Rishi Sunak has vowed to “fight for every vote” as he called an early UK general election for Thursday 4 July.In a surprise announcement, the PM said he would go to the polls this summer as he bids to win a fifth term in office for the Conservatives.It overturned expectations of an autumn election, which might have given his party a better chance of closing the gap with Labour.Sir Keir Starmer said it was “time for change” away from “Tory chaos”.
There was confusion in at least some parts of the Conservative Party about why Mr Sunak decided to call the general election sooner than was widely expected, the BBC’s political correspondent Henry Zeffman reported.
In a TV statement shortly afterwards, Sir Keir argued Tory “chaos” had damaged the economy, and a vote for his party represented a chance to bring political stability.Adding it was “time for change”, he criticised the Conservatives’ management of public services, the NHS and record on tackling crime.
SNP leader John Swinney, who took over as Scotland’s first minister earlier this month, said the election was a chance to “remove the Tory government and put Scotland first”.Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said it would be a chance to “kick Rishi Sunak’s appalling Conservative government out of office”, whilst Greens co-leader Carla Denyer said her party was aiming to elect “at least four” new MPs.And Reform UK leader Richard Tice said the Tories had “broken Britain” but Labour would “bankrupt Britain,” and only his party would offer “common sense policies that can now save Britain”.
Mr Sunak’s statement is the start of weeks of general election campaigning for the 650 seats in Parliament.It will be fought on the first set of new constituency boundaries since 2010, redrawn to reflect population changes since then, and will be the first where voters have to show ID.The Royal Family has postponed engagements “which may appear to divert attention or distract from the election campaign”, Buckingham Palace said, adding that the King and Queen sent their “sincere apologies” to those affected.
At the last election in 2019, Boris Johnson won an 80-seat majority after calling a snap poll as he fought to get his Brexit withdrawal deal through Parliament.It was followed by an extraordinarily volatile period in British politics, as the country was hit by the Covid pandemic and Mr Johnson was forced to resign, amid a cabinet revolt over a series of scandals.His successor Liz Truss lasted 49 days in the job before she quit, after a market backlash to her tax and spending plans announced at a hastily-arranged “mini Budget” in September 2022.This is the first general election since 2015 that has not required a vote in Parliament to approve the date, since legislation fixing the time between polls was reversed two years ago.
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Ofcom basically washed their hands of informing people about this, so no-one knew about it anyway. When the analog TV switch off happened, there were adverts everywhere but not for this even though I would argue this is an exceptionally bigger deal
BT has significantly delayed plans to force customers to switch from physical copper-based landlines to internet-based services following concerns from vulnerable people.The switch was paused at the end of last year after several incidents where telecare devices stopped working.Nearly two million people in the UK use personal alarms which rely on landlines.BT, which is also responsible for EE customers, has now abandoned the timeline of completing the national switchover by the end of 2025, and will instead aim to complete the move by the end of January 2027.But a campaign group for elderly people has told the BBC the revised timeline is “a token concession”.
“The delay is for just over a year, which we don’t think is long enough to make sure there are sufficient safeguards for vulnerable customers,” said Silver Voices head Dennis Reed.“BT and the other telecoms firms haven’t even worked out what a vulnerable customer actually is, and we are calling for a more defined definition.“We feel the deadline of January 2027 is very premature.
BT said its new timetable followed the introduction of a series of improvements to better protect vulnerable customers and those with additional needs.
“The urgency for switching customers onto digital services grows by the day because the 40-year-old analogue landline technology is increasingly fragile,” said BT head of security and networks Howard Watson.
“Managing customer migrations from analogue to digital as quickly and smoothly as possible, while making the necessary provisions for those customers with additional needs is critically important.”BT said it will protect vulnerable customers where it is made aware of them, and it plans to provide “resilient solutions” to those who are dependent on their landline.The measures include providing free battery back-up units and offering hybrid phones which can use both broadband and mobile networks.But some campaign groups said these solutions were still confusing.“For many older people or those who need a simple landline running even through power cuts, there is still much to be done to communicate what the changes mean for them,” said Digital Poverty Alliance head Elizabeth Anderson.
"Who pays for new phones, battery packs or other kit, and support for people to learn new skills or behaviours – such as keeping emergency backups charged 24/7?”The move is part of BT’s digital voice changeover plan, which requires all households to have an internet connection.It has not yet been confirmed whether other firms will follow suit.
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Cryptosporidiosis is an infection that causes diarrhea. It is sometimes called Crypto. It is caused by a parasite found in stool. You can get this infection after eating food or drinking water that is contaminated with stool.
Let’s hope this isn’t an Archduke Franz Ferdinand moment. Last thing we need is full blown escalation in an already fractured geopolitical situation that could lead to WWIII.
Assassinations were all the rage at the time. We just remember that one especially because it was the nominal match lighting the powderkeg that was bound to blow from something
My guess is that this is going to be a guy with an odd axe to grind sort of like in Japan when Abe was shot. There’s still plenty of political assassinations but they’re usually more sophisticated than “Walk up and start firing away.”
He’s a controversial leader, obviously, but the assassin didn’t seem like a professional.
I’m not a big fan of political assassinations, or attempts thereof, but I’m going to have to admit that I don’t feel sorry for him. It’s a reasonable balancing act against those who are permissive of right wing shitheads at the threat of violence. Political voilence (or preferably, lack of such) should be more bipartisan and politically evened out.
I’m not going to shed any tears if someone in a certain country south of Slovakia draws inspiration from this either.
I wish him a lengthy and painful recovery.
EDIT for clarification: I hope he survives with no lasting harm. I don’t wish that kind of loss on his friends and family.
We just summarize his personality with friend as “first class asshole” and hope that this will not come across the border to us. (These kinds of politicians)
Two children were killed and others were injured after a bomb fell near a paediatric hospital in the western Sudanese city of El Fasher, the medical charity MSF has said.Clashes have recently intensified in the battle for control of the city.It is the last major urban centre in the Darfur region that remains in the hands of the army.It has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for more than a year, in a civil war that has killed thousands and forced millions from their homes.
The army has managed to hold on to El Fasher but tension has been mounting as the RSF has been besieging the city since the middle of last month and threatening an assault.Since Friday, residents have witnessed intense clashes and the exchange of heavy mortar fire, a freelance journalist in the city told the BBC.At some point overnight into Sunday a blast in front of the MSF-supported Babiker Nahar Paediatric Hospital in El Fasher “led to the collapse of the roof above the intensive care unit and the death of two children receiving treatment there, as well as some caregivers”, the charity said in a brief statement sent to the BBC.Patients were also injured and those who could make it sought safety in another hospital, which had already taken in 160 wounded people on Friday.It is not clear who was responsible for the attack.The southern part of the city, once considered safer and a refuge for displaced people, has been under fire.Fear now pervades El Fasher as residents are unsure where to seek refuge.The UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator for Sudan said that “the violence threatens the lives of over 800,000 civilians”.
“It is heartbreaking to see this nightmare unfolding…
This must stop,” Clementine Nkweta-Salami said.Sudan’s brutal civil war began in April last year, after the country’s two leading military men who had staged a coup together – one the head of the armed forces, the other the head of the RSF – fell out over the future of the country.International efforts to broker a ceasefire have repeatedly failed.
Fear and prayers in Sudan city under siegeThe children living between starvation and death in DarfurA front-row seat to my country falling apart
Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, external, on Facebook at BBC Africa, external or on Instagram at bbcafrica, external
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Hundreds of people are feared dead after flash flooding hit northern Afghanistan, with warnings the toll could rise after further storms across the region.Taliban officials say at least 150 have been killed, while the World Food Programme says more than 300 have died, after heavy rainfall hit five districts in Baghlan province on Friday night.
Pictures on social media showed torrents of water sweeping through houses in several villages, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.The country has been hit by unusually heavy rainfall over the last few weeks, with floods killing scores of people since mid-April.
Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s interior ministry, told the BBC that at least 131 people had died in Baghlan province and 20 in Takhar.Meanwhile, Rana Deraz, from the UN’s World Food Programme, told the AFP news agency there had been 311 deaths in Baghlan.Ms Deraz said 2,011 houses had been destroyed and an additional 2,800 damaged.Three mosques, and four schools were also affected.Many of those who had died came from the province’s Borka district where more than 200 people had been trapped inside their homes.
There are also reports of severe damage in the provinces of Badakhshan, Ghor and western Herat.Local official Hedayatullah Hamdard told AFP news agency emergency personnel including the army were “searching for any possible victims under the mud and rubble”.Tents, blankets and food were provided to some families who had lost their homes, the official added.The main road connecting Kabul to northern Afghanistan is closed.
It comes after flooding last month in the west of the country killed dozens of people, leaving thousands requiring humanitarian aid.
Flash flooding happens when rain falls so heavily that normal drainage cannot cope.Experts say a relatively dry winter has made it more difficult for the soil to absorb rainfall.
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Can someone please ELI5 why they think that HAMAS won’t just “evacuate” with the rest of these people? What’s the point of destroying a chunk of the city that was abandoned? I understand that they are destroying the “infrastructure”, tunnels etc. but not terrorists? Am I missing something?
Other than destroying the infrastructure as you mentioned, in an evacuation/refugee scenario it’s possible to identify individuals and check them against available intelligence.
Israeli intelligence has had a lot of time to at the very least identify Hamas’s chain of command. While the odd low-level fighter might slip through, any leader would get nabbed before they made it into a refugee camp.
Because people around here don’t like hearing that there’s a strategically valid, logistically viable method for clearing out the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza while minimizing civilian casualties.
Apparently nobody noticed that the moment the IDF started evacuating civilians and moving in Hamas is suddenly open to accepting terms. What I outlined is the thing they fear most: their leadership on the ground getting grabbed.
Seriously. Would you trust the Israeli government to tell you where to be if you were a Palestinian at this point? You’d have to be suicidal to trust them.
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