RISHI Sunak has been panned for his interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday morning.
The Prime Minister appeared on the BBC’s flagship political programme where he was asked about a range of topics, including the Government’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda, NHS waiting times in England, and the upcoming General Election.
Many have since taken to social media to criticise the Prime Minister for his interview, in which he repeatedly told the host to make sure she asked Keir Starmer similar questions when he appears on the show next week.
"'I’m sure when Keir Starmer is here next week you’ll ask him about that.' If Rishi Sunak had a pound for every time he said that on @bbclaurak’s show he could pay off the deficit," Time Radio host Matt Chorley noted.
"But isn’t it a bit demeaning for the actual prime minister?"
Sunak insisted that “progress is being made” as he was grilled on the next election.
#bbclaurak: How can our viewers have confidence in your project when so many of your own team are walking away? Rishi Sunak: "I genuinely believe that w've turned a corner & I think the country is now pointing in the right direction... we've got to stick to the plan.. " 👀 pic.twitter.com/B3phB4ojCo
— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) January 7, 2024
“The plans we've put in place are working, we’re making progress, we’re pointing in the right direction and the choice now is to stick to the plan,” he said.
“And that’s what I’m going to do because the plan will deliver the long-term change that our country needs. It’s starting to do that and if we stick to it then we can ensure that everyone has peace of mind that the future is going to be better for their children and we can have a renewed sense of pride in the UK.
“That’s my job for the year, that’s what I’ll be out and about talking to people about and as I said I feel upbeat because of the progress we’ve made and the fact I know we’re now pointing in the right direction.”
Reacting to the news on Twitter/X, SNP MP Pete Wishart said: “If that’s all Sunak has he would be just as well calling the election now.
“What a load of disingenuous nonsense. He has nothing left.”
Elsewhere, the SNP’s depute leader Keith Brown (below) said: “This morning, the nation saw a Prime Minister out of touch and out of time.
“The longer Rishi Sunak delays the inevitable General Election, the more people in Scotland – and across the UK – suffer from his government’s incompetence.
“From soaring household bills and yet more crippling Tory austerity to a decades-long Post Office scandal that has rocked the nation, Westminster doesn’t work for Scotland.
“The Prime Minister’s time is up. We need an election now to get this hopeless Tory government out but it’s only with independence – by voting SNP – that Scotland can be protected from Westminster mismanagement for good.”
Meanwhile, economist Richard Murphy picked up on Sunak’s comments about the future being better for people’s children.
“I am annoyed by politicians who frame everything on the basis of ‘the future will be better for your children’.
“Not only is that unfair to those who don’t have children, who are of no apparent political concern, but both major parties are failing that test on climate change,” he said on Twitter/X.
Elsewhere, Sunak was asked how he would get around Rule 39 – an emergency measure made by European courts to stop a plane taking off for Rwanda.
He said he “won’t let a foreign court stop our ability to remove people” as he denied he had any hesitations on the Rwanda plan.
Responding to this on Twitter/X, Green MP Caroline Lucas said: “It’s so deeply dangerous for Rishi Sunak to dismiss the rule of international law in such a cavalier way.
“This shouldn’t be normalised. It we’re not going to abide by agreements we’ve signed up to, why should anyone else?”
Many others took to social media to criticise the Prime Minister with one comparing it to an episode of The Thick of It while another described him as a “lame duck”.
