General election 2024 – live: Sunak’s decision to call July vote branded ‘kamikaze’

The party’s honorary president is set to make an appearance at Reform UK’s election campaign launch.

Following Rishi Sunak’s announcement last night, Mr Farage hasn’t ruled out a return to politics.

Mr Farage told GB News there was “no commitment either way from me at the moment”.

Reform leader Richard Rice is expected to deliver a press conference at 11am to set out his pledges.

Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats Daisy Cooper has refused to rule out joining forces with Labour.

She said MPs are out across the nation today challenging 80 Conservative seats were they could have a chance to win.

Asked about which party the Lib Dems would forge a deal with, she said: “We have ruled out doing any deal whatsoever with this Conservative government because it is quite clear there are lifelong Conservative voters who can no longer stomach voting for this party.

“They simply don’t recognise it anymore.”

The party’s national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden urged people to assume nothing about the general election outcome.

Speaking“on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, he said: “Look, I would encourage people to ignore the polls because we start this election with not a single vote being cast, not a seat being won, or lost, and we assume nothing about the outcome.

“And the basic choice will be, we can carry on with five more years of what we’ve already had for the past 14, or we can vote for change.”

Rishi Sunak has suggested Rwanda flights will not take off before the general election, insisting they will go “if I am re-elected”, Archie Mitchell reports.

The prime minister has promised to begin deporting asylum seekers to the east African nation in July, while Labour has promised to immediately scrap the scheme if it comes to power.

But the shock 4 July election date raised questions about whether Mr Sunak would be able to get flights off the ground before voters go to the polls.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Mr Sunak said: “The choice at this election is clear, because if I’m re-elected as prime minister on 5 July, these flights will go, we will get our Rwanda scheme up and running.”

Tory MPs last night in Parliament were still stunned by Rishi Sunak’s shock decision to call a general election, David Maddox reports.

A number branded it the “the kamikaze election” in what they see as a desperate move by the prime minister.

One former minister told The Independent: “This really is the kamikaze election. We are not sure who will come out of this with their seats.”

Others complained that the party is not ready with several MPs still not in seats because of boundary changes and around 150 seats still with no Tory candidate yet.One MP described it as “a total mess”.

Among those with an uncertain future is chairman Richard Holden, who will be responsible for coordinating the campaign but is one of the MPs looking for a new seat.

Rishi Sunak has said economic stability is returning to the country and “that is why we are having the election now”, Archie Mitchell writes.

Quizzed about the timing of the surprise 4 July general election, the prime minister said not everybody is “feeling the benefits” of lower inflation yet.

But he told GB News: “It’s clear that we have turned a corner. So now is the moment to look to the future and the world is clearly in a more uncertain place than it’s been in decades and the question for the country is the choice of this election is you know, who’s got the boldest ideas declare its plan to provide a secure future for you and your family.

“That’s the choice of this election.

“Now that economic stability has been restored, we can turn to that question, and that’s a conversation I look forward to having with you, your viewers in the country over the next few weeks.”

Rishi Sunak has accused Sir Keir Starmer of having no plan to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, Archie Mitchell reports.

In what is set to be a key general election attack line for the prime minister, he told GB News the Labour leader would scrap the Rwanda deportation scheme and “offer an amnesty to illegal migrants”.

Mr Sunak said: “That’s the choice at this election. He thinks that we should offer an amnesty to illegal migrants to make us the soft touch of Europe.

“It would make us a magnet for thousands of migrants coming from everywhere. So that’s the choice of this election. Do you think my plan is the right one?

“Do you think I’m the one that’s taking bold action to secure our borders and to stop the boats? Or do you think he’s going to do that?”

Good morning and welcome to The Independent political live blog.

Things have kicked off this morning as parties battle for your vote with only six weeks left to go to the polls.

Political correspondents were on an early morning train out of London to follow Mr Sunak on his tour.

• Sir Keir Starmer is heading to south-east England in a sign he wants to make inroads in Tory areas.

• In London, Reform UK’s leader Richard Tice is staging a press conference setting out his party’s plans.

• Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is expected to visit a target seat as he launches a campaign expected to focus on targeting Conservative-held seats following a series of eye-catching by-election successes.

Keir Starmer writing in the Mirror overnight said: “Rishi Sunak can’t hide any longer. That’s the beauty of our democracy.

“Ultimately, power doesn’t belong to the Prime Minister or any other politician. Power rests with you.”