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LAST UPDATE | 4 Jun 2024
THE LEADERS OF the UK’s two major political parties had their first televised debate of the general election campaign on ITV this evening and it proved to a be a more energetic affair than might have been expected.
Conservative leader and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak squared off against Labour leader Keir Starmer.
It was fairly tetchy between the two candidates throughout the debate as at different points each accused the other of talking “nonsense”.
When we returned after the halfway break, the candidates were asked to stop talking over each other.
Both men drew rounds of applause at different points, as well as some laughter from the audience in the ITV studio.
“The arsonists handed back the matches,” is how Starmer described the prospect of reelecting the Conservatives.
While Sunak said “you don’t know what you’d get” with Starmer and Labour.
“In uncertain times, we simply can’t afford an uncertain prime minister.”
Rishi Sunak’s defence of his national service plan for young people got a laugh out of the crowd, and not for any reason he’d like. Starmer called the idea a “teenage Dad’s Army”.
“All you can do is sneer at it,” said Sunak. “You don’t have big ideas like that.”
“If it’s such a brilliant idea, why has it taken you 14 years to come up with it?” asked Starmer.
“All you can do is talk about the past,” Sunak said multiple times during the hour-long debate.
“He’s ashamed of the last 14 years,” retorted Starmer. “All he can do is say please look at the future.”
As expected, immigration came up, particularly the subject of people crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Starmer called Sunak the “most liberal Prime Minister we’ve ever had on immigration”.
Sunak touted his Rwanda policy and asked Starmer what he would do with people who have arrived in the UK “illegally”.
“I’m going to put people on planes, what are you going to do?” he asked.
Starmer referred to the Rwanda deportation plan as a “gimmick” and said there has been “a pattern” of Sunak making promises – like reducing immigration numbers – and then breaking them.
The candidates were asked it they would withdraw from membership of the European Court of Human Rights.
Sunak said he will “choose security over a foreign court” while Starmer said he would not withdraw from international institutions and agreements.
Sunak has claimed that “20 European countries” have agreed with his Rwanda policy, which would see asylum seekers sent to Rwanda without the possibility of returning to the UK.
Starmer said he would be in favour of outsourcing asylum claims if it complies with international law.
Starmer said the situation in Gaza is “catastrophic and intolerable” and that a peaceful solution is what is needed, after being asked by an audience member about the UK taking a “leadership role” in international affairs.
Sunak thanked Starmer for joining him in saying Israel “has the right to defend itself”.
Strangely, Sunak touted UK troop involvement in the building of the now broken US-made pier in Gaza, which was supposed to help get more aid to starving people there.
On defence more broadly, Starmer said Sunak’s accusation that Labour won’t keep the UK as safe as the Conservatives is “shocking”.
Starmer said that while he was prosecuting terrorists for the UK government, Sunak was “betting against the UK economy” during the financial crisis.
Starmer kept saying “shocking” and “desperate” under his breath as Sunak spoke.
They were asked if they would have a “special relationship” with Donald Trump if he’s elected. Both men say yes.
Straight off the bat, the candidates were asked about the cost of living crisis that continues to affect the UK.
An audience member said she doesn’t think the two leaders understand the struggles of ordinary people.
Sunak said that progress is being made in this area but that Covid and the war in Ukraine had been factors in delayed economic recovery.
“If he thought the plan was working, he wouldn’t have called a general election,” Starmer said of Sunak’s claim that inflation is coming down and wages are going up.
@RishiSunak makes his opening statement during the first head-to-head debate of the General Election.
— ITV News (@itvnews) June 4, 2024
Watch live on ITV1, ITVX and on the @ITVNews website. #ITVDebatehttps://t.co/1jKrS2E5UV pic.twitter.com/s2homg2CPp
Sunak kept coming back to the Labour leader tax policy, which he said will will mean a £2,000 tax rise.
Starmer said Sunak is the “British expert” in tax rises and described the figure of £2,000 as “garbage”.
He says the PM has asked his own civil servants to cost “pretend Labour policies”, which he argues is the source of the £2,000 figure.
Sunak kept coming back to the refrain of “bold action”, clearly a phrase he had planned to lean on tonight. He was quite aggressive and persistent in asking Starmer about his tax policy.
Sir @Keir_Starmer makes his opening statement during the first head-to-head debate of the General Election.
— ITV News (@itvnews) June 4, 2024
Watch live on ITV1, ITVX, and the @ITVNews website. #ITVDebatehttps://t.co/1jKrS2E5UV pic.twitter.com/kJbOFVDTSz
There were groans from the audience when Sunak blamed long waiting lists in the National Health Service on industrial action.
Starmer said, “This is the guy who says he’s good at maths,” in reference to increases in waiting list numbers while Sunak said they had come down. This got a laugh from the audience.
Sunak did get a short round of applause when he said he supports the work of NHS staff.
Starmer seemed stumped by Sunak’s repeated questions about how he would deal with strikes and pay disputes with healthcare staff.
On education, Starmer drew applause for a pledge to remove tax benefits for private school.
Elsewhere on tax, Starmer also got a round of applause for saying that he would get rid of non-dom status, which essentially allows people to be resident in the UK without paying taxes there.
Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party is currently trailing Keir Starmer’s Labour by 20 points in the polls and a recent projection from YouGov said that, as things stand, Labour looks set to win 422 of the 650 seats in parliament once voting concludes on 4 July.
To make matters worse for Sunak, who called this election early to the surprise of many, Nigel Farage kicked off his campaign today as leader of Reform UK, in a move that is expected to take even more votes away from the Tories.
While Farage was grabbing more headlines today in Clacton, where he had a milkshake thrown in his face, Sunak has spent the day off the campaign trail preparing for tonight’s debate.
Sunak’s campaign so far has been lacklustre to say the least. He even felt the need last week to remind Conservative MPs that campaigning was not optional, after one of his colleagues jetted off to Greece on holiday.
Starmer meanwhile has been touting his party’s credentials in the area of defence this week, posing with ten Labour candidates who have all served in the UK’s armed forces. This is consistent with the party’s tack to the right under his leadership and his aim of making Labour supporters unafraid to be “patriotic”.
The stories that have been following the Labour campaign over the last week, and indeed throughout Starter’s leadership, have revolved around what critics have called a “purge” of candidates on the left of the party.
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Used to listen to Newstalk but Chris Donaghue does my head in with his politically correct büllshit…….
I stopped due to him too. That, and Moncrieff is trying too hard these days.
If there is a PC bandwagon doing the rounds you can be sure that Sean Moncrieff will be on it. A decent enough interviewer though. I’ll give him that. That said it, most of the people he interviews are book-pluggers.
Chris Donoghue personifies the modern politically correct ‘New Man’.
Incapable of uttering an honest opinion on anything.
He doesn;t have an opinion. He suckles on Ivan’s tittie.
Sean Montcrieffe has a problem with the letter ‘E’
University becomes UnivUrsity
Have a listen.
I used to listen to newstalk breakfast also but for me Ivan did my head in.
Rte lies and propaganda https://youtu.be/aG7JmlQXBt0
It’s Ivan does my head in. Too much blue shirt propaganda.
Even without Kenny? Funny the way they tried to convince us they couldn’t do without him when he was on 90K a year.
That breakfast republic is torture, all they play is cheesy shite dance crap you hear in every girls clothes shop.
I blame Jennuendo Maguire
Now would be a good time to cut RTE’s budget again then. Let them compete in the real world.
These figures mean nothing as is. The true success story here is that Newstalk are, on a shoestring budget, a tiny tiny fractions of the resources and finances, are solidly competing with RTE.
For music stations we need to go the way of the Americans and play music.
Nobody wants to hear a DJ.
That was ok 20 years ago before the internet. Peoples heads are too full of media commentary.
They want peace.
That’s why people are tuning in to Phantom.
Less is more.
I’m surprised at how small Lyrics listenership is, I find myself listening to it more and more, except for John Kelly who can play some woeful arty farty shite.
Never a more accurate head line on the Journal, RTE is Pro Fine Gael.
€290 million in tv licence fees should give them just a slight advantage over the competition.
Roll on truthful alternative media.
Roll on the infowar.
I can safely say I have never listened to any RTE Radio 1 show apart from the odd news or sports bulletin. Can’t stand any of the presenters. Bunch of overpaid talentless idiots
How do u know if you haven’t listened to any of them? I don’t listen either but I can’t say anymore than that.
Beano given that you have such strong optimists on RTE which you never listen to according to yourself I just wondering if you have any strong opinions on books you haven’t read or movies you haven’t seen that you want to share with us?
I’ve watched Duffy, Finucane, O’Callaghan, D’Arcy on telly and thought they were all $hite. I think it’s a fairly accurate assumption to think that they will also be $hite on the radio. Are you saying they’re not?
Good judge of character Beano.
Spot on!!!
Overpaid Dry Handpuppet Lackeys.
RTE should be scrapped
Sink or swim. Cut them loose. RTE takes vast amounts of public money to allegedly provide a public service AND they take money for colossal amounts of advertising. The RTE player is basically unusable now with all the advertising on it. Where is all that money going to? Into the pockets of the friends and relations, and of course their ”stars”.. The same talentless ”stars” that wouldn’t be poached to make the tea at a local radio station in Moldova, never mind the BBC.
Ryan Tubridy is FF, Miriam O’ Callaghan is FF. The media giant’s right hand woman Lucy Gaffney is going for top RTE job.
Any people like Miriam who has a brother running in the elections for ff should step aside during the elections and that goes for any one else in RTE. It is the state broadcaster and should be neutral.
RTE lost two of their best when they SHAFTED John Clarke & then let Alf Mc go too
Can’t wait to pay my broadcast licence in 2016
There was a European Court ruling a few years ago that state funded media outlets were not to engage in ratings wars.
Doesn’t seem to have had any effect on the chiefs at Montrose though.
The real test?
Take away the license fee. let these people stand on their own two feet on a level playing field.
Doubt if RTE would even make the top four.
Agreed Oran,
The are lots of instances where State funding or tax exempt status needs to be reviewed and removed. The two biggies being RTE and the RC Church.
When Bowie died, I heard ‘music’ on the radio for the first time in years. I guarantee Eurovision 2016 selection is one big free promo for a Nicky Byrne album down the line. RTE are an embarrassment.
I grab the morning news headlines on RTE Radio 1 and then switch over to BBC Radio 4 or LBC London.
I usually switch away when they start repeating the mantra “RTE Supporting the Arts” over and over and over again ad infinitum.
I heard that mantra repeated 5 times in 5 minutes a few months back.
(Reminds me of the “Allah Akbar” you hear endlessly on Middle East news reports).
I hit the button.
Joe Duffy is amazing, I love listening to Irish people moaning !
Now, if only we had a left wing radio station we could infer an election result.
Matt Cooper brings me home everyday. He’s my fave.
Cooper is – like all Newstalk presenters – a DOBshite, all their integrity as journalists is completely compromised as long as they live off the purse strings of their media oligarch despot of a boss.
Maybe but they extremely one sided
Bbc 4 extra great station
RTE Supporting the Arts?
Like dropping Lyric FM’s hour-long Jazz Alley presented by Donald Helme..
One hour of jazz a week which used to be 90 minutes.
Another example of mediocrity in management.
Good results or Journal reprinting hype ?
‘Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow’
Why can’t I stop singing that line.
Damn you, now it is in my head.
Pardon me but I thought that the first paragraph said that more than half listen to a local radio station and 46% listen to a national station. By this reckoning the local radio secttor is beating the pants off the national celebrity sector! What follows then is a blow by blow account of ratings for our failing national ego celebs! Strange reporting of the facts but nothing new for the Irish media?
have your say