CONVINCING Labour to agree to a “bleak future” for the UK is the Tories’ “greatest achievement,” Stephen Flynn has said, as he took a dig at both parties over bankers' bonuses.
The SNP Westminster group leader took aim at comments made by shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves during a clash with the Prime Minister in the House of Commons.
The Labour MP said the Labour party has no intention of bringing back the cap on bonuses, scrapped by Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng during their disastrous mini-budget.
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Flynn fumed that the move signalled Labour had joined the UK Government in being “completely out of touch with public opinion” during PMQs on Wednesday.
When the Tories scrapped the cap on bankers bonuses in the autumn during a cost-of-living crisis, the Labour Party rightly opposed it,” he told the Commons.
“Yet here we are just three months later, and the Labour Party support scrapping the cap on bankers bonuses. Shameful.
“But is the Prime Minister comforted by the fact that he is no longer alone in this House on being completely out of touch with public opinion?”
Rishi Sunak replied: “As I said at the time, we supported the decision of the independent regulator because this was the right thing for financial stability, but that is because on this side of the House we have a set of convictions and we have a plan, and we stick to it.
“But he is absolutely right to point out the flip-flopping and U-turning and no convictions of the party opposite.”
Flynn followed up by stating that convincing Labour to agree to a “bleak future” for the UK is the “great achievement” of the UK Government.
The SNP Westminster leader said: “Scrapping the cap on bankers' bonuses was only made possible due to Brexit, so what the Westminster parties are now telling the public is that it is okay for bankers to have unlimited Brexit bonuses, but for the public sitting at home struggling to feed their families they have to suck up and deal with the additional food price costs as a result of Brexit red tape.
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“That is the cost and that is the reality of broke Brexit Britain. Isn’t it the case that the great achievement of this Tory Government is getting the Labour party to agree to that bleak future?”
The PM replied: “We are actually delivering benefits for people across Scotland, not least in new free trade deals that are opening up markets for Scottish exporters, freeports that are attracting jobs and investments, the Brexit pubs guarantee cutting the cost of a pint in Scottish pubs.
“But when he talks about the cost of living, the thing that he could do most to help is make sure that Scotland isn’t the highest taxed part of the United Kingdom.
“It is not just for high earners, everybody earning £28,500 or more is paying more tax in Scotland than they would in England thanks to the SNP.”
Elsewhere, Labour leader Keir Starmer (above) clashed with the PM on mortgage rates, taking a dig at Tory MP George Freeman who quit because he was struggling to pay his mortgage.
“His mortgage has gone up £1200 a month, he’s been forced to quit his dream job to pay for it,” Starmer said. “A Tory MP counting the cost of Tory chaos. After 14 years, have we finally discovered what they meant when they said ‘we’re all in this together’?”
Sunak said “millions of mortgage holders across the country are benefitting from support with their mortgages,” adding: “It’s important that, rather than take the approach that (Starmer) just did, is to actually focus on the practical support.”
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Speaker Lindsay Hoyle had to repeatedly intervene during exchanges. Before PMQs began, he told MPs to show restraint, telling the Commons: “I know there is a general election approaching but I would urge Members on both sides of the House to exercise greater self-restraint in their choice of words and in their general behaviour, both when they are asking a question and when they are not.”
Meanwhile, LibDem leader Ed Davey was later jeered by backbench Tories as he stood to ask a question, after facing scrutiny in recent weeks about his record as a Post Office minister during the coalition government years.
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