Angela Rayner challenged Boris Johnson to call a general election as she claimed Britons will have endured 55 tax rises if the Prime Minister was to stay in post until 2030.
The Labour deputy leader was involved in a series of fiery exchanges with Dominic Raab as the pair stood in at Prime Minister’s Questions due to Mr Johnson’s attendance at a Nato summit.
Ms Rayner repeatedly asked Mr Raab if he and the Cabinet will continue to prop up Mr Johnson or come to a point where they decide “enough is enough”.
Speaking in the Commons, Ms Rayner said: “This week the Government lost two by-elections in one day, the first in three decades. It’s no wonder that the Prime Minister has fled the country and left the honourable member to carry the can.
“The people of Wakefield and Tiverton held their own vote of no confidence.
“The Prime Minister isn’t just losing the room, he is losing their country. But instead of showing some humility, he intends to limp on until the 2030s. So, does he think the Cabinet will prop him up for this long?”
Deputy Prime Minister Mr Raab replied: “I gently point out to her that we want this Prime Minister going a lot longer than she wants the leader of Labour Party…”
He noted “we have got a working majority of 75” and “we are focusing on delivering for the British people”.
He added: “We will protect the public from these damaging rail strikes when we have got the scene of Labour frontbenchers joining the picket lines.”
But Ms Rayner said the country cannot “stomach” Mr Johnson for another eight years after the Prime Minister outlined his ambitions to continue in office into a third term.
She said: “The truth is what I want for my honourable friend the Leader of this Opposition (Sir Keir Starmer) is not to be the Leader of the Opposition, but to be the prime minister of this country.
“To be honest, it could not come quick enough.
“Britain can’t stomach this Prime Minister for another eight years. His own backbenchers can’t stomach him for another eight minutes. And if they continue to prop him up, I doubt the voters will stomach him for even eight seconds in the ballot.
“Now, let’s imagine the Prime Minister is still clinging on into the 2030s. Under this tax high, low growth Tory Government, at this rate, by 2030, the British public will have endured 55 tax rises.
“So, how many more tax rises will this Government inflict on working families before he says enough is enough?”
Mr Raab defended the Government’s economic record, adding: “Sir Tony Blair – he has actually got some experience of winning elections – says there is a gaping hole in Labour’s policy offer and all the while she is revelling in it. We are getting on with serving the people of this country. She is just playing political games.”
Ms Rayner countered: “I’d revel in the opportunity for the people of this country to have more than just by-elections to see what they think of this Government.
“Call a general election and see where the people are.”
