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Sir Keir Starmer has suggested the Conservatives have become the “political wing of the Flat Earth Society”.
He told Prime Minister’s Questions: “Tory MPs spent last week claiming that Britain was being run by a shadowy cabal made up of activists, the deep state and, most chillingly of all, the Financial Times.
“At what point did his party give up on governing and become the political wing of the Flat Earth Society?”
Prime minister Rishi Sunak replied: “Well, another week where (Sir Keir) is just sniping from the sidelines because he has absolutely nothing that he can say on what we do.”
Government ‘missing the point’ over new £31 million security measures for MPs
Full report:
Starmer doesn’t want to stop mass migration - Farage lashes out
Keir Starmer has forgotten that millions of Labour voters want to stop “mass migration and our increasingly unrecognisable cities”, Nigel Farage has said.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, the former leader of Ukip and the Brexit Party said: “An extraordinary attack on me by Keir Starmer during #PMQs today.
“He must have forgotten that millions of Labour voters agree with me (rather than him) on stopping mass migration and our increasingly unrecognisable cities.”
Staunton asked to double pay of Post Office chief, MPs hear
Former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton had urged ministers to double the pay of chief executive Nick Read to prevent him quitting the organisation, Kevin Hollinrake has revealed to MPs.
Conservative MP Jane Stevenson said: “In yesterday’s select committee, Mr Staunton spoke about lobbying for a pay rise for Mr Read, which I know must have been quite galling to many of those subpostmasters.
“The minister was reported as refusing this pay rise. Can I ask him what sort of pay rise Mr Staunton thought would be a fair, equitable agreement at that time?”
Business minister Mr Hollinrake replied: “I think on two occasions Mr Staunton sought to lobby or did lobby for a pay increase for Mr Read.
“He sought to double the overall package of Mr Read on those occasions.”
“Wow,” MPs could be heard to say in response.
Former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton, giving evidence to the Business and Trade Select Committee
Mr Staunton told the Business and Trade Committee on Tuesday that Mr Read had said he was going to resign because he was “unhappy with his pay”.
Sunak takes aim at Starmer: ‘We expel antisemites, he makes them MPs’
The prime minister appeared to be referring to the Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali, following his comments on the Israeli-Palestine conflict.
Mr Ali told a meeting of activists that Israel deliberately allowed the 7 October attacks by Hamas to take place in order to give it the “green light” to invade Gaza.
Addressing Sir Keir, Mr Sunak said: “The truth is, his party is so mired in hate that despite three ex-Labour candidates standing, [Starmer] can’t back a single one of them.”
Sunak takes aim at Starmer: ‘We expel antisemites, he makes them MPs’
Rishi Sunak took aim at Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer claiming the Conservative party “expels anti-semites, while he makes them Labour candidates” in a heated Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday (28 February). The prime minister appeared to be referring to the Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali, following his comments on the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Mr Ali told a meeting of activists that Israel deliberately allowed the 7 October attacks by Hamas to take place in order to give it the “green light” to invade Gaza. Addressing Sir Keir, Mr Sunak said: “The truth is, his party is so mired in hate that despite three ex-Labour candidates standing, [Starmer] can’t back a single one of them.”
Starmer: Is Sunak too scared to stand up to his back benchers?
Starmer now asks Sunak if he is “too scared” to stand up to a “gaggle” of backbenchers who “moonlight” as GB News presenters.
“Or does he genuinely think Nigel Farage shares the ideals and values of the Tory party?” he adds.
Sunak hits back by saying that in tomorrow’s Rochdale by-election there will be three former Labour MPs - thrown out of the party over various scandals - who are running for election.
He says two of those candidates are “antisemites” and says Labour is “mired in hate”.
Sunak declines to rule out Farage joining Tories
Continuing on the Truss theme, Starmer picks up on the former PM’s claim that Nigel Farage is the man to restore the Tory party’s fortunes.
He then asks Sunak if he can confirm whether he too would welcome the Reform UK party founder in his party.
Sunak responds by saying that his party has a proud tradition of having a “diversity” and accepting everyone.
Sunak then says his party has a better record than Labour on diversity, saying it has delivered the first female PM, the first Jewish PM and the first black chancellor... “and now led by the first Hindu prime minister”.
He does not answer Starmer’s question on Farage.
Sunak: I take action when I see something wrong in my party
Sunak counters by using his suspension of Lee Anderson as an example of how he takes action when he sees something that is wrong in his party.
PM then returns to Starmer’s support of Corbyn, saying he failed to act while “vile” antisemitism took place in the Labour Party.
Sunak finishes his response by saying that he “acts on his principles” while Starmer “hasn’t got any”.
‘He has been changed by his party'
Starmer hits back by saying he has changed his party for the better, referencing his effort to tackle antisemitism.
The Labour leader adds: “He has been changed by his party”.
Starmer then suggests that the real reason Sunak hasn’t suspended Truss is because he’s “too weak” to stand up to her.
“It the story of his leadership,” he adds.
He finishes by asking Sunak if the Tory party will take any responsibility for the state of the country after what he said was 13 years of failure.
Sunak: Starmer is ‘shameless and spineless'
In response, the PM said he doesn’t believe a single MP supports Tommy Robinson, the far-right anti-Islam activist.
He then criticises Starmer over his support for former leader Jeremy Corbyn, saying the whole country “knows his record”.
“He sat there while antisemitism ran rife in his party”, he says. Sunak points out that other Labour front benchers refused to back Corbyn before branding him “shameless and spineless”.
Starmer asks Sunak why he’s allowing Truss to stand as an MP
Starmer returns to Liz Truss’s visit to the US last week, where he says she was flogging her new book.
“In search of fame and wealth she’s taken to slagging off...and undermining Britain at every opportunity,” he says.
He references Truss’s claim that she was sabotaged by the “deep state” and also remained silent about Steve Bannon’s Tommy Robinson “hero comments”.
The Labour leader then asks why Sunak is allowing her to stand as an MP.
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2024-02-28 14:06:45Z
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