BOJO BACK IN ACTION? Boris Johnson is welcome on campaign trail with me… but I STILL don’t know election date, says Rishi Sunak
RISHI Sunak has revealed he doesn't know the general election date - but Boris Johnson is welcome to join the campaign trail.
The Prime Minister insists he has yet to make his mind up on when the country goes to the polls - adding to even more speculation about the timing.
He told The Sun's Never Mind the Ballots show that he's too busy focused on issues such as the economy and immigration to pin down a date.
Mr Sunak said: "What matters is the general election and that's wht I'm focused on.
In a no-holds barred grilling, the Prime Minister also:
- VOWED to quit Euro court if needed to stop the boats
- STILL didn't know when general election will be
- ANSWERED your quickfire questions
- CLASHED with fuming cabbie over small boats crisis
- DENIED claims homeless people will be fined for being smelly
- PROMISES he WILL tackle disgraceful conditions for veterans
- INSISTED his plan IS working as he hailed tax cuts
"I have been clear actually, I've said that my working assumption is we'll have an election in the second half of the year."
He added: "But ultimately we have a long-standing tradition. It's Prime Ministers that decide when we're going to call an election and I haven't decided because I'm busy focusing on the things that matter to people."
It comes after aides in Downing Street were understood to want to go to the country before the summer fearing a vote of confidence in his leadership after the May elections.
But he told The Sun's YouTube show that Boris Johnson would be welcome to join the campaign trail as the Prime Minister gears up for the election.The ex-Prime Minister could be deployed in battleground seats to shore up Tory support after his stonking 80-seat majority in 2019.
Dithering Rishi is sparking election fever
Analysis by Ryan Sabey, Deputy Political Editor, The Sun
There's been so much speculation over the past few weeks. Earlier in the year, he said his working assumption was going to be at the latter end of the year.
He said I haven't decided [on June election] which creates even more speculation at a time when he's trying to dampen that down.
He still seemed to think the working assumption was going to be the end of the year and lots of people in Westminster still think that's going to be the case.
But by saying he hasn't decided is just going to create a lot more election fever.
Rishi Sunak insists BoJo may be drafted in as part of a last-ditch attempt to stave off an election annihilation.
Mr Sunak told the show that any sign of a frosty relationship may have thawed since last year.
The PM said: "I spoke to him in person at the end of last year."Anyone from the Conservative family who wants to see a Conservative reelected and who doesn't think Keir Starmer is the right person to lead our country will be welcome on the campaign trail.
"Ultimately that's the choice. It's myself or Keir Starmer after the next election.
"If you want to cut taxes, if you want a better approach to net zero, if you want a better approach to immigration, we're the ones to do that for you."
RISHI TACKLES YOUR QUESTIONS
RISHI Sunak faced Sun readers this Wednesday in a no-holds-barred grilling.
The PM was quizzed by Political Editor Harry Cole — two weeks after Sir Keir Starmer's appearance on our Never Mind the Ballots show.
And he answered YOUR questions:
Are your trousers too short?
He hit back at critics who claim his trousers are too short and declared how baggy trousers are a real turn-off.
When asked why he wears his trousers up to two inches too short, he laughed: "Well I don't think they are that short."
Pushed on whether he thought his style was trendy or the latest style, he added: "I tend not to like lots of baggy, baggy stuff at the bottom of my ankle.
"I don't think they are that short."
When did you last go to Wetherspoons?
The PM was also asked when he last went to one of the nation's favourite pub chains Wetherspoons.
He said: "I was in Wetherspoons actually not that long ago. I think it was in Rother Valley actually… doing one of my events talking to everyone there in the local community.
"We have a Wetherspoons at home in Northallerton which is fantastic."
What is your go-to order?
When asked what his go-to order is, he said: "Well, actually I used to go there with my kids in the old days when I had more time.
"We used to do the junior Park Run, from memory. But we'd go there for breakfast more than anything else, cos I used to like the breakfasts there.
"I think I probably still have the app on my phone."
Do your daughters have a smartphone?
He revealed that his two girls Krishna and Anoushka both got phones as they came to the end of their time at Primary School.
But both the PM and his wife Akshata discuss how to "juggle" about the right thing to do with their time on the devices.
When asked whether the girls have smartphones, he said: "Yeah. I have two girls 11 and 12, about to be 13, who thankfully probably won't be watching this.
"They do both have phones. And they got them near the end of Primary School.
"I talked to my wife about this a lot. And we're trying to juggle that like all parents are.
"I'm forming my views about what the right to do with my wife."
It was revealed last month that Mr Johnson was being lined up to campaign in the Midlands and northern seats - in the so-called Red Wall.
His allies and senior government figures say he will make speeches and appear on campaign literature.
During the interview, Mr Sunak highlighted how the upcoming local elections were a "great opportunity" to highlight Labour holding power in places such as Birmingham.
But experts have predicted the Tories may lose 500 town hall seats and face a fight to hold onto the mayoral races in the West Midlands and Tees valley.
He added: "Local elections are a great opportunity to see the contrast of what Labour in power means.
"Look at Birmingham, Labour council there bankrupted the largest local authority in Europe and handed everyone a 21 per cent council tax increase."
It comes as the latest YouGov MRP figures show that, if the country were voting in a general election tomorrow, Labour would win 403 seats nationwide.
The Conservatives would win just 155 seats, according to the model.
A government source: “This just goes to show that a vote for Reform is a vote for Keir Starmer.
"Over the next few months, minds will focus on the choice between our plan to keep driving down inflation, grow the economy and build a brighter future and Keir Starmer who has no plan and would take us back to square one."
'AWFUL, AWFUL TRAGEDY'
RISHI Sunak today paid tribute to the three "brave Brits
The PM also demanded a massive increase in the amount of aid as he warned of the "increasingly intolerable" situation.
He made his first comments about the deaths of three British nationals on The Sun's Never Mind The Ballots, set to air at 7pm tonight.
Three veterans - former Special Boat Service hero John Chapman, 57, ex-Royal Marine James Henderson, 33, and Army veteran James Kirby - were killed by an Israeli air strikes while delivering vital aid.
Mr Sunak told The Sun's political editor Harry Cole: "It's an awful, awful tragedy.
"To think these were brave Brits who were risking their lives to bring aid to people in need in Gaza... to have lost their lives in these circumstances is a tragedy. My thoughts obviously are with their families."
He ramped up calls on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for a "transparent independent investigation" into their deaths.
"I spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu last night and I was very clear with him that the situation is increasingly intolerable and what we urgently need to see is a thorough, transparent investigation into what happened.
"But also a dramatic increase in the amount of aid getting into Gaza, removing the barriers.
"Also, closer work with aid agencies so that things like this don't happen again."
And while Britain supported "Israel's right" to flush out Hamas terrorists, he demanded that more aid be allowed into Gaza.
Pressure has grown on the government recently to suspend export licences for arms sales to Israel.
Pressed on the issue, Mr Sunak said all such licences are kept under "careful" review but stopped short of a hard pledge to revoke them.
Mr Sunak said: "We've always had a very careful export licensing regime that we adhere to. There are a set of rules regulations and procedures that we'll always follow.
"And I've been consistently clear with Prime Minister Netanyahu since the start of this conflict that whilst of course we defend Israel's right to defend itself and it's people against attacks from Hamas, they have to do that in accordance with humanitarian law, protect civilian lives, get more aid into Gaza.
"What we want to see is an immediate humanitarian pause to allow more aid in and crucially for more hostages to also be released - and that's what we'll continue to push for.
"What's happened is a tragedy, and it shouldn't have happened and there are questions that need answering and that's why I've been very clear that what we expect is a thorough, transparent investigation into what has happened.
"Also I want to see a dramatic increase in the amount of aid flowing into Gaza and closer work with the aid agencies so these types of things just do not happen."
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