PMQs today - verdict: Keir Starmer appears entirely unflustered by personal attacks - that should worry Sunak

The Labour leader had borne the brunt of several personal attacks during the session from Rishi Sunak. The Prime Minister had accused him of "representing terrorists and criminals".

Previously Starmer may have got quite flustered by these comments, however today (20 March) he just laughed and said it was "genuinely sad to see him reduced to this nonsense". The polls tell the whole story, the Tories are currently sitting around 21% and have dropped off since the Budget.

This should worry Sunak, ahead of what is likely to be an election campaign full of personal attacks. The Tories have tried repeatedly to cast Starmer as a terrorist lawyer, however it's made no difference in the polls.

The last PMQs before recess was largely focused around law and order and immigration. Starmer asked a succession of questions on the PM's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The Labour leader said: “The tragedy is we know the Prime Minister doesn’t even believe in the Rwanda gimmick. He tried to stop funding it but he’s now so diminished that his entire focus is stopping his MPs holding the Sword of Damocles above his head, perhaps even literally in the case of the Leader of the House.”

He added: “How has he managed to spend £600 million of taxpayer money on a gimmick to deport 300 people?” Sunak responded: “It’s crystal clear, not only does the Labour Party not have a plan to fix this issue, but the truth is they don’t actually care about fixing this issue.”

Starmer also went after Sunak on the government's plan to grant criminals early release to free up space in prisons. The Labour leader told the Commons: “Violent prisoners released early because the Tories wrecked the criminal justice system, 3,500 small boats arrivals already this year because the Tories lost control of the borders, the NHS struggling to see people because the Tories broke it, millions paying more on their mortgages, a budget that hit pensioners, a £46 billion hole in his sums. Why is the Prime Minister so scared to call an election?”

Sunak replied: “As I said in January, my working assumption is that the election will be in the second half of the year. I must say, I thought that out of everybody he would actually be the most grateful, because he has now actually got time to come up with a plan for Britain.”

PMQs verdict - score draw but that won't help Sunak

Both Sunak and Starmer managed to get out some good attack lines at today's PMQs. The Prime Minister said "Labour doesn't care" about deporting dangerous criminals, and on Starmer he added: "If he wasn't the Labour leader, he would still want to be there lawyer".

Worryingly for Sunak, this didn't seem to bother the Labour leader at all. He just laughed and made the point he'd prosecuted numerous people smugglers. On an election, he confidently told Sunak: "We're ready, just call it."

Starmer then attacked Sunak about the Tory MPs plotting to bring him down. His best line was: "You can see why he doesn't want an election, why half his Cabinet are planning to replace him."

I'm giving today's PMQs a score draw, although that won't help Sunak, who is still struggling in the polls. He'll also be concerned to see how easily Starmer brushed off his personal attacks.

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.