Sir Keir Starmer reckons he is winning the battle for the moral high ground, that lofty region where his predecessor, Tony Blair, for many years felt so at home.
Starmer pointed out that “the man bankrolling the Prime Minister” had said “the Member for Hackney North should be shot”, and wondered how low that donor, Frank Hester, would have to sink, “what racist, woman-hating threat of violence” would have to be made, before the PM “plucked up the courage to hand back the £10 million”.
Rishi Sunak replied that “the gentleman apologised genuinely for his comments”, and had shown “remorse” which should be accepted.
The Prime Minister could have added that liberals like Starmer tend to believe in the rehabilitation of offenders.
But the rehabilitation of offenders is not a doctrine for which there has ever been much use at PMQs. The aim there is to demonstrate that the PM of the moment is the most incompetent and immoral in British history, a figure to whom the Leader of the Opposition is bound to prove a vast improvement.
Sunak attempted, by listing various atrocious things said by leading Labour figures, to persuade us that the Opposition has no right to feel so insufferably self-righteous.
Labour MPs nevertheless looked cheerful, such figures as Jessica Morden and Chi Onwurah, sitting directly behind Starmer, beaming with pleasure as their leader denounced the PM.
The Conservative benches were glum, but not so glum that they stabbed their leader in the back.
Diane Abbott, sitting against the back wall of the Chamber, was sombre, which was understandable, given that she was the woman against whom the death threat was made.
She bobbed up and down to show she wanted to ask a question, but the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, refused to call her – a bizarre decision, especially when one reflects that she has been an MP since 1987, and everyone wanted to hear what she had to say.
For Blair, the moral high ground became much less comfortable after the invasion of Iraq. One wonders what event may make it less comfortable for Starmer.
The post Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: Starmer thinks he is winning the battle for the moral high ground appeared first on Conservative Home.
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Author: Andrew Gimson
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