LONDON: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Labour Party rival Keir Starmer will kick off their election campaigns in earnest on Thursday, a day after Sunak surprised the nation by calling a vote for July 4.
Sunak, whose Conservative Party trails Labour by around 20 percentage points in opinion polls, ended months of speculation centered on an election in October or November, and instead used a rain-soaked address to the electorate to kick off what is likely to be six weeks of frenetic campaigning.
Both party leaders are expected to hit the campaign trail, seeking to seize the early initiative by meeting voters and delivering the messages they hope will earn them enough seats in parliament to form a majority government on July 5.
At stake is control of the world’s sixth largest economy which has endured years of low growth and high inflation, is still battling to make a success of its 2016 decision to exit the European Union, and is slowly recovering from twin shocks of COVID-19 and an energy price spike caused by the war in Ukraine.
That backdrop makes the economy one of the most important electoral battlegrounds.
Sunak, 44, announced the election on the day inflation returned close to target, and his early message to voters has been that his plan for the economy is working, and only he can turn that stability into a recovery that benefits all.
“Who do you trust to turn that foundation into a secure future for you, your family and our country?” he told a rally late on Wednesday, casting Labour as a party without a plan.
“We’re working for a Britain where we have renewed confidence in ourselves and our communities. A country where hard work will be met with fair rewards and where the opportunities enjoyed by the previous generations will be there for future ones.”
Starmer, a 61-year-old former lawyer who has pulled Labour’s politics back to the center ground after a spell of electorally unsuccessful left-wing leadership, has pitched his party as one that will bring change for a disgruntled electorate.
“Labour will stop the chaos, turn the page and get Britain’s future back,” he said in an early campaign message to party members, describing the election as “the fight of our lives.”
“This is the moment we’ve been working toward. We must come together to beat the Tories and deliver a Labour government to change Britain for the better.”
If Labour win the election, it would end 14 years of Conservative government and Britain, once known for its political stability, will have had six prime ministers in eight years for the first time since the 1830s.
While the electioneering gets underway, activity in parliament is expected to pick up too as the government works out which of the pieces of legislation currently in process will be rushed through, and which will fall by the wayside.
Laws currently under discussion include Sunak’s plan to impose some of the world’s strictest anti-smoking rules by banning anyone aged 15 and under from ever buying cigarettes.
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Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to hit campaign trail as UK election race begins
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Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to hit campaign trail as UK election race begins
- Both party leaders are expected to hit the campaign trail, seeking to seize the early initiative by meeting voters
’Our children are next’ fear Kenyans as drought wipes out livestock
MANDERA: In drought-hit northeastern Kenya, villagers have been forced to drag their dead livestock to distant fields for burning to keep the stench of death and scavenging hyenas away from their homes.
Mandera county along Kenya’s borders with Ethiopia and Somalia has seen no rain since May and is now on the point of a full-blown water emergency.
“I have lost all my cows and goats, and burned them here,” Bishar Maalim Mohammed, 60, a resident of Tawakal village, told AFP.
In his village, where most are pastoralists relying heavily on their animals, the only remaining bull can no longer stand. He has lain in the same spot for nearly a week, severely dehydrated with bones protruding through his skin, as his owner watches helplessly.
In the nearby town of Banissa, the man-made watering hole that once held 60,000 cubic meters of water is dry, leaving a barren expanse that children have turned into a playground.
Herds of goats, cattle and camels must now trek up to 30 kilometers (20 miles) to the nearest watering hole at Lulis village, jostling for the remaining water that officials are rationing.
“In two weeks this water will be finished... we are in a very bad state,” said local resident Aden Hussein, 40.
More than two million people across 23 counties in Kenya are facing worsening food insecurity after the October-December short rains failed, with rainfall two-thirds below average.
The National Drought Management Authority has placed about nine counties on alert, while Mandera County is at the “alarm” phase, one step short of an official emergency.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network recently said 20 to 25 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia need humanitarian food assistance, more than half because of drought.
“Our children are the next ones who are going to die,” said Maalim Mohammed in Tawakal.
- ‘No milk at all’ -
At Banissa’s main hospital, an influx of severely malnourished children — some arriving from neighboring Ethiopia — has overwhelmed the paediatric ward.
During a recent visit, AFP saw eight children suffering from severe malnutrition, including a 32-month-old girl weighing just 4.5 kilograms and another child who had been readmitted after returning to a household with no food.
“Children are not getting an adequate diet because of this drought...they depend on camel and goat milk but there is now no milk at all,” said hospital nutritionist Khalid Ahmed Wethow.
The hospital, which serves around 200,000 people, has only eight tins of therapeutic milk remaining in its paediatric unit, which were expected to run out this week.
The unit depends on donations from organizations such as the World Food Programme, but with Western countries slashing aid budgets over the past year, it has not received any supplies in six months.
The Kenyan government and aid groups such as the Red Cross have increased water-trucking efforts, food assistance and cash support, but say they cannot keep up with demand.
- ‘Tried to escape’ -
In desperation, Bishar Mohamed, no relation to the first villager, traveled more than 150 kilometers with his herd of 170 goats in search of pasture. Around 100 died along the way and the rest died after he returned home to Hawara village.
“We have tried to escape in search of better places and failed,” he told AFP, standing in a field where the carcasses of his goats were piled up. “I have been moving by foot... my head is severely in pain... we are thirsty.”
In nearby Jabi Bar village, enrolment at a nearby school has dropped by more than half, headteacher Ali Hajji Shabure told AFP.
“Only 99 children are in school, most of them have left with their parents,” Shabure said.
The next rains — if they come — are not due before April.
Bishara Maalim, a mother of 10 in Hawara, has only one hope for her children: “May God save them.”
Mandera county along Kenya’s borders with Ethiopia and Somalia has seen no rain since May and is now on the point of a full-blown water emergency.
“I have lost all my cows and goats, and burned them here,” Bishar Maalim Mohammed, 60, a resident of Tawakal village, told AFP.
In his village, where most are pastoralists relying heavily on their animals, the only remaining bull can no longer stand. He has lain in the same spot for nearly a week, severely dehydrated with bones protruding through his skin, as his owner watches helplessly.
In the nearby town of Banissa, the man-made watering hole that once held 60,000 cubic meters of water is dry, leaving a barren expanse that children have turned into a playground.
Herds of goats, cattle and camels must now trek up to 30 kilometers (20 miles) to the nearest watering hole at Lulis village, jostling for the remaining water that officials are rationing.
“In two weeks this water will be finished... we are in a very bad state,” said local resident Aden Hussein, 40.
More than two million people across 23 counties in Kenya are facing worsening food insecurity after the October-December short rains failed, with rainfall two-thirds below average.
The National Drought Management Authority has placed about nine counties on alert, while Mandera County is at the “alarm” phase, one step short of an official emergency.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network recently said 20 to 25 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia need humanitarian food assistance, more than half because of drought.
“Our children are the next ones who are going to die,” said Maalim Mohammed in Tawakal.
- ‘No milk at all’ -
At Banissa’s main hospital, an influx of severely malnourished children — some arriving from neighboring Ethiopia — has overwhelmed the paediatric ward.
During a recent visit, AFP saw eight children suffering from severe malnutrition, including a 32-month-old girl weighing just 4.5 kilograms and another child who had been readmitted after returning to a household with no food.
“Children are not getting an adequate diet because of this drought...they depend on camel and goat milk but there is now no milk at all,” said hospital nutritionist Khalid Ahmed Wethow.
The hospital, which serves around 200,000 people, has only eight tins of therapeutic milk remaining in its paediatric unit, which were expected to run out this week.
The unit depends on donations from organizations such as the World Food Programme, but with Western countries slashing aid budgets over the past year, it has not received any supplies in six months.
The Kenyan government and aid groups such as the Red Cross have increased water-trucking efforts, food assistance and cash support, but say they cannot keep up with demand.
- ‘Tried to escape’ -
In desperation, Bishar Mohamed, no relation to the first villager, traveled more than 150 kilometers with his herd of 170 goats in search of pasture. Around 100 died along the way and the rest died after he returned home to Hawara village.
“We have tried to escape in search of better places and failed,” he told AFP, standing in a field where the carcasses of his goats were piled up. “I have been moving by foot... my head is severely in pain... we are thirsty.”
In nearby Jabi Bar village, enrolment at a nearby school has dropped by more than half, headteacher Ali Hajji Shabure told AFP.
“Only 99 children are in school, most of them have left with their parents,” Shabure said.
The next rains — if they come — are not due before April.
Bishara Maalim, a mother of 10 in Hawara, has only one hope for her children: “May God save them.”
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