Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

PMQs: Kemi had Keir on the ropes

Credit: Parliament TV

Women and Sir Keir Starmer. That was the issue that dominated a fiery PMQs today. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch asked Sir Keir if he’d been ‘wrong to say trans women are women.’ 

His bland but careful answer expressed a wish that ‘service providers’ should obey the ruling. Then he loftily advised the house to ‘lower the temperature.’ 

Kemi noted his failure to admit that he was wrong. And she accused him of targeting Rosie Duffield, ‘the brave member for Canterbury,’ and of ‘hounding her out of the Labour party for telling the truth.’ Would he apologise?

No chance. Sir Keir boasted that Labour’s approach is to ‘treat everyone with respect’ and never to use the issue as a political football. Then he went off on a weird tangent. He referred to a forgotten controversy about Rishi Sunak who once made a comment at PMQs which was misconstrued as transphobic.

‘A decent man,’ said Sir Keir piously, ‘diminishing himself at this despatch-box.

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