PM Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer slated for speaking over host
Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have been slated for talking over host Julie Etchingham and each other – as she tells them off in punchy ITV debate.
The political leaders were repeatedly chided in an increasingly bad-tempered show as they battled it out in the election’s first live head-to-head, as they fought it out on national TV.
Both the Prime Minister and the Labour chief spoke over each other and the ITV veteran newsreader’s attempts to keep order.
And the show descended into chaos as Ms Etchingham repeatedly shouted ‘thank you’ in an attempt to get each to answer the questions.
In one particularly tense moment as the pair argued over immigration she raged: ‘Rishi Sunak please can we just! Please, gentlemen! We will lower our voices.’
Sunak and Starmer infuriated their viewers as social-media users repeatedly blasted them trying to win their argument by ‘shouting louder’.
Commentating on the repetitive attempts to keep the pair in order, media commentator Scott Bryan posted: ‘OK THANK YOU THANK YOU OK THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU’.
The political leaders were repeatedly chided in an increasingly bad-tempered show as they battled it out in the election’s first live head-to-head, as they fought it out on national TV
And the show descended into chaos as Ms Etchingham repeatedly shouted ‘thank you’ in an attempt to get each to answer the questions
Another laughed: ‘Just lamp ’em Jules.’
A third, Dawn Roberts, fumed: ‘Both sound like spoiled rich school kids with no manners.’
Sarah Hill said: ‘Sunak keeps shouting over her and Starmer, he’s very rude.’
And Maths teacher Hannah added: ‘Rishi is so rude. My teacher hackles are up.
‘Stop talking over people; you don’t win an argument by shouting louder.’
Ms Etchingham had warned the pair to stick to a 45 second per question rule, but repeatedly had to curtail the politicians’ answers.
After one exchange, she told them: ‘Please, an appeal from me not to speak over one another. We want to make sure that everybody can hear what you’re saying.’
‘Thank you, not over each other,’ she said later.
‘Gentlemen please, we’re just going to take a pause there.’
After a commercial break, the host warned them: ‘Just a little information for both of our candidates here, please, an appeal from me, not to speak over one another.
‘We want to make sure that everybody can hear what you’re saying.
‘That was a gentle reminder, it may not be so gentle next time.’
Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer kicked off a crunch election debate tonight – as an apocalyptic poll underlined the stakes for the Tories
Mr Sunak said it was a choice between him and Sir Keir for No10, saying his opponent would ‘raise your taxes and raid your pensions’
But others said that the political leaders were left with too much free reign as they fought to get as much time as possible to complain about their opponent.
Assistant Director of Sport Wales Owen Hathway, slammed the moderation of the debate as well as the repeated interruptions.
He said: ‘This debate is absolutely awful. The moderation is dreadful. The time to answer, and space to answer, is awful. The constant interruptions are awful.
‘Everything is awful. I have zero confidence it will give a single voter any help in making a choice.’
Another, Steve Cole, said: ‘Julie, please get hold of this, stop letting them talk over you.’
And Channel 4 news anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy said: ‘The artificial time constraints are already annoying.
‘These debates should last 90 minutes to 2 hours and let people finish a sentence.’
The leaders crossed swords on immigration, with Mr Sunak arguing that Rwanda policy could help stop small boats. When Sir Keir branded it an ‘expensive gimmick’ Mr Sunak shot back: ‘You might not like it but I’ve got a plan.’
The leaders crossed swords on immigration, with Mr Sunak arguing that Rwanda policy could help stop small boats
Mr Sunak was targeted with more muttering from the crowd as he said the health service had been hit by ‘industrial action’
Sir Keir also taunted the Tory leader that he was the ‘most liberal’ PM because legal net immigration is running at record levels – with the latest figures 685,000 a year.
There were groans from the audience as Mr Sunak was challenged over NHS waiting lists, and claimed they were ‘coming down’. ‘They are coming down from when they were higher,’ he said.
Mr Sunak was targeted with more muttering from the crowd as he said the health service had been hit by ‘industrial action’. ‘So you’re blaming someone else,’ Sir Keir shot back.
The stakes for the premier have been underlined by huge Survation research showing Labour is on track for the biggest majority in modern political history at 324 seats – compared to the 179 margin Tony Blair achieved.
The survey – conducted using the so-called MRP technique – projected the Conservatives would be reduced to just 71 MPs.
Mr Sunak would barely manage to cling on to his own Richmond & Northallerton constituency. It also suggested Reform could win three, as Nigel Farage launches his bombshell bid to win a constituency.
