UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer sharply rebuffed Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s claim on Wednesday that he had followed her advice regarding cuts to the aid budget. In a sharp exchange during the plenary session, Starmer also took a swipe at Badenoch’s political rhetoric, mocking her as the “self-appointed saviour of Western civilisation.”
Badenoch had suggested that Starmer acted on her advice to slash the aid budget, while raising questions about the discrepancies in government defense spending figures. “I proposed cutting the aid budget to the Prime Minister over the weekend, and I’m pleased to see he quickly agreed to it,” she remarked. “However, after announcing an extra £13.4 billion for defense, the defense secretary contradicted this by stating only £6bn would be added. Which one is correct?”
Starmer, however, dismissed her suggestion with a sarcastic retort, saying, “I’ll have to let the leader of the opposition down gently. She didn’t even feature in my thoughts. I was too busy over the weekend to see her proposal.”
He further escalated his criticism, joking, “She’s self-appointed as the saviour of Western civilization, a desperate bid for relevance.” He then pointed out the £13.4bn increase in defense spending as the largest sustained boost since the Cold War.
The exchange left MPs laughing, with even Badenoch seen smiling at the witty back-and-forth.
