Westminster Uniparty: Sunak vs Starmer Snoozefest Promises More of the Same After Election

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the man who would have his job Keir Starmer accused each other of wanting to put up taxes, and they were both right.

In normal times a presidential-style, head-to-head debate between the Prime Minister and presumptive Prime Minister-in-waiting would be the biggest news story of the day. Between Nigel Farage obliterating the news cycle with his surprise candidacy announcement and the content of the debate itself, though, this hour-long argument which revealed little other than a startling lack of charisma or break-through moments for either party fails to be the blockbuster event they have been in the past.

The similarities between Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak and his Labour counterpart Sir Keir Starmer were painfully on display for much of the debate, with both men essentially arguing over who would do the same things the best. Only in a handful of areas is there any disagreement whatsoever beyond the arena of comparing track records, and the heaviest blows were on border control.

Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, which declared this the immigration election last week, was dictating the agenda without even having to be in the room. Indeed, he compared the event to watching paint dry.

Asked straight whether they would take Britain out of the European Court of Human Rights if it tried to block a future government from enacting border control policies, Sunak said he absolutely would, remarking: “I will choose our country’s security over a foreign court every single time”. Starmer said the absolute opposite — again, really the only time this happened in the whole hour — and told the audience: “no, if I’m Prime Minister we will not pull out of international law and international agreements which are respected the world over. I want the UK to be a respected player on the global stage, not a pariah that doesn’t agree with international law”.

To what degree these pronouncements really matter is questionable, though, given it is reasonably clear neither party is particularly interested in border control anyway. This is no secret, both candidates to be the next Prime Minister picked apart each other’s previous records and essentially accused each other of lying.

This bickering was also present on the most-discussed matter, taxation, with both accusing the other of wanting to put taxes up. As it is — unfortunately for the British people — they’re both probably right.

That the politicians were happy trading lies was apparently obvious to the audience too, who laughed and jeered in response to the more outlandish claims on a handful of occasions.

Televised debates are a relatively new part of the British general election landscape but seem destined to stick around. There are a staggering five nationwide debates planned, with several other nation events for Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. While this may seem like a form of cruel and unusual punishment, two of those coming debates are at least opened up to other party leaders.

This Friday, figures from seven parties will thrash out policy and promises on the BBC, but Sunak and Starmer will be sitting the event out, sending their deputies to face-off against the representatives of the smaller parties.

The United Kingdom will vote to choose its next Parliament, and hence government, on June 4th.