‘So out of touch that he looks at a petrol pump and a debit card like they’ve just arrived from Mars.’
In what was the Prime Minister’s first PMQs since Dominic Raab’s resignation, the Labour leader made repeated references to Rishi Sunak’s wealth. Starmer accused the PM of being ‘clueless about life outside of his bubble.’
Criticising the Tories’ record on the economy, the Labour leader said they had messed it up over the course of the 13 years they have been in power.
“Is it any wonder that he smiles his way through the cost-of-living crisis while putting other people’s taxes up? Is it any wonder he doesn’t have a clue how food prices are hammering families across country, and is it any wonder that under him people are paying more and more and getting less and less?
“So out of touch that he looks at a petrol pump and a debit card like they’ve just arrived from Mars,” he said.
When Starmer asked why the government won’t scrap the non-dom system — a tax break formerly used by Sunak’s wife — the PM dismissed the tax loophole as “this non-dom thing.”
Sunak has refused to end the controversial tax status, claiming it would cost too much money to amend the rules.
Getting visibly more rattled, the Prime Minister insisted he was doing good job, claiming that it is Labour who are not on the side of the working people. Listing several statistics aimed at proving the good job the Tories are doing, Sunak spoke of declining poverty numbers.
This statistic was jumped on online. Caroline Lucas shared her disbelief to the comment, tweeting:
“Sunak says “numbers in poverty have gone down” what complacency when UK food poverty is among the worse in Europe, there are 3.9m children in poverty, and as many as 8 million in fuel poverty. I don’t know what numbers he’s talking about – maybe time for some numeracy lessons.”
The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn grilled the Prime Minister on his ‘stop the boats’ legislation, linking it to the crisis in Sudan. He asked Sunak to confirm whether a child refuge arriving in Britain from Sudan would be detained and deported. The Prime Minister avoided answering the question but said the UK government had invested £215m in Sudan in the last few years and had a “proud record” of supporting those who need the UK’s assistance.
With local elections just a week away, the party leaders were keen to impress. By making the economy his central argument and that people are paying more but getting less under the Tories, it was Starmer’s attack that is likely to resonate the most with working people.
Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward
Image credit: YouTube screen grab
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