Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer went head-to-head over tax, immigration, gender and Brexit in their final debate before next Thursday’s general election.
The Tory leader repeatedly accused Sir Keir of planning tax rises and having no plan to deal with illegal immigration, in the 75 minute BBC event.
Sir Keir told him off for making constant interruptions and attempted to rebut the attacks by accusing Mr Sunak of making unfunded tax promises and of being “out of touch” with voters.
The pair had no knowledge of the questions they faced from members of the public at Nottingham Trent University, with one audience member asking: “Are you two really the best we have got.
The Labour leader began on the front foot, accusing his opponent of being “bullied” into responding to the unfolding revelations about Tory candidates allegedly betting on the timing of the general election.
Mr Sunak replied: “It was important to me that given the seriousness and the sensitivity of the matters at hand that they were dealt with properly, and that’s what I’ve done.”
With the opinion polls pointing to a Labour victory next week, the debate may have been Mr Sunak’s final chance to turn things round before polling day and he came out fighting. He sought to hammer his Labour opponent over tax, just as he did in their first clash at the start of the campaign.
He highlighted a report in the Daily Telegraph that Labour’s Darren Jones said decarbonising the economy would cost hundreds of billions of pounds.
Source: BBC
In other news – Councils raise concerns over delays to postal vote forms
Councils in Scotland have raised concerns over delays to postal vote forms being sent out ahead of the general election.
Western Isles Council reported a high number of calls from residents waiting for a voting pack and said this was due to “national disruption. Read more
