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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Sophie Huskisson

Keir Starmer attacks clueless Rishi Sunak for 'smiling through cost of living crisis'

Keir Starmer has blasted "out-of-touch" Rishi Sunak, who is the wealthiest PM in history, for not getting a grip on the cost of living crisis.

In a fiery exchange, he slammed the PM for not scrapping the non-dom status, a tax status that Mr Sunak's mega-rich wife has benefited from.

The Labour leader accused the multi-millionaire PM of "smiling his way through the cost of living crisis" as oil and gas giants rake in huge profits and working people across the country suffer.

He said: "He refuses to scrap the non-dom status that benefits him and his family. I can see why he's attracted to this non-dom thing. This Prime Minister is so removed from the country that he boasted that he didn't know a single working class person.

"So insulated from reality that he proudly told a Tory Garden Party how he moved money from poor areas and handed it to Rich ones. So out of touch that he looks at a petrol pump and a debit card like they've just arrived from Mars.

"Is it any wonder that he smiles his way through the cost of living crisis while putting other people's taxes up? Is it any wonder he doesn't have a clue how food prices are hammering families across the country? Or is it any wonder that under him people are paying more and more and getting less and less?"

Mr Starmer was referring to a number of mega-gaffes by the PM, including a video of a young Mr Sunak saying he didn't have any working class friends and a clip of him boasting about "undoing" Labour policies that gave funding to "deprived, urban areas" last year.

The Labour leader also ridiculed Mr Sunak for an embarrassing moment last year when he struggled to use a debit card to pay for petrol - holding it up to the till scanner instead of the card machine.

The PM was also mocked for borrowing a Sainsbury employee's Kia to pose for pictures as he filled up the car's tank.

Mr Starmer also used PMQs to brand Mr Sunak "Mr 24 Tax rises" as he said: "The money in people's pockets has fallen by £1,600... The Prime Minister's response to impose 24 Tory tax rises in three years"

He added: "Does he really think that everything's fine or is he just clueless on life outside of his bubble?"

Mr Sunak claimed he was "supporting working people".

He said: "Because of the actions that we've taken on the national living wage at record levels, on pension, on Universal Credit, and the generous cost of living payments just yesterday, Mr. Speaker, almost eight million households receiving direct support from this constant Conservative government."

A huge scandal erupted last year after it emerged Mr Sunak's wife Akshata Murthy, whose family business is estimated to be worth around £3.5bn, was registered as non-domicile in the UK, meaning she was able to save money in tax.

The classification is not illegal and can save an individual from paying UK tax on income from dividends from foreign investments, rental payments on property overseas or bank interest.

It came as Mr Sunak - who was then-Chancellor - brought in a 1.25% National Insurance hike - raising taxes for working people across the country.

Living standards have continued to fall with. It emerged yesterday that nearly three million emergency food parcels were given out by Britain’s biggest foodbank network as demand from hungry families broke all records.

The Trussell Trust's 1,400 centres provided 2,986,203 aid packages - with enough ingredients for 26.8 million meals - in the last financial year as families were gripped by the cost-of-living crisis.

The overall surge in demand was a 37% increase on the previous 12 months when 2,183,625 packages were distributed.

The total number given away between last April and this March even topped the record number needed at the height of the coronavirus crisis.

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