Sir Keir Starmer brands Rishi Sunak ‘desperate’ and says ‘of course there will be TV debates’

Published

1 month ago

May 24, 2024

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Sir Keir Starmer has accused Rishi Sunak of “sounding a bit desperate” after he accused him of chickening out of TV debates.

The Labour leader told Sky News that “of course there are going to be TV debates” and they are “part and parcel of the election cycle now”.

“I obviously want to spend as much of my time talking to voters directly”, he added.

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Sir Keir said he could do “100 debates with Rishi Sunak but I know what he’s going to say”.

“He’s going to say everything is fine, the cost of living crisis is over, the health service hasn’t got any problems.

“And that is all he ever says.

“Of course there are going to be debates, but he is sounding a bit desperate now.”

However, Sir Keir would not commit to Sky News’ leaders event in Grimsby, one of our election Target Towns, saying that there will be “negotiations into what exactly we’re doing”.

It comes after Sir Keir was accused of “chickening out” of weekly showdowns during the election campaign and even branded “spineless” by his political opponents.

Mr Sunak last night challenged him to take part in six TV clashes debating issues like tax, the cost of living and security.

But Labour said Sir Keir would not agree to “tearing up” the format established in previous elections “just to suit this week’s whims of the Tory party”.

They indicated Sir Keir would be willing to take part in two debates – with the BBC and ITV.

TV election debates took off in the UK in the 2010 general election when Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg took part in three debates, on ITV, Sky News and the BBC.

Realistically, TV schedules in June and early July are packed with the group stages and knock-out matches in the Euro 2024 football tournament – with England the favourites – meaning six election debates are highly unlikely.

In his interview with Sky News, Sir Keir went on to defend a series of policy U-turns, saying they are the “practical reality of Tory damage to the economy”.

Sir Keir has been criticised for rowing back on many pledges he won the Labour leadership on, such as scrapping university tuition fees and bringing utilities into public ownership.

He said the state of the economy meant he had to prioritise other issues, such as NHS waiting lists.

“I did advocate getting rid of tuition fees, you’re absolutely right about that,” Sir Keir said.

“Now, damage has been done to the economy, we’ve got to make a choice.

“We’ve got (NHS) waiting lists that are the best part of eight million – the money is not available to do both.

“In the end, if you can’t do both, you have to make a decision. I’ve taken a political choice.”

He added: “It’s the practical reality of the damage that the Tories have done to the economy”.

Sir Keir is in Scotland today to launch the party’s General Election campaign north of the border.

Labour will need to win back many seats in its former traditional heartlands if it wants to secure a majority when voters go to the polls on 4th July.

Sir Keir will promote his plan for a publicly owned clean energy company, which will be headquartered in Scotland.

Meanwhile Mr Sunak will be in Northern Ireland for the fourth leg of his whirlwind tour of the UK.

Politics

US politicians who may be spinning the news with crypto

Published

5 hours ago

June 25, 2024

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US politicians who may be spinning the news with crypto

Donald Trump seems to have doubled down on digital assets after he was convicted of 34 felony counts in New York.

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Four men arrested at Rishi Sunak’s North Yorkshire home

Published

6 hours ago

June 25, 2024

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Four men arrested at Rishi Sunak's North Yorkshire home

Four men have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass in the grounds of the prime minister’s home, police have confirmed.

The incident took place at Rishi Sunak’s constituency address in Kirby Sigston, North Yorkshire, while he was attending events in London to mark the Japanese state visit.

A police statement said officers were “with the four men within one minute of them entering the grounds”.

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The arrests are connected to a protest by campaigners from Youth Demand. It describes itself as a group of young people who want “the Tories and the Labour Party commit to a two-way arms embargo on Israel, and to stop all new oil and gas licences”.

A spokesperson for the group said three of those arrested were taking part in the demonstration, while the fourth person was an independent photographer.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “They were detained at around 12.40pm before being escorted off the property and arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass.

“The men, aged 52 from London, 43 from Bolton, 21 from Manchester, and 20 from Chichester, remain in police custody for questioning and enquiries are ongoing.”

It comes after a separate incident last summer, when protesters scaled the roof of Mr Sunak’s home.

They held up banners which said “NO NEW OIL” and draped the building in fabric. It happened while the prime minister and his family were away on holiday in California.

Amy Rugg-Easey, 33, Alexandra Wilson, 32, Michael Grant, 64, and Mathieu Soete, 38, have pleaded not guilty to criminal damage, with a two-day trial set to take place in July.

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Scale of gambling scandal for Tories is different magnitude to Labour’s issue

Published

6 hours ago

June 25, 2024

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Scale of gambling scandal for Tories is different magnitude to Labour's issue

After days of furore directed at Rishi Sunak for the election betting scandal, now a Labour candidate is under investigation by the Gambling Commission for his own betting activity – and is immediately suspended.

Is this an equaliser in one of the grubbiest electoral sagas of recent elections? Quite possibly not.

There is no doubting the utter dismay in Labour HQ at the revelation that they too have a candidate caught up in the betting scandal.

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It lends itself to the easy narrative that there’s a plague on all politicians’ houses – everyone as bad as each other.

However, if the facts are as presented, the scale of the challenge for the Tories is of a different order of magnitude to that now facing Labour.

Labour’s Kevin Craig was suspended immediately after the party was informed by the Gambling Commission of the probe.

We are told that he placed a bet – not on the election date, but that he would lose his race in a general election.

He is certainly guilty of gross stupidity, as he admitted in a statement on Tuesday evening.

However, if this scenario is as presented, it is hard to see an allegation being mounted that he had insider intelligence on the race – unless it can be proved he was deliberately setting out to lose.

An under-pressure Gambling Commission will investigate every candidate’s name on the spreadsheet from gambling companies of those who placed bets – but it is unclear from available facts where this will go.

The Tory betting saga, however, is more complicated and now on its 13th day.

It was almost two weeks ago that Craig Williams – Rishi Sunak’s closest parliamentary aide and former Montgomeryshire MP – admitted he had placed a bet on the election date – a date he might have known before the public at large.

He denies he committed any offence, and remains under investigation.

Laura Saunders, standing for the Tories just south in Bristol North West, has also been suspended for putting a bet on the date when her partner worked in Conservative headquarters on the election.

For most of that time, Mr Sunak has been insisting he could not suspend either candidate because of the ongoing probe by the Gambling Commission.

Ministers, as well as opponents, weighed in.

And on Tuesday he reversed that decision under that pressure.

This means there are questions about the prime minister’s own judgement and unwillingness to act on top of questions about the behaviour of those closest to him.

This story has had massive cut through with the public, topping the charts for any news story in the UK – according to YouGov’s AI news tracker – for the last four days.

There is dismay from the cabinet downwards.

Labour’s own problems have undermined their own ability to go on the attack. But it is not clear that voters will see the two issues on the same scale.

The full list of the candidates running for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich is:

Charlie Caiger, independent;
Tony Gould, Reform UK;
Mike Hallatt, independent;
Brett Alistair Mickelburgh, Lib Dems;
Dan Pratt, Greens;
Patrick Spencer, Conservatives.

The full list of candidates for Bristol North West is:

Caroline Gooch, Lib Dems;
Darren Jones, Labour;
Scarlett O’Connor, Reform UK;
Mary Page, Green Party;
Ben Smith, SDP.

The full list of candidates for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr is:

Jeremy Brignell-Thorp, Green Party;
Oliver Lewis, Reform UK;
Glyn Preston, Lib Dems;
Elwyn Vaughan, Plaid Cymru;
Steve Witherden, Labour.