Sunak Vs Starmer: The Argument in the Parliament.
I didn’t see any pinned or stickied posts so here’s one for the shit posting political discussion.
I got home a bit late, so I’m streaming this on a 15 minute delay. So 10 minutes in, and Sunak really is pathetic. “Well actually, I do get it and you’re wrong.”
Sunak actually getting a clap from the audience after saying he won’t bow to Junior Doctor Union demands of a 35% pay increase.
I’m actually surprised at that!
Docs have made a strategic mistake for striking in the middle of election when negotiations are impossible.
or they’ve made a great decision to embarrass this government just before an election and help to oust them
Except they’re not going to get anything from Labour either.
There is no government at the moment, parliament isn’t sitting, there isn’t a health minister, there is no one for the docs to negotiate with. All this does is further increase the backlog for operations which is not something that typically endears you to the public.
Wait, how much of the cabinet currently exists?
Doctors do become very well paid later in their careers as consultants so there is probably limited amount of sympathy for the rough years as junior doctors where they are significantly underpaid.
That’s true, however people can be junior doctors for a surprisingly long time so you can see why they are pissed off! I assumed it was the first 3 years after graduation or something until one of my friends who is a doctor explained it to me.
Junior doctors are qualified doctors in clinical training.
They have completed a medical degree and can have up to nine years’ of working experience as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to five years working and gaining experience to become a general practitioner (GP).
Most people understand that 35% is completely unreasonable, so I’m not surprised that the audience approve.
On the immigration question I think they both came out pretty well. Appealing to their core voters I must admit. But strong responses from the both of them. Hard to judge between them on this issue. Basically if you want to believe Rishi then Starmer isn’t swaying you on this question, and if you want to believe Starmer then Rishi isn’t persuading you.
Rishi held his own pretty well on that
Rishi coming off better in this question of retirement tax than Starmer. All he has to say is “under Liz Truss, under Liz Truss”. Poor from Starmer on that one.
It’s ridiculous, Sunak is the person who froze the tax boundaries in the first place. Why isn’t Starmer pointing that out?
Changing planning laws! Why is this a throw away right at the end? FFS.
Here we go
Second audience clap of the night is for Starmer’s private school tax policy. 👏
That’s it! Thanks for playing. My summary:
Yes, but your commentary was more entertaining than the event itself!
Question two: Be honest about the NHS and what it’s going to take to fix it.
Both candidates:
Starmer hits a clanger on Sunak.
Starmer: Explain how the waiting figures are coming down, they were 7.2 million and now they’re 7.5 million and he’s supposed to be good at maths!
Sunak: B…B…But they came down from a higher figure before?
I’d guess the discrepancy is waiting times being different from the total number of people waiting. Both of those stats could feasibly be true if demand is growing all of the time.
Question five: The climate.
More aspirations from Starmer here, which I suspect is going to be an overall winner on this topic. Sunak’s go to answer is “no we can’t afford it so I’m not going to do it” seems a bit wet in comparison.
Although surprised (again) at the clapping for Sunak’s rebuttal.
Woeful so far. Both of them talking over each other in an abrasive way like this is a US presidential debate.
I didn’t have high hopes for responses or even the questions for that matter. I’m in it for the gaffs. Hoping Starmer let’s slip “you twat” in a hot mic moment.
GB Energy seems like a genuinely interesting idea from Labour. Say more on this old man! 😜
The ‘45 seconds to respond’ format was a mistake. Fewer topics with longer responses might actually have been interesting, but this stifled all opportunity for any thought to be expressed in anything more than trivial detail.
It’s the Twitter effect. Kids these days can’t hold their attention for longer than 45 seconds.
shakes fist at clouds
The format excluded any proper discussion and left space only for the pre-rehearsed soundbites we all expect anyway. Combined with the ineffective moderation and the whole thing was a tedious watch, shambles over substance.
ITV took 70 minutes of my life and I want them back.
Strong agree
Something like the third time Starmer has told us his dad was a tool maker.
🎶 My old man’s a tool maker he wears a tool man’s hat…
