UK Elections: Sunak, Starmer butt heads over taxes and immigration in the first televised debate

In their first televised debate, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour Party leader Kier Starmer ripped each other’s election promises apart and had a fiery clash over taxes, NHS and a host of other issues. The pair were seen exchanging barbs in an ill-tempered debate which was conducted on ITV.

The saga of jabs was started off by Starmer who accused Sunak of being “the most liberal prime minister we’ve ever had on immigration”. The Labour Party leader pledged to keep the UK in the European Convention on Human Rights.

Starmer went on to hammer the problematic Conservative record after 14 years in government and accused the British premiere of failing to take personal responsibility for his failures in handling the cost of living situation and NHS.

A fiery tussle

During the debate, Sunak didn’t shy away from hurling insults at Starmer, calling him an “unreliable politician who was pursuing power for power’s sake”. The Conservative Party leader claimed that Labour’s policies would lead to a £2,000 tax rise for families.

“Labour will raise your taxes. It’s in their DNA. Your work, your car, your pension – Labour will tax it,” the prime minister said. In response to this, Starmer said that the Tories had “put pretend Labour policies to the Treasury” to produce a fantasy figure.

He also pointed out that the prime minister’s decision to call an election now demonstrated that he did not think his plans for the economy or illegal immigration would have any effect.

“If he thinks things are going to get better towards the second half of this year, why has he called it now? He’s called it now because he knows, and I’ll ask him this, he knows inflation is going to go back up, he knows energy prices are going to go back up in the autumn,” Starmer said. “That’s what he’s not telling you," he added.

During the debate, both leaders made it clear that they were not committed to raising income tax, national insurance or VAT. However, Starmer defended his decision to introduce VAT to private schools and called it a “tough choice”.

Meanwhile, Sunak mentioned that he is willing to take the UK out of the European Convention of Human Rights if it blocked his controversial policy to send asylum seekers who cross the Channel to Rwanda.

“I’m crystal clear, I believe all our plans are compliant with our international obligations, but if I am forced to choose between securing our borders and our country’s security, or a foreign court, I’m going to choose our country’s security every single time,” he said.

The labour leader on the other hand defended the UK’s membership of the ECHR. “We will not pull out of international agreements and international law which is respected the world over,” he said. “Because I want the UK to be a respected player on the global stage, not a pariah who doesn’t agree with international law," Starmer averred.

While the Labour Party are approaching the general election in a “conservative” manner, the Tories have spent the first two weeks making a flurry of policy announcements in the hope that some of them will be appealing to voters. The country is scheduled to go to the polls on July 4.

With inputs from agencies.