Rishi Sunak attacked for dodging Boris Johnson vote and skipping two PMQs
Rishi Sunak has been criticised during a heated exchange for avoiding parliament and dodging Prime Ministers' Questions during a Liaison Committee meeting on Tuesday.
The prime minister was questioned about his commitment to appearing in Parliament by Standards Committee chairman Sir Chris Bryant.
Pressed on the decision not to announce the NHS workforce plan in Parliament and his absence from two consecutive PMQs, Mr Sunak said: "I have always tried to announce what I can in Parliament."
Next week the PM will be attending the NHS 75th anniversary service and then the Nato summit in Lithuania the following week.
In a tetchy exchange, Mr Sunak asked Sir Chirs if he thought a British prime minister should skip a Nato summit attended by other world leaders.
He also defended his decision to skip the vote on whether Boris Johnson lied to Parliament, saying he had to attend a charity dinner for Jewish Care.
Several MPs attended the same event and returned to parliament for the vote.
Mr Sunak also said he had not fully read a Privileges Committee report on allies of Mr Johnson seeking to undermine the work of the panel during its investigation into the former prime minister.
Tory peer Lord Zac Goldsmith quit as a minister after Mr Sunak asked him to apologise after being named in the report.
"I’ve read the findings of the report, I haven’t read the report yet cover to cover," Mr Sunak said, to which Sir Chris pointed out the report was three pages long.
Asked if the Tory MPs named in the report should apologise, Mr Sunak said there was a difference because of Lord Goldsmith’s position as a minister.
Mr Sunak was also pressed on the cost of living crisis by Labour MP Catherine McKinnel.
She asked: "What level of food insecurity does the Government assess is acceptable in this country?"
Mr Sunak noted Government support with people’s energy bills and the rise in the national living wage, adding that the most vulnerable households “will receive direct cost-of-living support through the welfare system”.
Mr Sunak also said he maintained his pledge to stop Channel crossings despite the Supreme Court striking down the Rwanda plan.
He denied he has 'no plan B' if the Supreme Court does not overturn the ruling blocking the forceful removal of asylum seekers to Kigali.
Mr Sunak told the Liaison Committee ministers will challenge the appeals court judgment “confidently and vigorously”.
Home Affairs chairwoman Dame Diana Johnson asked: “So you’re betting everything on the Rwanda policy being upheld in the Supreme Court?”
Mr Sunak replied: “No, that’s not a fair characterisation of what we’re doing.”
Asked if his pledge to “stop the boats” is on hold, he said: “No, and a good example of why it’s not on hold is our deal with Albania.”
But pressed on when he will achieve it, Mr Sunak said: “The court will have to determine its own ruling and that’s outside the Government’s hands.
“But in the meantime we can get on with a range of other things.”
Mr Sunak insisted last month his plan was “starting to work” before official figures showed it was the busiest June on record for migrant crossings.
The extra 3,824 detected people arriving after crossing the Channel on small boats pushed the total so far this year to 11,434.
Another of his “people’s priorities” set in January is halving the rate of inflation this year to around 5%. The latest figures have it stuck at 8.7%.
Mr Sunak told MPs: “It’s clearly proving more persistent than people anticipated.”
Asked what percentage he would put on his goal, he said: “I don’t have one for you. I’m working 100% to deliver it and we will keep doing it.
“That’s all I can do, is just keep throwing everything at it.”
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