PMQs verdict: Sunak and Starmer get personal in precursor to election Tories want to fight on culture wars

The answer in political-speak was a resounding yes. He said: “This is an election that we will be determined to win because the stakes are high for the future of the country. We’ve had 14 years of decline under the Tories and we want to usher in a decade of national renewal and that’s why the election matters.” In other words, we'll fight fire with fire.

Labour has known for a long time that with the Conservatives so far behind in the polls, they were going to make this election personal. All leaders, including Sunak, have attacked Starmer for serving under Jeremy Corbyn, and last week the Tory Party Twitter account put up a post saying: “Are you a terrorist in need of legal advice? Better call Keir.”

This was in relation to legal advice Starmer gave when he worked as a lawyer to Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, who the government have said will soon be proscribed. Notably they were not at the time. 

Sunak went back to that this week, saying: “He chose to represent a now proscribed terrorist group, he chose to campaign against the deportation of foreign national offenders, just like he chose to serve (Jeremy Corbyn). That’s his record, those are his values, and that is exactly how he should be judged.”

Starmer - who looked very relaxed before PMQs, laughing with Rachel Reeves - replied with a rare personal attack. “In 2008 I was the director of public prosecutions putting terrorists and murderers in jail,” he told the Commons. “He was making millions betting the misery of working people during the financial crisis.”

Reporters were told afterwards that this was related to a story in the Times in February 2020, about Sunak’s work at the hedge fund TCI. The newspaper reported it “launched an activist campaign against the Dutch bank ABN Amro in 2007, resulting in its sale to the Royal Bank of Scotland”, the British bank at the centre of the 2008 crash. Sunak and other partners made a reported £100 million.

The Prime Minister also decided to ramp up the culture war attacks on Starmer and Labour. Sunak said: “He talks about … what Britain values. This from a man who takes the knee, who wanted to abolish the monarchy, who still doesn’t know what a woman is, and who just this week, one of his frontbenchers, said that they backed teaching divisive white privilege in our schools.”

Sunak’s press secretary said that the Prime Minister supported footballers taking the knee, but thought politicians doing it was “virtue signalling”. So much for any solidarity. I also asked her twice whether the Prime Minister believed in the concept of white privilege and twice Sunak’s press secretary declined to confirm he does, instead saying that he “believes in opportunity for all”.

All of this is a precursor to a general election that is likely to get deeply personal between Sunak and Starmer. The Labour leader tried to get answers on the government’s failing free childcare policy, with reports suggesting providers are not ready for the roll out. However Sunak came back to his mantra that “things are improving and we are making progress”. Whether voters feel like they are better off will ultimately decide the next election.

PMQs verdict: score draw

Both Sunak and Starmer got in hefty personal attacks on each other, which received baying approval from their own MPs. The Labour leader didn’t quite seem as polished at PMQs this week, and was occasionally slightly stilted when talking. The questions about childcare will be very pertinent to parents watching, and while Sunak appeared confident his answers were often fairly unsubstantial. 

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.