Flood warnings forecast with more heavy rain to come
Further rain is forecast for parts on England, Scotland and Wales on Thursday
Further heavy rain could cause a danger to life and travel disruption, the Met Office has warned, a day after a person died in a mudslide in North Yorkshire.
Flood warnings have also been issued across England with one in Scotland.
National Rail has said its northern services are facing disruption, with a major line between England and Scotland closed due to flooding.
Showers will continue to hit parts of the UK into Thursday, as yellow and amber warnings for rain remain in place.
TransPennine Express, ScotRail, Avanti West Coast and Caledonian Sleeper are among affected operators.
The West Coast Main Line between Carlisle and Lockerbie is blocked, National Rail Enquiries said.
Avanti West Coast has warned people not to travel north of Preston in Lancashire, writing in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that all routes "are currently blocked in both directions".
Travel between Manchester and Scotland on the TransPennine Express has also been disrupted.
Political scientist Professor Sir John Curtice was among those to have their journey from London to Glasgow affected.
"My question to politicians this morning is can you please make the trains work," he told the BBC's Today programme in an interview regarding the upcoming general election.
An amber warning for rain that was in place across parts of North Wales and north-west England since midday on Wednesday has now been cancelled.
However, lower-grade yellow weather warnings remain in place.
A warning in place for the north of England, the Midlands and north and central Wales is in place until 12:00BST on Thursday.
Another, in place for southern and eastern Scotland, is due to expire at 18:00BST on Thursday.
The Met Office has warned that flooding and power cuts were possible.
Honister in Cumbria has been the worst hit so far with 110mm of rainfall.
The city of Carlisle, also in Cumbria, recorded 65.6mm of rain over a 24-hour period, according to the Met Office.
This amount of rain has quickly filled up the rivers and a severe flood warning remains in Cumbria, which means a danger to life.
Cumbria Police said a number of properties were affected in the Stockdalewath area, with one property evacuated.
"We do expect some impact to travel within Cumbria with some flood water in parts of the county," said Chief Superintendent Mick Bird.
Flood warnings are also in force on other rivers in Scotland and England.
Heavy rain on Wednesday caused a mudslide at Carlton-in-Cleveland, on the edge of the North York Moors National Park - leaving one person dead.
North Yorkshire Police said nobody else was hurt in the landslide but asked the public to avoid the area.
The county had received almost a month's worth of rainfall on Wednesday, forecaster Mr Partridge said.
41.6mm of rain was recorded in a 24-hour period in Loftus, a town 20 miles (32km) away.
Tory members have branded the move a “kamikaze election” and think the party is not ready to go to the polls. A former minister told The Independent: “We are not sure who will come out of this with their seats.”
After the astonishing announcement on Wednesday, political parties have wasted no time in launching their campaigns.
Mr Sunak kicked things off touring broadcast studios this morning before visiting all four nations in the UK in two days. He said the economy is “going gangbusters” in his first major election interview today.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage has announced he will not be standing for Reform UK after he was reportedly expected to make an appearance at the party’s campaign launch later today.
Breaking: Nigel Farage will not stand in the general election
Nigel Farage is not standing as a candidate in the general election, he has announced.
The former UKIP leader said he thought “long and hard” about contesting the general election, but has decided to help with Donald Trump’s re-election bid in the US instead, Archie Mitchell reports.
“Important though the general election is, the contest in the United States of America on 5 November has huge global significance,” Mr Farage said.
Despite not standing as a candidate, Mr Farage, who is Reform’s honorary president, said he will “do my bit to help in the campaign”.
“But it is not the right time for me to go any further than that,” Mr Farage said.
He offered his full support to Reform and its current leader Richard Tice, adding that the choice between Labour and the Tories is “uninspiring”.
“Only Reform have the radical agenda that is needed to end decline in this country,” he said.
Shadow home secretary: Rwanda plan 'a con from start to finish’
Labour MP Yvette Cooper has slammed Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda scheme after he announced flights won’t take off before the general election.
The shadow home secretary said: “The prime minister’s own words this morning show this whole Rwanda scheme has been a con from start to finish.
“With all the hundreds of millions they have spent, it would be extraordinary if ‘symbolic flights’ didn’t take off in early July, as the Tories planned.
“But 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.
Watch: Protesters who blasted New Labour’s 1997 anthem unmasked
Anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray posted footage of himself and a group of people gathered round a speaker outside Downing Street as it played the D:Ream track while the prime minister spoke.
Mr Sunak was drenched in the rain as he spoke over the music, confirming he had spoken with King Charles III to request the dissolution of parliament for the general election to be held on 4 July 2024.
Protesters who drowned out Sunak's speech with Labour song unmasked
Rishi Sunak has announced flights carrying deported asylum seekers to Rwanda won’t jet off before the general election.
Reacting to the news, Kolbassia Haoussou, Director of Survivor Leadership and Influencing at Freedom from Torture, said: “Together our massive movement of caring people has created too many hurdles for this cruel ‘cash-for-humans’ scheme to get off the ground.
“Since the very start, survivors of torture have been at the forefront of campaigns urging the Government to abort this and other anti-refugee policies. And we will not stop fighting until they are put into reverse once and for all.
“This is a victory for compassionate people up and down the country who have joined our calls for an asylum system that treats people fleeing torture and persecution humanely.”
Why is Rishi Sunak calling a snap election now? What significance will the date have on the results? And can we make any reasonable predictions on the outcome? Which seats are safe? And where are the key battlegrounds?
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Rishi Sunak kicked off the morning with a rally in Derbyshire. He is expected to go to Scotland next where he will appear alongside Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross.
Sir Keir Starmer launched the Labour campaign from Kent at the Gillingham Football Club.
Reform UK leader Richard Tice is expected to deliver a press conference in London at 11am.
Lib Dems leader Sir Ed Davey is set to speak today in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
Asylum applications fall by 14% in year ending March 24
Fewer people applied for asylum in the UK in the year ending March 2024, in part due to a decrease in claims from Albanian small boat arrivals, Holly Bancroft reports.
According to Home Office figures, some 86,719 people applied for asylum in the year up to March.
New data from the Home Office shows a boom in asylum decisions being made, with more than four times the number of decisions than in the previous year.
Figures show 62 per cent of people applying for asylum were successful, and there are currently 118,329 people waiting on a decision.
Reform UK founder and honorary president Nigel Farage has announced he will not stand in the general election.
There was speculation he would be unveiled as a candidate by Reform leader Richard Tice this morning.
He had previously said he would not make an eighth attempt to become an MP at Westminster under the current first-past-the-post electoral system.
In a statement posted on X, the GB News presenter said he would "do my bit to help" the party in the campaign.
"But now is not the right time for me to go any further than that," he added.
Reform insists it is targeting both Conservative and Labour voters, but evidence from recent by-elections suggests the Tories have the most to fear from the party, which Mr Farage led from 2019 to 2021 when it was known as the Brexit Party.
The latest opinion polls put it at around 11%, ahead of the Liberal Democrats, and Reform says it will have enough candidates to contest every seat.
In the last general election in 2019, the party did not stand in constituencies won by Conservatives in 2017.
The party currently has one MP, Lee Anderson, who defected from the Conservatives.
In his statement, Mr Farage said he had "thought long and hard as to whether I should stand in the upcoming general election".
"As honorary president of Reform UK, I am fully supportive of Richard Tice's leadership and urge voters to put their trust in him and Lee Anderson.
"I will do my bit to help in the campaign, but it is not the right time for me to go any further than that.
"The choice between Labour and the Conservatives is uninspiring, and only Reform have the radical agenda that is needed to end decline in this country."
Reform has been particularly critical of the Conservatives on the issues of immigration and net zero.
Speaking after the election was announced, Mr Tice said Reform was ready for the election with "common sense policies".
He added: "People know that the Tories have broken Britain. Labour and Starmer will do what they always do, which is bankrupt Britain."
Sky News has announced its coverage plans for the 2024 general election after Rishi Sunak surprised the nation by saying the public will go to the polls on 4 July.
Chief Presenter Kay Burley will anchor Election Night Live, the overnight results programme, from a 360-degree immersive studio normally used by Sky Sports shows like Monday Night Football.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester and a former Labour MP, will provide guest analysis alongside the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Baroness Ruth Davidson.
Burley, who will be covering her twelfth UK general election, will also be joined by Sky News' award-winning political editor Beth Rigby, the presenter of our Sunday breakfast show Sir Trevor Phillips, and data and economics editor Ed Conway.
Image:From left: Deputy political editor Sam Coates, Sunday morning breakfast show presenter Sir Trevor Phillips, lead politics presenter Sophy Ridge, chief presenter Kay Burley, political editor Beth Rigby and economics editor Ed Conway
Conway will be examining live election data on the massive canvas of the studio's LED floor and walls, giving pioneering analysis that will dig into the facts and figures.
The Sky News team will take viewers through the key results on the night, making use of this new technology to explain the polling data from every angle, offering viewers the full story on the night.
Plus, the exit poll and winner of the race for Number 10 will be revealed with the help of an immersive to-scale augmented reality Downing Street.
Elections analyst Professor Michael Thrasher will be on hand to offer statistical analysis of the election for Sky News - as he has at every election since 1989.
From 7am on the morning after the nationwide voting, lead politics presenter Sophy Ridge, host of Sky's Politics Hub, will be live from Westminster bringing viewers every development as the election result is absorbed and plans for the next government are made.
Ridge will be joined by deputy political editor Sam Coates and Sky News contributor Adam Boulton across what will be an historic day, as the nation awaits the next prime minister.
Sky News' audience will be the first to find out what's really happening - with our reporters and cameras at election counts up and down the UK revealing the dramatic results and hearing from candidates from across the political spectrum.
Image:Andy Burnham will join Kay Burley for our election night coverage
More details on Sky News' election night and campaign coverage, podcasts and special programming will be revealed in the days and weeks ahead.
Kay Burley, chief presenter, said: "This will be my twelfth UK general election. I'm as committed to top-rate, fast, accurate coverage in 2024 as I was when Margaret Thatcher became PM in 1979."
Mr Burnham said: "I'm very much looking forward to joining the Sky team for the general election night coverage. It will be a different experience for me to be able to join the analysis of the results rather than just worrying about my own. Having been involved in the 1997 general election at Labour HQ and then as a minister in later elections, I hope to be able to bring a fresh view of what will face an incoming government."
Image:Baroness Ruth Davidson will provide guest analysis
Baroness Davidson said: "Every election night is made up of a number of different stories. What happens in Scotland is undoubtedly going to be one of them. Over a decade on the political frontline north of the border means I'll be able to analyse and interpret the results as they come in for viewers right across the UK."
David Rhodes, executive chairman of Sky News, said: "We saw a tremendous response to our coverage of this month's local elections - and we'll have much, much more to offer at this UK general election, with the most experienced team, plus the most comprehensive data and analysis, presented online and on TV from the most state-of-the-art studio in the country.
"Our political team is the best in the business - Kay, Sophy, Beth, Trevor, Ed, Sam, and more are ready to bring audiences the full story, first."
In a drenched suit, he said the King had granted his request to dissolve Parliament, and he promised to “fight for every vote” over the next few weeks.
Sir Keir Starmer declared “it’s time for change” and told Britons to vote Labour in response to the PM’s announcement.
He said: “By the force of our democracy, power returns to you. A chance to change for the better your future.”
Labour election chief urges voters to ignore polls
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: Rwanda flights will go ‘if I am re-elected’
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.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a General Election campaign event at ExCeL London after calling a General Election for July 4 (PA Wire)
Rishi Sunak: ‘Economic stability is returning to the country’
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.”
Keir Starmer ‘will do nothing to stop the boats’, Rishi Sunak
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.
General election 2024: Why Rishi Sunak chose July 4
Rishi Sunak has announced that 4 July is the general election date but why did he settle for that date?
The practical reason for his decision comes with election law and the parliamentary timetable. Parliament needs to be dissolved 25 working days before the date of an election which means that if he wanted a summer election he had limited options.
By calling an election on 4 July, next week’s planned recess will be cancelled giving parliament a “wash up week” to complete its remaining business by Thursday. Parliament can then be dissolved in time for a July 4 election. This meant the prime minister could not have called it any earlier.
Protester played New Labour anthem to troll Tories
Anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray said he selected the D:Ream song for its association with the Tory landslide defeat in the 1997 general election rather than as a show of support for Labour.
He added that his protest outside Downing Street was put on hold when his two amplifiers became soaked and stopped working during heavy rain in Westminster.
Mr Bray told the PA news agency: “I thought about what would be the best trolling tune if he announced the election.
“And of course, it had to be ‘Things Can Only Get Better’. Because everybody can relate to that and the 1997 election.
“I didn’t do it for Labour. I did it because it was the top trolling song for the Conservatives.”
Responding to complaints that people could not hear the speech in Downing Street because of his protest, Mr Bray said: “Look at the damage Sunak’s done to the country.
“If they couldn’t hear the speech, it’s still reported. They’ll know what he said.”
The prime minister addressed the nation in the pouring rain, as he battled against the deafening sound of ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ playing in the background- the 90s hit which famously played during Tony Blair’s successful Labour campaign.
In a drenched suit, he spoke of how the King granted his request to dissolve Parliament, he announced, as he promised to “fight for every vote” over the next few weeks.
In a sign that security and the economy will be key battlegrounds, Mr Sunak said: “This election will take place at time when the world is more dangerous than it has been since the end of the Cold War.”
The “uncertain times” call for a “clear plan”, he added.
Mr Sunak’s announcement came after the Office for National Statistics said Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation slowed to 2.3 per cent in April, down from 3.2 per cent in March.
He said that was a “major milestone” for the country, with inflation now “back to normal” levels.
Breaking: Rishi Sunak announces general election for July 4
The prime minister has finally shut all rumours and pressed the snap election button.
Addressing Brits from Downing Street, he said the ballots will be out on July 4 making it a summer election.
During a cabinet meeting Mr Sunak told senior ministers Parliament will be dissolved next week to give way to the electoral campaign.
MPs will knock on doors selling their pledges for up to six weeks. The last time the UK had a July election was in 1945.
It comes as the Tory leader declared inflation was “back to normal” in a “major milestone” for the country, following official figures showing inflation slowed to 2.3% in April.
Speculation about an announcement mounted in Westminster as Cabinet ministers were summoned for an unusually timed meeting, with Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron cutting short foreign trips to attend.
With politics often moving a break-neck pace it can be hard to keep up with the latest news.
Luckily The Independent will keep you expertly informed throughout the upcoming general election campaign.
And for the best inside stories and great gossip from behind the corridors of power, subscribe to Independent Premium and receive John Rentoul’s weekly Commons Confidential email.
General election 2024: Why Rishi Sunak chose July 4
Rishi Sunak has announced that 4 July is the general election date but why did he settle for that date?
The practical reason for his decision comes with election law and the parliamentary timetable. Parliament needs to be dissolved 25 working days before the date of an election which means that if he wanted a summer election he had limited options.
By calling an election on 4 July, next week’s planned recess will be cancelled giving parliament a “wash up week” to complete its remaining business by Thursday. Parliament can then be dissolved in time for a July 4 election. This meant the prime minister could not have called it any earlier.
‘Things Can Only Get Better’ Drowns Out Sunak election announcement
D:Ream’s song ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ has drowned out the sound of Rishi Sunak’s election announcement.
The 1990s hit, famously played during Tony Blair’s successful Labour election campaign, was blasted out of speakers as the heavens open on the prime minister.
The scene, as has been pointed out on Twitter, has echoes of an episode of the political satire. Thick of It.
