Keir Starmer milks his stock answer for all it’s worth: ‘£22bn black hole’ | John Crace
The Labour leader may not have the charisma, or the punchlines, but he has a secret weapon – sincerity
This could go on for months. Years, possibly. The ultimate get-out clause. The answer to every question. Tricky or otherwise. Why are things so crap at the moment? Because the last government ruined the public finances. Why did it take me so long to get to work today? £22bn black hole. Everything is explained by Tory cover-ups and incompetence. And by and large, rightly so. The headline takeaway from the last election was that everyone was sick to the back teeth of the Conservatives.
None of which makes for a particularly interesting prime minister’s questions. Back in the Tory dog days, there was some edge. Some jeopardy. How was Rishi Sunak going to dodge his way out of the latest shitshow? Now, not so much. Not at all, in fact. It all feels a bit of a snooze. Just another piece of parliamentary routine.
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