Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer trade blows as election campaigns kick off

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer raced out of the blocks on the first full day of campaigning for the July 4 general election.

The Prime Minister’s first stop was in Derbyshire, where he told workers at a distribution centre that the Conservatives would offer economic stability and “a clear plan”, while Labour would take Britain “back to square one”.

But his message was undermined by the startling admission that no deportation flights would take off for Rwanda before polling day under his flagship scheme to “stop the boats” crossing the Channel.