Starmer says he won’t listen to ‘rejected’ Tories and they should ‘reflect and change’ | Politics News

Sir Keir Starmer has said he will not listen to the Conservative Party’s advice as voters have “soundly rejected it”.

The new Prime Minister initially adopted a cordial tone with his predecessor at First Prime Minister’s Questions after winning a landslide victory.

But he did give conservatives some advice on how to switch parties just hours before nominations for the Conservative leadership race tonight.

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Sir Keir and Rishi Sunak agreed to stay informed about developments in Ukraine after Sunak joked that Team GB Olympians probably didn’t want to hear from him about winning.

However, during questions from MPs, Sir Keir upped the ante by repeatedly saying there had been “14 years of failure” under the Conservative government.

And he used his final response to dig the knife deeper and reject any criticism or advice from Conservative MPs.

“We will not listen to the opposing party,” said Sir Keir.

“They presented their case to the electorate. The electorate profoundly rejected them.

“And my advice would be: After sitting in that dispatch box for four and a half long years, when you have been so thoroughly rejected by the electorate, you better not go back to the electorate and tell them they were wrong.

“It is better to reflect and change your approach and change your party.”

Sir Keir’s first PMQs took place in the afternoon after the Prime Minister faced a rebellion over an SNP vote aimed at lifting the two-child benefit cap.

He quickly suspended seven of its deputies of the Labor Party after they rebelled and voted with the SNP – and against the government.

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The Prime Minister used an accusatory question from SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn about the threshold to say how former Labor leader Gordon Brown’s government had “lifted millions of children out of poverty”.

“This administration will address the issue with the same vigor with our new task force,” he said.

“We’ve already taken action, breakfast clubs, abolishing no-fault evictions, decent homes.”