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This was always going to be a tricky prime minister’s questions for Keir Starmer.
Yesterday afternoon, dozens of his MPs defied instructions to vote down a Conservative measure condemning the government’s winter fuel payment cut. And although Starmer saw off the worst of the rebellion — with only one Labour MP (veteran left-winger John Trickett) actually voting for the Conservative motion — the basic facts of the controversy remain the same: the Tories believe Starmer has made a political mistake in raiding pensioners’ pockets and sense an opportunity to make early political advances at his expense.
It wasn’t a surprise, then, that Rishi Sunak led on Labour’s winter fuel cuts this afternoon.
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The outgoing Conservative leader said MPs needed to be told the “full consequences of the choice” ministers have made, imploring the prime minister to “publish the impact assessment” into the cut. Labour’s last assessment argued a Theresa May-era plan to mean-test winter fuel payments would cause 4,000 deaths.
Starmer refused to engage with the question, launching instead into an attack on Sunak’s record in government and the £22 billion fiscal “black hole” he allegedly left in his wake. That said, the prime minister did defend his winter fuel move specifically, claiming the state pension will “outstrip any loss of payment”.
But the leader of the opposition, sensing weakness, continued to ruthlessly hone in on the prime minister’s position. It amounted to a near-total role reversal of Starmer and Sunak’s pre-election brawls — in terms of energy, sharpness and ultimately results.
Sunak insisted the Conservatives had protected the winter fuel payment when he was in power, turning to Starmer: “He is the one that is taking money away from pensioners on £13,000. But this has got nothing to do with the public finances.”
The substance of the exchange reflects the key dynamic dictating Labour-Tory competition in the early stages of this parliament. Sunak and co. intend to stress that Starmer is making political “choices” with his controversial remedies — while the prime minister points incessantly to his dismal inheritance as justification.
This, and bear with me here, could create an opening for the Liberal Democrats over time. Sir Ed Davey’s party ultimately upsets this dynamic in uncomfortable terms for both Starmer and Sunak. In other words: the Lib Dems acknowledge that the Conservatives have indeed passed Starmer an utter hand-grenade of an inheritance, while proposing other — more politically palatable — solutions to deal with it.
This afternoon Sir Ed Davey urged Starmer, like Sunak, to reverse changes to the winter fuel payment — reflecting his party’s vote yesterday. But instead of claiming “everything is fine” (Starmer’s caricature of Sunak’s comebacks), Davey proffered a different policy remedy: reverse tax cuts on the “big banks”, worth £4 billion a year.
In response, Starmer repeated his line that the government is willing to take “tough decisions” in the national interest. He added: “I’m absolutely convinced that’s the only way we can start rebuilding our country, investing in public services and making sure everyone is better off.”
As the budget and further “tough decisions” approach, the Liberal Democrats could continue to carve out opportunities to Starmer’s left. And crucially, in response, Starmer cannot lean on his “£22 billion black hole” stock answer — an argument the Liberal Democrats effectively accept. Davey referenced the government’s “appalling financial mess” today.
This approach, in time, may prove rather more uncomfortable politically for Starmer’s Labour than anything Sunak can muster.
Lunchtime briefing
Lunchtime soundbite
‘I am angry to be put in a position of having to release people who should be in prison because the last government broke the prison system’
— Keir Starmer responds to a PMQ from Reform leader Nigel Farage about “two-tier policing” and the government’s prison release scheme.
This was Farage’s question: “Does the prime minister understand there is a growing feeling of anger in this country that we are living through two-tier policing and a two-tier justice system?”
Now try this…
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