'When did the Tories become part of the Flat Earth Society?' Starmer slams Sunak over Truss' conspiracy claims
28 February 2024, 12:55
Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at Rishi Sunak over conspiracy claims made by Liz Truss, as he branded the Conservatives "the political wing of the Flat Earth Society".
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Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir joked that the Conservatives had become the "tin-foil hat brigade", in reference to comments made by Ms Truss.
The former Prime Minister published an article in a US news website last week in which she claimed that her short tenure in Downing Street had been "sabotaged" by the "deep state". She also said that she had faced "an almighty backlash" from the media for her policies.
Over the weekend, Labour called for her to be stripped of the Conservative whip for these comments.
Sir Keir said on Wednesday: "Tory MPs spent last week claiming that Britain was being run by a shadowy cabal made up of activists, the deep state and, most chillingly of all, the Financial Times.
"At what point did his party give up on governing and become the political wing of the Flat Earth Society?"
Mr Sunak replied: "Well, another week where (Sir Keir) is just sniping from the sidelines because he has absolutely nothing that he can say on what we do."
Sir Keir added: "The prime minister has lost control of his party to the hordes of... malcontents, the tin-foil hat brigade over there, the extremists who wrecked the economy, all lining up to undermine him, humiliate him, and eventually to get rid of him."
Referring to the Prime Minister, the Labour leader told the Commons: "His predecessor spent last week in America trying to flog her new book.
The Labour leader added: "They made her prime minister, now they can't bear talking about her. In search of fame and wealth, she's taken to slagging off Britain at every opportunity."
Ms Truss has been criticised for not speaking up at the conference when former Trump adviser Steve Bannon called infamous far-right activist Tommy Robinson a "hero".
Sir Keir said of her: "She claimed that as Prime Minister she was sabotaged by the deep state. She also remained silent as Tommy Robinson, that right-wing thug, was described as a hero. Why is he allowing her to stand as a Tory MP at the next election?"
Mr Sunak took aim at Sir Keir's support of Jeremy Corbyn while he was a member of the former Labour leader's Shadow Cabinet, despite the allegations of anti-Semitism in the party.
The Prime Minister said: "I don't believe a single member of this House supports Tommy Robinson.
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"But if he wants to talk about former leaders and predecessors, the whole country knows his record because he sat there while anti-Semitism ran rife in his party and not once but twice backed a man who called Hamas friends."
Sir Keir said he had changed his party for the better, while the Conservatives had changed Mr Sunak.
He said of the Tories: "When they refuse to accept any blame for the ruin of the last 14 years, you do wonder who they think has been running the country all this time."
Sir Keir added: "Winston Churchill once said the price of greatness is responsibility, now I don't think the British public are expecting greatness from this Prime Minister, just a bit of accountability, so does he think it will be great if just for once the Tories actually took some responsibility?"
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It comes after a political row over comments made by Lee Anderson, the former deputy chairman of the Conservatives.
Mr Anderson was suspended from the party after refusing to apologise for saying that London mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by Islamists.
Tory MPs, including the Mr Sunak, have admitted that what Mr Anderson said was "wrong" but have repeatedly refused to say it was Islamophobic.
The row came to a head on Tuesday when LBC's Nick Ferrari ended an interview with Cabinet minister Michael Tomlinson early, after he ducked the Islamophobia question nine times.
