The Tory leader accused the Prime Minister of using Liz Truss attacks to hide from his own economic record.
Kemi Badenoch tore apart Keir Starmer’s economic record at Prime Minister’s Questions this lunchtime, as she accused the PM of being a “coward” by hiding from the truth. Ms Badenoch hit back at the PM once again raised Liz Truss’s time in office, in an attempt to dodge answering the Tory leader’s questions about the state of the public finances.
She blasted: “Mr Speaker, he loves talking about Liz Truss. Why? Because he wants to hide from his own economic record – he’s a coward! Everytime he talks about Liz Truss it’s because he is scared about talking about his record and what is happening to the economy out there!” She called on Sir Keir to finally admit that he made a mistake about Winter Fuel Payments rather than claiming he’s been able to u-turn because of an improvement in the economy.
Kemi Badenoch slammed the PM’s economic record (Image: Parliament Live)
However the Prime Minister reiterated his dubious claim about a £22 billion blackhole that Labour had to fill by making the cut among other unpopular decisions.
He said he is “really pleased” that the Chancellor has now been able to set out the new Winter Fuel threshold of £35,000.
Sir Keir took a swipe at the Tory leader, citing her words at the weekend that she is “getting better in the role”. He suggested she should begin by apologising for Liz Truss’ premiership.
Ms Badenoch hit back: “I get better every week – he gets worse! Last week he had to get his lines from the Russian embassy. I think we all know that he is getting worse, and what he does not want to talk about is how he is going to make the economy better.
“His trade deals have unravelled, the strategic defence review has left everyone out there asking ‘where is the money coming from’, and the fact is he doesn’t know how to balance the books.”
She also skewered the PM by pointing to new reports that Mauritius is using the £30 billion they are receiving from the PM’s Chagos deal to cut income tax in their country.
Ms Badenoch asked: “Why on Earth should the British taxpayer pay for £30 billion-worth of tax cuts in Mauritius?”
The PMQs bout came just before the Chancellor stands to deliver her long-awaited spending review.
Richard Tice has warned that Rachel Reeves will be just “shuffle the deck chairs on the Titanic”, and warned that Labout is “simply not fit to govern”.
