Politics

Rishi Sunak took a thorough savaging from Chris Bryant at PMQs – and his response gets an F

Oonagh Keating. Updated December 14th, 2023

Rishi Sunak wasn’t having a happy time at Wednesday’s PMQs – or an honest one.

He claimed his Government is growing the economy. The ONS says it just contracted by 0.3%.

He said the new immigration earnings threshhold of £38,000 is the median salary. The ONS says the median salary is £29,000.

He claimed to have delivered the largest tax cuts in a generation. The IFS insists that when budget changes are implemented, UK taxes will be the highest since World War II.

He insisted that he had halved inflation. The Bank of England, which is an independent body, is in charge of controlling inflation.

He said child poverty had fallen by hundreds of thousands. The UN says that child poverty in the UK has risen by 20% since 2014.

Don’t even get us started on what he said about the increase in numbers of police officers.

After a pasting from Keir Starmer, Sunak took this question from the MP for Rhondda, Chris Bryant, referencing his evidence to the Covid Inquiry.

Let’s just see that again –

“What’s worse? Losing your WhatsApp messages as a tech bro, losing £11.8 billion to fraud as Chancellor, presiding over the biggest fall in living standards in our history, or desperately clinging onto power when you become even more unpopular than Boris Johnson?”

Full marks for that public evisceration; instant fail for the irrelevant, pre-planned response.

These reactions say it all.

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Jon Sellers had an equally brutal assessment of the PM’s capabilities.

It’s a pity, because he’d be more useful helping to deal with the Christmas rush in postal services than whatever it is he’s doing now.

We’ll be keeping an eye on the results of this poll.

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Rishi Sunak being absolutely monstered by Chris Bryant is gripping, essential viewing

Source Adam J Schwarz Image Screengrab