Former Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas has publicly slammed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for his disastrous performance in a televised BBC Question Time leaders' special, as she candidly told followers on social media: “He’s totally lost it.” The 63 year old who is currently an MP for Brighton Pavilion, took to twitter to critique Rishi’s “aggressive” approach to members of the audience as well as his “rudeness” when it came to answering valid questions.
“Whoever trained Sunak for this #bbcqt session should be sacked - he’s totally lost it,” wrote Ms.Lucas. "So aggressive. So rude. This audience shouting 'shame' gives me hope.”
During his thirty minute interview slot, the beleaguered Tory Party leader was grilled by host Fiona Bruce on a number of topics, ranging from NHS waiting lists and illegal migration, through to doubling down his plans to implement national service if re-elected. Among some of the PM’s most controversial pledges during the evening, he suggested implementing sanctions on young people who refused to undertake national service in either the armed forces or civil service, with one proposed punishment being to revoke access to driving licences and finance.
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Sunak also hinted that under a Tory government he may withdraw the UK from the European Convention of Human Rights altogether, a move which was so ill-received in the audience that it prompted cries of “shame” among attendees in York.
Happy Valley's James Norton teases Tommy's 'deep hatred' in final seriesWhile discussing his plans to continue the current Rwanda deal in which illegal immigrants and asylum seekers would be sent to the African nation for processing, he told a voter in the audience: “Sir, with the greatest respect, we do not need a foreign court to tell us how to police our own borders and our security, right?”
He added: “And I believe everything we’re doing is in compliance with our international obligations but if I’m put in a position where I’m forced to choose between those things, I’m going to put our country’s national security first every single time. And I make absolutely no apology about that.”
Several in the crowd then shouted: “Shame, shame, shame on you.”
It wasn’t just the Green Party and audience members that were critical of Rishi’s performance either, as political rivals the Labour Party were also quick to twist the knife and ridicule the PM’s performance on screen.
Pat McFadden, Labour’s campaign coordinator, dubbed the Prime Minister’s performance an “abject failure”, reports The Telegraph.
In a particularly damning critique, he added: “On the candidates involved in the insider betting scandal, does he think they would be good MPs? Will he campaign for them? Does he want his cabinet colleagues to campaign for them? Does he think they are fit to hold office as Ministers? How many more Tory politicians or officials are involved in this?
“When he became leader after the Liz Truss disaster he had a chance to change his party. He flunked it. He put his party before his country. And the consequences of that failure were on full show tonight.”