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♪ >> live from downing street, this is "bbc news." speaking a while ago ithe pouring rain, prime minister rishi sunak said he had a plan for the future and it was up to the people to make a decision. >> now is the moment for britain to chews its future, whether we want to build on prague we've made or risk going back to square one with no plan and no certainty. >> on the fourth of july you have the choice and together we can stop the chaos, we can turn the page, we can start to rebuild britain and change our country. thank you. [applause] >> i'm really please to hear what we're having a general

election. i think it's about time that people actually bother to go out and vote, though. that's the big thing. >> we'll have re analysis and reaction throughout this special program as five weeks of campaigning begin. ♪ hello, and welcome from downing street. where, of course, in the last few hours, rishi sunak announced that there will be a general election on july 4. he stood here in the pouring rain. the weather hasn't been kind to us today. and made a speech of a few minutes, setting out familiar priorities. fairly downbeat in mood, some might say. perhaps not surprising given the rain that was coming down on him. he didn't have a brolly even to protect him but he kicked off a

surprise july vote. june-july campaign, which has taken many of his party by surprise and there's been some criticism of whether the timing was right. let's get more reaction from our correspondent who is at a conservative party campaign event in east london. hannah, the election timing, questions over whether it should have been so quickly. what's the men there from supporters >> it was noticeable earlier how much more smiles there were perhaps from the labour side when this election was called than tre were from the conservative m.p.'s wandering around parliament but this is going to be the first campaign event since rishi sunak announce the again election on the fourth of july. an opportunity for smiles, photographs, for vote

conservative flags. we were expecting him to speak for 15 to 20 minutes about his plans for the election campaign. the banners that we've seen. i can't say we've necessarily seen the whole thing but the pictures we've seen so far suggest that the message is going to be clear plan, secure future. sound like that is going to be one of the conservative slogans throughout this election campaign and definitely ties in to what we were hearing from the prime minister from downing street this afternoon. he talked about not just his record but as chancellor her talked about inflation coming down today to 2.3% and said that eventually people will start to feel better as a result of that. he said those things are proof of the priorities he set out that those things are working. he talked about wanting to stick

with the plan rather than going to what he calls already bower with no plan and leading to uncertainty. of course, the labour party will be denying that they have no plan. the other thing the prime minister said i thought was interesting in terms of how this election is going to be framed was that this election will take place at a time when the world is for dangerous since it has been since the cold war. that idea of playing on people's fears about what's going on, again ting to drive home message that he is someone that could be trusted, rishi sunak, would say, as opposed to stama. so the members that have been arriving here this evening. many of them we've not had a chance to speak to but i got the sense that this event had been

arranged sort of last minute. they got ready for it but not necessarily having woken you knowing this was going to take place. one conservative m.p. suggested to me earlier that it is going to be an uphill battle for the conservatives. they know that they are behind in the polls but i think we can expect to hear from rishi sunak this evening, rousing support to his members to get them out on the streets and taking his message to voters in an attempt to turn around those polls. >> i don't know if you've managed to speak to anyone in the tory party event there yet but did you manage to get a sense of reaction to that knockout the way it was delivered behind me? it's stopped raining at the moment but rishi sunak was absolutely drenched. the music of the tony blair campaign music blaring in the background. he didn't have an umbrella.

he spoke for a few minutes. he looked absolutely soaked and one has to bonder whether is that the first image that you want to announce an election when it's already an uphill struggle? >> i mean, at least we know that tonight for this event he is definitely going to be inside surrounded by supporters. he's not going to be getting drenched again. that is definitely something that has been discussed, people talking about that sense of that being the first image but the overarching kind of sense that they have some understanding of the people that are here tonight about why he has chosen to go now. now the sense that the inflation figure gives a kind of good-news story, it's not necessarily worth waitingo see if there's further good news. might as well go for it at this point and someone else suggested to me that at least now it won't clash with the u.s. election in

november either. so i think there is a kind of understanding here among members about why the prime minister has chosen this moment. they're certainly going to put on a brave face and try to convince people to vote for their party. >> does clash with wimbledon, i think, potentially but in terms of who might be turning up to these events, the numbers of foot soldiers who are going to be available and enthusiastic, funded to go and knock on doors. any sense of that? a lot of torym.p.'s example, announcing they're standing down and are not going to retape their seats. >> yeah, and the movement in the conservative party going into this election certainly has been off the back of the local election results fairly bleak. i think in terms of and people who have turned up tonight. many of them will be realistic

about things with the party. we asked on arrival, how many people are here, what exactly are they expecting the prime minister to say? all the usually things and we got relatively little information. sometimes you'll end up in a position, they'll say please don't broadcast this, but we know x, y, and z. frankly they know very little because the information hasn't been shared. you get the sense this event has been hastily arranged. a lot of people are coming in. people helping with security getting members through. yeah, you get the sense that even many people there -- >> ok. rishi sunak is going to speak. [applause]

♪ >> we're just looking at pictures there of all the cabinet including david cameron.

of course he had to fly back. jeremy hunt. there was some speculation as to whether he was going to lose his job as chance chancellor, but no, he is there. and they're all there preparing to greet the prime minister. johnny mercer there, i think, too. all the members of the cabinet to, of course, gathered this afternoon. i think after it was announced to the king that he was going to stand down and call an election and i think that's michael -- as well in the corner. the mood amongst the tory senior team will be very interesting, of course, to watch. of course they'll have to show immense support for the prime minister. i think you saw his wife there as well also in the audience.

james cleverly is going to start with an introduction. let's listen in. >> thank you, thank you! this is it! this is it. this is the moment. this is it. the election has been called. and elections are about choices. and we are going to present the british people with a choice and it is a clear choice. it is a simple choice and it's a choice about leadership. it's a choice about decisiveness. it's a choice about integrity and it's a choice about what happens next for our country. that's what elections are about. so let me just briefly, before i cede the stage to the prime minister, briefly remind us all why this choice matters so very much. today we have fantastic economic figures. inflation is now back where it should be. normal inflation levels.

not by accident. because of choices. difficult choices but because of choices, choices philadelphia when rishi sunak was chance lore and choices he made when he was prime minister. [applause] and, and -- and getting inflation back where it should be, then on looks tax cuts for hard-working people. we've already seen some tax cut reductions. hard-working people, families that deserve to keep the money they earn. pensioners who have worked hard for their pensions keeping more of their pensions. that is all about choices. choices that rishi sunak has made and, of course, in a time of turbulence when there is

danger across the globe. whether it's in the middle east or in the asia pacific region or whether it's in cyberspace, we need a leader and are a head of a government who is willing to make the right choices, jusas he did when as prime minister he decided to give our friends in ukraine the support they need to defend themselves against pu putin's aggression. [applause] and as we present our case, as we present our case to the british people, let's remind ourselves the other choice available to you. which is a labour party led by one of the various -- ent entities -- i say that because i

don't know worst standing up. i don't know what we're getting within a kiastama led labour party. it is the one who backed not once but twice jeremy corman to be prime minister? or the one who promised to be continuity corbin to tickle the tummy of the left wing of the labour party of the one who announced jeremy corbin or the one starting to flirt once again with the language that he's used in the past. i genuinely don't know. i hope he does. i'm not completely convinced. so the choice is really simple. a leader who has been tested, who brought in furlough to save

lives and livelihoods during covid. a chancellor ho has said now is the time to ease restrictions and start building our economy, lives and livelihoods. the person, the leader who made difficult decisions to help bring inflation down, down, down and down again. ladies and gentlemen, this election is about a choice. and the choice is clear. a weak, indecisive, completely contradictory kiastrma or a man who works tirelessly on behalf of the british people and has simone that the tough decisions

he has been willing to make have made a difference. i know way i'm out campaigning and i suspect you do too so give a huge, huge become to our party leader and our prime minister and the person who is going to lead us into and through the next gen election back to number 10. ladies and gentlemen, the prime minister! [applause] prime minister sunak: friends, friend thank you. it is great to be with you this evening. you are theifeblood of our

credible party and i can tell by this reception that you are up for this general election! [applause] the last few years have been toug i know that, you know that. we've been dealing with covid, which so badly upended our way of life and then the huge spike in our energy bills caused by putin's invasion of ukraine but together, as we learned this morning, we have got inflation down from 11% to 2%. we have deliver on my first priority to drive inflation back to normal. [applause] and we've shown the country that it is only this conservative party that can deliver the economictability, the foundation of our national success.

the economy is growing again, faster than germany, france, and the utah. wages have been rising faster than prices for 10 months now. the economy has turned a corner. friends, our plan is working. [applause] but -- but, with this hard-won economic stability comes a choice. who do you trust to turn that foundation into a secure future for you, your family and our country? now is the moment for britain to choose its future, to decide whether we want to build on the progress that we've made or risk going back to square one with no plan and no certainty. we all know that the only certainty with labour is they will run out of money and raise your taxes. [applause]

and as jeremy showed us just the other week, labour would cost every working household more than 2,000 pounds extra in taxes. the election takes place at a time in the world where the danworld is more dangerous thant any point since the cold war. putin will not stop until he succeeds. global stability. china is seeking to dominate the 21st century by stealing a ad in technology and migration is being weaponized by hostile states to threaten the integrity of our borders. now, these uncertain times call for a clear plan and bold action to chart a course to a secure future and it is we conservatives, and only we are prepared to take that boldho

action to ensure a better future for our country and our children. [applause] just look at our plan to cut migration and stop the -- with our a wand air screen. across the globe the penny is dropping that ours is the right approach. they'll scrape the rwanda scheme for asylum seekers making us a magnet for every illegal immigrant in europe. in every waylay bower would make our country less secure. [applause] labour want you to think that this election is over before it

has even begun but we are going to fight. fight every day for our values and our vision and the british people are going to show labour that they don't take too kindly before being taken for granted. [applause] on the 5th of july, either keir starmer or i will be prime minister and he has shown time and time again that he will take the easy way out and do anything to get power. if he was happy to abandon all the promises that he made to become labour leader once he got job. how do you know that he wouldn't do the same thing if he were to become prime minister? if he doesn't have the conviction to stick to anything he says, the courage to tell people what he wants to do and if he doesn't have a plan, how

could he possibly be trusted to lead our country, especially at this, the most uncertain of times. [applause] >> we conservatives have got a clear plan. with bold action to secure our future. we're working for a britain where we have renewed confidence in ourselves, in our communities. a country where hard work will wille met with fair rewards and for the opportunities enjoyed by the the previous generations will be there for future ones. a country are where our defense and our security is assured so let's take that message and vision of a secure future to every corner of the united kingdom and let's show labour for the british people will never be taken for granted. [applause]

♪

[cheers] >> rishi sunak there embracing members of the cabinet. and his family after maybing a speech. i guess they hope this is the image that will dominate the front pages tomorrow and the image that people programs remember. very upbeat, laughing with all of his team who, of course, remain in charge in government. he remains prime minister during the campaign but they all know that this potentially spells the

end of their time in government if the conservatives don't win. that goes, of course, for all of those people who work for the conservatives, all of those people who work inside downing street. most of those people will not have known that this election was going to be called today. a very tight number of people tend to be in the loop of these things, even though there was some speculation the last few hours, yesterday evening and today. but rishi sunak leaving there and addressing his supporters and addressing all of his top team, all of his cabinet members, including david cameron, who had to fly back and the chancellor, who is still very much in post and we know now that july 4 is going to be the date. we heard some familiar messages from rishi

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