There were gasps across the Commons as Kemi Badenoch accused Keir Starmer of ‘evading’ PMQs to attend two major international summits – prompting Tory Mark Pritchard to voice his disbelief
“Unserious” Kemi Badenoch was dramatically slammed by one of her backbenchers after a stunning Commons blunder.
Conservative MP Mark Pritchard launched an astonishing attack on his own leader after she lashed out at Keir Starmer for missing PMQs for two weeks. Mr Pritchard said he may lose the party whip for speaking his mind – but said “so be it”.
It came after Ms Badenoch accused the PM of “evading” PMQs to attend the G7 and NATO summits at a time of global crisis. The remark was met with disbelief across the Commons, and Mr Starmer said he could see from the faces of Tory MPs that there was “disquiet” within her own ranks.
Addressing the comments, Mr Pritchard said: “Whilst we may disagree on the detail, can I agree with the Prime Minister as far as possible in this place. It would be better to keep partisan politics out of national security issues.
“And who knows, I may get the whip withdrawn for saying it, but so be it. There are things that go beyond party politics. So can I thank the Prime Minister for all his hard work in the national security interests of this country?”
READ MORE: Keir Starmer gives major benefit cut update as Labour rebels spark crisis
It came after Ms Badenoch said: “He has evaded Prime Minister’s Questions for two weeks, only to come back here only to come back here to tell us what we already heard on the news.”
Mr Starmer said the comment showed how “unserious” she was. He said: “”There has never been a more important time to work with our allies, and to be absolutely serious in our response. That response was unserious. Unserious.
“To suggest that at a time like this that the Prime Minister attending a G7 summit and the Nato summit is avoiding PMQs is unserious. What happened at Nato yesterday was historic. It was very important at a time like this that Nato showed unity and strength with a commitment to the future, not just to the past.
“That took a huge amount of work with our allies over the last few days and weeks. We have been centrally involved in that, crafting the final outcome, and we were recognised as having done so. I am proud that we helped put that summit into the right place, and the world emerged safer as a result.”
And he continued: “For the leader of the Opposition to belittle it just shows how irrelevant she and the party opposite have become. They used to be serious about these issues, they used to be capable of cross-party consensus, and all of that is slipping away.”
The comments were echoed by Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey. He told the Commons: “The Liberal Democrats agree that would it be wrong to leave an empty chair in front of the Union Jack at the table for the G7.
“And I share his surprise is now Conservative policy not to attend the G7 and I am astonished.”
READ MORE: Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the latest updates from Westminster
