UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has criticised Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, accusing her of “desperately seeking relevance” and describing her as a “self-appointed saviour of Western civilisation.”
Starmer made these comments during a plenary session on Wednesday, 26th February, in response to Badenoch’s suggestion that the Prime Minister had followed her advice on cutting the aid budget while raising questions about the defence budget.
Badenoch claimed, “Over the weekend I suggested to the prime minister that he cut the aid budget, and I am pleased that he accepted my advice. It’s the fastest response I’ve ever had from the prime minister.”
She went on, “However, he announced £13.4 billion of additional defence spending yesterday. This morning, his defence secretary said the uplift is only £6bn. Which is the correct figure?”
In his response, Starmer denied seeing her proposal before announcing the figures. He said, “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.”
Starmer continued, “She’s appointed herself, I think, the saviour of Western civilisation. It’s a desperate search for relevance. If you take the numbers for this financial year, and then the numbers for financial year 27/28, that’s a £13.4bn increase—the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War.”
"… I think she has appointed herself saviour of the western civilization. It’s a desperate search for relevance."
— Amara Levi (@AmaMatazGist) February 27, 2025
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer slammed Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. pic.twitter.com/G3KjLvCZcn
