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The first televised debate of the election campaign turned out to be a bitter contest, with mixed views on the front pages on Wednesday, despite a snap poll showing 51% of people thought Rishi Sunak was the best performer, with 49% voting for Sir Keir Starmer.
The guard leads with “Leaders clash over migration, tax and NHS in fierce debate”. Political correspondent Eleni Courea noted that Starmer “improved the Conservatives’ record after 14 years in government”, while Sunak tried to describe the Labor leader as “an unreliable politician who chased power for power’s sake”.
The Telegraph there’s Starmer on the ropes over tax, highlighting one of the main themes of the debate; Sunak’s continued claim that the analysis shows a black hole in Labour’s spending plans that will inevitably lead to higher taxes.
Fact-checking after the debate noted that Sunak’s calculations were based on assumptions made by Conservative-appointed political advisers and were also strongly disputed by Labour.
Despite the unproven nature of this claim, other papers quickly picked up on it, p Express even claiming to have dealt Sunak a “knockout blow”.
Under the title “Kapow! Feisty Rishi tips Starmer over £2,000 tax hike’, the newspaper described the PM’s performance as ‘loud’.
“The Fiery Rishi Comes Out With a Swing – and Strikes Big” is the headline in the mailwhich also underscores Sunak’s claims about the labor tax hike.
The paper’s panel of viewers rated Sunak as a “credibility factor” but Sir Keir was “more comparable”. The Mail says the panel also said the debate was “in bad temper” and told viewers “nothing”.
of Scotland Daily record however, has a different reading, saying that “Sunak is losing the plot in the televised debate”.
Under the headline “Everywhere, ban the shouting”, the newspaper said the Prime Minister “showed voters the general election is a lost cause by resorting to shouting at Keir Starmer”.
The i says the debate saw both leaders “falter under pressure”. Claiming the “angry televised clash” was the moment the election “fired up”, the paper also noted that Starmer was “slow to deny Sunak’s claim of a £2,000 tax rise”.
The A mirror moves the debate into a small container on its front page, but highlights that there have been “moans” about Sunak over claims made about the NHS.
After Starmer pointed to the fact that NHS waiting lists had increased under Sunak, the Prime Minister replied that they were “coming down from where they were when they were higher”. It was this comment that drew laughter from the audience.
The times leads with “Labour blamed on taxes as Sunak goes out to fight”. Both leaders traded personal attacks, the paper’s political editor wrote, while analysis by Matthew Parris noted that “at times this debate devolved into over-prepared filler”.
His commentary concludes by saying: “We saw two men whose plans were not radically different and who both sounded like decent guys, obviously a bit confused about what to do next.”
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