Leaders get personal as economic arguments heat uppublished at 12:18 British Summer Time 26 April 2023

12:18 BST 26 April 2023

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

We didn’t really learn anything new from that exchange between the Tory and Labour leaders at PMQs.

But we got a good summary of the economic arguments the parties are currently deploying (and may well keep deploying up until the next general election).

Labour says the prime minister is out of touch. The implication is that his personal wealth means he can’t appreciate the struggles people currently face.

The Conservatives insist that Labour’s economic plans make no sense, and that they’re spending theoretical tax rises on multiple policies.

Once again, these two leaders got a bit personal with one another.

And, once again, it didn’t really feel like either Rishi Sunak or Keir Starmer "won" that exchange.

The SNP's Flynn follows up by saying children in Sudan are already dying - but that whether it's a political slogan, "we need more humanity in this debate rather than the race to the bottom".

He asks the prime minister to confirm that, "given there is no legal route", would it be his government's intention to detain a refugee who has fled Sudan and seeks freedom?

Sunak responds by saying that his government has invested £200m in humanitarian support in Sudan, and that the country has a "proud record of compassionately supporting those in need of assistance".

The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn asks the prime minister to "outline the safe and legal route" for a child refugee seeking to come from Sudan to the UK.

The prime minister says the government's priority in the country has been to evacuate diplomats and their families and that it is now working to evacuate British nationals.

He says it is "reasonable, legal, and fair" to "prioritise those most vulnerable families".

Sunak accuses Labour of siding with "extremist protesters", sewage polluters and illegal people smugglers "only this week".

The Conservatives, he says, are sending back illegal migrants from Albania, providing generous cost-of-living payments, and delivering 20,000 more police officers - "siding with the British people", he concludes.

Starmer says he would scrap the pension scheme "give-away" whether it affected him or not.

In contrast, he says Sunak is refusing to scrap the non-dom tax status that "benefited his wife and family".

He adds that Sunak is "insulated from reality" and looks at petrol pumps and debit cards "like they have just arrived from Mars".

"Non-dom" keeps coming up - so what is it? It's short for "non-domiciled individual".

It's a term used for a UK resident whose permanent home, or domicile, is outside the UK.

"Non-dom" is a description of tax status, and has nothing to do with one's chosen nationality, citizenship or resident status (although it can be affected by these factors).

A non-dom only pays UK tax on money earned in the UK but does not have to pay any tax to the UK on money made elsewhere in the world (unless they pay that money into a UK bank account).

For wealthy individuals, this presents the opportunity for significant - and entirely legal - savings, if they choose a lower-tax country for their domicile.

Read more here.

Sunak says that under his government the wealthiest pay more tax, and the poorest pay less tax.

He accuses Labour of "rank hypocrisy", referring to Starmer's "special pensions scheme".

"It's literally one law for him, and a tax rise for everybody else," he says.

Starmer chides the prime minister for referring to the issue of his family's finances as "this non-dom thing".

He says the prime minister's refusal to scrap the non-dom status means that at "every possible opportunity he has voted to put taxes up on working people, while at the same time taking every possible opportunity to protect a tax avoidance scheme that helped his own finances."

Sunak says record numbers of people are in work, and inequality and poverty are lower under this government.

He accuses the Labour leader of suggesting spending the non-dom money on five different things. Labour, he adds, are always "running out of other people's money".

Starmer labels Sunak as "Mr 24 tax rises" and accuses him of refusing to accept responsibility or take "the action that is needed".

He says Sunak could scrap non-dom status​ and use the money to "put the NHS back on its feet".

"That's what Labour would do," says Starmer.

Sunak defends his government's economic policies, saying they are providing working people with more money. "That's what delivering for Britain looks like," he says, calling on Starmer to put forward his ideas.

He says it's Labour talking about "more spending, more borrowing".

"It's the same old Labour Party," he says.

Starmer says people are now £1,600 worse off than they were.

He asks the prime minister: "Does he really think that everything's fine or is he just clueless about life outside of his bubble?"

Sunak says government action on the national living wage, pensions, universal credit and generous cost-of-living payments has supported working people, while Labour has been siding with protesters.

Starmer says economic problems are the result of "13 years of failure" by Conservatives.

He says real wages have fallen by £1,600 per household, while the Conservatives have imposed 24 tax rises.

Sunak responds by quoting a former Labour chancellor, who says the country has faced several economic shocks - "and the fact we've come through it is a triumph".

Starmer opens by paying tribute to the "brave" personnel involved in the evacuation of Sudan.

He then quotes former Tory chancellor George Osborne saying the current government's handling of the economy makes them "vandals".

Starmer asks the prime minister: "He's right isn't he?"

Sunak starts by speaking about Sudan, pledging to "end the bloodshed" and continue the operation to remove UK nationals amid fighting in the country.

Image source, House of Commons

The prime minister is at the despatch box and opening this week's Q&A in the Commons.

One topic likely to come up in the next few moments is Sudan - so let's recap what's going on there.

Just over a week ago, fighting erupted in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, leaving many residents without water, electricity and medical help.

The fighting in the north-east African country is due to a bloody power struggle within two factions of the country's military leadership.

The country has been run by a council of generals since a coup in 2021, and it's led by the two men at the centre of the dispute. They disagree on the direction of the country.

Find out more key details here. We're also running separate live coverage of the Sudan situation here.

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

It’s rich pickings for Prime Minister’s Questions, starting in about 10 minutes.

We have the ongoing evacuation of UK citizens from Sudan, the government’s Illegal Migration Bill (aimed at stopping small boats) is back in the spotlight, and problems with the cost of living aren’t going away.

It’s also the first PMQs since the former deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, resigned over the findings of a bullying probe.

All of this is happening with the backdrop of local elections next week.

We’ve also seen the two party leaders get quite personal with one another of late.

Labour have released multiple attack adverts aimed at Rishi Sunak, and the prime minister has taken to addressing Keir Starmer as ‘Sir Softie’ (or should that be ‘Sir Softee’? – the spelling is a point of contention).

The implication being that the Labour leader is weak on justice - though Starmer says the exact same of his opponent.

Not long to wait now - the two leaders go head to head at midday.