Rishi Sunak is right to delay election as he is on mission to deliver his five pledges to Brits

Rishi mission

WHAT rational case could there be for the Tories holding a spring election? None.

Labour’s claim that Rishi Sunak has “bottled it” by pencilling in an autumn or winter date instead is nonsense.

The PM knows he has not yet come good on his five pledges.

Yes, inflation has been halved.

But the economy is flatlining, not growing.

The small boats have not been stopped.

All three could make major progress in months.

NHS waiting lists, though, are being worsened by striking doctors.

And the national debt won’t fall any time soon.

Mr Sunak is rightly waiting for more progress — and time to slash taxes, as he must.

He would be bonkers to go to the country early, so adrift in the polls.

On yesterday’s evidence, his challenger Keir Starmer badly needs some policies and a new scriptwriter.

His big speech was an epic of waffle and spite, utterly bereft of any concrete ideas to effect the change he glibly advertises.

Anyone can talk about national renewal, increased growth, lower bills and so on.

Starmer clearly has no idea if, or how, any of it would happen.

He talked up something or someone called “frank hope”. He suddenly blurted out: “Sticking plasters. Rejected!”

Neither Labour’s leader nor his aides have a clue how ridiculous their buzzwords sound outside Westminster.

Worse, Starmer appears to be mainly playing to a gallery of Twitter lefties.

They love all that juvenile vitriol about the PM “salting the Earth” to sabotage our future, wickedly sowing division and unleashing “a gauntlet of fear”.

They alone seem to see polite, moderate Rishi as Sauron from Lord of the Rings.

What about the floating voters Starmer actually needs to win power?

They’re left bemused by his sanctimonious babble and, frankly, hoping for something better.

Duffer Davey

THE hypocrisy of Lib Dem leader Ed Davey attacking the Tories over the Post Office IT scandal is sickening.

In 2010, as Postal Affairs Minister, he bluntly refused to meet key whistleblower Alan Bates.

Instead he just ­swallowed the Post Office’s lies.

Why was he so incurious about what proved to be a monstrous injustice?

It is easy to ignore the Lib Dems.

But after a tight election Davey could end up back in power, propping up Starmer.

Despite that shameful stain on his record.

It’s dart wars

LUKE Littler’s magnificent World Championship heroics will make a great movie.

How about a Star Wars spin-off? The ingredients are there.

Luke, the unknown dead-eye master, overcoming all-powerful dart forces.

The gifted young upstart trained by a mysterious guru . . . let’s call him ­Obi-Wan Hundred and Eighty.

Who’ll play Darts Vader?