SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn had most of the Commons on stitches this lunchtime with a hilarious but brutal joke poking fun at both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.
Mr Flynn tore into Labour frontbenchers’ recent praising of Margaret Thatcher, after both Rachel Reeves and David Lammy echoed the Iron Lady this week.
The party leader quipped: “With his backbenchers looking for a unity candidate to replace him, which of the now numerous born-again Thatcherites on the Labour frontbench does he believe best fits the bill?”
Rishi Sunak struggled to answer as he laughed at the gag from the dispatch box, alongside Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch who was also seen chortling.
The Prime Minister wasted no time in turning the quip into an opportunity to attack Labour’s leadership in Birmingham, where the council’s recent bankruptcy will see the city’s services cut to a level on par with 1970s Britain before Mrs Thatcher’s revival.
Mr Sunak said: “It was surprising to hear all this talk about the 1970s from the Shadow Chancellor in particular”.
“But then if you see what’s happening in places like Birmingham, where taxes are going up by 21 percent, services are being cut – whether it’s social care, children’s services or indeed some streets literally the lights are being turned off.
“It was unsurprising to hear them talking about the 70s, and I can just say what they’ve done to Birmingham the Conservatives will never let them do to Britain!”
Mr Flynn retorted that there was a “serious point” to his question, as the IFS has warned of a “conspiracy of silence that exists between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party” over cuts after the election.
He asked whether the public in Scotland is right to be “anti-Westminster” given the choice on offer.
However Mr Sunak quickly slapped down Mr Flynn, saying he was surprised to hear him quoting the IFS.
“The IFS also described the recent SNP budget as ‘misleading’ and said in their words that ‘pain is almost certainly coming’.
“It is a savage tax and axe budget, Mr Speaker, because here’s the reality of it: while NHS spending in England is going up in real terms, in Scotland it is going down!
“While taxes are being cut by the UK Government it is the SNP Government that is putting them up, and that is the contrast.
“Where the SNP or Labour are in charge, it’s working people that pay the price.”
The battle between Mr Sunak and the SNP proved much livelier than his bout with Keir Starmer, who pressed the PM over his refusal to call an early General Election.
Sir Keir ranted: “Violent prisoners released early, because the Tories recked the criminal justice system; 3,500 small boat arrivals already this year, because the Tories lost control of the borders; the NHS struggling to see people, because the Tories broke it; millions paying more on their mortgages; a budget that hit pensioners; a £46bn hole in his sums”.
“Why is the Prime Minister so scared to call an election?”
Mr Sunak shot back: “I thought that out of everybody he’d actually be the most grateful, as he now actually has time to come up with a plan for Britain! We’re all looking forward to finally seeing it”.
