large you can see they ve taken out a large portion of that inclined there some large portion of that inclined there some point you re live with bbc news. to the uk now and it was a declaration, of sorts, from rishi sunak today, saying the much anticipated general election, is likely to be held in the second half of this year . but he could still call a snap election, after not ruling out going to the country before the autumn, on a visit to nottinghamshire. meanwhile, in a new year speech in bristol, the labour leader, keir starmer, said he hoped 2024 would give the country a chance to vote out the conservatives, accusing mr sunak of squatting in downing street for months on end . here s chris mason. can i welcome to you this morning, rishi sunak, the prime minister? mansfield, in nottinghamshire a town the conservatives want to hold on to at the general election. happy new year! how are you doing? the prime minister taking questions at a youth centre and taking this crucial
power is put back into the hands of voters with the general election coming and we set out very clearly what a labour decade of national renewal would look like in contrast to the 1a years of failure from the conservatives. and what we saw from keir starmer today, setting out this decade of national renewal, some people are saying he is a radical hiding in plain sight. so who is the real keir starmer? a very cautious figure who doesn t want to frighten the horses, or he is going to transform this country in a radical way? as someone in keir starmer s shadow cabinet, i can tell you that his missions are ambitious for the country. they are not easy to achieve. he set us very bold targets to turn the country around in the course of the next labour government, if we win, but over a decade of national renewal because we know the problems left from the conservatives are deep and structural. that is very radical. if keir starmer wanted an easier life he wouldn t be pledging to deliver such bo
appointments and operations to the nhs each year, evenings and weekends, to make sure we get those waiting lists down. so we already know how we are going to pay for that. we know as well that some of the rest of that money that we get from abolishing that super rich tax break, we will use on introducing breakfast clubs for every child in every primary school across the country, to make sure that children get to school well fed, that they have got carried just before school which for many parents is what makes the difference between being able to take up a job and not. that they have got care before school. those of the concrete difference is that people will see that we will spend money, we have already identified and we know how we are going to do it. ,, ., . ., and we know how we are going to do it. keir starmer claimed today that the conservatives it. keir starmer claimed today that the conservatives had it. keir starmer claimed today that the conservatives had no - it. keir
yes! so, look, my working assumption is we ll have a general election in the second half of this year, and in the meantime, i ve got lots that i want to get on with. words that grab attention, say something but commit to nothing. 150 miles away, on a visit to bristol at exactly the same time, we tell keir starmer what rishi sunak has just said. the prime minister is now hinting, without setting a date, that it might be later in the year. squatting in downing street for months on end, dithering and delaying, when the country wants change. what s he hiding? the conservatives have a mandate, don t they, to serve in government throughout this year? you can clamourfor an early election, but that s the constitutional truth. but what mandate does the third. well, they won the last general election. ..the third prime minister that they ve had since the one in 2019! and it s notjust keir starmer with a keen eye on when the election is.
so we can get on with it. he is perceived as a bit dull, isn t he? i don t think so. my constituents have been saying week in and week out that they are fed up to the back teeth of the conservatives being in government after the last 1a years. it s time for change and all of us want that to be a labour government. we can expect opposition parties to make great hay of their new line about the downing street squatter. and the retort to that is, we have every right to be there for another year. so today we didn t learn the date of the election but we certainly know that the campaign is well under way. with a few short words, rishi sunak managed to overshadow keir starmer s big speech. labour came back and said, you are frightened of an election. all of that over a power that is essentially exercised by any prime minister over the timing of an election. quite a nice power to have. but sometimes a bit of a mixed blessing. a prime minister reflecting carefully on his options. showing his