During Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) Rishi Sunak faced calls to trigger a general election if cannot reach his inflation reduction target.
Labour former minister Sir Chris Bryant said in the House of Commons, “The Prime Minister has had responsibility for the UK economy now for 1,323 days and he’s delivered.
“He’s delivered the largest national peacetime debt ever, the largest tax burden since the Second World War, the highest core inflation since 1991, the fastest interest rate rises since 1989 and the biggest fall in living standards in our history.
“So will he stop lecturing my constituents about holding their nerve, ditch the lame excuses and admit that he is literally the worst person to be leading this country through a cost-of-living crisis because as he created it?”
Sunak told MPs, “What do we hear from the party opposite? Only ideas that would make the situation far worse.”
Sunak added that Sir Chris “sat there and supported” Labour’s plans to borrow more money and that the “unaffordable” union pay increase demands will “make the situation worse.”
He then said that “he has sat there and supported plans to not exploit our domestic sources of energy, imperilling our energy security.
“Those are all things that would make not just the situation worse for British families today but for years into the future.”
Labour MP Alison McGovern told the House of Commons that Sunak promised that he will reduce inflation to 5% or lower by the end of the year.
She asked Sunak, “What will happen if he fails to meet that promise?
“Will it be yet more ranting on about the Labour Party or will it be the general election my constituents crave?”
Sunak replied, “No, we’re sticking to the course of bringing inflation down.
“What the Labour Party needs to understand is that requires making difficult and tough decisions. It requires prioritising. It requires being able to say ‘no’ when people come looking, asking you to borrow more money.
“Those are the type of responsible decisions that I will make and the Conservative Government will make because they’re the right ones for the country.”
Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville-Roberts said: “The Prime Minister’s solution to inflation is to push families into poverty while letting corporate profits pile up.
“The IMF (International Monetary Fund) said this week that the way to cut inflation is for companies to cut their profit margins. It’s corporate greed fuelling inflation, not workers’ need for fair pay.
“Can he explain to the one in five people in Wales facing hunger because they cannot afford to buy decent food why they must pay his price for lowering inflation?”
The Prime Minister said that the Chancellor has already held a meeting with economic regulators to “ensure fairness of pricing,” on Wednesday morning.
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