Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Badenoch’s ‘chaos’ attack on Starmer will be less effective than she hopes

Kemi Badenoch in action at PMQs (Credit: Parliament TV)

Fists flew at Prime Minister’s Questions. The party leaders sprang from their corners and bashed each other repeatedly in the face. It was fun to watch. Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir Starmer of performing so many U-turns that ‘his head must be spinning.’ Two weeks ago, he panicked and cancelled his decision to withdraw the winter fuel allowance. ‘The Chancellor is rushing her plans,’ she said, ‘because she’s just realised when winter is.’

Kemi sprang her trap. She leapt to her feet, glittering with triumph

Sir Keir shrugged this off. ‘I’m glad to see she’s catching up on what happened two weeks ago.’

Kemi delivered a booby-trapped question disguised as a query about the two-child benefit cap:

‘We believe people on benefits should have to make the same choices as everyone else,’ she said. And she added, pointedly. ‘What does the prime minister believe?’

Glancing at his notes, Sir Keir said, ‘I believe profoundly in driving down child poverty.

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