The problem with Starmer calling Sunak a ‘liar’

Is Rishi Sunak a ‘liar’? That was the powerful and rather incredible word used by Keir Starmer multiple times in Wednesday night’s debate – with Starmer interrupting the prime minister’s closing statement, no less – after Sunak used the Tory calculation that Labour would raise the average tax bill by £2,000. 

‘Lies, liar’ Starmer pressed. It sounded like something being picked up on a hot mic off stage. But it was the Labour leader, who was visibly furious at the start of his closing statement. ‘That was a lie, and he’s been told not to repeat that lie, and he’s just done it,’ was how Starmer’s remarks started, before he went into his pitch.

There is no doubt the £2,000 figure is dubious. As I noted at the time, there was no possible way for the Tories to calculate that figure without knowing Labour’s full set of plans for governing.