The final TV clash of the election campaign was an ill-tempered shouting match, at least from Rishi Sunak. Sir Keir was more measured. More prime ministerial, perhaps?
As he had to as the underdog, Mr Sunak went on the attack from the start until the very end and unveiled a new campaign slogan: “Don’t surrender…”
He said it no fewer than 15 times during the 75-minute debate. That’s once every five minutes.
But just like the England-Slovenia Euros match 24 hours earlier, the result was a draw, 50%-50% exactly, according to pollsters YouGov.
Election latest: PM ‘behaved badly’ in debate with Sir Keir
And, some would say, that just like the England game, it was a 0-0 draw really.
At the outset, the PM served notice he wanted to talk about tax, while Sir Keir wanted to talk about politicians gambling. Hardly surprising.
As Mr Sunak read out prepared lines – and appeared to be looking down at notes – it was a smart ad lib from Sir Keir that won the first round of applause.
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“If you listened to people in the audience more you might not be so out of touch,” he said, in a familiar Labour attack line.
But the PM was strong and came out on top in exchanges on illegal migrants crossing the channel.
“Don’t surrender our borders to the Labour Party,” he urged the audience in the first of many “Don’t surrender…” appeals to voters.
Then he challenged Sir Keir on illegal migrants: “What will you do with them?” And then came a good ad lib – or perhaps prepared line of attack – from the PM.
“Are you going to sit down with the ayatollahs? Are you going to sit down with the Taliban?” he goaded Sir Keir, winning applause this time.
The host Mishal Husain had a good line too. When the Labour leader attacked Mr Sunak for saying: “We should unite behind Liz Truss.”
“You know what it’s like to fall in behind the leader of your party!” in a clear reference to Sir Keir’s backing for Jeremy Corbyn, which gave him some uncomfortable moments in earlier TV clashes during the election campaign.
Surprisingly, Mr Sunak didn’t respond to that. On this occasion, a bit like the England football team, he missed an open goal.
One of the best moments came when a member of the audience, Robert, asked a devastating question.
He said Mr Sunak “was a good chancellor but is a mediocre PM” and “Sir Keir’s strings are being pulled by others in the Labour Party”.
And then came this killer question from Robert: “Are you two really the best we’ve got to be the next prime minister of our great country?”
There were gasps from the audience and applause at the same time. Great question.
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Another good question from the audience came when Judy told how her jazz vinyl records business had lost 90% of its trade with Europe since Brexit. What could be done to get a better trading deal, she asked.
Mr Sunak, however, dodged that question by talking about business rates and other UK taxes.
On Brexit, it seemed, the PM was like a cracked record.
He claimed Sir Keir’s plans for better deals with the EU would mean more migration.
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But Sir Keir said Mr Sunak was the most liberal prime minister on migration. “The numbers have gone through the roof,” he said.
The debate ended as it began, with Mr Sunak shouting over Sir Keir. It wasn’t a good look.
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In the closing speeches, the PM hammered home the Tories‘ £2,000 Labour tax grab charge, yet again. And yet again he said: “Don’t surrender…”
And as the debate ended there was no handshake between the pair, which is unusual for these TV clashes.
At least party leaders pretend to be civilised towards each other usually.
There’s clearly no love lost between these two. It showed. A 50%-50% draw, said YouGov. Just like England at the Euros!
