BBC TV debate: Rishi Sunak tried to savage Keir Starmer as if he was already prime minister

Roles were reversed in the second and final debate in Nottingham, writes John Rentoul

At one point Sunak theatrically declared, ‘Oh my god, ‘smash the gangs’, what does that mean?’ (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak was like an irritatingly bouncy leader of the opposition, harassing a world-weary prime minister who had to explain that life was a bit more complicated than his opponent suggested.

Politics has a way of getting ahead of itself, and the BBC TV debate seemed to be taking place after 4 July, when all the problems raised by members of the studio audience were Keir Starmer’s problems – and it was Sunak who was able to float free and attack.

This meant that the debate was sharper than the muddy and confused affair at the start of the campaign. Starmer was readier to interrupt and say that what Sunak was saying was “false”, having been taken by surprise in the first debate and failed to respond for some time to the allegation that Labour would put up taxes by £2,000.