SIR KEIR Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of trying to perform a "Jedi mind trick" on the country over the state of the economy. 

But the Labour leader said the Prime Minister was more Jabba the Hutt than Obi Wan Kenobi.

Later, he suggested the Prime Minister was like a “gameplaying” Love Island contestant who risked giving voters the “ick”.

The unexpected pop culture references from the leader of the opposition come as he desperately tries to shake off a reputation for being “boring.”

During Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said Mr Johnson’s “boasting about the economy” was like an attempt at playing “Jedi mind tricks on the country”

He told MPs: “‘These aren’t the droids you’re looking for, no rules were broken, the economy is booming’. The problem is, the force just isn’t with him any more.

“He thinks he’s Obi-Wan Kenobi – the truth is, he’s Jabba the Hutt.

“Last week he stood there and boasted that we would continue to grow the economy. This week it turns out the economy shrank for the second month in a row. How does it help Britain to have an ostrich Britain with his head in the sand?”

Mr Johnson replied: “There he 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.”

The Prime Minister added: “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.”

Sir Keir said the Prime Minister claimed the economy was “booming when it’s shrinking.” 

“He’s gameplaying so much he thinks he’s on Love Island. The trouble is, Prime Minister, that I’m reliably informed that contestants that give the public the ‘ick’, get booted out.”

Mr Johnson replied: “We’re helping people with the cost of living, with £1,200. On July 14 the money will be going into people’s bank accounts. Why can we do that? Because we have the fiscal firepower to do it, because the economy is in a robust shape, with record numbers of people in payroll employment.”

The two men also clashed over rail strikes. The RMT’s industrial action looks set to severely restrict services for three days next week. 

The Prime Minister urged Sir Keir to stand up to the “barons” in the rail unions.

The Labour leader said he did not want the strikes to go ahead. He claimed Mr Johnson did so that he can "feed on the division.”

The Labour leader then read out from a “long list” of what Tory MPs think of Mr Johnson.

Sir Keir said: “My personal favourite is this: this is a document circulated by his backbench, in which they call him the ‘Conservative Corbyn’. Prime Minister, I don’t think that was intended as a compliment."

Mr Johnson pointed out that Sir Keir had “tried repeatedly” to get Jeremy Corbyn elected as prime minister, adding: “Speaking from experience, he’s relatively dynamic by comparison with the right honourable gentleman.”

The Prime Minister concluded by saying he was taking decisions “on the side of the British people”, and was heckled when he said of the Opposition: “They’re on the side of the people traffickers who would risk people’s lives at sea, and we are on the side of people who come here safely and legally.”

The remark saw him carpeted by the Deputy Speaker who said it was not consistent with the good order expected of people in debate.

According to reports, at Tuesday’s shadow cabinet meeting, Sir Keir urged colleagues to stop briefing against him. He’s been stung by criticism that he is boring and has failed to enthuse voters.

A word cloud produced this week by the polling group JL Partners, based on responses from 1,000 voters, showed that “boring” was the adjective most frequently used to describe Sir Keir.

Other prominent descriptions included “bland” and “weak”.

However, he was also strongly associated with the word “honest”.