Heroic display of fighting spirit as PM gets plaudits
THE reputation of British politics has not been enhanced by the 2024 election campaign.
This process has dragged on for too long and the outcome seems too predictable to generate any real excitement.
Neither of the two main parties have been honest about the scale of the challenges facing our country, nor have they put forward credible plans for the revival of Britain.
Apart from Nigel Farage’s electrifying entry into the contest, there were no real surprises or new stars. Even the one major scandal triggered by allegations that political operators have used insider information to place bets, has had a petty, parochial quality.
Until last night, the television debates had largely conformed to this familiar pattern, with empty verbiage prevailing over the enlightenment of the public. But in this final showdown, the entire atmosphere was very different, fuelled by a remarkable performance by the Prime Minister who threw the Labour leader on to the defensive with his passion and eloquence.
If Rishi Sunak had shown the same fire and commitment on the campaign trail as he did on the Nottingham stage in this debate, then the Tories might be at level pegging, instead of trailing by 20 points. In this heroic display of fighting spirit, he showed exactly why he had become Prime Minister.
Sir Keir Starmer, cruising towards victory, did not know what hit him. He has always been a wooden performer, slow on his feet and reliant on rehearsed answers, but he has never looked such a hollow man as he did last night.
Under Sunak’s relentless attack, he was unable to find the words in response. At one point he was reduced to spluttering incoherence. He did not look like a leader who is about to win the biggest victory in British democratic history.
On the contrary, he came across as a nervous, cautious mediocrity who yearns for power but does not know what he wants to do with it. As Sunak said in one of the many barbs that hit home: “You want to be in charge, but you can’t say what you are going to do.”
The most revealing passage in the debate came on immigration, when the Prime Minister went out and comprehensively demolished Labour’s meaningless policies.
Pointing out that Starmer’s promise to smash the people smuggling gangs is just a platitude, Sunak brilliantly asked, in response to Labour’s argument that illegal Iranian migrants should be returned to their native land, whether Sir Keir would seriously sit down with the Mullahs for such negotiations. “You’re taking people for fools,” he said to loud applause.
Sunak was the man of substance, the politician with a plan, whereas Starmer was the lightweight. It may have come too late, but he has certainly changed the narrative of the final week.
‘Starmer did not look like a leader about to win biggest ever victory’