Old habits die hard. Today’s PMQs, the second since the election, demonstrated that both Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are still in the process of adapting to their weekly role reversal.
Starmer once again accidentally referred to Sunak as “the Prime Minister” (once may be regarded as a slip of the tongue; twice or more looks like carelessness), to much amusement from the Chamber. Volume-wise he was off the charts, in full booming orator mode as Sunak took a quieter, calmer approach. The Conservative leader seemed more at ease, perhaps heartened by the knowledge that he only has to do this job for another two months while the race to replace him runs its course. But it still made for an awkward encounter, with no obvious winner.
Subject-wise, this was very much a PMQs of two halves, at least in terms of the main sparring match between the PM and leader of the opposition. Sunak began by going hard on the government’s decision over the summer to remove the Winter Fuel Allowance as a universal benefit, restricting it to those who already claim pension credit, while striking a pay deal with certain unions. “Government is about making choices,” he intoned, using his first three questions to accuse Starmer of choosing “highly paid train drivers” over “low-income pensioners”.
It was an obvious starting point for a spat, made more uncomfortable for Starmer by the fact that many MPs on the Labour benches (which today positively glowed with bright red jackets and ties) oppose Rachel Reeves’ cost-saving measure. No matter that pensioners are on average one of the wealthiest age-cohorts (someone over 65 is, as I have mentioned before, more likely to be living in a millionaire household than to be in poverty) and that the Winter Fuel Allowance goes to many who do not need it. The move is considered regressive, especially as there are an estimated 880,000 households which are eligible for extra support but who do not claim.
Luckily, Starmer had a comeback handed to him yesterday in the form of unearthed footage of Kemi Badenoch, Sunak’s shadow housing secretary and the favourite to be the next Tory leader, advocating means-testing the Winter Fuel Allowance in the 2022 leadership contest – a very similar policy to what Labour has now done. This, along with the predictable riposte that Labour had inherited “absolute chaos” from the Conservatives, meant the pensioner row was something of a draw. But unless there are more convenient skeletons in the Tory leadership contenders’ cupboards, Starmer will face further tricky moments in PMQs to come as he is grilled on decisions that have disappointed his own back-benches.
There was a screeching change of tone when Sunak switched to an even more contentious issue: the government’s decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel. Silence descended on the Chamber as Starmer gave a sombre, carefully worded response, stressing that it was “a legal decision, not a policy decision”. There was palpable tension when Sunak pressed him, quoting the words of the Chief Rabbi and asking the PM to reassure Britain’s Jewish community that the UK still stands with Israel’s right to defence itself. Many on Labour’s backbenches, as well as the independent MPs challenging the party from the left, feel the partial suspension does not go far enough and would like to see the Starmer taking a tougher line against the Israeli government. It’s a difficult balance for Starmer strike, and Sunak’s seemingly mild request ups the pressure on the PM on this deeply divisive issue. Starmer tried to deflect with a jibe about the Tories’ disregard for international law, but he looked uncomfortable.
Subsequent pressure came from Ed Davey, making full use of his newfound power to ask questions each PMQs to focus on the Winter Fuel Allowance and its impact on unpaid carers. That dynamic will be interesting in future weeks, as Starmer will have to get used to facing challenges from the right in the form of the new Tory leader, and from the Liberal Democrats on the left. He looked most comfortable in smacking down the SNP’s Pete Wishart, who accused Labour of offering people nothing but “things can only get worse”, by reminding him that the SNP used to sit somewhere else in the Chamber (as the third-biggest party) and saying he wouldn’t be taking lectures on popularity from them.
Overall, all the parties are adjusting to their new positions, and with so many new MPs there is still a mood of nervous but excited inexperience. But today will have dispelled any assumptions Starmer might have had that his new gig would be easy.
[See also: Why Labour acted on arms to Israel]
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