PMQs: Rishi Sunak may be laughing about Brexit but the British people aren’t

So he went back to his favourite gag - the European Union. Laughing, Sunak told the House of Commons: “This is the week that the Shadow Foreign Secretary didn’t rule out rejoining the European Union, he can role play Margaret Thatcher all he wants but his answer’s the same - yes, yes, yes.”

He was referring to Starmer’s surprising Telegraph column about the Iron Lady, and her comments of “no, no, no” to European Commission president Jacques Delors about further integration with the bloc. The idea of rejoining the EU for Sunak is so ridiculous it’s laughable.

However it’s not laughable for the small businesses that are forced to close after being hit by extra red tape or farmers being undercut by their European counterparts due to decisions by this government. It’s definitely not going to be shared by the family that has to queue for longer and stump up extra cash for their summer holidays. 

And Sunak’s view is not being shared by the country, as the tide is turning on Brexit. A recent YouGov poll found that seven in 10 Britons want a closer relationship with the EU, and 57% want the UK to rejoin the single market. Another poll by YouGov found that almost half of voters want a fresh EU referendum in the next decade, a plurality of the respondents.

The problem for Sunak (and Starmer who has also said there’s no case for rejoining the EU or the single market) is that voters are starting to associate the financial pinch with Brexit. Research from UK in a Changing Europe found that people associated leaving the EU with the cost of living crisis. They either entirely or partially blamed food shortages, NHS staff shortages and travel delays on Brexit. 

And that’s without even considering the 4% hit to GDP which the Office for Budget Responsibility said was caused by quitting the EU, even bigger than that of Covid. As the tide continues to turn fewer people will be laughing at Sunak’s joke. 

Sunak flustered with Starmer’s Rwanda questions

I’ve watched all sessions of PMQs this autumn from the House of Commons press gallery, high above the speaker’s chair in the chamber. And today (6 November) was by far the most flustered I’ve seen Sunak. Last week, many commentators wrote that it was Starmer’s best PMQs against the current Prime Minister, with hacks from the Daily Mail even asking Labour’s spokesman if the opposition leader had got a new joke writer. This week, his detailed knowledge of the Rwanda treaty appeared to flummox the Prime Minister.

Starmer said: “When they first announced this gimmick, they claimed Rwanda would settle tens of thousands of people … then the Court of Appeal made clear in June there’s housing for just 100. The number of people sent there remains stubbornly consistent - Zero. 

“At the same time, article 19 of the treaty says the parties shall make arrangements for the UK to resettle a portion of Rwanda’s most vulnerable refugees in the UK. So how many refugees from Rwanda will be coming here to the UK under the treaty?”

As Sunak rose to respond he was drowned out by laughter, and with a high-pitched voice mistakenly referred to “Mr Speaker” instead of “Madam Deputy Speaker”, as Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House, is off sick with Covid and is being replaced by Eleanor Laing.

He hurriedly rushed through his response, saying “it’s a point of pride that we are a compassionate country” and then said Starmer wanted to “cook up a deal with the EU”. The Labour leader didn’t look worried at all - match point Starmer.

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.