RISHI Sunak has confirmed the country will go to the polls in a General Election this summer.
Speaking in Downing Street on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said the election would be on July 4.
A rain-soaked Sunak battled as the 1997 New Labour anthem Things Can Only Get Better by D:Ream blasted from a protester's speaker nearby as he delivered his announcement.
He pointed to the falling rate of inflation, economic growth and the Rwanda plan as the Tories’ offering going into the campaign.
The Prime Minister accused Labour of having “no plan” and added: “I don’t know what they offer.”
Sunak said his task was to turn “economic stability” into a “secure future for you, your family, and our country”.
He said the country faced its most dangerous period since the Cold War as he insisted the Tories would “never leave the people of this country to face the darkest of days alone”.
And Sunak slammed Starmer for his repeated U-turns as he said he would “take bold action necessary to secure a better future for our country”.
The PM added: “[Starmer] has shown time and time again that he will take the easy way out and do anything to get power.
“I have to say, if he was happy to abandon all the promises he made to become Labour leader once he got the job, how can you know that he won’t do exactly the same thing if he were to become prime minister?
“If you don’t have the conviction to stick to anything you say, if you don’t have the courage to tell people what you want to do, and if you don’t have a plan, how can you possibly be trusted to lead our country, especially at this most uncertain of times?”
Sunak hailed his achievements as increasing the state pension by £900, reducing taxes on investment and reforming education.
He also lashed out at "environmental dogma", spoke of his decision to axe much of the HS2 project while talking up his plans to take more people off benefits and deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
READ MORE: Douglas Ross asks Unionists to vote tactically for Tories at General Election
Finishing his speech, Sunak said: "Over the next few weeks, I will fight for every vote.
“I will earn your trust and I will prove to you that only a Conservative government led by me will not put our hard-earned economic stability at risk, can restore pride and confidence in our country, and with a clear plan and bold action will deliver a secure future for you, your family and our United Kingdom.”
It ends intense speculation in Westminster after an extraordinary Cabinet meeting was called for which he recalled the Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary from trips abroad.
His announcement comes in spite of dire polls for the Tories. They are predicted to lose badly to Keir Starmer's Labour Party come the election.
In a press conference after the PM's announcement, Starmer said an election was what "the country needs and has been waiting for".
He added: “On July 4 you have the choice and together we can stop the chaos, we can turn the page, we can start to rebuild Britain, and change our country.”
READ MORE: July General Election to happen in Scottish school holidays – see full list of dates
First Minister John Swinney tweeted: “I look forward to leading [the SNP] in this election.
“This is the moment to remove the Tory [government] and put Scotland first by voting SNP.
“People in Scotland know we stand up for them and protect them from the damage done by Westminster.”
Speaking to journalists in Holyrood, Swinney said the SNP were in a “really good state” to fight the election because they have “strong, popular leadership”, adding that “Scotland is protected by the SNP”.
He also accused Downing Street of “contempt” for the Scottish people over the date of the election, which will be in the first week of the school summer holidays.
In England, the election will be held before schools break up for the summer.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross insisted his troops were "ready to take the fight to the SNP and beat the nationalists in crucial seats up and down Scotland".
He added: "If voters unite in the many seats where it’s a straight fight between the Scottish Conservatives and the SNP, we can get rid of nationalist MPs who have never focused on the things that really matter."
READ MORE: No confidence letters sent in against Rishi Sunak before election announcement
Alba leader Alex Salmond called on Scots to use the election as a chance to vote for independence, saying that America's independence day could become "the day Scotland declared to the world that we will not accept a Westminster veto over our right to self-determination".
LibDem leader Ed Davey said the election was "a chance to kick Rishi Sunak’s appalling Conservative Government out of office".
The news was welcomed by the Scottish Trade Union Congress, whose general secretary Roz Foyer said: “Good. And not a moment too soon.”
Meanwhile Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry, said the election “needs to be about how our political leaders will get the UK economy firing on all cylinders and deliver sustainable growth”.
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