Kemi Badenoch’s PMQs drive-by today rattled Cabinet ministers so much that they carried on squabbling after the curtain had fallen. The Tory leader took absolutely no prisoners as she used the weekly Commons clash to lay into not just Sir Keir Starmer, but those close – and formerly close – to him too.
When it came to Bridget Phillipson, the Conservative leader was masterfully brutal. She blasted:
Yesterday a poll found that zero per cent of teachers think the Education Secretary is doing a good job, zero per cent. She taxed private schools to pay for more teachers but the number of teachers that has gone down. It turns out appointing a spiteful class warrior as Education Secretary was a disaster. Does the Prime Minister agree that he has been let down by her incompetence?
Sir Keir tried a more graceful riposte, saying Phillipson ‘grew up in poverty’ and was ‘an incredible story of social mobility and success’. But his staunch defence did little to calm tensions. After PMQs, the Education Secretary, flanked by Technology Secretary Liz Kendall, accosted Badenoch.
Kendall accused the Tory leader of using ‘outrageous’ language and complained about her mention of the poll, to which Badenoch responded: ‘I’m never going to stop talking about how spiteful you are.’ Phillipson chimed in that ‘the public are going to find out who you really are’. She was met with the reply: ‘I will never stop fighting you. You are destroying children’s lives.’
The Education Secretary, who looked devastated as she was rounded on by Badenoch in the chamber, later said: ‘Kemi lost her head at PMQs – and afterwards too. It’s not the first time. She’s compared me to a Gestapo officer. I wonder what it is about a working class woman driving record investment in state schools by ending private schools’ tax breaks that the Tories hate so much.’
Other PMQs highlights included a sharp gag from Badenoch on Ed Miliband, who was conspicuously absent from the Commons. She said: ‘The Chancellor isn’t the only person who let him down. The Energy Secretary is putting up bills and killing jobs. He’s not here, is he? He was a failed Labour leader rejected by the electorate, brought back from the wilderness by this man and when the going got tough he jumped into bed with the mayor of Manchester. It’s not the first time he’s betrayed someone close to him, is it?’
Taking aim at Rachel Reeves, the Tory leader declared: ‘She was the first female Chancellor. She lives next door to him, but wouldn’t even come out to stand by him during his resignation speech. She was too busy getting ready for a selfie with the new leader. Does the Prime Minister feel let down by his Chancellor?’
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