PMQs review: Sir Keir Starmer mocks Tories at PMQs over by-election losses
PMQs this week saw Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer mocking PM Rishi Sunak over the Tories’ two by-election defeats last week.
Sir Keir also pressured him on the cost of living crisis.
Labour took both Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire from the Conservatives – overturning huge Tory majorities in a double blow for the government.
“So will he just call a general election and give the British Public a chance to respond?
Sir Keir Starmer
At today’s PMQs, Sir Keir demanded a general election saying the prime minister was “oblivious” to the struggles of the working people.
But Sunak insisted it was his party “making the right long-term decisions to change this country for the better.”
Sir Keir welcomed his two new MPs before pointing to a social media post by the defeated Tory candidate in Tamworth.
Published in 2020, the Facebook post by Andrew Cooper told parents who struggled to feed children while still paying for TV and phone services to “f*** off”.
Sir Keir said the candidate must have thought he was “following government lines” by “throwing expletives at struggling families”.
A key talking point for Starmer for this PMQs was about renters and homeowners being hit hard by rising costs and being “abandoned” by the government – especially since Liz Truss’ mini-budget last autumn.
“In every cafe, pub and supermarket in Britain, people are having the same conversation,” he said. “‘We can’t afford that, put it back on the shelf, it’s too expensive’.
“[Mr Sunak] is completely oblivious, just patting himself on the back.”
Sunak defends ‘long-term decisions’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the government was “providing significant help” for people, from increasing pensions and benefits, along with a rise in the national living wage.
“Politicians like him always take the easy way out,” added PM Sunak. “Whereas we’re getting on, making the right long-term decisions to change this country for the better – on net zero, on HS2, on a smoke-free generation, on education and energy security.
“Contrast that to his leadership – too cautious to say anything and hoping that nobody notices.”
But the Labour leader dismissed Sunak’s remarks, instead calling for a general election.
“The truth is, his candidate in Tamworth summed up perfectly just how he and his Tories are treating the British public,” Sir Keir said.
“So will he just call a general election and give the British Public a chance to respond?
“As they did in Selby, Mid Beds, and Tamworth – they’ve heard the government telling them to f off and they want the chance to return the compliment.”