then, tom, you know you need your head

testing as well. >> i'm sure i'm sure. some media adviser said, you know what, go out there also look tough. >> we also had that yobbo steve bray at the end of the road playing music when they passed legislation to stop some of that stuff from happening, but didn't enforce it. it was amateur. the today's announcement is panicked. last minute they did a week ago. this was not on the agenda. week ago. this was not on the agenda . but there are two agenda. but there are two reasons why he's done it. one is he knows there are no planes going to rwanda. it ain't going to happen . it can't happen all to happen. it can't happen all the while. we signed up to echr it can't happen. so he'll promise in the next few weeks planes will go, no, no planes are going to rwanda all the way. part of the echr. that's one reason. second reason is, i promise you this, there. absolutely. they were terrified that i'd spend six months fighting them. >> nigel, there are some conservative press officer watching this conversation now. he's going to clip you saying no

planes will go to rwanda. >> yeah, good, good, good. >> yeah, good, good, good. >> what if one plane goes tom, listen to me. >> there are no planes going to rwanda. and not unless we pay them three grand and give them five years free board. so this isn't going to happen. and sunak. no, it's not going to happen. and this was what he'd, he'd based the premiership on and frankly inflation down to 2.3. just because your gas bills down i mean steel prices are going up. you know, this doesn't scratch the ordinary family in this country, they're going to lose lose big but get enough seats to believe they can survive as a political party. that's what today is all about. >> well, let's cross back to downing street now, where christopher hope is joined by camilla tominey, another gb news presenter. and of course, i believe associate editor of the telegraph, christopher, take it away . away. >> hello, tom. and thank you, nigel there. camilla tominey.

you're here in downing street . you're here in downing street. you're here in downing street. you here for a reception? and fancy seeing you here. what do you make of today? are you surprised? yeah, very. >> because we were all thinking that it was going to be october or november, and in some respects, rishi sunak isn't known for being particularly bold and taking a risk. right. this is about whether fortune favours the brave. i think , favours the brave. i think, having said that, having had a few hours to digest the news, i can see the impetus behind him. you know , there's been a good you know, there's been a good economic result today with inflation down to 2.3. labour all week have been at sixes and sevens over their policy on the middle east. you know, david lammy seemingly going against the grain of the rest of the western international community when it comes to those icc arrest warrants. i think the net migration figures are going to look a bit more favourable. not sure about illegal migration and stopping the boats if they go in july, they don't have another summer of channel crossings there may be a little bit of sort of naivety and inexperience that have crept into this decision making. you know, the people in downing street behind

us, they're not the most experienced. they aren't campaigners, they're not people who've been very generous because you're forgetting that you might have two interest rate cuts by the mpc before any november election. >> there's a september possibility of a budget. you've got falling net migration, net migration by september. you've got, other, other, other things ticking up for the economy. why not wait and use time as your friend allows the opposition to mobilise? >> you know, he's caught labour by surprise here and equally reform. i know tom'sjust reform. i know tom's just speaking to nigel farage, you know. is he standing? what's he doing? is it going to be uk politics or us reform. haven't got their candidates list together in fact recently they've had to get rid of a load labour haven't got a manifesto. no longer can keir starmer respond to every question you or i ask. oh we'll wait for the manifesto. what's in it? i actually think that degree of jeopardy that is created with his speech a week on monday ago and saying, you know, stick with me because i'm safer than starmer isn't a bad pledge. if you listen to the grey hairs in the tory party, iain duncan

smith, david davis, they say this is a wide gap in the polling , but this is a wide gap in the polling, but it's this is a wide gap in the polling , but it's shallow. polling, but it's shallow. there's loads of people who we saw in the local elections, which by the way, had a historically low turnout. look at the result of blackpool south by—election. labour won on fewer votes than it received in 2019. loads of people chris, as you know, sitting on their hands, the dialogue in their mind is this though i can't stand the tories. they've let me down. they've squandered an 80 seat majority, they got rid of boris, blah blah blah. but deep down i know labour will be even worse. and if reform doesn't get its proverbial together and if it doesn't have nigel at the helm, then i think it's a weaker offering to people. as an alternative . and they might just alternative. and they might just say to themselves, they might believe that promise from rishi sunak, be careful what you wish for. better the devil you know. >> it's hardly an ambitious offering. no, i mean, i'm less risky than the other guy, that's all. they're saying. i mean, there's a chance here, and he's. he staked his entire political reputation on going early on an election. if the party goes to a disastrous defeat , election. if the party goes to a disastrous defeat, as the election. if the party goes to a

disastrous defeat , as the polls disastrous defeat, as the polls suggest, he is personally blamed rather than part of the corporately. >> but do the polls suggest that because the local election result, translated to a national picture, suggests it's going to be a hung parliament? admittedly, they didn't factor in scotland polling has come out this week to suggest that labour are now ten points ahead of the snp. but at the same time, at the moment he's heading for , the moment he's heading for, regardless of some of the other polling, the mrp polling, starmer's heading towards a hung parliament or minority government or small majority government or small majority government that gives them a very, very small glimmer of hope. and i'm just explaining the rationale behind it. the trouble with this election campaign, chris, as you know, we're discussing it in the telegraph newsroom earlier, is it going to be a little bit of a bore off? you know, we've seen the podium performance here. we then see keir starmer, the nasal night flanked by the union jack. neither of them are particularly compelling a bore off that could be enlivened by nigel farage standing to be an mp. >> should we ask, should we ask him? >> can we can we have an answer, please?

>> nigel. nigel, we're asking you right now on behalf of all colleagues, are you standing to be an mp at the july 4th general election? and nigel farage has gone, so we can't answer the question. >> back to you, tom, he said. nigel said he would think about it overnight . so what you have it overnight. so what you have to do, chris, as our political edhonis to do, chris, as our political editor, is wake up very early and get and get on the phone to nigel at 6 am. tomorrow and tell the denizens of gb news breakfast precisely what he says . well, there was christopher hope and camilla tominey wonderful stuff. live from downing street , where it all downing street, where it all happened this afternoon. let's cross now to andrew pierce, gb news, presenter and journalist at the daily mail. news, presenter and journalist at the daily mail . andrew, i'm at the daily mail. andrew, i'm still a little bit lost for words, to be honest, no one suspected this in the morning. and yet, as the day grew on, as number 10 became more tight lipped, it became it sort of began to feel as a as a certainty. >> yeah. when i think you and i

talked about this rumour when your show, my show ended and yours came on tom and we thought ridiculous . yours came on tom and we thought ridiculous. but by 1:00 i was pretty certain it was happening, there was, there was give away signs. can the chancellor pulled out of an interview. the defence secretary, grant shapps, pulled out of a trip somewhere abroad, the foreign secretary also pulled out of a trip. i think he was going somewhere like albania. but he flew back early from albania, flew back early? exactly. and there were rumours that the much vaunted , what does that the much vaunted, what does he speak on the, the outside of number 10? the. what is that? i forgot what the letter , the forgot what the letter, the lectern. thank you. tom had been spotted in number 10. that was a rumour that was going around. so i was pretty sure by early afternoon he was going for it. and, you know, i think a lot of this is to do, tom, with what's happening in gaza. so remember, there was a big vote in the west midlands for the, george galloway's independent muslim candidate, and i think that will

be a big factor in the next general election. the muslim vote traditionally goes for laboun vote traditionally goes for labour, 70% muslims. they say vote labour that that. so that vote labour that that. so that vote is going to be diluted and split. that's a factor because i don't think there's going to be any change in the hostilities in gaza by july the 4th. also there's no doubt, despite what nigel said about reform, they're moving quickly because they think reform aren't ready for a general election . they don't general election. they don't have the infrastructure in place. they don't have the candidates in place. and significantly, tom, they don't have a lot of money. if you look at reforms accounts, most of it's been provided by loans from a certain richard tice. there is no big, donor arriving on a trustee shiny white steed. so i think they think that they're going to catch reform unawares. we know they've had to ditch a lot of candidates because they were, frankly, absurd and hadn't done their proper due diligence . done their proper due diligence. they might choose some more candidates in a rush, and we could end up with more candidates who aren't in a good place. look, it's all about

damage limitation, isn't it, tom? you know, i don't think rishi sunak thinks for a second he can win this general election, but i think he still cungs election, but i think he still clings to the idea that there is just an outside possibility that he could kick labour into a hung parliament. but i don't see that andrew, it's so interesting that you reference candidates because of course, the last two elections that we've had in this country have been snap elections, where parties have had to scramble around and select candidates at the last possible minute . possible minute. >> and it has shown up to provide, frankly, some duds on the green benches, people who perhaps wouldn't in normal times or in a fixed term parliament situation would not normally be elected to parliament. i suppose the risk of this very , very the risk of this very, very short campaign, the country going to the polls on the 4th of july, the risk is that there will be all parties scrambling around to fill gaps in their candidate lists, and there'll be some unknown quantities who could be elected to parliament.

we could have, some pretty fruity characters . fruity characters. >> yeah, we might be able to expose some of them before the election, which is always great fun. but yes, it could be just that. and of course, one one person who hasn't will have a key role in the general election campaign is richard holden, the tory chairman. tommy hasn't got a seat. he hasn't got one. so what are they going to do with abolished in the boundary changes? >> his north west durham seat being abolished i suppose the risk is for, for pr purposes , risk is for, for pr purposes, for, for image purposes, for the tory party. what if the sort of red wall champion in the north east picks a cosy seat in the south? >> well, that's exactly what's going to happen, isn't it? and that will look very bad up there. also, i suspect we will see some more tory mps announcing in the next few days they're standing down, which will be hugely disruptive for the local association and the local party. they'll be appalled and angered because it means they've got no chance to get a candidate in who is known to the electorate. and of course, they always say incumbency is worth, what, maybe 1000, maybe 2000 votes. so i think we will see

some resigning . there is i'm some resigning. there is i'm fascinated by chris hope's saying that some tories were putting in letters of no confidence to the chairman of the 1922. well, i saw graham brady, chairman of the 1922, at an event last night, and i asked him about that. as ever, infuriatingly, he was inscrutable and discreet, which is why we want a new chairman of the 1922. but of course, now the election is called. it doesn't matter. sunak leads them into the general election, and we can see what that election is going to be about. tom, from that speech, which i must say was pretty unfortunate. why didn't he do that speech indoors in number 10? why did he get soaked? they were playing. things can only get better down the end of downing street with that terrible steve bray. but actually i was thinking things can only get wetter. it was a terrible image. and then of course you get starmer, nice and dry in his office with two union flags on either side of him. i know which one looks better. and it wasn't the prime minister's, although although keir starmer was standing too close to the wall, that was my that was my criticism of the setup. >> although i suppose in his

defence it was very last minute. well, andrew pierce, thank you so much forjoining us of so much for joining us of course. really, really appreciate your analysis. we're going to talk now to matthew lanza, former labour party adviser, and matthew , i suppose adviser, and matthew, i suppose there's a big risk for the labour party here being so far aheadin labour party here being so far ahead in the polls. elections can, of course, throw up surprises. 2017 is perhaps the biggest example of that. >> absolutely . i mean, of course >> absolutely. i mean, of course there's been no complacency in there's been no complacency in the labour camp. it's a little unfair , as camilla was saying, unfair, as camilla was saying, to say labour isn't ready. labour was actually expecting the election to be called before the election to be called before the local election so he could avoid she could avoid that humiliation, not just the humiliation, not just the humiliation of getting so down downside downing street. >> so i think he held on to one one mayoralty. >> yeah i mean come on ben houchen is not going to it's not going to save you in a general election. so i mean i think that labouris election. so i mean i think that labour is ready. but you're absolutely right. it's not just, you know, you just surprises in a general election campaign can happen at any moment, you know, remember the prescott punch? yes, well, i think that might have helped the labour party. >> exactly. but there was also

the woman, i think, in the same election who i've forgotten her name. but he shouted outside a hospital, which is a major wobble. there was a major health wobble. there was a major health wobble in the 2001 campaign, which is blair's first re—election campaign. 2005. you had the masochism strategy, where blair put himself, did every interview going and let every interview going and let every voter shout at him, to prove that he was listening. so yeah, absolutely. election campaigns should never be taken for granted. >> gillian duffy and gillian duffy, who can be referred to as a bigoted woman for bringing up migration. >> absolutely, she was absolutely the star of it. and that kind of that set the tone of the 2010 campaign. but i think just in terms of the opfics think just in terms of the optics it used to be my job to make sure that the leader of the party didn't stand too close to the wall, but he did have his flags in him. i have to say, i think that the, the, the getting wet outside downing street isn't actually a trivial thing. i think it's going to go down in, in 1 in 101 on political communications for decades to come, as an example of how not to launch an election campaign because it literally looked beleaguered, it looked half baked. and i think that's going to set the tone for this election campaign. >> you used to make these decisions for senior

politicians. what would you have said to rishi sunak? the whole country was waiting on bated breath for some sort of announcement. we knew there was announcement. we knew there was a cabinet meeting at 415. there were all sorts of rumours of an announcement at 5 pm. should they have just delayed it for a couple of hours or they should have done it inside? >> you remember inside downing street, there was, of course, this very expensive set of daily press conferences, so it's not like there isn't an alternative option. and of course, one of the things is you do have people, protesters at the end of the road, whether it's steve raynerin the road, whether it's steve rayner in europe or, gaza, people across the road outside the ministry of defence. so it just sort of sets the tone. and thatis just sort of sets the tone. and that is absolutely vital. it's your opportunity as the prime minister, you get to set the agenda. and now we have andrew pierce. you know who's a love andrew though i do his twitter handles toyboy. and he's saying that which one looked best. and it wasn't the tory prime minister. so i think that's a labour will be feeling that they've they've got the advantage going into one. the other thing is doing on july the 4th, this is going to be the independence day election. people are going to want to be free themselves from tory rule. and that, i think, is going to be a theme, as well, going

through. so, you know, i think there are some disadvantages and as we've seen, it might feed more into the snp narrative. well, i think we should forget about the snp. and the other thing about sort of people, camilla was trying to put a good spin on it with, oh, you know, things can fall off. labour's taxes rise dossier last week. just remember in scotland there was a poll in scotland yesterday which had the snp set to win 11 westminster seats and labour on over 30, that is. and that would be vital in terms of getting keir starmer a majority, even if things tighten in england. >> now, that is a really, really interesting point. i suppose one of the big challenges here is that this is a tight election campaign, trying to get a message across is really crucial in these first early days. that sets almost the tone for the election . what did you make of election. what did you make of how rishi sunak began his speech? he said, you remember me? i was introduced to the country four years ago at the start of covid. i was the covid chancellor. i made difficult decisions. i was responsible for furlough. i saved millions of jobs. he was almost wanting people to remember the time when he was the most popular politician in the country , even politician in the country, even though he told us in his in his relaunch speech a few days ago that, in fact, that we should

just forget about 14 years and just forget about 14 years and just think about the last sort of 18 months of his premiership as opposed to his seniority in the cabinet. >> i think that was a very, very odd approach because it's looking back, it's not looking forward . and what is i think the forward. and what is i think the tory mps that are angry that chris hope is talking about are understandably angry because as because they tories were expecting tory mps were expecting tory mps were expecting to have 5 or 6 months after they decided not to go before the locals, 5 or 6 months for the economic story to get a lot better . and we saw today lot better. and we saw today reasonable inflation number, but not a brilliant one. we're definitely not going to get an interest rate cut now, because the bank is not going to cut interest rates in the middle of a general election campaign when it was coming and going. anyway. so there goes, the interest rate cut and a couple of interest rate cuts would have really set things up for the for the general election. if you were a tory in terms of doing it. but as nigel says, you know, do you want a couple of interest rate cuts or do you want reform having six months to get its act together? so a difficult decision. but i think it's a bizarre choice of doing it now. it's a bizarre choice of setting for the beginning. i mean, you could have gone to tees valley and posed with ben houchen, and

you don't have to do it in downing street. you could have got, you know, he likes getting on a plane. he could have gone on a plane. he could have gone on to seem prime ministerial. >> matthew, you have set us up beautifully for the very next segment. you're talking about interest rates. there is no bigger boffin on television than liam halligan. when it comes to interest rates. liam, this idea will the bank of england now not touch rates during a campaign? >> i think ben's right. it's very difficult for the bank of england to make an interest rate cut that will be seen to be so political on june the 20th. that's when the next monetary policy committee meeting is. and guess what? in july there is no monetary policy committee meeting. they only meet eight months a year. so the first interest rate cut you could have had, given that inflation today was 2.3% still above target core inflation above 3. the first interest rate cut was going to be august. and i guess the whole tory strategy, to the extent which they had a strategy, was to wait and wait and wait for the bank of england to do two, maybe three interest rate cuts before november. the tory kind of, you know, fantasy pre—election , series of events

pre—election, series of events was that they'd have another, budget autumn statement in september where they'd do another cut to national insurance so they could get national insurance down to 8% all the way from 12. it went from eight, 12 to 10, of course. and then they could say, we've given working families a big tax cut on national insurance. they seem to now have abandoned that. i think matthew , described the i think matthew, described the inflation number today as too not bad. it's actually you're right, but actually really disappointing . financial markets disappointing. financial markets thought it was going to be 1.9. >> it was down by a whole percentage. >> yeah. it was down from 3.2 to 2.3, but given that the ofgem energy price cap came down this last month , in april, given that last month, in april, given that there were all kinds of what we call base effects boffins, peak alert. just bear with me , a lot alert. just bear with me, a lot of economists thought we'd hit the 2% target or even go 1.9. then we could have had an interest rate cut in june. now we're not going to get one.

>> is not within the control of the government. how much of this is to do with what's going on in america, where, of course, inflation has taken off again? i mean, the prime minister is right when he says that inflation now in the uk is lower than in the eurozone, it's lower than in the eurozone, it's lower than in the united states, it's lower than in these competitor economies. >> it is. so it's 2.3. in the uk it's 2.4% in the eurozone. and it's 2.4% in the eurozone. and it's 3.4% in america, as you rightly say, tom, inflation in the us has actually gone up. so the us has actually gone up. so the federal reserve is going to delay its interest rate, cut the next move in interest rates in the fed in the us could even be up. wow believe it or not, that's what's really that's what's that's what some of the weight of money in the markets is suggesting . and all the time is suggesting. and all the time looking over this interest rate landscape like a kind of spectre is, is geopolitics , you know, is is, is geopolitics, you know, is the middle east really going to go full tonto . is russia ukraine go full tonto. is russia ukraine going to blow up again? what's that going to do to oil prices. could there be a spike. so i guess this whole let's wait for the economy to get better, then

we may get some kind of feel good factor, which the tories have been clinging on to for months. they abandoned that today, i must say. i think they abandoned it in a hurry. i do think the today's press conference was atrociously staged , managed. it wasn't just staged, managed. it wasn't just the weather, but it was also the weather. you know, it's britain, it's the spring, it rains. have an umbrella. >> it doesn't mean you sort of have that feel good factor about britain. although july the 4th, one day before the quarterfinals of the euros , might there be of the euros, might there be this sort of there's a much fabled effect in 1966 of that general election where harold wilson won either just with the world cup under labour. >> right, absolutely. >> right, absolutely. >> and eurovision, well , could >> and eurovision, well, could there be a euros effect. >> could could the prime minister be thinking, hang on. actually, by july the 4th we're going to be seeing, the sun coming out. people are going to be feeling happier. there's going to be a big football competition and let's hope england and there'll be a boost to country will get through quite far. and, you know, there'll just be this sense of

optimism that's i suppose, what he's banking on. >> well i guess it depends how the team plays out in the first round. >> but scotland are there as well. knowing rishi sunak's luck he could well be out in the first round. >> there's a serious point in what you make, tom, as you know, when you have these big sports festivals, you know people go out and spend , people have out and spend, people have barbecues, people go and, you know, do some quick diy because the relatives are coming round and all the rest of it, you do get a bit of a sugar rush in the economy, but it's not sustainable. and look the trouble, the problem, a big problem here is that labour may get into the realms of over promising and under delivering. they are going to be taking on an inheritance that is nothing like 1997. i've talked a lot about a comparison between labour's front bench before 1997. many of whom i knew well. i was a young reporter on the left. it was my job to really get to know them compared to the front bench now, which, with all respect to martin, to, to, to matthew's party, excuse me that it's not nearly as impressive as

1997 and also the economic inherited is far less benign, i would say to that . would say to that. >> and matthew, do do come in on this would be that you've got people like yvette cooper who've actually been in government before in 1997. i don't think there was a single shadow cabinet minister who then became cabinet, who had been in government before. >> there were 18 years. there have been junior ministers before. jack cunningham and wanted to nobody. >> that's what happens when you've been out of power for over a decade, right? yeah, there are a few. there are, there are a few. there are, there are. >> it's all about the fiscal situation, though. >> i mean, rachel reeves rightly is not over promising because the inheritance, they're going to get taxation at a 70 year high, you know, huge public sector debt, 100% of gdp rather than 30% of gdp. >> what you saw this brown inheritance, you saw, you saw in the in the pledge launch a few days ago that keir did, you saw he was absolutely clear he was not going to commit to tax cuts. yeah. from that 70 year high. so that's giving him a little bit of wiggle room at least once he gets in by, you know, not

promising tax cuts by being. and i think you're going to hear a lot from labour. we're going to inherit a complete disaster national emergency which is of course not the situation in 97 when things were getting where things were getting better, even before they got better understanding dream earworms . understanding dream earworms. >> oh my god, things can only get better. matt, you've done it again. you've set me up for the next segment. so very well. we're talking about 1997. who better to speak to than the former downing street director of communications under john major, jonathan haslam, jonathan, thank you so much for joining us. what do you think are the parallels now between rishi sunak and john major? is this 1992, or is this 1997? >> i think it's, tom 1997. and liam has set out very well the difference between the economic inheritance that a prospective labour party will get, as opposed to that which was gifted to gordon brown and tony blair, that was certainly an economy on the up. this is an economy which is flatlining. still and it'll

be interesting to get liam's take on the inflation figures in a different perspective, because everybody is saying that actually, they're rather good. i think we should look at both the core inflation, which liam did mention, but also look at the services sector inflation, which is 5.9. and that is another signal for me that the governor of the bank of england and the monetary policy committee aren't actually going to be persuaded that there's an immediate tax cut or interest rate cut, rather on the horizon. and i think that's an important factor to take into account. so what liam was saying and what other commentators have been saying about the potential for more good news to come as we go further into the summer and then the autumn, it's going to be a different situation. more generally, i think there are important issues. i'll just put one straight for the moment. tom and that's why was rishi sunak outside downing street ? first of

outside downing street? first of all, good question, secondly, it was not a good look. that is just amateur hour, why would they do it outside in the first instance? because if you do it instance? because if you do it in downing street and that's the office of government. this is a purely party political thing that he's doing, as you saw from all of his remarks. and there would be a degree people have been mentioning the very fancy, expensive briefing room in which daily press conferences that aren't televised are held, but also sometimes big government events are. >> well, there's the seal of government emblazoned on the big blue felt behind the podium in that room. i suppose that would make it. anything that is said in that room is a government event. and, political nerds will have been looking at the podium and saw no government crest on that podium, which is sort of how you tell that this is not a government announcement. >> yes, indeed. it's a fascinating conundrum , isn't it? fascinating conundrum, isn't it? i mean, it is the prime minister who's saying, i'm going to go to the, to the, to the country, but

it actually is a party political announcement in that sense. he has gone to the king and asked for a dissolution of parliament. so there is a nicety there, which i think political commentators just need to reflect for on a moment. what it doesn't do is to say actually , doesn't do is to say actually, this is a professional outfit, you know, at the very least, give the guy an umbrella that would be noisy, take him to conservative party headquarters, you know, surround him in a flag. you know, these things can be done quickly . and it doesn't be done quickly. and it doesn't all go well, actually, for the organisation of a future election campaign, which is not going to be exciting. and i think we as electors have to look at very different things. we know the future is going to be difficult. whatever party is going to be in office, there are no promises there. we've just seen a possible £10 billion bill for rectifying that appalling blood scandal. that's another hit to the public purse. and it seems to be very clear that actually, as liam and others

have said, and we saw chris, hope and camilla in downing street talking about this, you know , there isn't anything magic know, there isn't anything magic that's going to happen after the 4th of july, other than a very cold dose of reality for whichever party wins or forms the government. i should also tell you, tom, by the way, i think the idea of a hung parliament and here is, you know, one of those brave things you can play back later on and say , well, you got that wrong. i say, well, you got that wrong. i do not believe the talk of a hung parliament. i do believe that the polls will close as we get closer to the election. mainly because most people are getting on with their daily lives and they're not really focusing on an election until all the time to make your vote counts, or you get your your letter of voting so that you can do that. and i think there's other interesting things. there are people in my generation who are people in my generation who are avoiding school holidays and going on holiday in june and early july, and we tend to be

the older part. that tends to be a core part of, you know, the conservative vote more generally. and that's an impact . generally. and that's an impact. so there are many interesting things. there was another comment i heard earlier on which i think we should take up at some point, tom, which is why was rishi not actually giving us a reason for going now? and if we're looking to the future , i we're looking to the future, i think we need a bit more. but actually for an outfit that, although i suppose, jonathan, that he will say that he was under a lot of if anything, this is an election when people sort of wanted it and he wouldn't want to sort of be accused of being a squatter in number 10 as as gordon brown was, as he dragged that election on and on and on. >> but jonathan haslam, that's all we've got time for. former downing street director of communications really appreciate tom. >> one last thing. if anyone see the headline outside downing street, they were missing a trick . trick. >> well, there we go. jonathan haslam, thank you so much for talking us through all of that.

joining me in the studio now is nigel nelson, gb news senior political commentator. and nigel, i suppose we need to start talking this, talking about this as a live campaign. this is day one. >> this is day one. certainly. well, they started off. they started off last week with some of their speeches. but anyway. yeah actually, on that point, should we have seen this coming? >> we saw the chancellor last week stand in front of a slogan, not about anything he's doing, but under a slogan saying labour's tax rises. >> yes . i labour's tax rises. >> yes. i mean, certainly the long election campaign was kicked off last week . no, i kicked off last week. no, i didn't see this coming the first time it became fairly obvious something was going on was later on this afternoon , a lot of lot on this afternoon, a lot of lot of feverish speculation in parliament. mps asking each other, is the election on, is it on journalists doing the same thing , it was only later, as the thing, it was only later, as the day wore on, this had a different feel about it from previous scares . and then of previous scares. and then of course, the announcement came. he was going to go for it. >> yeah. i remember looking through what was happening actually earlier today. first there was a cabinet meeting called, then, david cameron was called, then, david cameron was called back early from albania.

grant shapps his latest visit was, was delayed, the chancellor cancelled an interview this evening and number 10 went into complete communications , shut complete communications, shut down for several hours. >> that was that was the bit that was so surprised. >> and i was thinking sort of in isolation, any one of these facts would have. you could sort of excuse the way it. yeah. but altogether it started to look almost inevitable that there'd be a downing street podium moment. yeah, it did. >> and also , i think that it was >> and also, i think that it was little things that i ran into a, a cabinet minister sparred three times today. the first time an adviser, the special adviser , adviser, the special adviser, first time going off to a meeting that was obviously an election. election meeting asked him what he was doing, wouldn't tell me , but the last time i ran tell me, but the last time i ran into him, smiled at him on the, on the escalator and going going up into the into the commons. i still wouldn't tell you anything when i finally said, come on now, what's going on? he just grunted. i thought that grunt may well be a confirmation that

we're on to something. >> it might be one syllable, but it contains a thousand words. yeah, yes it does. it paints a picture, doesn't it. who has won today? >> i'm afraid. i today? >> i'm afraid . i mean, certainly >> i'm afraid. i mean, certainly keir starmer has that, image alone. well, just on image. yeah.i alone. well, just on image. yeah. i mean, i mean jonathan was absolutely right. i mean, who on earth said it was a good idea for the prime minister to come out and announce a general election in the rain? >> here's a case, i'm trying to think of this in the most positive sort of spin i possibly to can provide the much needed, balance that we always provide , balance that we always provide, what if a media special adviser said, you know what, prime minister? people are calling you weak. we want you to look out. we want you to look tough. we want you to look tenacious. you can take on anything you're going to cool down those people who are saying, when are you going to call the election? you're going to say, i'm going to call the election now, come hell or high water, come rain or shine, i'm going to stand there. i'm going to take the rain like a man because i'm tough. i'm rishi sunak. that's what i'm

about. >> yeah, well, in which case, then he looked like a wet seal at the end of it. so? so i mean, it just it did not work. it was a very bad image. he should have doneit a very bad image. he should have done it from inside. i mean, when keir starmer turns up, he's not dripping wet. he's actually got two union jacks behind him. that's the way to look. prime ministerial, unless there's blazing sunshine outside. and that flatters you. it didn't in this case. it was ridiculous doing that. plus the fact we had labour's theme tune things can only get better playing in the background. so everything image wise was an absolute disaster and he shouldn't have done it. you'd have thought they'd have known better. >> now, in terms of image alone, this election is going to look a very, very different election to 2019. we're going to see lots and lots of flags from both major parties. perhaps in the last election, we saw more palestinian flags behind the labour party than union flags. but, we're going to see perhaps an image of, keir starmer that is much more prime ministerial. at least that's what's being projected. i suppose the question the conservatives will ask is, is that only surface deep?is ask is, is that only surface deep? is that only a sort of pr

change, or has it changed underneath? i mean, only today we heard one of the socialist campaign group of mps in parliament asked a question about gaza, on the green benches, we've seen new mayors elected by the labour party, their first public statements have been about the war in the middle east. is it really a changed labour party? yes. >> i mean , it's certainly what >> i mean, it's certainly what he has done. is he ripped anti—semitism out of the labour party by its roots . so it's a party by its roots. so it's a change. labour party, it's gone much more to the centre where it was, where it was left wing before corbyn wanted a socialist revolution, keir starmer expunged that completely. yes. it's different. yes. and i think that keir starmer will carry on trying to look prime ministerial . the problem he's got is, is his economic policy. he is going to have to explain. and this is where i think the tories are setting traps for him, have to explain in detail how he will pay explain in detail how he will pay for each promise. and if you look at some of the tax rises he's planning, the people he's taxing don't actually have to

pay taxing don't actually have to pay it and he's got to convince people. so non—doms for instance, they could always leave, people who send their children to private school, they could always take them away . so could always take them away. so he's going to have to actually show in some detail how that economic policy will work. and that's why i can see the tory attack line. >> fascinatingly, unlike blair in 97, starmers pledge card this time round doesn't promise that he won't raise income tax or national insurance or vat. blair promised that keir starmer is not, which perhaps suggests something, but nigel nelson, thank you very much for joining us, let's turn now to joe tannen us, let's turn now to joe tanner, political communications strategist and, joe, we're going to look at a rapid campaign over the next six weeks. but what strategy should rishi sunak be looking to play out ? looking to play out? >> well, i think the first thing is something that you're you're esteemed, colleagues, mentioned already, which is the sort of opfics already, which is the sort of optics it was not a great way to start. but i think what's

fascinating is while we did hear the sort of the old sort of labour winning theme tune being played as he was talking, the song that kept going through my head was travis. why does it always rain on me? because that sort of narrative that rishi sunaks had a rough time, he sort of came in as chancellor and had to deal with the pandemic, but didn't he do well? didn't he rise to the occasion? and then he's had the war in ukraine. he's had problems with energy pnces he's had problems with energy prices , he's had difficulties prices, he's had difficulties with the economy. so this sort of i've had adversity, but i've made it through. you can hear barry manilow. i made it through the rain in the background, too . the rain in the background, too. there's a sense of, you know, i've had it hard, but it doesn't matter. i'm still there. and so i think there's going to be a lot of that , that the prime lot of that, that the prime minister is going to be trying to focus on, because there's an awful lot the conservatives have not delivered on. and actually even on those pledges that he talked about, many of us were expecting an autumn election because we thought he would try and get a plane to rwanda before

that election was being called. so we did not expect it to be a july the 4th poll being announced today. so i think that sense of i've done stuff despite how bad it's been, i haven't done as much as i'd like to do, will be part of the narrative from rishi sunak as well as can you really trust that guy? is he going to be the one that can manage in difficult times? and it's that framing of the choice that we traditionally see at elections that's going to come next. >> it's so interesting you mention how rishi sunak, sort of introduced himself to the country during covid because that's how he began his speech today. i wonder if we're going today. i wonder if we're going to hear a lot more about covid over the next six weeks than perhaps most people would want to? >> well, and i think it's a risky area, because one of the things that the conservatives have tried to focus on quite a lot is that they managed to deliver the vaccine, but we know that the vaccine is also quite a difficult area because there are many people that didn't agree with the vaccine. many people were concerned about the vaccine, not proportionally, not

proportionally, but there's still a group we have to remember this is going to be an election that is going to be fought on channels like yours, but also massively on social media, where people who do have those kinds of views are going to have a platform and they're going to be noisier than they've beenin going to be noisier than they've been in previous elections. so i think we're not really clear on how some of those maybe we would consider them as fringe debates, but they are going to still play out. and how that diverts an election campaign is going to be something we haven't been ready for in the uk , and i'm not sure for in the uk, and i'm not sure we're still ready for it. i think we're going to see politicians being pulled in all directions about issues that they're not necessarily ready for on any day of the week. >> i suppose another example of one of those issues that, is very motivating for a slither of the electorate is, of course , gaza. >> and we saw some challenges for the labour party in the local elections. of course, they did very, very well in the local elections, but there were specific areas that had high muslim populations where the

labour party went backwards, where they lost councils . do you where they lost councils. do you think that that has a chance to be a sort of undercurrent, a theme throughout this election, if not the main event? well, i think generally the sort of foreign affairs probably is going to play a bigger role in this election than perhaps it has in the past. >> you know, obviously, we know that brexit dominated in 2019, but what we're actually seeing is these sort of big events happening globally. what does it mean for the uk? what is the uk's position going to be? but also what can the uk do to influence? should it be influencing, should it have a role, should it not? there are many people that believe the that the uk should have a much bigger voice in these big things that are going on in the world and others think, no, you should be sorting out hospital waiting lists. you should be sorting out issues around immigration. you should be dealing with what's happening in my child's school. and so again, we're going to see politicians kind of pulled. they're going to be watching what's happening in the polls very closely. they're going to

see how various media outlets play see how various media outlets play out these issues and how they're going to pitch their their ask. >> but remember, and that is sue, right, that you mentioned that, that the biggest issues that, that the biggest issues that people are thinking about are, of course about the pound in their pocket, the cost of living, the migration crisis, those big ticket issues , perhaps those big ticket issues, perhaps what tripped up the snp over the last two leaders was they were seen to be focusing on what were seen to be focusing on what were seen to be fairly peculiar peripheral issues , focusing on, peripheral issues, focusing on, whether it was green standards enforced by the coalition deal or gender recognition reform. >> people sort of were thinking in the midst of a cost of living crisis. is this is this your priority? i suppose i suppose there is going to be a real risk now that the snp, from their perspective, fall back to where they were before the scottish separation referendum . separation referendum. >> well, and i think the damage that's been done to how that coalition sort of unfolded in, in scotland and actually where the scottish government have

failed to really deliver, is also a backdrop that is very difficult for the snp. so as well as those , you know, what well as those, you know, what some people would class as being more niche issues because they, you know, not all of the public have very strong views on those things, but they are the undoing for lots of politicians because it's a very tight tightrope to be walking and one of the biggest problems is that the noise in that debate is so loud that often bad policy sort of comes out of it, because people don't know quite what to do for the best. and so i think we've seen, interestingly, from from the uk government, seen, interestingly, from from the uk government , from, from the uk government, from, from rishi sunak sort of leadership, we've seen these issues been talked about. we've seen straying into that area when actually lots of people are saying, what about my hospital? what about what's going on with the economy and calling an election off the back of an inflation figures when people are not going to suddenly see everything become cheaper, they're not sensing that that money is suddenly coming back to them. it's, you know, even with interest rate cuts, it takes

some time for your mortgage rates to change. so the idea that these, you know, yes, these metrics are great to herald and great to have the attention and to have a press conference about, but it's about how people feel it rather than what the what the numbers say. >> yeah. joe ten hag, thank you so much, always great to get your, so much, always great to get your , your, your views and your your, your, your views and your expertise. political communication strategist joe tanner there. really appreciate it. well, joining me now in the studio is william kedjanyi political analyst at star sports bets. now, the odds on these sorts of things are always fascinating to watch. i suppose one of the big questions is how accurate is political betting in the round ? what's the track the round? what's the track record, so the track record would depend on what sort of events you're looking at. generally speaking, closer to the time of an election, the odds tend to be more accurate, i think, than at the beginning . think, than at the beginning. the track record tends to be a bit better now. there have been some exceptions, there was a miss in the markets for brexit

slightly , and also for trump. slightly, and also for trump. those are the two main examples. but for the uk it's pretty good, the conservatives were long odds on for a big victory in 2019, in 2017, i think the odds had become closer, even if i think jeremy corbyn was still very much the underdog . and for much the underdog. and for recent by elections, the records been very good. it does track also with the polling that we've seen. >> well, i often see you, of course, on college green, that strip of grass just opposite parliament where you're standing by your famous whiteboard . by your famous whiteboard. you've brought it into the studio here. what odds can you show us on this whiteboard for this general election? okay so our first mark we've gone up with is how many seats will the tories win? >> there have been some really bad predictions for the tories , bad predictions for the tories, of total wipe—out. and as you can see, we've got some rather remarkable prices. we're only 7 to 1 that they win between 0 and 50 seats, with 5 to 2 that they win 50 to 99 with 15 to 8, which is our current favourite that they win between 100 and 150

seats. and we're 3 to 1 that they win between 150 and 200. >> so it's odds on that the tory party do worse than they did in 1997, their worst result in history. >> yes . >> yes. >> yes. >> at the moment it's odds on wow that is that is a pretty extraordinary situation i suppose. just finally, what are we looking for at scale of labour victory? what sort of cash can you get for, for where the labour party might end up. >> so before the election, i imagine we'll have this market up again . we did have a price on up again. we did have a price on on. sorry keir starmer calling him tony blair already. >> he wishes on keir starmer to win more seats than tony blair did in that famous 1997 election. >> the last price we had on that was 5 to 4. it had opened up bigger. we expect when we go back upward it again that that will be, i think, getting fairly short. we see a labour majority of around about 97 proportions at the moment. wow. >> so there we go. we're looking for a 1997 election, or at least that's what it stands on this day one of the campaign. well,

william kedjanyi, thank you so much for joining william kedjanyi, thank you so much forjoining us, and thank much for joining us, and thank you for your bringing in your whiteboard as well. stay with us. this is gb news votes 2020 for the people decide . for the people decide. good evening. it's 8:00. for those of you just tuning in, i'm tom harwood, the deputy political editor @gbnews. now, in a move that has stunned the nation, a rather wet conservative prime minister, rishi sunak, announced a may election earlier today, i spoke with his majesty the king to request the dissolution of parliament. >> the king has granted this request and we will have a general election on the 4th of july. >> a july election, i should have said. of course. now, labour leader sir keir starmer issued his response promptly this afternoon . this afternoon. >> a chance to change for the better . your future, your better. your future, your community, your country .

community, your country. >> earlier in the program, we heard from nigel farage and when i asked him if he was going to be standing as a member of parliament in this election, this is what he had to say. >> i fight the election. as for what i do, i'll think about it overnight. >> well, we're continuing our live coverage of this afternoon's events with some of the biggest names in westminster . plus, we're going to be in the key live locations with our reporters at downing street and buckingham palace , of course, buckingham palace, of course, christopher hope at downing street and cameron walker at the palace. well, we'll be hearing from pollsters, politicians and all sorts of politicos, and in a moment we'll cross to a special campaign event where rishi sunak will speak for the first time since his afternoon announcement will bring you that live from central london. that's all coming up after the latest headunes coming up after the latest headlines with sophia wenzler.

>> tom. thank you. good evening. i'm sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom and as you've been hearing, the prime minister has announced a 4th of july general election. in a statement outside downing street, rishi sunak said he had met with the king to request the dissolution of parliament. the royal family has postponed engagements which may appear to divert attention or distract from the election campaign. mr sunak made the surprise announcement after a day of speculation and urged the nafion day of speculation and urged the nation to stick with him over sir keir starmer. >> and we will have a general election on the 4th of july. this election will take place at a time . when the world is more a time. when the world is more dangerous than it has been since the end of the cold war. >> meanwhile, the labour leader, keir starmer, responded to the announcement, saying the election is the moment the country has been waiting for night. >> the prime minister has finally announced the next general election , a moment the general election, a moment the country needs and has been waiting for . waiting for. >> and liberal democrats leader

sir ed davey vowed to