PMQs: Starmer brands Sunak ‘inaction man’ as he attacks PM on prisons and schools

Published

2 years ago

September 13, 2023

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Sir Keir Starmer has branded Rishi Sunak “inaction man” over problems facing the UK’s schools and prisons.

The prime minister has been greeted with an array of problems since MPs returned to Westminster after the summer recess, including a crisis involving concrete in public buildings, the escape of a terror suspect from prison and allegations a researcher in Westminster spied for China.

The Labour leader attacked Mr Sunak’s record on his handling of the issues during a testy session of prime minister’s questions, telling the Commons: “Probation, prison, schools, China – yet again, inaction man fails to heed the warnings and then blames everyone else.”

He added: “He is failing to stop terrorists strolling out of prison, failing to guard Britain against hostile actors, he is completely failing to stop the boats. How can anyone trust him to protect the country?”

Mr Sunak’s problems began when the Department for Education (DfE) announced that more than 100 schools have been ordered to close or partially close due to the presence reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), a type of concrete that is prone to collapse after a period of time.

The saga landed his education secretary, Gillian Keegan, in hot water after she was caught on camera complaining about not being thanked for doing a “f****** good job” over the crisis – comments for which she later apologised.

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The sense of chaos prompted by the school closures at the start of the autumn term was compounded by the escape of Daniel Khalife from Wandsworth prison, which prompted a four-day manhunt that culminated in in his arrest and capture in Northolt, west London.

And earlier this week, it was revealed that a parliamentary researcher with close links to senior Tory MPs was arrested on suspicion for spying for China – a charge he has strenuously denied.

Sir Keir called for a “full audit of UK-China relations” and highlighted findings from parliament’s intelligence and security committee that said the government had “no clear strategy when it comes to China”.

“This has been raised time and time again. But, yet again, the prime minister fails to heed the warnings and he’s now desperately playing catch up,” he said.

The prime minister replied: “As always, the leader of the Opposition is just playing catch up and hasn’t caught up with the reality of what’s actually happening.”

Labour has sought to use the incidents to highlight the Conservatives’ record in government, particularly with regard to spending and management.

Another issue the Opposition has sought to highlight is the small boats crisis in the Channel, after the recent good weather saw more people make the perilous journey.

Speaking in the Commons, Sir Keir said Suella Braverman’s first anniversary as home secretary had coincided with 40,000 people making the journey, adding with a joke: “That is if you overlook the six days she missed when she was deemed a national security risk.”

Mr Sunak hit back by pointing to the government’s Levelling Up Bill, which he said would result in more house-building.

The Tories have accused Labour of “blocking” housebuilding by opposing its plans to relax environmental rules to boost housebuilding.

Current EU-era rules mean that when developers build new homes in protected areas they are required to provide mitigations to ensure no new additional nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus make it into rivers and lakes.

Labour opposes the change on the grounds it will increase river pollution but ministers believe removing the requirements will “unblock” 100,000 new homes by 2030.

Mr Sunak told MPs: “He talks about trust, he tried in this House to talk the talk on housebuilding, but at the first sign of a cheap political hit, what did he do? He has caved in.

“Rather than make the right long-term decisions for the country he has taken the easy way out,” he said.

“It is typical of the principles-free, conviction-free type of leadership that he offers.

“Flip-flopping from being a builder to a blocker. The British people can’t trust a word he says.”

Politics

Crypto’s path to legitimacy runs through the CARF regulation

Published

14 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Crypto’s path to legitimacy runs through the CARF regulation

The CARF regulation, which brings crypto under global tax reporting standards akin to traditional finance, marks a crucial turning point.

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Tokenized equity still in regulatory grey zone — Attorneys

Published

14 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Tokenized equity still in regulatory grey zone — Attorneys

The nascent real-world tokenized assets track prices but do not provide investors the same legal rights as holding the underlying instruments.

Politics

Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Published

20 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.

MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.

Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.

In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.

“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.

“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.

“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”

Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.

The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.

It comes after Ms Reeves said she was “totally” up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.

Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.

“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”

Sir Keir also told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he “didn’t appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.

“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.

“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”