Rishi Sunak announces a 4 July general election in a statement outside Downing Street
After discussing the Covid pandemic, the furlough scheme, and the war in Ukraine, he says the question is "who do you trust?"
Sunak says he's proud of what his government has achieved, including on NHS spending and education
The PM revealed the date in a rain-soaked Downing Street speech, as Labour's 1997 election anthem Things Can Only Get Better blared from a nearby street
The Labour leader Keir Starmer says the election is the "moment the country's been waiting for"
And he says with "patience and determination" there is "so much pride and potential to unlock" in the UK
The prime minister says he is aware of the recommendation for a duty of candour in the infected blood inquiry report, but the government needs to take time to "fully digest" the findings.
He adds that there is an "enormous amount of sympathy for" the idea of a duty of candour.
Sir Keir Starmer, staying on the infected blood scandal, says that it is “shocking” but “not unique”.
He points to the duty of candour, or “lack of it”, which has been a failing in “scandal after scandal”, listing Grenfell, Horizon, Hillsborough and infected blood.
Starmer asks the prime minister if he agrees that the “time has come for the duty of candour to be clearly enshrined into law across the board”.
Rishi Sunak says it was an "appalling scandal".
He pays tribute to the bravery of people affected and their fight for justice, saying government's duty is to make sure nothing like this can ever happen again.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer gives a personal welcome back to South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay saying he is grateful for meeting him and his family this morning.
"Sometimes this house comes together as one and we do so to pay tribute to your courage and determination," Starmer says as he praises Mackinlay's "deep sense of service".
"It is an example for all of us," he says.
Turning to the infected blood scandal, Starmer says the House of Commons "was united on the compensation announcement" - which came after the final report of the Infected Blood Inquiry was published on Monday.
But, he says there are "many hard yards to go" and asks the PM if progress can only be made if "we tackle the lack of openness and candour which prolonged victim's suffering for decades?".
Sunak begins PMQs by paying tribute to Tory MP Craig Mackinlay, hailing his "incredible resilience" after his life-threatening episode of sepsis.
He also pays tribute to victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing - as today marks the seventh anniversary of the incident.
The prime minister is now standing at the dispatch box, which means proceedings are about to begin.
Stay with us as we bring you the latest developments, as well as political analysis from our colleagues at Westminster.
Image source, HoCThere is a standing ovation for Tory MP Craig Mackinlay.
The South Thanet MP returned to the Parliament for the first time after suffering a life-threatening episode of sepsis which led to the amputation of his hands and feet.
He says they were "like plastic...you could almost knock them...they were black, desiccating, clenched".
Read more about Mackinlay here
Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
Is Rishi Sunak suddenly about to announce a general election?
I don’t know, and nor do the legions of politician, advisers, journalists and officials currently working themselves into a frenzy asking each other those very questions.
You can physically see it: Portcullis House, parliament’s main meeting place, has been ablaze with gossip all morning in a way that it rarely has been over the recent fairly quiet stretch in Parliament.
And as MPs streamed into the Commons for PMQs they were asking each other — and me — what we all knew.
Remember for many MPs this is a question about not only summer holiday plans but their professional futures. Many Conservatives fear they are about to lose their seats — their jobs. Westminster runs on gossip. Today’s burst has a real frenetic edge.
Chris Mason
Political editor
Civil servants, advisers, MPs, you name it — there is, not for the first time this year, a swirl of chat within government and beyond that the prime minister might be about to call the general election, or at least have something to say about it.
Cards on the table: I am usually not that excitable about this kind of stuff, because it is usually quickly debunked.
This time, at least as I write this, it feels different.
For over 12 hours now I have been seeking a straight answer to whether Rishi Sunak is about to call an election and no straight answer has come.
Calls that are normally returned haven’t been.
It’s not a complete wall of silence, but the only question that matters isn’t being directly addressed.
Sunak appeared briefly in front of a camera this morning to welcome the fall in inflation, but stuck to his formulation that the general election would be in the second half of the year.
And if he did call it soon-ish, it probably would be — because July is, just, in the second half of 2024.
As I type this in Parliament’s Portcullis House, it is all folk are talking about.
Plausible cases are being made about why he could go for it now, and why he might not — by MPs of every political colour.
Over to him, and those around him, to clear it up.
Rishi Sunak has already hailed the fall in the headline inflation rate this morning, from 3.2% to 2.3%, as a major milestone for the UK, and he is likely to trumpet it as many times as he can in today’s PMQs.
He says inflation being “back to normal” is “an important moment for our country" and adds that he believes it shows "our plan is working”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is likely to sound unimpressed. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said: "After 14 years of Conservative chaos, families are worse off. Prices in the shops have soared, mortgage bills have risen and taxes are at a 70-year high."
Another highlight should come when Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay returns to Parliament for the first time since losing his hands and feet to sepsis.
His wife Kati and daughter will watch his appearance at PMQs from the public gallery. It's a moment that will also likely be marked by Sunak and Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
Mackinlay says he wants to be known as the first "bionic MP" after being fitted with prosthetic legs and hands.
Image source, PA MediaThe prime minister has just left Downing Street and is making his way to the House of Commons.
As always, PMQs will kick off at 12:00 BST, so stay tuned as we'll be bringing you the latest from the Commons here.
As we reported earlier, UK inflation has fallen again - and is now very close to the Bank of England's 2% target. Speaking earlier this morning, Rishi Sunak said:
Quote MessageToday marks a major moment for the economy, with inflation back to normal. This is proof that the plan is working and that the difficult decisions we have taken are paying off.
Quote MessageBrighter days are ahead, but only if we stick to the plan to improve economic security and opportunity for everyone."
Image source, .
Daniel Wainwright
Data journalist
Image source, .The Conservative average in our opinion poll tracker is the lowest that we’ve seen since October 2022, just as Liz Truss was leaving Downing Street.
About 23% of voters in Great Britain would back the party were a general election held tomorrow, the polls show. That excludes those who are undecided or wouldn’t vote at all.
Labour has a 21 percentage point lead.
Things aren’t moving a lot in the polls but look a little further down the chart and the Greens are at about 7%, which is the highest we have seen them at since 2021.
Reform UK is polling at an average of 11% but has come down a bit from its peak in early April.
The latest averages are calculated from polls by 12 different companies in the two weeks up to 20 May.
You can explore how things have changed over the past year and since 2020 in our interactive poll tracker.
Image source, ReutersRishi Sunak, pictured this morning
Wednesday is here again - welcome to our live coverage of Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons.
Rishi Sunak has already hailed the fall in inflatoion this morning - from 3.2% to 2.3% - as a "major milestone for the UK", and he is likely to trumpet it as many times as he can.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is likely to sound unimpressed. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said earlier: "After 14 years of Conservative chaos, families are worse off. Prices in the shops have soared, mortgage bills have risen and taxes are at a 70-year high."
Away from the front benches, a highlight should come when Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay returns to Parliament for the first time since losing his hands and feet to sepsis.
His wife Kati and daughter will watch his appearance at PMQs from the public gallery. It is also likely to be marked by Sunak, Starmer, and Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.