Tories furious as Rishi Sunak calls surprise election

I heard Prime Minister Richy Suet live in Downing Street. You're listening to Times Radio Drive here with me in the studio. Ian Martin Tim Montgomery and our political editor Kate McAn at 10 Street on what is now a very, very big day. stay with us we'll give you all the analysis of what we've been hearing and where we're going because now we're in a general

election

campaign Kate McCan well I mean sometimes I know okay I want to get to the bottom of this. that was Ry Sunak as he sang his greatest hits from his short stint in an office that went from reminiscence to sort of campaign slogans and at times accused Kate of subsuming, you know, the substance of politics to cosmetics and theater. but it's hard to ignore what we just saw in the feeling that the rain was falling on Bishy Sak's head and his suit was getting soaked in the process and there was a stereo playing the Labor Anthem in the background.

Things can only get better while he was around. he was speaking he wasn't and this is the statement wasn't ideal Kate was like that I don't think John it's fair to say things couldn't have gotten much worse for the Prime Minister it looked like the rain was breaking him and then the volume came on as soon as as the Prime Minister came out, he ended up looking completely soaked to the skin, it's fair to say and you can probably still hear the music behind me. If you say the lab campaign track, things can only get better with the rain.

In fact, this is getting more difficult, but look, you know, beyond the optics, which of course don't look good for the Prime Minister, the reality is that throughout that speech I received text messages from Conservatives saying They said, well, that's it, now I'm doomed, I thought. I had more time and now, right?, my activists are not ready, they are frustrated. I thought I had more time in Parliament to sort things out. Don't know. It is very difficult for me to stomach a former cabinet minister saying this is absolutely diabolical, he looks like a fool and I think there are some important questions about why the Prime Minister chose to make this speech in the way he does today, but in terms of that substance, I have to say that when the Prime Minister began to speak I thought and thought.

I don't know if you thought this too, it sounded like the Prime Minister was making a resignation submission, he was talking about how you know I will never leave the people of this country to face their darkest days alone. I did everything in my power. to provide the best protection in the pandemic, it was kind of a greatest hits summary, if you will, of the things riak has done before, and then of course he went on to talk about the reasons why he thinks it's the right time, including the economic situation is improving and he says he is addressing immigration, but John is a very important point to make: we have not seen any of those flights leave Randa yet and we are still about five or six weeks away from arriving even Downing Street.

Kind of a better guest in terms of when they might leave, so I think there will still be some pretty big questions from Tor MPS after that speech and a very interesting tone. I thought he didn't feel like a prime minister who was delivering a jubilant, emotional speech. Kate's

election

campaign sounded like a man who knows he has a lot to prove and a pretty big hill to climb. I have to tell you that private message from a cabinet minister that said "Prime Minister" and this was the quote I told him. I think it sounds like nonsense, it's the last thing any Prime Minister, any Downing Street team, would want to hear at a time like this, when the Prime Minister is announcing what the date of the general election will be on 4 July, a snap summer election. um, we.

I'm going to speak in a moment to Paul Scar, the Conservative MP and former minister, but Tim is watching that with us along with Martin here in the studio. I must say that he did not impress you. There was a brilliant summary from Kate. I have been a critic of the Prime Minister, but I am fundamentally conservative. I want the conservatives to minimize the defeat in these elections. I was hoping they knew what they were doing today, but that image of the Prime Minister soaking wet doesn't even have the kind of confidence to make a joke about it, you know, show a little humor in humanity, self-deprecation for what is obviously going to dominate the front pages of the newspapers tomorrow, those photos of not just a little wet. but the completely dirty suit he was wearing, do you know why they didn't build that press conference inside number 10?

Beautiful press conference that would have prevented the Labor Party theme song from playing in the back. Things can only get better and I see that it's over now. Things on Twitter can only get wetter, it's what everyone says will be on the front pages of some newspapers tomorrow this is not the launch that uncle and um Kate obviously heard from a cabinet minister my sources are more humble than those of Kate but Tor MPs are still

furious

I'm getting messages one after another that they didn't expect this, they don't think it's the right time and I think the next few days story could be in significant part about Noises Off from MP Tori complaining about the Prime Minister.

I hope so. That's not the case, all of us, the con group, have to join in now, but, um, there are going to be quite a few, um, it won't be the law of the United States that would have done it, that was absolutely shocking. I mean, you've seen a lot in politics, John, I've been around and Tim at a lot of general elections. I have never seen anything like it, not even in the depths of Theresa May, what the hell do they think they are doing? I mean, firstly there were the Opticians, like you said Johnny, the rain was pouring so someone wouldn't say, look, this is the cheeky Sunak, I mean, he rose to fame by being good at communications, that was the point. in which people thought he was too handy with everything. the Instagram stuff, what went wrong with their team's kind of confidence and just a basic criterion to say you can't be sure the rain isn't going to last four or five minutes, stay inside, that's the first point. , then there's the introduction of I mean, I said before we left, just as we were talking a few minutes ago, John who seemed like he'd been sounding down or depressed recently.

I said, "I hope the guy's okay. He's had a tough time as a principal." minister, but that was not a campaign speech, there was zero confidence in him at all and then the substance that wrote that, I mean the committee, it felt like it was a committee, it didn't have some kind of thread running through it if it was "If you are launching a campaign for the general election, it should, I, it should be very optimistic, confident and it should contain phrases that are adequately outlined, what the campaigns will be." The campaign punchlines imagine Margaret Thatcher doing it or David Cameron or Tony Blair or any of their predecessors, but as I say, I'm pretty unflappable when it comes to politics, but it was a stunning performance and it was pretty damning reviews if this were a series of first night reviews for a new production in the West End, would close tomorrow.

I don't want to concentrate. I make a very positive effort here to not focus too much or for too long because "I have heard the hearing and we saw, we saw, we discussed what we have seen. I don't want to focus too much on the theatrics and appearances of what we have heard because now it is the great start to a process. that will decide the direction of our country for years to come and I think it is quite clear that it will not be an easy road for the prime minister or his government or his party, but this is the beginning and not the end. .I want to see our first you from, so to speak, the short floor and welcome to the program twice on the radio Paul Scully, the former Conservative minister and now backbencher.

Welcome to you, Paul, yes, I think I could. be the next MP yeah I don't actually know because I'm not standing in the next election so yeah good good afternoon to you John it's good to have you here Paul so look without me telling you. ask, what did you do with that? I'm frustrated this afternoon with all the speculation about free Bell and I agree with what Tim says because you know I've been doing this for 27 years or something. I joined the party in '97, so I've seen the election in that time and it feels like we're coming full circle and you don't have to be a headline reader, er, headline writer, to talk about the fat and wet one.

Tor speaks from a from a Le turn um and now we have to articulate a vision because I think what we're doing now is with this announcement we're talking about um right, we're not sure what's going to happen in the next six months, so We are going to cut and run now and what people want is the certainty that they want the economy to continue to grow, they want those flights to go to Rwanda, but we actually need to have the confidence of the party as a party to say that we have those answers. I still don't hear it, so I want my successor to be in his. get as many MPs to make sure we are shaping the party in the months and years to come, but we need to do more to set out our vision in the coming weeks, Paul, will that be possible for um?

MPS It is not a happy set of circumstances to announce a general election, we discuss that, but during a campaign it is imperative that a party stays united. he doesn't undermine his leader he puts on the best show possible, that's going to be possible, do you think? Yes, but it works both ways because you actually know that you have an advantage from the front, so the leader has to demonstrate that power. the cabinet has to do that too and all the people in their own particular areas and then you get the volunteers and the activists to go out and actually, you know, share the vision, but you need that Vision in the first place, so actually we We have to work together and now we only have a few weeks to do this, um, but this is not necessarily.

I mean, you know I'm reasonably good at math. I can add, it's not necessarily about us leading the country for the next five years, but for us it's at least being a credible opposition and a credible party that is a repository for people who still believe in center-right values ​​of opportunity , freedom and aspiration.