To think Keir Starmer is bullying Rishi at PMQs?

[Keirplayfair]

Have been watching PMQs the past few weeks with my son because he is fascinated by the House of Commons at the moment.

Have been noticing the past three weeks that Keir's first questions to Rishi are incredibly personal, they feel more personal than usual to a PM.

Sort of examples I mean... (gist of questions not exact wording).

Last week:
Keir: well done on England and Wales in the world Cup. Rishi should we reorganise the non-dom loophole that you must know a lot about to bring in more tax?

Today:
Keir: well done England, hope we will say the same next week, commiserations to Wales. Winchester College costs £45K a year in fees. Down the road in Southampton, 4 out of 10 kids fail English and Maths at GCSEs.

Yes we know Rishi is rich, went to Winchester College, yes Keir is asking questions about the economy, wealth distribution but it just feels very... personal.

Has anyone else noticed this??

I'm not a Conservative voter by the way, sort of a floater but I feel that Keir's questions are being asked to try to throw Rishi off balance in a very personal way.

I mean, can it be any worse than Boris attacking Keir's prosecution record? Or the Tories saying Raynor was crossing her legs to 'distract' Boris?

I'm not a Labour voter usually but the whole of PMQs needs overhauling in my opinion. Its like watching kids at a football match...

Ha ha ha

I think that he's highlighting that Rishi and his fellow front benchers have been making policies for years that trample on average people.
If Rishi wasn't demonstrating he only cares about the wealthiest in society and hadn't spent years maximising his own personal tax avoidance then the fact he is privileged wouldn't be relevant.

Not at all. Rishi Sunak is the leader of this country and his decisions affect millions of people. Of course his own personal wealth and privilege should be challenged. He is demanding we all pay more tax whilst until very recently his wife paid very little by using tax loopholes. What is Keir Starmer’s job if not to point out the hypocrisy of that?

😂

Agree about the taxes and don't disagree wirh anything Keir is saying really it's more the delivery. It just feels different to previous stand offs.

Agree that PMQs should be shaken up they feel like a docu comedy show a lot of the time.

He couldn't be more fair game I guess in terms of level of personal wealth and educational opportunities... that's probably why it feels different to watch.

I think Sunak can put on his big boy pants and handle it

Sunak can pull up his Prada pants lols... even I'm doing it now!

I agree with this. I can’t imagine any other workplace allowing the behaviour seen at PMQs.

Speaking to your colleagues like that in any other workplace setting would be considered bullying, for sure.

It's this kind of behaviour which puts decent people off from getting into politics/ getting as far as being an MP.

Yes but in this setting I find it odd to single out Keir over Rishi. I think the insults coming from Rishi’s side are just as bad if not worse. Keir is better at getting his point across though. I assume from his years as a barrister.

Rishi hasn't made a comeback about Keir's school or Keir's marriage. Or Keir's tax returns.

I can tell you're new to PMQs.😂😂😂

How in the name of Christ is the PM being bullied by the LOTO? This site is descending into juvenile idiocy. The number of threads I have to hide daily is extraordinary, but it’s becoming unbearable, this throng of eejits.

Not new to them! Won't say why!! I think it's Keir's Barristerial style meeting a perfect specimen of off the scale wealth that's making the attacks seem more personal.

What comeback do you think he could make about Keir’s tax affairs or schooling or marriage? Rishi’s massively wealthy wife employed a tax loophole to avoid contributing tax to the country they live in. You know, tax that pays for schools and services for 90% of the population. Schools and services that are currently under funded. Rishi’s schooling cost more than twenty grand more than the average UK annual wage. Your point of view is bewildering

You don't think it's pertinent to draw attention to the personal financial affairs of the multi milllionaire who's currently dabbling in our economy?

Sunak isn't a real politician. He's just the latest in an increasingly long line of obscenely rich Tories who want to manipulate the system to their personal advantage. I'm glad that Starmer is keeping the focus on that fact.

Definitely!!

I do miss Boris at PMQ's

It's an adversarial system. If leaders of the two main parties can't cope with the a bit of a jab, they don't gave a thick enough skin to be there. To be honest. I don't think either of them have sufficient experience in politics to be effective PMs. Either of them could easily be savaged by a tortoise. 🐢 🙄

Also the fact that Rishi does not fight back in a personal way to Keir. Instead he usually talks about changes to funding / what's happening differently now.

No he isn't bullying Rishi, he is doing what he is supposed to do leading the opposition. Labour have said they will close the non dom loophole & stop private schools being able to have charitable status if they win the next General Election, he was just highlighting the inequalities that are happening, over 90% of children go to schools that are struggling due to underfunding & energy price rises.

No one asked you to!

if you're not new to PMQ's, you have an agenda.

I agree that this isn’t about bullying sunak. It how PMQs is. Whoever is prime minister. And a lot of parliamentary debate is similar - aimed at anyone and everyone. Sunak knew what he was getting himself in to by becoming prime minister.

The real question is whether we (as a country) should sort it out so that parliament is not just an embarrassing series of personal attacks, jeering and such like. The use of ‘the right honourable gentleman’ as a descriptor actually makes the playground taunts seem even worse.

Personally, I am not impressed with this crap at all. But it’s how parliament operates.

He's letting everyone watching know, at every PMQs, that Rishi is too rich and out of touch to be a PM. Keir is right about that I think but that's Keir's main strategy every week.