Who won today's PMQs? Keir Starmer calls Rishi Sunak 'absolutely deluded'

Prime minister Rishi Sunak once again faced leader of the opposition Keir Starmer for Prime Minister's Questions today.

The session came as the government unveiled its new controversial immigration plans, as the world celebrates International Woman's Day, and as Labour still cruises ahead in the polls.

It was a fiery session as always, with plenty of zingers and tense moments.

Here's what happened:

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Starmer: "The problem just gets work with every new gimmick," 7/10

Starmer kicked things off by slamming the government over its new migration plans, insinuating they won't lead to real action. Claiming that the Tories are all talk appears to be one of Starmer's favourite attack lines at the moment, and given that the small boats issue has prevailed in recent years, his argument seems pretty justifiable.

Sunak: "We are determined to ensure this remains a compassionate and generous country", 4/10

Sunak blamed the issue on global factors before making this bold claim.

If the plan was so "compassionate" the UNHCR wouldn't have spoken out against it, and the home secretary Suella Braverman would not have had to admit it may not pass through European courts.

Sunak then claimed Labour would allow "unlimited asylum", which is just not the case, although doesn't that sound... nice?

Starmer: "They've lost control of the borders," 6/10

Not sinking to his nonsense, Starmer asked Sunak for a timeline for when the plan would come into action, which was a smart exercise in holding what could be seen as a vague plan to account. Although, it would be nice to hear politicians speaking about people entering the country in more compassionate, or at least nuanced, terms, rather than just treating migration as an absolute evil.

In response, Sunak claimed Starmer was on the "wrong side" of the argument and had always been.

Starmer: "He should be apologising not gloating," 6/10

Starmer then refuted Sunak's claim that he doesn't want to deal with small boats as pure nonsense, drawing on his legal career and making the prime minister sound very ridiculous indeed.

Sunak: "He's just another lefty lawyer standing in our way," 0/10

Sunak then sunk to the very pits of political discourse and criticised Starmer for not voting for the Rwanda scheme and other Tory measures with this Johnson-era rhetoric designed to rabble rouse and divide.

These issues are serious and should be treated as such.

Starmer rightly called Sunak's diatribe "nonsense" before calling him "absolutely deluded".

Sunak: "We are the party of fairness," 1/10

If the argument hadn't descended far enough into inane spiel, Sunak - with a straight face we might add - then positioned the Tories as "fair" in comparison to Labour.

Really? The Conservatives?

Verdict

This was an unproductive session which saw both sides shouting and jeering about the Tories' new plan without getting to grips with the real issues behind it.

And whilst PMQs is always a bit of a slanging match, a more serious tone when screaming about "migrants" would have not gone amiss.

For Sunak's "lefty lawyer" line alone, he loses and Starmer takes the win.

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