Squalls, shrieks, emphatic crashes echo in the background, akin to sounds you’d associate with England’s football squad plotting strategies for their upcoming Euro 2024 match. However, this is actually the unofficial audible accompaniment to the final debate of the British general election, featuring Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, prior to Thursday’s voting on July 4th (BBC One, 8.15PM).
In the collective public consciousness, election debates often evoke the flamboyance of the presidential race in the United States. Or, in an Irish frame of reference, the uncomfortable quiet that followed when Leo Varadkar was questioned about using cannabis in 2020. This British dialectic, however, teeters somewhere amidst American illustriousness and Irish banter. Initial disruptions by pro-Palestinian agitators chanting outside Nottingham Trent University’s premises seemed real threats to its progress.
However, the word ‘chanting’ barely suffices. The noises infiltrating the debate chamber are more aptly likened to peculiar, Lovecraftian bugling. The intentions of these protestors are obscure, resulting in an unsettling murmuring that could possibly induce a headache. However, mediator Mishal Husain accurately observes that protests are a significant component of democratic rights.
Similarly, democracy often involves politicians monotonously articulating at lengths, with their professional lifelines hanging in the balance. Sunak and Starmer aren’t exactly riveting orators; their verbal duel lacks the Hollywood punch associated with the US presidential debate, for instance, the Trump and Biden face-off slated for the same day.
The debate setting brings about some lighthearted distraction – a dazzling blue stage laden with oversized hexagons, along with grand staircases on either end. It’s reminiscent of an old ITV quiz show, Blockbusters, redesigned as the Doctor Who’s Tardis. The only difference is that the site is inhabited by two figures, appearing as charming and elegant as a pair of Daleks trapped in a portable toilet.
As the current Prime Minister of Britain, Sunak’s approach is characteristically flamboyant, primarily designed to incite fear in those contemplating voting for Labour, given that the majority of the electorate is leaning towards them, as per recent opinion polls. He’s always ready with his sharp lines. Bringing attention to the migrant crisis, he accuses Labour, under Starmer’s leadership, of being lenient on illegal immigration. He further alerts voters that a victory for Labour will inevitably lead to an increased demand for people smugglers’ services.
On the contrary, Starmer is not as composed or minded for showmanship, and his face often reddens while discussing matters he feels strongly about. He rebuffs Sunak’s misinterpretation of Labour’s taxation intentions and refers extensively to his past experience as the head of Britain’s public prosecutors’ office. As Sunak persistently interrupts, he rebuts with a noteworthy statement, asserting that if Sunak paid more heed, he wouldn’t appear so detached from the public sentiment.
As Irish audiences are somewhat encapsulated within British media, they would have a decent understanding of Sunak and Starmer’s political positions. Still, the discussion diverts in directions that would not occur in an Irish setting. There’s a heavier emphasis on social welfare reforms over the housing predicament, and infrastructure isn’t brought up, while Sunak brags about his successful plan of relocating asylum seekers to Rwanda.
There’s absolutely no mention of homelessness. Astonishingly, the issue of housing unaffordability and its implications on multiple generations is casually mentioned at the end. At one point in the debate, the two politicians are asked about their qualifications to lead ‘this magnificent nation’.
In an Irish debate, if anyone referred to the country with such grandeur, they’d become a laughingstock all the way to the RTÉ parking lot (if it hadn’t already been privatized).
The debate is strikingly uneventful. The two participants occasionally talk over each other, with Sunak gesticulating to stress a point and Starmer showing disbelief every time Sunak speaks. Despite the numerous shockwaves British politics has experienced since the 2016 Brexit, the discussion fails to make any noteworthy headway, a lot of sound and fury that signifies almost nothing to the neutral viewer.