“As for his boasting about the economy, he thinks he can perform Jedi mind tricks on the country: ‘These aren’t the droids you’re looking for, no rules were broken, the economy is booming,’” said the Labour Party leader.
“The problem is, the force just isn’t with him anymore. He thinks he’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. The truth is he’s Jabba the Hutt,” Starmer added, referencing the slug-like gangster villain from the Star War movies. Starmer’s comments prompted backlash on Twitter, where some users accused Starmer of using fat-phobic jokes.
“Jabba the Hutt jokes just sound like ragging Johnson on his weight. And that just plays up the awful, braying nonsense I want less of in parliament,” said one Twitter user.
“Does @Keir_Starmer seriously think that calling the elected PM of this country Jabba the Hutt is appropriate? It set the whole tone for PMQs, Starmer desperately grappling for something to throw at Boris and thinking he's being funny when actually he's just being insulting,” added another social media user.
Johnson fought back, however, saying, “There he [Starmer] goes again, running this country down... we've got the highest employment... we've got lower unemployment than France, Germany, Italy, Canada. We've got the highest number of people in payroll jobs.”
“Just in the first five months of this year, this country has attracted I think £16 billion of investment in its tech sector... three times as much as Germany, twice as much as France. He should be talking this country up, not running it down,” contended the PM.
While BoJo has received criticism for “Partygate”---a term referring to the PM’s political scandal in which he hosted gatherings at Downing Street during the COVID-19 pandemic, breaching health regulations—Starmer is under investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards under two sections of the MPs’ rules of conduct.
MPs are required to declare within 28 days earnings or gifts that may influence their judgment. Starmer was allegedly late in declaring gifts on several occasions, including sports game tickets and an oil painting from artist Tim Benson.