RISHI Sunak tonight said Labour will bankrupt the country – and you’ll have to pay for it.
In the last head-to-head debate of the election, the PM took Sir Keir Starmer to task on Labour councils which have gone bust in Birmingham and Nottingham.
ReutersRishi Sunak blasted Keir Starmer’s tax policy[/caption]
But Sir Keir said councils of all political stripes have gone bankrupt because they have been starved of funding by the Tories.
The PM said: “Birmingham City Council – the largest Council in the country, in fact the largest in Europe, has gone bankrupt.
“As a result, everyone in Birmingham is now paying 20% higher council tax.
“And that is a snapshot of what will happen if Keir Starmer is in power across the country.
“As Labour always do, they run out of everyone’s money. They bankrupted the economy in 2010.
“They’ve bankrupted Birmingham, they bankrupted Nottingham, and that’s why everyone in Birmingham is paying 20% more tax.
“So that’s why you’ll pay higher taxes under a future Labour government.”
But Sir Keir said: “I think anybody looking at a council which has run out of money is concerned about basic services.
“Whether it’s libraries or other support from the council, this is a position for councils of all political stripes on services from councils.”
He added: “It is because of the lack of adequate funding from the government.”
It came on a fiery night for the pair – who clashed on a string of issues including the election betting scandal, women’s rights and immigration.
Sir Keir also brought up Liz Truss – jibing that Rishi told the Tory party to rally around her after he lost.
Rishi retorted: “I warned repeatedly about Liz Truss and what her economic policies would do to our country even if it wasn’t what people wanted to hear at the time.
“I was right then. That’s why you can trust me now.”
But Keir clapped back: “He’s now openly admitting the damage that the Tories have done to the economy.
“And saying, please vote for him. A Tory Prime Minister did huge economic damage. Please vote Tory.”
Laughing, Sir Keir added: “You’re going to have to decide if that’s a vote winner.”