Sunak squirms as he is forced to deny 'desperate' attempt to overshadow Labor conference

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Rishi Sunak was forced to deny 'desperate' attempts to disrupt Labor conference as he also faced tough questioning from voters of the East Midlands.

< p>The Prime Minister was accused of "desperate acts" by hosting a business event in Nottinghamshire, breaking the political tradition of the two parties not hijacking each other's annual meetings.< /p>

Asked by a journalist at the end of the event, whether he was “desperate” – with the Conservatives trailing by around 17 points in the polls – Mr Sunak responded : "No."

The Tory leader even suggested that questioning his motives was "incredibly political" and said it was reasonable to travel to the East Midlands to "talk about the plans that we announced."

Mr Sunak also got a hard time from a member of the public at Currys Repair. Centre, who caused laughter by saying: “Why should we vote conservative? ...With the mess left by your predecessor [Liz Truss], why should we vote for you? »

The Prime Minister laughed awkwardly as applause at the question, before saying: “I could spend a lot of my money. spending time talking about the past, what I inherited and everything else…it doesn't help any of you. »

The Conservative leader said: “What we need to figure out is what is the right thing for our country going forward. Mr Sunak then told them they wanted “change”, adding: “I can’t wait to bring that change to you.” »

A Labor source told Politico that the Prime Minister's Monday event was "a bit below the belt and a bit cheesy". Another said it was “desperate stuff and shows they are shaken by a changed Labor Party and our plans to change Britain”. A spokesperson for shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves also hit out at the prime minister.

Sir Keir Starmer warned at his own business event at the Labor conference that the Tories would “give up” and drag the general election campaign into the gutter – but told business leaders that he was ready for an election in May. if that's what Mr Sunak decides to do.