Prime Minister Keir Starmer could not explain his policy on the two-child benefit cap or the winter fuel allowance
Keir Starmer was left spluttering as Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused him of one u-turn after another – with no plan to pay for them. Mrs Badenoch attacked Sir Keir for “chaos, chaos, chaos!” She said: “He doesn’t have any answers. It’s disgraceful.” The Conservative leader asked the Prime Minister whether he would axe the two-child benefit cap and how many pensioners would get winter fuel payments after the Government announced a partial u-turn over means-testing.
But Sir Keir failed to answer either question. Mrs Badenoch also asked him to explain why British steel firms still faced 25% tariffs when they exported to the US, despite Sir Keir boasting about a trade deal that was meant to reduce the tariffs to zero. She said: “It is chaos, chaos, chaos, And isn’t the root of the chaos Mr Speaker that it is about this Prime Minister, his decisions and his judgment?”
The Prime Minister responded: “Er, er, er, the only advice Mr Speaker, er, she, she gets up in the morning, scrolls through social media, never does any of the due … we are the only country in the world that isn’t paying the 50% tax on steel.”
Earlier, Sir Keir attempted to turn the tables on Mrs Badenoch by saying Russia had welcomed her comment that Ukraine was fighting on behalf of the UK and Europe as a whole to prevent Russian expansion.
A Conservative spokesman said: “It is truly astonishing that at PMQs the Prime Minister read out a tweet written in the Kremlin, designed to divide the western alliance on Ukraine. Is there any low to which Keir Starmer won’t sink to distract from his political problems? This was the first time a Labour leader has repeated Kremlin propaganda in Parliament since Jeremy Corbyn and the Salisbury poisonings.”
Mrs Badenoch pressed Sir Keir Starmer on how many pensioners will have their winter fuel payments restored.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mrs Badenoch said: “Three weeks ago, the winter fuel policy was set in stone. Two weeks ago, the Prime Minister U-turned. Today, the Chancellor is rushing her plans because she just realised when winter is.
“So on behalf of the pensioners who want to know, can the Prime Minister be clear with us here and now: how many of the 10 million people who lost their winter fuel payments will get it back?”
The Prime Minister said he is “glad to see she’s catching up with what happened two weeks ago”, adding: “At the budget, we took the right decision to stabilise the economy because of the £22 billion black hole that they left
“The signs, we took the right decisions, the growth figures are up, the interest rates have been cut, and we got three trade deals.
“So we will look, again, as I said two weeks ago, at the eligibility for winter fuel, and of course, we’ll set out how we pay for it.
“But because we’ve stabilised the economy, we on this side are committed to the triple-lock, and that increased pensions by over £400 this April. On their side, they say the triple-lock is unsustainable … I think her position is, she wants to means-test it.”
