UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer didn’t hold back in Parliament, dismissing Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s claim that he followed her advice on cutting the aid budget and calling her a self appointed saviour of western civilisation.
Badenoch stated, “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. 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?”
Starmer fired back, saying, “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. She’s appointed herself, I think, the saviour of Western civilisation. It’s a desperate search for relevance.”
He clarified that the UK’s defence spending would see a “£13.4bn increase, which is the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War.”
