Who won today's PMQs? Keir Starmer accuses Rishi Sunak of ‘pulling the wool over our eyes’

It’s that time of week again, and MPs gathered inside the Commons for Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

Recent weeks have been pretty friendly affairs, with Sunak and Starmer discussing the ongoing war in Ukraine which is about to reach its first anniversary and how to move forward in a united manner.

This week, the conversation was dominated by the ongoing negotiations over the Northern Ireland Protocol trading arrangement which has long been a stumbling block during Brexit talks.

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But who came out on top this week? Here’s what happened.

Starmer: ‘The Northern Ireland Protocol has been poorly implemented’ 5/10

After Sunak expresses solidarity with Ukraine, and welcomed a delegation from Kyiv watching on in the Commons, Starmer echoes the act of solidarity. He also offers support to Nicola Bulley’s family, which Sunak echoes as well.

He then says that Labour is “proud to be the party of the Good Friday Agreement”, before arguing that the priority has to be “removing unnecessary checks on goods”.

Starmer then challenges Sunak on the Northern Ireland Protocol in a relatively cosy opening exchange, getting a subdued response and - you’d imagine - setting the tone for the session.

Sunak: “I am a conservative, A Brexiteer and a unionist” 5/10

BBC Parliament

The low-key opening exchange sees Sunak state that he is “a conservative, A Brexiteer and a unionist” and any agreement will have to conform to those things.

“I will be resolute in fighting for what is best for Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom,” he says, getting the ball rolling on an incredibly low-energy first back and forth.

Starmer: “We were told no forms, no checks, no barriers of any kind” 5/10

It’s all starting to sound a bit 2019 in the chamber, as Starmer delves deeper into the significance of the protocol on and the Brexit agreement. He goes on to say that his predecessor promised “no forms, no checks, no barriers of any kind” which he adds was “nonsense”.

So, it looks like we’re back here again, and it’s the theme of the session. It’s the quietest PMQs for some time, too. Clearly no-one seems used to seeing civilised, well-mannered conversation here too often.

Sunak: ‘Starmer is jumping ahead…” 4/10

The PM stated that Starmer was getting ahead of himself, emphasising that the Government is still in communication with the EU over a deal that works for all. He’s not having to work hard out there at all today. All very sedate so far.

The next exchange then sees Sunak accuse Starmer of being too willing to give the EU whatever they want, which temporarily perks up some of the Tory MPs behind him who seemed to be asleep before now.

Starmer: “Sunak clearly wants a closer relationship with the EU” 4/10

“If there’s a deal will he pull the Northern Ireland protocol bill?” Starmer asks, after claiming that Sunak wants to be closer to the EU than his predecessors. Starmer is struggling to impose himself on the session somewhat.

Sunak: “Starmer can’t be trusted to stick up for Brexit” 6/10

Sunak pulls up the fact that Starmer called for a second referendum to jeers from the Tories. Not exactly sure pointing out that Starmer was a remainer and didn’t want Brexit was much of a slam, though.

Starmer: “The PM is pulling the wool over our eyes” 5/10

“[Sunak] is pulling the wool over [the Tories’] eyes,” he says, adding that the PM is only telling people what they want to hear, adding that “politics in Northern Ireland is built on trust.”

Verdict:

In all honesty, this was probably the least eventful PMQs we can remember in a long time. This session never got going, and it’s quite clear that these two are actually quite civil with one another - and there’s not the personal dislike between the two leaders that came to define sessions between Boris Johnson and Starmer.

There were solid enough showings from both leaders today despite it being a snoozefest. We only hope they both have more to talk about next week.