UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailAfter a day of fervent speculation, Rishi Sunak has finally called a snap general election on July 4.Mr Sunak confirmed the news in a speech outside No 10. Almost upstaged by the rain – and pranksters loudly playing D:Ream’s ‘Things Can Only Get Better’, closely associated with Tony Blair’s 1997 Labour victory – the prime minister reminisced on his time in office, before making the big announcement.Before now, the prime minister had resisted calls to go to the polls, despite constant pressure from the Labour Party to do so over the past year.Follow The Independent’s live coverage for the latest updatesHowever, it is speculated that Mr Sunak had been waiting for an opportune time to make his move. Bolstered by the positive downturn in inflation to 3.2 per cent, it appears his mark has been met.Taking a swipe at the Labour Party, the prime minister said: “I don’t know what they offer”, adding “they have no plan, there is no bold action, and as a result the future can only be uncertain”.Responding to the news, Labour leader Keir Starmer released a video saying “it’s time for change”.“They have failed. Give the Tories five more years, and things will only get worse,” he said.While neither party has released an official election manifesto yet, as they will only come after an election is officially called, both have dropped hints and promises over the course of the past few years, which offer a clue for their vision for the country.Here’s where the UK’s two largest parties stand on some of the key issues:Economic policies have been a focal point of Mr Sunak’s premiership, making up three of the Conservatives’ five key priorities. They are: reduce inflation, grow the economy, and reduce national debt.The first of these aims has largely been achieved, with inflation falling since the pledge was made, from 10.1 per cent to 2.3 per cent, although it is still above the Bank of England’s target of 2 per cent.However, the respected IFS economic think tank has questioned Mr Sunak’s taking credit for the economic good fortune, with director Paul Johnson arguing that it is the Bank of England’s job to cut inflation and that the prime minister’s pledge was always “inappropriate”.The economy has shown signs of growth since Mr Sunak’s pledges were made, with the economy forecast to have grown 0.5 per cent in 2023, and wages rising steadily. However, debt has risen to 89.9 per cent of GDP, up from 85.1 per cent in late 2023, when the prime minister promised to reduce it.Jeremy Hunt delivers a speech on May 17, 2024 More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer will use his first major speech of the general election to make Labour’s campaign personal as he tries to quell concerns expressed about what sort of prime minister he will be.The Labour leader’s “presidential” speech comes as the Tories have accused him of threatening to make a £38.5bn black hole in public finances with his spending plans.This latest attack comes after Sir Keir has suffered months of questions about his leadership style and the number of times he has U-turned on issues.This included abandoning his 10 left-wing pledges in the leadership election to replace Jeremy Corbyn, ditching his opposition to Brexit and abandoning his £28bn a year green deal.Sir Keir has also been accused of being “boring” and lacking charisma as he tries to haul his party from near oblivion in 2019 to retaking Downing Street after 14 years in opposition.British opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer will make a major speech today More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA Tory defence minister warned on the first day of the general election campaign that Rishi Sunak’s plan to reintroduce national service would “damage morale” in the military.Andrew Murrison signed off a written answer to fellow Tory MP Mark Pritchard which was published less than 24 hours after the prime minister had dramatically called a snap election.The response from a seasoned minister has been highlighted after there was a furious backlash to the Tory plan revealed overnight to reintroduce national service for school leavers.National service was scrapped in 1963 but now, if the Conservatives win power again, school leavers would be given the option of joining the military and getting paid or doing voluntary service for nothing.Rishi Sunak wants to reintroduce national service More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailIt has been a rollercoaster of a couple of years to be a Southampton fan – from the lows of regulation last season, to a thrilling rise up the Championship this season.But Rishi Sunak’s beloved Saints won a dramatic play-off final on Sunday to secure promotion to the Premier League.It finally marks some good news for the prime minister after his own rollercoaster start to his general election campaign, which saw him drenched in rain when announcing the July 4 date and a mass exodus of MPs has left his party scrambling for candidates.Following the victory, he wrote on X: “We’re back,” adding three clapping hands emojis.The Conservative Party leader had laughed off being asked earlier this week whether he would prefer to see Southampton promoted or win the general election.Mr Sunak did however score an own goal at the start of his campaign after asking workers at a Welsh brewery whether they were looking forward to the football later this summer as a potential source of revenue – despite Wales not qualifying for the Euro 2024 tournament.The PM was spotted in the stands just days before his election announcement watching Southampton take on West Brom in the Championship play-off semi-final.The self-described “massive Saints fan” was seen standing and clapping, wearing a black hoodie emblazoned with “Saints 85” in red.Jack Stephens of Southampton lifts the Sky Bet Championship play-off final trophy after his team’s victory today More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA former army reservist whose blog has been praised by ex-defence secretary Ben Wallace has ripped apart Rishi Sunak’s plans to reintroduce National Service.The author of the Thinpinstripe blog is a former civil servant at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and writes under the pseudonym “Sir Humphry”.His analysis of the Tory pledge to add 30,000 teenagers to the armed forces ranks every year has raised serious questions about the costs of the project.He warned that bringing an extra 30,000 people into the armed forces would require a roughly 300 percent expansion of the military training pipeline.Rishi Sunak speaks with British troops in April (PA) More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightLord Heseltine has warned that the 2024 general election campaign “will be the most dishonest in modern times” because of the refusal of the main parties to debate the consequences of Brexit.The former deputy prime minister, who fell out with the Conservatives over leaving the European Union, has written exclusively for The Independent explaining how the big issues in this general election – the economy, immigration and defence – all need to be debated in the context of the UK’s relationship with the EU.But he claimed that Labour and the Tories are too scared to discuss Brexit because of the potential impact on their voter bases.It comes as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer uses his first keynote speech of the election to focus the campaign on himself personally in a presidential style push for victory. But noting that Sir Keir and Rishi sunak are avoiding discussing “the elephant in the room”, Lord Heseltine wrote: “Both major parties are afraid of losing votes to the hard right. Labour needs to rebuild its red wall while the Conservatives run scared of Reform.”However, he argued that almost no major issue can be discussed without reference to the subject which has, in effect, dominated British politics since the EU referendum in 2016 and arguably since the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 which shattered John Major’s government.Michael Heseltine has warned about Brexit and the general election More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWes Streeting has set out a three-word vision of the guiding philosophy of a Labour government if, as expected, it wins power on 4 July.The shadow health secretary had echoes of Tony Blair’s New Labour when he promised that his party would be “compensatory, not confiscatory”.Mr Streeting was in discussion with The Independent’s editor-in-chief Geordie Greig in front of an audience at the Hay Festival, discussing the election, politics and his book One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up.Mr Greig noted that the UK is now “in the foothills of an election campaign” and asked: “Where is Labour going to find out that common centre ground? What is the formula? What are the words?”Wes Streeting insists Labour is a party which celebrates success and encourages ambition and aspiration More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailNigel Farage signalled a return to right-wing shock tactics for his Reform UK party, as he used his first election interview to attack Muslims in the UK for “not sharing British values”.Speaking to Sir Trevor Phillips on Sky News this morning, Mr Farage accused Rishi Sunak of “not being a leader” and instead being “a follower of focus groups” who is “not willing to tackle the real issues in this country”.He was dismissive of Tory plans to reintroduce compulsory national service for school leavers, describing the policy as “a joke” but then stunned Sir Trevor by launching into an attack on millions of voters.The ex-Brexit leader is hoping to capitalise on the Tories’ poor performance in the polls, which has seen his Reform Party now at 14 per cent, just five points behind the Conservatives.In a prickly exchange, Mr Farage said: “We have a growing number of young people in this country who do not subscribe to British values, in fact loathe much of what we stand for.”Nigel Farage revealed he had planned to run as an MP, but the early election call ruined his plans More