PMQs: Starmer repeats his stock phrases while grilled on Labour scandals
The leader of the opposition had plenty of ammunition for the first Prime Minister’s Questions in a month.
As Keir Starmer faced his first PMQs in a month today – with his 100th day in office fast approaching this Saturday – all eyes were on the PM to prove that several scandal-filled weeks haven’t rendered the start to his premiership a disaster.
In today’s session, Sir Keir spent more time stalling rather than providing answers.
As Sunak began his inquiries, we waited for him to drop the hammer in the wake of the Labour party’s internal turmoil preceding the session. We did not have to wait long. Two Sue Gray jabs were made gleefully: probing the Prime Minister on tomorrow’s Workers Rights Bill, he asked Starmer whether he had become a “convert to fire and rehire”.
Starmer attempted to turn scrutiny back onto the “£22 billion black hole” left by former Tory government but was met with another quip, as Sunak jibed that businesses find the PMs answers “as reassuring as Sue Gray did”.
Perhaps his most memorable soundbite was his retort to Stamer’s waffling on National Insurance increases: “Not even Lord Alli is buying any of that nonsense”. Cheers rose from the opposition bench.
Sunak then moved onto the budget. Accusing Rachel Reeves of inconsistency, he brought up her claim in 2023 that to change the government debt target was tantamount to “fiddling the figures”. Using that phrase to taunt the PM, all Starmer could say was “I’m not going to get drawn into questions on the budget”. Such an evasive response left the opposition triumphant.
Sunak pressed on the question of rises to National Insurance contributions by employers, whilst Starmer built up his offence, calling Sunak the “expert’s expert” on raising taxes. Vowing to uphold his promises, Starmer retreated into the safety of his manifesto rather than answering the question.
The PM did not make light use of the slogans his team had prepared, repeating his stock phrases liberally to any question he disliked to answer: “The biggest upgrade of workers rights in a generation” and “bringing the NHS off its knees” were both voiced three times.
A pause in adversarial communication was made to acknowledge the hard work of the security services and comment on the Terrorism Bill with “constructive support”, but in a switch fast enough to give you whiplash, Starmer was back on the offensive claiming the Tories “can’t celebrate Britain’s success under this government”.
Following Sunak’s inquisition, the PM steadily responded to issues on Private School VAT, the EU, cuts to councils and a £6.4 billion AI investment into early cancer diagnoses.
However, to each question, a stammering start made his nerves apparent. Following such a decline in opinion polls in the past few days, he had every reason to be cautious in today’s session. But he didn’t completely fail in the face of controversy. On the topic of Black History Month, he jokingly claimed to avoid the “Temptations” cover band in the Commons, garnering a bipartisan chuckle.
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