Sunak and Starmer scrap over tax and immigration
in heated first TV debate
Labour leader tried to focus on the Tories’ record
while the prime minister accused opponent of planning tax rises
Eleni
Courea and Peter Walker
Tue 4 Jun
2024 23.56 CEST
Rishi Sunak
and Keir Starmer tore into each other’s election promises on tax and
immigration in a fiery first TV debate of the campaign.
The pair
exchanged barbs in an ill-tempered session before an ITV studio audience in
Salford, where Starmer accused Sunak of being “the most liberal prime minister
we’ve ever had on immigration” and pledged to keep the UK in the European
convention on human rights.
As the
leaders sought to draw dividing lines between the parties the Labour leader
hammered the Conservative record after 14 years in government and accused Sunak
of failing to take personal responsibility for his failures, including the cost
of living and NHS waiting times.
Sunak
sought to present Starmer as an unreliable politician who was pursuing power
for power’s sake. He claimed repeatedly that Labour’s policies would lead to a
£2,000 tax rise for families, an attack the Conservatives are planning to
deploy repeatedly over this campaign.
“Labour
will raise your taxes. It’s in their DNA. Your work, your car, your pension –
Labour will tax it,” the prime minister said. In response Starmer said the
Tories had “put pretend Labour policies to the Treasury” to produce a fantasy
figure.
Starmer
said the prime minister’s decision to call an election now demonstrated that he
didn’t think his plans for the economy or illegal immigration would have any
effect.
“If he
thinks things are going to get better towards the second half of this year, why
has he called it now? He’s called it now because he knows, and I’ll ask him
this, he knows inflation is going to go back up, he knows energy prices are
going to go back up in the autumn,” Starmer said. “That’s what he’s not telling
you.”
Both
leaders committed not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT. Starmer
defended his policy to introduce VAT to private schools, saying it was a “tough
choice” but necessary, to applause from the audience.
The prime
minister appeared to suggest he was willing to take the UK out of the European
Convention of Human Rights if it blocked his controversial policy to send
asylum seekers who cross the Channel to Rwanda.
“I’m
crystal clear, I believe all our plans are compliant with our international
obligations, but if I am forced to choose between securing our borders and our
country’s security, or a foreign court, I’m going to choose our country’s
security every single time,” he said.
The Labour
leader defended the UK’s membership of the ECHR. “We will not pull out of
international agreements and international law which is respected the world
over,” he said.
“Because I
want the UK to be a respected player on the global stage, not a pariah who
doesn’t agree with international law.”
Both
leaders said they would work with Donald Trump if he were re-elected US
president in November.
On the cost
of living, Starmer accused Sunak of being out of touch and living “in a
different world”. Referring to his own childhood in response to a question from
a member of the audience, the Labour leader said: “I do know the anguish of
worrying, when the postman comes with a bill, what is that bill going to be,
can I pay it? I don’t think the prime minister quite understands the position
that you and other people are in.”
He ruled
out a return to austerity if he became prime minister, which Sunak did not.
Sunak insisted that voters were “starting to see the benefits” of his economic
policies.
Sunak said
he would use private healthcare if a loved one was on a long waiting list for
an operation. Starmer said he would not and would rely on the NHS alone.
In his
closing statement, Starmer said re-electing the Tories would be like “the
arsonists handed back the matches”.
“I don’t
offer you the gimmicks or unfunded promises that Rishi Sunak does,” he said. “I
don’t pretend there’s a magic wand that will fix everything overnight. Instead,
I offer a practical commonsense plan to change Britain.”
He
continued: “Imagine how you would feel waking up on July 5 to five more years
of the Conservatives. Five more years of decline and division. The arsonists
handed back the matches.
“Now
imagine turning the page with a Labour government that rolls up its sleeves and
gets on with the job that puts the country back in your service.”
Sunak told
voters “if you think Labour are going to win, start saving”, while defending
his record on climate. He denied having broken his promises on the environment,
saying: “No, we’re going to stick to the targets we put in place but we’re
going to do it in a way that saves you all money.
“I’m not
going to impose thousands of pounds of costs on you to arbitrarily rip out your
boiler, change your car, convert your home.”
With the
second week of campaigning drawing to a close, the Conservatives appear no
closer to making a dent Labour’s 20-point poll lead.
Sunak has
come under heavy pressure from his party to find a way to turn around his
flailing campaign. A decision by Nigel Farage to return to the political
frontline this week has eroded Tory morale further.
While
Labour has been running a cautious, safety-first campaign, the Conservatives
have spent the first two weeks making a flurry of policy announcements in the
hope that some of them will be appealing to voters.
So far
Sunak has announced plans to introduce compulsory national service for 18-year
olds, punish fly-tippers with points on their driving licence and introduce an
annual cap on visas for migrants. His national service proposal was met with
derisory laughter from the ITV studio audience.
Labour has
unveiled a “triple lock” commitment to the UK’s nuclear weapons, pledged to
reduce migration and carry out a review of the security threats facing the UK
within the first 100 days of government.
Responding
to Sunak’s claim that Labour’s policy would mean a £2,000 tax rise for
families, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, Pat McFadden, said: “Rishi
Sunak’s claims about Labour and tax are categorically untrue. Labour will not
put up taxes on working people.”
Snap YouGov
polling showed 51% of people thought Rishi Sunak performed best overall in the
live debate, with 49% voting for Sir Keir Starmer.
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