hey seek him here, they seek him there. That damned elusive Sunakel. We need to talk about Rishi. Has anyone you know seen him recently? Is he checking out schools in Santa Monica? Has he been abducted by aliens? Is he at home studying the spread betting odds on a Labour landslide along with the rest of his campaign team? Face it, that’s about the only thing any of them are likely to win in this election.
But Rish! hasn’t even done one of these in more than a week. Not since his manifesto launch has he turned up to an event to which more than one hack has been invited. It’s as though he has gone undercover. A unique style of campaigning whereby the prime minister seeks to make himself invisible. You could argue that this was a question of shame. Sunak unable to face the country after 14 years of Tory government that. Only that doesn’t quite stack up, as Rish! doesn’t do shame.
First up were Ed Davey and John Swinney. Presumably because if they’d gone last, then we unhappy few who were watching would have switched over for the second half of Spain v Italy. The Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National party were very much the evening’s supporting cast. Not that the audience gave either an easy ride. Davey struggled on tuition fees and the Post Office Horizon scandal, Swinney prevaricated on what constituted a mandate for a referendum.