David Cameron has cut short his trip to Albania to attend the Cabinet meeting at No10 this afternoon amid rampant speculation a snap election could be called.
The Foreign Secretary, who was in Tirana to discuss immigration policy, was urgently recalled to Britain so he could attend the Downing Street meeting at around 4pm.
Rishi Sunak refused to rule out calling a snap general election, with rumours rapidly spreading around Westminster that the Prime Minister could call a vote in just hours.
Asked whether he will call a snap election by SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn at PMQs, Sunak said: “As I have said repeatedly to him, there is – spoiler alert – there is going to be a general election in the second half of this year.”
Responding, Flynn accused the PM of continuing to “play games with the public”.
The second half of this year technically begins in around a months time, while a snap election could be held in as little as six weeks.
Rishi Sunak has refused to rule out calling a snap general election when asked at PMQsPARumours began growing this morning after the Prime Minister hailed new figures which showed inflation has dropped to 2.3 per cent.
He vowed "brighter days" were ahead, calling today's data a "major moment for our economy".
No10 insiders failed to rule out an election when contacted by GB News.
But one Tory MP told GB News he doesn't believe the rumours "for a second", adding: "Why would you call an election two weeks after you just got slaughtered in the last one?"
He denied the significance of inflation figures, saying they don't mean anything to normal people. The MP explained: "They need to feel better off, and that takes time."
A source inside the Conservative Party agreed, saying it would be "madness" for the Prime Minister to call a snap election.
They questioned why the Government would send voters to the polls before interest rates have been cut.
Rumours began growing this morning after the Prime Minister hailed new figures which showed inflation has dropped to 2.3 per cent
PA
The source instead suggested the PM could be gearing up to announce an election for the Autumn, rather than calling a snap election today.
The rumours come despite the Conservative Party trailing more than 20 points behind Labour in the polls.
Responding to today's inflation figures, which triggered the latest round of election rumours, Sunak told reporters: “Thanks to everyone’s hard work and resilience, today we have reached a major milestone and inflation is back to normal.
“That is an important moment for our country, for the economy, and shows that our plan is working.
“Whilst I know people are only just starting to feel the benefits and there is more work to do, I hope this gives people confidence that if we stick to the plan there are brighter days ahead.”
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The Prime Minister added: “The economy grew in the first quarter of this year, faster than France, Germany and America.
“Wages have been rising faster than prices for almost a year now, energy bills are down hundreds of pounds now from where they were, mortgage rates are down from the peak and today’s news on inflation being back to normal is very welcome.
“If you put all of that together it shows we have got momentum, it shows that the plan is working but of course there is more work to do for people to really feel the benefits of all these things.
“That is why it is important that we stick to the plan. As I have said, these things don’t happen by accident.”
Labour has urged Sunak to “get on with it” and call a general election this afternoon amid speculation the Prime Minister is eyeing a summer vote.
A party spokesman said: “We are fully ready to go whenever the Prime Minister calls an election. We have a fully organised and operational campaign ready to go and we think the country is crying out for a general election so would urge the prime minister to get on with it.”
Asked what they would think of an election being called on Wednesday afternoon the spokesman said they would “be very happy with that” but accused the Prime Minister of having “bottled it” in the past.
“We’ve seen the prime minister has repeatedly marched us up this hill and then bottled it at the last minute when it comes to calling an election, but when it comes to it, however long he keeps delaying it he cannot avoid the verdict of the British public, which recognises that this is a government that has failed over the last 14 years and believes that it’s time for a change,” he said.
“And we look forward to having the opportunity to put our case to the public that this changed Labour Party represents the change that the country needs so that we can hopefully have the privilege of serving in government.”
