This morning has seen the first day of campaigning in the General Election called yesterday for the 4th July
Rishi Sunak was first up and doing the media rounds where he was grilled by Nick Robinson on Radio Four’s Today programme
The Prime Minister admitted that there would be no planes taking off to Rwanda before the election and with Labour promising to scrap the scheme then it is unlikely that the flights will go ahead
Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that:
“Rishi Sunak’s words confirm what we’ve known all along – he doesn’t believe this plan will work and that’s why he called the election now in the desperate hope that he won’t be found out.”
Labour leader Kier Starmer added that he thought that Rishi Sunak is holding the election now because he knows the Rwanda policy will fail.
First it was being drowned by the rain and D-Ream and today the Gaffs continued for Sunak as he visited brewery in Wales where he asked workers if they’re looking forward to ‘all the football’.
One quickly pointed out that Wales haven’t qualified for the Euros
Starmer kicked off his campaigning at a rally in Gillingham in Kent along with his deputy Angela Rayner where he told the audience that the election is a chance to end the “chaos and division” of the Tory years, saying that for the last 14 years the country has been “going round and round in circles”.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham told Sky News that he thought that the Prime Minister had got the date and the slogan for the election wrong adding
“It doesn’t feel as though it’s going to be anything other than a change election to me.” Mayor of Greater Manchester
Nigel Farage announced that he will not be returning to the political fray releasing a statement that he will not be standing in the election
‘I will do my bit to help in the campaign, but it is not the right time for me to go further than that’ he said
According to reports Farage was set to announce he would stand as an MP next week but changed his mind after Rishi Sunak called the snap election
The Conservatives challenged Starmer to debate Sunak on live TV every week of the six-week campaign.
Net migration to the UK stood at an estimated 685,000 in the year to December 2023, down 10% from a record of 764,000 in the year to December 2022, the Office for National Statistics have said this morning
