Transcripts For GBN Farage 20240702

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 didnt know about the rise in system when she joined and that no one told her of any bugs. Shes 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. Thats now news. Corach rambler. Thats now its back to. Its back to. Tom. Good evening. Its 7 04 and what an extraordinary day it has been. First, lets 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 wont do exactly the same thing if he were to become Prime Minister if you dont have the conviction to stick to anything you say, if you dont have the courage to tell people what you want to do, and if you dont 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 hed 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 therell 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. Heres 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, lets 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. Its been reverberating through westminster. Whats 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. Cant wait for an election. They are the opposition. They have to be ready for an election. Tory mps, the ones im speaking to , are the ones im speaking to, are pretty cross. Tom. Im 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 hes 21 points behind in the polls. We heard what he said the polls. We heard what he said from the lectern behind us. Its about certain vie delivery of the tory partys, 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 thats happened. Because, of course, normally you go to the king and ask him to dissolve the parliament. You dont 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 dont 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 hes mild miles behind in the polls. Thats 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 dont know, and they they wont 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 youve got the element of surprise and so you can try and ensure that labour isnt ready for it. And by the way, labour for it. And by the way, labour isnt 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 , hes been election . Of course, hes 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 wont say anything to us yet, but its worth asking him. I think theres so many imponderables here. Many tory mps were expecting to go away on holiday next week. Instead, theyre being cancelled as we speak and its a full on general Election Campaign. But tory mps are many campaign. But tory mps are many of the ones you speak to me dont understand why its happening now. And as things stand, he hasnt 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 hasnt happened yet, tom. Well, Christopher Hope its 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. Ive got to say ive 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. Hed heard rumours. True or not, hed heard rumours. True or not, hed heard rumours. True or not, hed 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 wont 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 wouldnt 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 thats a major part of the problem. So what the Prime Minister has chosen suicide over obliteration. They suicide over obliteration. They theyre going to lose whether theyre 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. Thats what hes chosen. So im unsurprised that chris hope tells us there are backbenchers putting letters in now. Quite what that all means. Ive 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 youre 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 youre 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, starmers first cabinet will not have the competence that blairs first cabinet had by an absolute mile , so reform will fight the mile, so reform will fight the election. As for what i do , ill election. As for what i do, ill think about it overnight. So thats no commitment either way. No commitment either way from me at the moment. I will think about it overnight. Wow, but i do think its 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. Theyre 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, im no fan of labour. I suspect our taxes will go up even more. I suspect that immigration wont get dealt with. But you know what . For most people out there working, they wont even notice the difference. The difference. Its a its a strong statement for you to make. I wonder, in your view, was the Prime Ministers 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 wont 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, wouldnt it . I mean, the whole thing was a shambles. His speech. So i watched it with a group. Are you sure it wasnt just a. Well pitched attempt at tory wets . Well , well, he wets . Well, well, he certainly wasnt that one, but i watched it. Ive had a dozen of us watched it, and what was really funny was all of this a very involved in politics and whats going to happen. And within minutes we werent 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, its irrelevant. I it loses very heavily because its interesting , because it deserves to because what rishi sunak today was saying was that keir starmer stands for nothing. Hes right. Hes right. Youve got youve 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 youve got the rain coming down. Youve got that took some metal standing in the rain. If you want to think that thats a good image, then, tom, you know you need your head testing as well. Im sure im 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 didnt enforce it. It was amateur. The todays 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 hes done it. One is he knows there are no planes going to rwanda. It aint going to happen. It cant happen all to happen. It cant happen all the while. We signed up to echr it cant happen. So hell promise in the next few weeks planes will go, no, no planes are going to rwanda all the way. Part of the echr. Thats one reason. Second reason is, i promise you this, there. Absolutely. They were terrified that id spend six months fighting them. Nigel, there are some conservative press officer watching this conversation now. Hes 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 isnt going to happen. And sunak. No, its not going to happen. And this was what hed, hed 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 doesnt scratch the ordinary family in this country, theyre going to lose lose big but get enough seats to believe they can survive as a political party. Thats what today is all about. Well, lets 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. Youre here in downing street. Youre here in downing street. Youre 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 isnt 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 , theres been a good you know, theres 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 dont 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, theyre not the most experienced. They arent campaigners, theyre not people whove been very generous because youre forgetting that you might have two Interest Rate cuts by the mpc before any november election. Theres a september possibility of a budget. Youve got falling net migration, net migration by september. Youve 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, hes caught labour by surprise here and equally reform. I know tomsjust reform. I know toms just speaking to nigel farage, you know. Is he standing . Whats he doing . Is it going to be uk politics or us reform. Havent got their candidates list together in fact recently theyve had to get rid of a load labour havent got a manifesto. No longer can keir starmer respond to every question you or i ask. Oh well wait for the manifesto. Whats 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 im safer than starmer isnt 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 its this is a wide gap in the polling , but its shallow. Polling, but its shallow. Theres 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 cant stand the tories. Theyve let me down. Theyve 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 doesnt get its proverbial together and if it doesnt have nigel at the helm, then i think its 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. Its hardly an ambitious offering. No, i mean, im less risky than the other guy, thats all. Theyre saying. I mean, theres a chance here, and hes. 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 its going to be a Hung Parliament . Admittedly, they didnt 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 hes heading for , the moment hes heading for, regardless of some of the other polling, the mrp polling, starmers 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 im just explaining the rationale behind it. The trouble with this Election Campaign, chris, as you know, were discussing it in the telegraph newsroom earlier, is it going to be a little bit of a bore off . You know, weve 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, were 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 cant 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. Lets cross now to andrew pierce, gb news, presenter and journalist at the daily mail. News, presenter and journalist at the daily mail. Andrew, im at the daily mail. Andrew, im 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 whats happening in gaza. So remember, there was a big vote in the West Midlands for the, George Galloways 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. Thats a factor because i dont think theres going to be any change in the hostilities in gaza by july the 4th. Also theres no doubt, despite what nigel said about reform, theyre moving quickly because they think reform arent ready for a general election. They dont general election. They dont have the infrastructure in place. They dont have the candidates in place. And significantly, tom, they dont have a lot of money. If you look at reforms accounts, most of its 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 theyre going to catch reform unawares. We know theyve had to ditch a lot of candidates because they were, frankly, absurd and hadnt 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 arent in a good place. Look, its all about damage limitation, isnt it, tom . You know, i dont 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 dont see that andrew, its so interesting that you reference candidates because of course, the last two elections that weve 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 wouldnt 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 therell 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 hasnt will have a key role in the general Election Campaign is richard holden, the tory chairman. Tommy hasnt got a seat. He hasnt 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, thats exactly whats going to happen, isnt 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 theyre standing down, which will be hugely disruptive for the local association and the local party. Theyll be appalled and angered because it means theyve 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 im some resigning. There is im fascinated by chris hopes 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 doesnt 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 didnt 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 wasnt the Prime Ministers, 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. Were going to talk now to matthew lanza, former labour party adviser, and matthew , i suppose adviser, and matthew, i suppose theres 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 theres been no complacency in theres been no complacency in the labour camp. Its a little unfair , as camilla was saying, unfair, as camilla was saying, to say labour isnt 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 its 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 youre absolutely right. Its 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 ive 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 blairs 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 didnt 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 isnt actually a trivial thing. I think its 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 thats 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 its not like there isnt an alternative option. And of course, one of the things is you do have people, protesters at the end of the road, whether its steve raynerin the road, whether its 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. Its your opportunity as the Prime Minister, you get to set the agenda. And now we have andrew pierce. You know whos a love andrew though i do his twitter handles toyboy. And hes saying that which one looked best. And it wasnt the tory Prime Minister. So i think thats a labour will be feeling that theyve theyve 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 weve 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. Labours 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 its looking back, its 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. Were 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 its a bizarre choice of doing it now. Its a bizarre choice of setting for the beginning. I mean, you could have gone to tees valley and posed with ben houchen, and you dont 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. Youre 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 bens right. Its 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. Thats 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 theyd have another, budget autumn statement in september where theyd 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, weve 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. Its actually youre 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 wed hit the 2 target or even go 1. 9. Then we could have had an Interest Rate cut in june. Now were not going to get one. Is not within the control of the government. How much of this is to do with whats 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, its lower than in the eurozone, its lower than in the united states, its lower than in these competitor economies. It is. So its 2. 3. In the uk its 2. 4 in the eurozone. And its 2. 4 in the eurozone. And its 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, thats whats really thats whats thats 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 . Whats that going to do to oil prices. Could there be a spike. So i guess this whole lets 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 todays press conference was atrociously staged , managed. It wasnt just staged, managed. It wasnt just the weather, but it was also the weather. You know, its britain, its the spring, it rains. Have an umbrella. It doesnt 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 theres 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 were going to be seeing, the sun coming out. People are going to be feeling happier. Theres going to be a big football competition and lets hope england and therell be a boost to country will get through quite far. And, you know, therell just be this sense of optimism thats i suppose, what hes banking on. Well i guess it depends how the team plays out in the first round. But scotland are there as well. Knowing rishi sunaks luck he could well be out in the first round. Theres 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 its 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. Ive talked a lot about a comparison between labours 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 matthews party, excuse me that its 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 youve got people like Yvette Cooper whove actually been in government before in 1997. I dont 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. Thats what happens when youve been out of power for over a decade, right . Yeah, there are a few. There are, there are a few. There are, there are. Its all about the fiscal situation, though. I mean, Rachel Reeves rightly is not over promising because the inheritance, theyre 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 thats 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 youre going to hear a lot from labour. Were 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, youve done it again. Youve set me up for the next segment. So very well. Were 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 its, 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 itll be interesting to get liams take on the inflation figures in a different perspective, because everybody is saying that actually, theyre 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 arent actually going to be persuaded that theres an Immediate Tax cut or Interest Rate cut, rather on the horizon. And i think thats 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, its going to be a different situation. More generally, i think there are important issues. Ill just put one straight for the moment. Tom and thats 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 thats the office of government. This is a purely Party Political thing that hes 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 arent televised are held, but also sometimes Big Government events are. Well, theres 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. Its a fascinating conundrum , isnt it . Fascinating conundrum, isnt it . I mean, it is the Prime Minister whos saying, im 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 doesnt do is to say actually , doesnt 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 doesnt be done quickly. And it doesnt 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. Weve just seen a possible £10 billion bill for rectifying that appalling blood scandal. Thats 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 isnt anything magic know, there isnt anything magic thats 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 theyre 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 theres 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 thats an impact. Generally. And thats 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 were looking to the future , i were 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 wouldnt 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, thats all weve 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 hes doing, but under a slogan saying labours tax rises. Yes. I labours tax rises. Yes. I mean, certainly the long Election Campaign was kicked off last week. No, i kicked off last week. No, i didnt 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 thered 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, wouldnt 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 wouldnt tell you anything when i finally said, come on now, whats going on . He just grunted. I thought that grunt may well be a confirmation that were on to something. It might be one syllable, but it contains a thousand words. Yeah, yes it does. It paints a picture, doesnt it. Who has won today . Im afraid. I today . Im afraid. I mean, certainly im 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 . Heres a case, im 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 youre going to cool down those people who are saying, when are you going to call the election . Youre going to say, im going to call the election now, come hell or high water, come rain or shine, im going to stand there. Im going to take the rain like a man because im tough. Im rishi sunak. Thats what im 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, hes not dripping wet. Hes actually got two union jacks behind him. Thats the way to look. Prime ministerial, unless theres blazing sunshine outside. And that flatters you. It didnt in this case. It was ridiculous doing that. Plus the fact we had labours theme tune things can only get better playing in the background. So everything image wise was an absolute disaster and he shouldnt have done it. Youd have thought theyd have known better. Now, in terms of image alone, this election is going to look a very, very different election to 2019. Were 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, were going to see perhaps an image of, keir starmer that is much more Prime Ministerial. At least thats whats 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, weve 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 , its certainly what i mean, its certainly what he has done. Is he ripped anti semitism out of the labour party by its roots. So its a party by its roots. So its a change. Labour party, its 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. Its different. Yes. And i think that keir starmer will carry on trying to look Prime Ministerial. The problem hes 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 hes planning, the people hes taxing dont actually have to pay taxing dont actually have to pay it and hes 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 hes going to have to actually show in some detail how that Economic Policy will work. And thats why i can see the tory attack line. Fascinatingly, unlike blair in 97, starmers pledge card this time round doesnt promise that he wont 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, lets turn now to joe tannen us, lets turn now to joe tanner, Political Communications strategist and, joe, were 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 youre youre 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 whats 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 didnt he do well . Didnt he rise to the occasion . And then hes had the war in ukraine. Hes had problems with energy pnces hes had problems with Energy Prices , hes had difficulties prices, hes had difficulties with the economy. So this sort of ive had adversity, but ive made it through. You can hear barry manilow. I made it through the rain in the background, too. The rain in the background, too. Theres a sense of, you know, ive had it hard, but it doesnt matter. Im still there. And so i think theres 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 theres 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 ive done stuff despite how bad its been, i havent done as much as id 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 its that framing of the choice that we traditionally see at elections thats going to come next. Its so interesting you mention how rishi sunak, sort of introduced himself to the country during covid because thats how he began his speech today. I wonder if were going today. I wonder if were going to hear a lot more about covid over the next six weeks than perhaps most people would want to . Well, and i think its 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 didnt agree with the vaccine. Many people were concerned about the vaccine, not proportionally, not proportionally, but theres 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 theyre going to be noisier than theyve beenin going to be noisier than theyve been in previous elections. So i think were 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 havent been ready for in the uk , and im not sure for in the uk, and im not sure were still ready for it. I think were going to see politicians being pulled in all directions about issues that theyre 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 were actually seeing is these sort of big events happening globally. What does it mean for the uk . What is the uks 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 whats happening in my childs school. And so again, were going to see politicians kind of pulled. Theyre going to be watching whats happening in the polls very closely. Theyre going to see how various Media Outlets play see how various Media Outlets play out these issues and how theyre 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 thats 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 its 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 dont know quite what to do for the best. And so i think weve 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, weve seen these issues been talked about. Weve seen straying into that area when actually lots of people are saying, what about my hospital . What about whats 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, theyre not sensing that that money is suddenly coming back to them. Its, 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 its 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 . Whats the track the round . Whats the track record, so the track record would depend on what sort of events youre 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 its 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 weve seen. Well, i often see you, of course, on college green, that strip of grass just opposite parliament where youre standing by your famous whiteboard. By your famous whiteboard. Youve brought it into the studio here. What odds can you show us on this whiteboard for this general election . Okay so our first mark weve 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, weve got some rather remarkable prices. Were 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 were 3 to 1 that they win between 150 and 200. So its odds on that the tory party do worse than they did in 1997, their worst result in history. Yes. Yes. Yes. At the moment its 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 well 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. Were looking for a 1997 election, or at least thats 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. Its 8 00. For those of you just tuning in, im 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, ill think about it overnight. Well, were continuing our live coverage of this afternoons events with some of the biggest names in westminster. Plus, were 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, well be hearing from pollsters, politicians and all sorts of politicos, and in a moment well 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. Thats all coming up after the latest headunes coming up after the latest headlines with sophia wenzler. Tom. Thank you. Good evening. Im sophia wenzler in the gb newsroom and as youve 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