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ITV Leaders Debate: Starmer and Sunak avoid falling out too much Achi-News

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Achi news desk-

The ITV leaders’ debate was the Prime Minister’s chance to try to get ahead, it was an opportunity to highlight the thinness of Labour’s proposal and Sir Keir Starmer’s lack of conviction.

Was he in control? Well, no, but he had his moments.

READ MORE: Only half of SNP voters in 2019 will support a party in a general election

A YouGov poll immediately after the hour-long show suggested that 51% of people thought Sunak performed best compared to 49% for Starmer.

When you’re 20 points behind in the polls, you take these small gains wherever you can.

The real loser of the night was probably ITV. The heads of both parties had only 45 seconds to answer quite difficult and complex questions.

That led to frequent free-for-all shouting with host Julie Etchingham struggling to control the men, particularly Sunak, who spoke for Starmer.

A lot of numbers were thrown around in the debate. Some were big. Some were not as big as they used to be. Some were bigger than they should have been.

Some were invalid or maybe just fixed. Sure, the £2,000 Labor tax hike that Sunak repeatedly mentioned was a strange one.

Odd still was how long it took Starmer to shut it down.

After the debate, Labor said the costs were based on a host of possibly deliberate misunderstandings of policies on schools, the NHS and policing, pulled together by a Tory councilor and fed to the Treasury for analysis .

The Tories disagree with that.

Expect this to resonate.

But the numbers that mattered came from Paula in the beginning.

“I have worked since I was 15 years old and I currently have a full-time and stable job,” he told the two men.

“My children have left home in recent years. I found it very difficult to make ends meet and the money doesn’t go far enough.

“All I do is work to live. My food bill is almost double. I am in arrears with my bills.

“I spend my weekends batch cooking so I don’t have to turn on my oven during peak hours.

“My savings are gone. And I’m really worried about my future.

“I don’t think you understand what it’s like for people like me. So what can you do about that?”

Sunak, whose personal wealth rose by £122m last year, taking his estimated fortune to £651m, told her: “I know how much strain the last few years have put on your family’s finances, everyone’s family finances in our country. ”

This is probably the most deafening moment of the night.

READ MORE: Nigel Farage and the Scottish Tories: help or hindrance?

The biggest news line of the night was Sunak confirming that he would leave the European Convention on Human Rights if the Rwanda plan was blocked in the courts.

The First Minister said: “I am absolutely clear, I believe that all our plans comply with our international obligations, but if I am forced to choose between securing our borders and the security of our country, or a foreign court, I going to choose the safety of our country every time.”

He earned a round of applause.

Starmer also won applause when it was said that the UK could become a “pariah” state if it left international conventions.

“We will not pull out of international agreements and international law that are respected around the world,” he said.

“Because I want the UK to be a respected player on the world stage, not a pariah who doesn’t agree with international law.”

Sunak came out swinging and got some hits, but Starmer will be happy he didn’t drop the ming vase.

The two men face each other again on June 26. By then we should have manifestos and a better understanding of Farage’s impact on the Tory vote.

Three weeks is a long time in politics.

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