UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer didn’t hold back on Wednesday as he fired a sharp response at Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, dismissing her claim that he had taken her advice on cutting the aid budget.
During a plenary session, Badenoch boasted that Starmer had acted on her suggestion to reduce aid spending, adding a dig about discrepancies in the government’s defence budget.
“Over the weekend, I suggested to the Prime Minister that he cut the aid budget, and I’m pleased he accepted my advice. It’s the fastest response I’ve ever had from him,” she quipped.
However, Starmer quickly shut down her claim with a sarcastic reply.
“I’m going to have to let the leader of the opposition down gently. She didn’t feature in my thinking at all. I was so busy over the weekend I didn’t even see her proposal,” he remarked.
In a cutting remark that had MPs laughing, Starmer added, “She’s appointed herself, I think, the saviour of Western civilisation. It’s a desperate search for relevance.”
The heated exchange took place as Badenoch attempted to challenge the figures behind Starmer’s newly announced £13.4 billion increase in defence spending. The Labour leader, however, stood firm on his numbers, insisting it was “the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War.”
Despite the back-and-forth, Badenoch was seen smiling at the exchange, as MPs on both sides reacted to the fiery debate.
