Things can only get wetter...

Pouring rain...drowned out by Labour anthem...Rishi's big moment turns into a damp squib

- JOHN STEVENS and LIZZY BUCHAN 

AS the rain tumbled down on a sodden Rishi Sunak yesterday, there were hopes of a brighter future when he finally called a general election.

On July 4, the country will get the chance to give its verdict on 14 years of Tory hell that has crippled public services, left schools crumbling, families struggling to get by, dental health in crisis, mortgages soaring and has allowed our rivers, lakes and seas to be filled with raw sewage.

Keir Starmer hailed it as "the moment we have been waiting for" and vowed Labour would build a fairer Britain that looks after all not just a few rich cronies and donors.

As if the downpour was not dismal enough for Mr Sunak, his speech was drowned out by the Labour anthem Things Can Only Get Better being played by nearby protesters. But other than revealing the date of the election, the PM's declaration sounded more like a party political broadcast full of washed-out soundbites and attacks on Labour.