Cost of living: Bridget Phillipson grilled on on Starmer's absence
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Shadow Secretary for Education Bridget Phillipson skirted around Sally Nugent’s line of questioning as she criticised the Conservative government’s strategy for the cost of living crisis on BBC Breakfast. When the presenter demanded to know the whereabouts of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Phillipson shied away from answering directly despite several interjections from Nugent.
Quoting Gordon Brown, Nugent inquired: “There’s a vacuum at the centre of government at the moment.
“I’m just interested to know, where is Keir Starmer?”
Phillipson attempted to reply: “Keir Starmer will be working on further measures that may well be set out around this. I’m absolutely confident -”
However, Nugent clearly wasn’t going to let the Shadow Secretary continue without her best efforts to get a direct answer.
“What will he be doing?” she interjected over Phillipson’s response.
The MP ploughed on: “If Keir Starmer were Prime Minister right now, I can tell you we would not have not have got to this point.”
“Are we going to hear from him?” Nugent demanded.
Phillipson quickly assured Nugent: “We will” but was interrupted again when she tried to continue her criticism of the current government.
“When?” Nugent asked, to which the MP continued: “We’ve been saying since last Autumn that greater action was needed.
“I’ve been on programmes like this since last year, talking about the action we need to see.
“It’s clear that this was coming. Hand in hand with rising food prices, the cost of the weekly shop going up, the cost at the petrol pump and the rising cost of child care.
“There is such a big squeeze that working people are facing right now.”
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Mounting costs over the last year have been exacerbated by the latest rise in energy price caps, which could surpass £4000 next year.
However, Nugent clearly wasn’t interested in hearing Phillipson outline the problems for viewers who are already well aware of the rising costs.
She asked yet again: “When will we hear from Keir Starmer?”
Phillipson assured Nugent that Labour will be making a more official response to the crisis soon, though still avoided confirming whether the measures will come from Starmer himself.
“We will hear further very, very soon about additional measures that Labour will put in place to make sure families will get the support they need,” she confirmed.
“So there is a plan?” Nugent inquired, and Phillipson continued: “We have set out immediate plans around cutting VAT in the short term to provide that help.
“And the long-term plan to provide insulation, long-term energy security and cutting people’s bills by making sure we aren’t as exposed as Britain is.”
A clearly exasperated Nugent asked when the plans would be set out, to which Phillipson confirmed Labour will be outlining more of its strategy within the coming days.
BBC Breakfast airs weekdays from 6am on BBC One
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