Rishi Sunak dropped flagship policies on deporting migrants to Rwanda and banning smoking for young people yesterday on the first full day of his election campaign, leaving his legacy increasingly threadbare.
Ministers confirmed key pieces of legislation that could be rushed through by MPs before parliament is suspended were likely to be dropped, including plans for a football regulator and an end to no-fault evictions.
Keir Starmer, kicking off his campaign in the target seat of Gillingham, Kent, said it was time to "turn the page on Tory chaos", with Labour warning the government's legislative programme was in tatters, with many proposed laws now "up in the air, or in the bin".
The prime minister's admission that migrants who crossed the Channel in small boats will not be flown to Rwanda before 4 July was met with despair by Tory rightwingers, with many of his MPs already unhappy about the early election.
Under the £500m scheme, the cornerstone of his government's promise to "stop the boats", flights would not start landing in Kigali until "after the election", the prime minister said.
As Sunak set off on a whistlestop tour of the UK, heading for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland over 24 hours, he insisted the Rwanda plan would go ahead if he was re-elected as "the flights are booked for July, the airfields are on standby".
But Starmer said his decision to call an early election showed Sunak "clearly does not believe in his own Rwanda plan". At Labour's campaign launch, the party leader said: "I don't think he's ever believed that plan is going to work, and so he has called an election early enough to have it not tested before the election."
Denne historien er fra May 24, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra May 24, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
New year refresh A month-by-month guide to sorting out your finances
Rupert Jones and Hilary Osborne offer a checklist of the vital tasks you need to tackle throughout the year, from filing your tax return to making the most of your holiday cash
Lost in music How Britain's clubs are disappearing fast - and why they are worth rescuing
When the patrons of Watford's Przym nightclub celebrated New Year's Eve a year ago, they were marking the end of an era - or rather, seven eras.
Nissan shares down 15% as investors react to plan for merger
Shares in the Japanese carmaker Nissan have taken their biggest fall since August's stock market sell-off, as investors turned their attention to the company's planned tie-up with domestic rivals Honda and Mitsubishi.
Climbing out of trouble? Rise in share price suggests BA's turbulent days may be over
It's been a long and turbulent time since anyone used British Airways' old slogan \"the world's favourite airline\" with a straight face.
North-south divide flips as EU's periphery beats core economies
The European Central Bank is facing a tough balancing act in 2025, trying to navigate a reversal of fortunes in eurozone economies as the hardest-hit nations of the 2010s debt crisis outperform the traditional core.
Number of retailers on the brink of collapse up by 25%
Footfall levels up 18% on Christmas Eve compared with last year.
London-listed mining company halts operations in Mozambique
The London-listed mining company Gemfields said yesterday it had temporarily halted its ruby mining operation in Mozambique after groups \"took advantage\" of political unrest to attempt to invade and set fire to its site, resulting in two deaths.
Aid convoy reaches besieged area of Sudanese capital
An aid convoy has reached a besieged area of Khartoum for the first time since Sudan's civil war broke out in April 2023, bringing food and medicines in a country where half of the people are at risk of starvation.
Mexico The mayor who turned wasteland into a utopia
Mexico City's mayor, Clara Brugada, has never been afraid to court controversy and has taken some imaginative steps in her efforts to undo decades of economic and cultural inequality.
Crisis on cat island On Aoshima, is time finally running out for human and feline inhabitants?
The reason for Aoshima's nickname is clear before we set foot on the island.
