LONDON — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and leader of the opposition Labor Party Keir Starmer argued Tuesday over taxes, the cost of living and the country’s fragile health system in an inconclusive televised debate before a July 4 Election One of them is expected to be the country’s next leader.
Sunak sought to improve the bleak outlook for his center-right party by urging voters to back the stability of a continued Conservative government. Starmer hoped to cement his favorite status by arguing that Britain desperately needs change. Both acknowledged the country’s many problems, from deteriorating public services to a broken immigration system. But neither could say openly, when asked, where the money to fix them would come from.
Sunak highlighted his management of the economy, which has seen inflation fall to just over 2% from a peak of more than 11% at the end of 2022. He said he should stick with it because his “clear plan” for the economy was working. .
Starmer said the election was a choice between more “chaos and division” with the Conservatives and “turning the page and rebuilding with Labour”.
Polls currently give the center-left Labor Party a double-digit lead. To win, Starmer must persuade voters who previously backed the Conservatives that Labor can be trusted with the UK government. economy, borders and security.
Speaking in front of a live audience in a sleek, futuristic setting at broadcaster ITV’s studios in Salford, northwest England, both Starmer and Sunak appeared nervous. Voters may have been under the impression that their choice is between two cautious and rather boring managers.
Both stuck to familiar themes. Sunak argued that Labor would raise taxes because “it’s in their DNA”.
Sunak said he would stop people making dangerous journeys to the UK in small boats by sending asylum seekers on a one-way trip to Rwandaand suggested he would be willing to take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights if his court blocked the deportations.
Starmer looked at the Conservatives’ record during 14 years in power, especially in the chaotic final years, in which Prime Minister Boris Johnson ousted amid money and ethics scandals. Successor Liz Truss, chosen by party members, shook the economy with her cost-free tax cut plans and resigned after 49 days. Sunak took power, without a national election, in October 2022.
“This government has lost control. “Liz Truss brought down the economy,” Starmer said. “We can’t last five more years like this.”
A personal note appeared when Starmer dug into former banker Sunak’s wealth, saying his own father had been a factory worker and claiming Sunak did not understand the financial worries facing the working class.
All 650 seats in the House of Commons will be up for grabs on July 4. The leader of the party that can win a majority – whether alone or in a coalition – will become prime minister.
Both contenders said they would maintain Britain’s close ties with the United States if Donald Trump wins in November. Starmer said “the special relationship transcends whoever holds the position of prime minister and president.”
Sunak agreed that “having a strong relationship with our closest partner and ally in the United States is essential to keeping everyone in our country safe.”
Televised debates are a relatively recent addition to the UK elections, first held in 2010. That debate boosted support for then Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, triggering a wave of “Cleggmania” that helped propel him to the post of deputy prime minister in a coalition government. with the conservatives.
Since then no debate has had the same impact, but they have become a regular feature of election campaigns. Several more are scheduled before Election Day, some of which will involve several party leaders as well as the two favorites.
Rob Ford, professor of political science at the University of Manchester, said the lack of a knockout by either side counted as a good result for Sunak because he is trailing in the polls.
“Will it matter in the end? Probably not. But it’s good news for the Con(ervatives) after some pretty difficult days. It will help with morale, at the very least,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The debate came a day after populist agitation Nigel Farage shook up the campaign and dealt a blow to Sunak’s hopes by announcing he will run for Parliament as head of the right-wing Reform UK party.
Farage kicked off his campaign Tuesday in the eastern English coastal town of Clacton-on-Sea, where he is making an eighth attempt to win a seat in the House of Commons. His seven previous attempts failed.
The return of Farage, a key player in the 2016 decision leaving the European Union is bad news for Sunak’s party. The reform is likely to divert votes from socially conservative older voters, a group the Conservatives have been targeting.
Farage claimed that the Conservatives, who have been in power since 2010, had “betrayed” Brexiteers because immigration had increased, rather than decreased, since the UK left the EU.
He urged voters to “send me to Parliament to be a bloody nuisance.”
Leaving a pub where he had been speaking to the media, Farage was splashed with a drink, which appeared to be a milkshake, by a passer-by. Essex Police said a 25-year-old woman from Clacton was arrested on suspicion of assault.
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