Lucy Powell and Victoria DerbyshireVictoria Derbyshire branded Labour’s deputy leader “hypocritical” after she said Andy Burnham should not call a snap election, despite demanding one when Liz Truss quit.
Lucy Powell demanded the country go to the polls after Truss resigned as prime minister in October, 2022, after just 49 days in office.
On BBC One’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, which was presented this morning by Derbyshire, Powell was reminded of a post she put on Facebook that day.
Derbyshire told her: “You posted ‘let the public decide the next prime minister. General election now’. Do you want a general election now so the public can decide their next prime minister?”
Powell said: “I think we were in very particular times after Liz Truss had crashed the economy, making big decisions that had nothing to do with the Conservative manifesto.”
But Derbyshire told her: “The principle is the same. Let the public decide on the next prime minister, you wrote. So that situation could apply to now. Do you want the public to decide on the next prime minister now?”
Changing tack, Powell said: “We live in a parliamentary democracy, where the prime minister is chosen by MPs.”
When the presenter pointed out that wasn’t what she was saying in 2022, Powell replied: “What we had then was two prime ministers in less than two months, one of whom who came along and didn’t listen to anyone around her.
“The big institutions that support this country took some big decisions for which every single one of us paid a very, very heavy price in inflation going through the roof and our mortgage rates going through the rook after a period of real disruption.”
Derbyshire said: “So you don’t think there should be a general election now. Is that not hypocritical?”
Powell replied: “No, I don’t think it is, because I think what people want to see now is us getting on with the job, delivering on the manifesto that we were elected on only two years ago.”
"We have a parliamentary democracy, where the PM is chosen by MPs”
Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell defends not calling for a general election despite calling for one when Liz Truss was forced to resign which she says was a “particular time”#BBCLauraKhttps://t.co/o9NBxfrHRipic.twitter.com/i79XxroJRS
Burnham is set to become prime minister on July 20, barely a month after being elected MP for Makerfield.
Keir Starmer announced last Monday that he is standing down after losing the support of his MPs.
With no one else expected to throw their hat into the ring, Burnham will be named Labour leader at a special conference on July 17, and take over as PM three days later.
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