Starmer and Badenoch exchange insults over leadership in today’s PMQspublished at 12:34 GMT
Chris Mason
Political editor
Those main exchanges this week were quite something.
The prime minister and the Conservatives lobbed insults about what each perceive to be the leadership failings in each other — doing so often at cross purposes to the questions or points being made.
Kemi Badenoch was able — via a specific question — to highlight that the prime minister didn’t speak to Mandelson himself prior to appointing him ambassador in Washington.
The lack of such a conversation, reported by The Times in recent days, prompted Badenoch to repeatedly offer the prime minister to say this reporting was wrong — and he didn’t.
Instead, the Prime Minister chose to turn the question of leadership and judgement on Badenoch, by questioning her outlook on the war in Iran and remarks made by the Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy.
This morning’s story about the former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner’s critique of the government was mentioned in passing by Kemi Badenoch, but not in a sufficiently direct way to prompt an answer about it from Starmer.
Badenoch had some sharp punchlines this week, but on two occasions managed to deliver them and then forget she needed to actually ask a question.
