Keir Starmer came out fiercely on the attack during a brutal set of exchanges during PMQs.
The PM branded the Tories a “dead party walking” and accused a Plaid MP of talking “rubbish”. He hit out at Kemi Badenoch’s criticism of the Government’s recent trade deals and said the Conservatives were a “once great political party” but are now “sliding into oblivion”.
Mr Starmer and Ms Badenoch descended into a blistering row after the Tory leader called the UK-US agreement a “tiny tariff deal”. A furious Mr Starmer hit back and said she needs to get out and speak to workers across the country whose jobs were at risk from Donald Trump’s tariffs.
In a landmark moment, Mr Starmer agreed a UK-US trade deal with Mr Trump over the phone last week. No10 said the new deal will mean US tariffs on steel and aluminium will be reduced from 25% to zero in a boost for the struggling industry. Car export tariffs will reduce from 27.5% to 10% for a quota of 100,000 UK cars. Ministers said it would save thousands of jobs that were at risk because of the tariffs.
Elsewhere during PMQs, Mr Starmer said suspected arson attacks against him and his family are “an attack on all of us, on democracy and the values that we stand for”. The PM made the remark after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said she was “horrified” to learn of the fires.
Counter-terrorism police are leading an investigation into three fires which has led to a 21-year-old being arrested. The attack on his family home in North London came less than 24 hours after an attack on another address linked to the PM. A car is also believed to have been set alight the previous week.
Follow live updates below…