RISHI Sunak was admonished by the Speaker at Prime Minister’s Questions after brandishing a book Keir Starmer had written on human rights.
The moment came after the Tory leader repeatedly failed to answer his Labour opposite’s question on whether the UK Government had “found” more than 4000 people it was meant to send to Rwanda but instead lost track of.
Starmer said: “The Government has been forced to admit that it has lost contact with 85% of the 5000 people earmarked for removal to Rwanda. Has he found them yet?”
Sunak avoided the question, claiming instead that the UK Government has removed 20,000 people and adding it is “important” to get the Rwanda scheme “up and running”.
“He doesn’t actually care about solving this [small boats] problem,” Sunak responded, adding: “He doesn’t have a plan.”
After repeated dodging, Starmer kept pushing: “Still he hasn’t answered the question. So I’ll try again: what progress has he made in locating the 4250 people his Government has apparently lost? He’s dodged it three times, where are they?”
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Sunak responded: “It’s a bit rich to hear him in here pretending that he cares about how we actually stop the boats when he’s been crystal clear and said that even if the plan is working to reduce the numbers, he would still scrap it.
“It’s because he has no values, no conviction and no plan, and it’s back to square one.”
Starmer countered: “He hasn’t got a clue where they are, has he? I can tell you one place they aren’t and that’s Rwanda because the only thing they’ve sent to Rwanda is Cabinet ministers.”
Sunak responded by highlighting lawyers and judges who he claimed are backing the Rwanda bill, claiming that Starmer was instead more interested in “lefty lawyers”.
The Prime Minister said: “I know he’s always been more interested in what lefty lawyers have to say. I’ve even got here the textbook that he authored for them – and it’s called European Human Rights Law by Keir Starmer.”
The Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, then intervened to admonish the Tory leader.
“Prime Minister. Prime Minister, when I stand up, please sit down,” he said.
“Can I just say we don’t use props in this House and I will certainly ensure that if you do need reminding, I certainly will.”
READ MORE: Lee Anderson quits as Tory deputy chair in Rwanda bill row
Taking the floor, Starmer said Sunak’s attack had been “utterly pathetic nonsense”.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn also questioned Sunak on the Rwanda bill, asking why the UK Government was focusing on that instead of the cost-of-living crisis affecting millions across the country.
Responding, Sunak ignored the question and instead claimed that Scotland was the highest taxed part of the UK.
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