PMQs: How did Stephen Flynn, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer perform as Gillian Keegan gaffe used in SNP joke against Prime Minister

The Prime Minister sought to deflect from the ongoing concrete crisis impacting on schools in England

Rishi Sunak suffered a bruising Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) where he repeated the same attack lines to deflect from the ongoing crisis in English schools.

Having cut the money available for school repairs by £2.2 billion since 2010, this was never going to be an easy day for the Prime Minister, who tried to go on the attack rather than explain the cuts.

For Sir Keir Starmer, this was perhaps the easiest session he could have, asking questions there is no good answer to. SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn separately highlighted the anniversary of Liz Truss’s short premiership, pointing out things had only got worse since.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons.

Rishi Sunak

In a week that saw more than 100 schools and colleges been told to shut buildings due to issues that could see them collapse, Mr Sunak had a difficult PMQs, repeating the same attack lines and seeking to suggest his Government wasn’t responsible.

He criticised the Labour leader for London mayor Sadiq Khan’s expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) – something Mr Sunak’s former transport secretary Grant Shapps previously approved of, and also claimed Sir Keir was being an “opportunist” and have never mentioned the issue of school buildings before.

Mr Sunak said: “It wasn’t even worthy of a single mention in his so-called landmark speech on education this summer. And if we’d listened to him, our kids would have been off school and locked down for longer.”

Unfortunately for Mr Sunak, and the researchers who provided that claim, it was immediately proved false, with the Labour leader mentioning it in an education speech this summer.

The Prime Minister also criticised Labour for Birmingham City Council’s financial state, saying "they’ve bankrupted Birmingham, we can’t let them bankrupt Britain”.

Sir Keir Starmer

The Labour leader used his questions to highlight that schools earmarked for repairs in 2010 are still on the list of nearly 150 education building with collapse-prone concrete.

Sir Keir claimed “cowboys are running the country”, prompting Mr Sunak to insist he would “make no apology for acting decisively in the face of new information”.

The Labour leader said: “The truth is this crisis is the inevitable result of 13 years of cutting corners, botched jobs, sticking-plaster politics. It’s the sort of thing you expect from cowboy builders, saying that everyone else is wrong, everyone else is to blame, protesting that they’ve done an effin’ good job even as the ceiling falls in.

“The difference is that in this case, the cowboys are running the country. Isn’t he ashamed that after 13 years of Tory Government, children are cowering under steel supports stopping their classroom roof falling in?”

Stephen Flynn

Mr Flynn questioned the Prime Minister’s record, and pointed to the fact things had not improved since Mr Sunak took over.

He said: “When we look at unemployment figures, they are higher; when we look at food prices, they are higher; when we look at mortgage rates, they are higher and economic growth is stagnant.”

In a joke referencing education secretary Gillian Keegan’s expletive-laden interview gaffe earlier this week, Mr Flynn added: “So can I ask the Prime Minister, when is he going to get off his backside and do something about it?”