Keir Starmer’s reset isn’t going very well. He turned up at Prime Minister’s Questions today clearly hoping to talk about the vision he had for the country, but ended up doing something he always complained about others doing when he was in opposition: dodging the question.
A planted question from a Labour backbencher allowed Starmer to kick off PMQs with some words about changing Britain:
‘We were elected to change the country, and that means getting the NHS back on its feet. The Chancellor will have much more to say about that in the budget, about fixing the foundations for our economy so we put money in people’s pockets, fix our public services and rebuild Britain.’
The Prime Minister was quite happy with the first question from Rishi Sunak, which was on the new workers’ rights package due to be published by the government tomorrow. The leader of the opposition used this policy to make a joke about Sue Gray. ‘Given the weekend’s events,’ Sunak asked, ‘when did the Prime Minister first become a convert to fire and rehire?’
Starmer responded with a defence of the ‘biggest upgrade of workers’ rights’. Then Sunak made another Gray reference as he changed the subject to a much more difficult one: taxes and the Budget. He said:
‘I know that not everything, or everyone has survived his first 100 days in government. So can he confirm that when he promised not to raise income tax national insurance or VAT, that commitment applies to both employer and employee National Insurance contribution.’
Starmer retorted that Sunak was ‘the expert’s expert on raising taxes, and trotted out the £22 billion black hole line. Sunak came again with the question about National Insurance contributions, and again Starmer gave a lawyerly answer that ‘I stick to my promises in the manifesto’. That was ‘about as reassuring as Sue Gray did when he promised to protect her job,’ said Sunak. The Tory leader then moved onto the suggestion that Rachel Reeves could change the debt target in the fiscal rules, which he reminded the chamber the Chancellor had previously said would be ‘fiddling the figures’.
Starmer didn’t answer that question. Instead he deflected it by complaining that Sunak hadn’t welcomed the investment and reforms the Labour government had already made. This was clearly the PM trying to suggest that, despite the internal divisions, his party was delivering in government.
Sunak asked again – and Starmer slipped back into opposition mode with a weak retort to the Conservative leader about claiming ‘they’ve never had it so good’. He had never had it so good in opposition, either: governing is turning out to be infinitely more miserable.
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