BBC general election debate live: Sunak and Starmer accuse each other of deceit and hypocrisy in angry spats
Tory and Labour leaders argue over migrants, tax, Brexit and women’s spaces in final clash before polling day
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Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer attacked one another over migration, tax, women’s rights, Brexit and integrity as they traded furious blows during the final party leaders’ live BBC general election debate.
The prime minister claimed the Labour leader was not being straight – but Sir Keir was visibly angry when Mr Sunak repeated the Conservatives’ allegation that Labour would put up tax bills by £2,000.
“That’s a lie – he’s been told not to repeat that lie and he’s just done it,” Sir Keir said.
Mr Sunak said he understood why people were frustrated with him. “And why won’t Keir Starmer be straight with you about what he wants to do?” he added.
Sir Keir said: “My message to you is simple: if you want your NHS back, you have to vote for it. If you want a growing economy, you have to vote for it.”
In a snap YouGov snap poll of viewers, 47% said Sir Keir won, 47% said Mr Sunak did, and 6% did not know.
As Westminster reels from gambling accusations, Labour suspended a party member after being arrested in connection of the honeytrap scandal that rocked Westminster.
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No clear winner in the BBC leaders’ debate
There was no winner in the BBC prime ministerial debate, according to a YouGov snap poll.
In a survey of 1,716 viewers, 47% said Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer won, 47% said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did, and 6% answered they did not know.
Party leaders clashed in a fiery BBC debate
The leaders’ combative back and forths continued until the very end of the debate, with Sir Keir Starmer accusing Rishi Sunak of lying in his closing statement.
Bringing the debate to a close, Mr Sunak said: “I understand why you’re frustrated with our party, with me, I get it. But this is not a by-election, it’s a choice with profound consequences for you and our country. And before you make that choice, think what a Labour government would mean.
“Can you afford to pay at least £2,000 more in tax? And why won’t Keir Starmer be straight with you about what he wants to do? And if you’re not certain about Labour, don’t surrender to them, don’t vote for any other party, vote Conservative.”
In response, the Labour leader said: “That is a lie, he’s been told not to repeat that lie and he’s just done it.”
For his final thought, Sir Keir said: “My message to you is simple: if you want your NHS back, you have to vote for it. If you want a growing economy, you have to vote for it.
“If you want more police on our streets or teachers in our schools, you have to vote for it. If you want to end 14 years of chaos … then that power is in your hands, on July the 4th, vote change, vote Labour.”
Starmer denied claims Labour would allow ‘free movement by the back doors’
Sir Keir Starmer has denied claims from Rishi Sunak that a Labour government would allow “free movement by the back doors”.
“We are not going back into the EU, we’re not rejoining the single market or customs union, and we’re not accepting freedom of movement,” he said.
“I’m not a defeatist like the Prime Minister.”
To applause, he added: “I know we can get a better deal than the botched deal that we’ve got and I’m going to go out and fight for it. Not going to have freedom of movement come back, not going to back to the EU, but going to fight for get a better deal so you can trade more easily, so our economy can succeed, because I believe in our country.”
Mr Sunak said he had negotiated for 18 months and that Sir Keir was saying he could “magic some good thing for us” with nothing expected in return from the EU.
Sir Keir said: “It’s very important when you start those negotiations that you’re very clear on the lines you won’t cross, and I’ve set out the lines I won’t cross.”
Police investigate ‘small number of cases’ in gambling scandal
The Met Police will lead on investigating a “small number of cases” related to the Westminster gambling row to “assess whether the alleged offending goes beyond Gambling Act offences to include others, such as misconduct in public office”.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “The Met is not taking over the investigation into bets on the timing of the General Election.
“The Gambling Commission will continue to lead the investigation into cases where the alleged offending is limited to breaches of the Gambling Act only.
“Met detectives will lead on investigating a small number of cases to assess whether the alleged offending goes beyond Gambling Act offences to include others, such as misconduct in public office.
“We will provide further information tomorrow.”
Shouting heard during Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer’s last debate
Shouting heard during Sunak and Starmer’s last debate of general election campaign
Shouting could be heard outside a BBC debate between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday, 26 June. Pro-Palestine protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza could be heard shouting as they stood outside the Nottingham Trent University building while the party leaders took part in the debate. Host Mishal Hussain confirmed the demonstration was taking place and apologised to viewers and the audience. “If anyone can hear any noises off ladies and gentlemen, or anyone at home, there is a protest taking place outside which is also an aspect of our democracy, and people exercising their free speech,” the broadcaster said.
Starmer and Sunak commit to protecting women’s rights
Both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have committed to protecting women’s rights to single-sex spaces, regardless of whether someone has a gender recognition certificate.
Questioned on this, the Prime Minister said: “Yes, unequivocally yes. And we will do that by changing the law, so that the old Equalities Act recognises that sex means biological sex.”
The Labour leader said “yes” because it is “very important” to protect women-only spaces.
He added: “What I will also say is that I do recognise that there are a small number of people who are born into a gender that they don’t identify with, and I will treat them, as I treat all human beings, with dignity and respect.”
Sir Keir received applause and whoops from the audience, before continuing: “I’ll tell you for why, because if you don’t, we end up with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom standing in Parliament making an anti-trans joke in front of the mother of a murdered trans teenager.”
Mr Sunak replied: “That’s not what I did, I was pointing out that you’ve changed your mind on this question multiple times.”
Sunak warns voters should expect ‘retirement tax' under Labour
In a back and forth on state pensions, Rishi Sunak warned that pensioners should expect a “retirement tax” under Labour.
During the exchange, Sir Keir said Labour’s position on pensioners and tax is “exactly the same as the Government”, adding: “It is the position of the Government at their last budget.”
After pushing the Labour leader to match the Tories’ promise of a triple lock plus policy, Mr Sunak said: “If you are a pensioner, you should know, there is a retirement tax coming for you. Capital ‘r’, capital ‘t’, if he is your prime minister.”
In response, Sir Keir said: “Pensioners are not going to be better off with a Prime Minister who’s making promises that he can’t keep because they’re not funded.”
Prior to this, Sir Keir had said to Mr Sunak: “I think you should show some respect to the audience who want to know what I’ve got to say about this, without constantly being interrupted.”
Sunak slammed Labour’s plans on people smugglers
People smugglers will need bigger boats for the asylum seekers coming to Britain under a Labour government, Rishi Sunak said.
During tonight’s BBC debate, the Prime Minister said: “The Rwanda plan is a deterrent, you just have to listen to what the illegal migrants themselves are saying, one of them just said ‘most of us are still in France due to the fear we have about Rwanda’.
“Another one said ‘I won’t cross the Channel until the Rwanda plan is destroyed’. If Labour win, the people smugglers are going to need a bigger boat. Don’t surrender our borders to the Labour Party.”
Sir Keir Starmer replied: “Record numbers coming across the Channel and he says it’s a deterrent, there are a few hundred that will go on a flight to Rwanda, a huge expense to taxpayers. There are tens of thousands, 15,000 people have come since Rishi Sunak has been Prime Minister.”
The BBC debate kicked off with the leaders being questioned on the betting scandal.
Sir Keir Starmer accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of being “bullied” into responding to the issue.
The Labour leader said: “You have to lead from the front on issues like this. I think that in the last 14 years politics has become too much about self entitlement, and MPs thinking about what they could get for themselves.”
He added: “The instinct of these people to think the first thing they should do is try to make money, that was the wrong instinct, and we have to change that.”
Sir Keir continued: “What I did, when one of my team was alleged to have been involved and investigated by the Gambling Commission, they were suspended within minutes, because I knew it made it really important to be swift, the Prime Minister delayed and delayed and delayed until eventually he was bullied into taking action.”
In response, Mr Sunak said: “It was important to me, that given the seriousness and the sensitivity of the matters at hand that they were dealt with properly, and that’s what I’ve done.”
‘Are you two really the best we’ve got to be the next prime minister?'
Sir Keir Starmer said he was not surprised by a question from an audience member who asked “are you two really the best we’ve got to be the next prime minister of our great country?”
The Labour leader said: “I’m not surprised after 14 years of this that people feel this way because the country is in such a state.
“They’ve had loads of promises made in the last election about what will happen which haven’t been delivered on, that does beat the hope out of people.
“The very first question was about integrity in politics, and again people haven’t seen that integrity – they’ve had partygate, they’ve had breach of Covid rules, you’ve had the contracts for Covid – the instinct of some people to think the first thing in Covid i’m going to do is try to make money.
“So, this is an opportunity to restore that hope. I don’t think we can do that by making sort of grand promises of things that can’t be delivered.”
Rather, he said, it’s “the ordinary hope of getting on yourself, getting on for your family, getting on for your community, your country. It has to be rooted, if we’re going to restore hope in my view, in returning politics to service, the sense that you come into politics to serve”.
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