General election 2024 live: Rishi Sunak’s July 4 vote branded ‘kamikaze’ as PM says no Rwanda flights before polls

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.

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.

Keir Starmer’s top team are significantly more popular than Rishi Sunak’s cabinet, Kate Devlin reports.

A new poll by Savanta shows found that when it comes to net favourability:

• Starmer is on +1, compared to Sunak’s -22 

• Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is on +1, compared with Jeremy Hunt’s -15

• Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper is on -1, compared with James Cleverly’s -11

• Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy is on -6, compared with David Cameron’s -13

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?

Submit your question here and join us at 12pm for the Ask Me Anything event.

Some 16,031 people entered immigration detention in the year ending March 2024, 23 per cent fewer than the previous year, Jabed Ahmed reports.

Over one-third (34 per cent) of people leaving detention in the year ending March 2024 were removed from the UK, up from 20 per cent in 2023.

There has been a rise in the deportations of Albanian nationals, according to the Home Office.

• 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.

July 4 is an important date, but there is a more important one.

The Electoral Commission has announced the deadline for registering to vote for this long-waited election.

People should register no later than June 18 at 11.59pm.

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.

There were 125.5 million arrivals into the UK in the year ending March 2024, Jabed Ahmed reports.

This was 11 per cent more than 2023, and it includes visitors to the UK. It also includes British nationals and others who do not require a visa to travel.

There were over 450,000 more visitor visas granted in the last year.