3 hours ago
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Starmer says Nick Timothy should be sacked for his attack on Muslims praying in Trafalgar Square
Badenoch says Starmer did not answer the question. Did he pick up the phone to Mandelson.
She says Starmer said Mandelson lied to him. That implied that they spoke.
Starmer again criticises Badenoch. He says she should have sacked Nick Timothy for his attack on Muslims praying in Trafalgar Square. (See 10.28am.)
UPDATE: Starmer said:
She appointed the shadow justice secretary. He said last night that Muslims praying in public, including the mayor of London, practising his faith are not welcome.
He described it as an act of domination. Straight from the Islamist playbook. If he was in my team, he’d be gone. It’s utterly appalling. She should denounce his comments and she should sack him.
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PMQs - snap verdict
It is not unusual for the prime minister and the leader of the oppostion to be speaking at cross-purposes at PMQs but today was an extreme example; if your only exposure to what happened comes via short social media clips, you might assume they were speaking at two separate events.
Kemi Badenoch was determined to attack Keir Starmer again over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the UK, and she started by asking if Starmer had spoken to Mandelson personally about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein before he appointed him. Badenoch knew exactly what the answer was – because it was a lead story in the Times last week. The Times reported:
Sir Keir Starmer did not speak to Lord Mandelson before appointing him as the ambassador to the US and instead delegated the vetting of his links to the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to two personal friends of the peer.
Starmer refused to confirm this. But he did not try to deny it either, and it was obvious from the exchanges that the Times story was true. Badenoch was withering, and – on this topic – effective.
Starmer strategy was to turn this instead into a debate about the Tories’ rather confused stance on the Iran war, and Nick Timothy latest anti-Muslim diatribe. (See 10.28am.) In debate, trying to fend off an attack by changing the subject is always a sign of weakness (because it’s an admission that you do not a proper answer to the accusations you are facing) and it is often unsuccessful (because the audience may consider the original topic more important than the distraction topic). But it can work if the counter blast is strong enough.
What about today? Tory MPs were indignant about Starmer’s worse-than-usual topic dodging, and there were a string of questions about this at points of order. The Tory papers (and GB News – see 12.27pm) will write this up as a Badenoch win. And people watching who had not spent the morning on Twitter might have been a bit unsure as to what Starmer was on about when he repeatedly condemned Nick Timothy.
But Labour MPs understood why the Timothy intervention was so inflammatory. The normalisation of Islamophobia in rightwing circles is one of the more egregious features of modern politics, and today Starmer spoke with more passion and authenticity than we are used to. Here is one of his answers.
[Badenoch’s] position is that the shadow justice secretary is defending British values when he says Muslims praying together in Trafalgar Square are not welcome.
Even Tommy Robinson, I can hardly believe I’m saying this, has said today that if the shadow justice secretary had made these hateful comments two years ago the Conservative party would have kicked him out.
Tommy Robinson isn’t some sort of moral signpost, he was pointing out how much their party has changed. They’re more inclined to his views, and he’s right about that. The fact he’s sitting on her front bench shows she’s too weak and has got absolutely no judgment.
Starmer was referring to this post by Robinson (whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) on X.
Since Morgan McSweeney left No 10, Starmer seems to have become more confident defending the multiculturalism that some Blue Labour types were more inclined to question and today it felt as he had landed a moral argument successfully. He’ll count that as win.
Andrew Snowden (Con) asks why Starmer refused to answer Badenoch’s questions about Peter Mandelson. When he found out Mandelson had an ongoing relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, did he speak to him personally before making him ambassador?
Starmer says he has set out the process.
And he is not surprised the Tories do not want to talk about the Iran war, or Nick Timothy.
Greg Smith (Con) says Starmer used to oppose HS2, as he does. He asks for his Mid Buckinghamshire consituents to be treated with fairness as this goes ahead.
Starmer agrees people affected by HS2 do need to be treated fairly.
Noah Law (Lab) asks if Starmer will meet the Labour rural MPs group to discuss extra help for farmers.
Starmer says the government has already set up a farming and food partnership board to help the sector.
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, says the Norwegians have opened 49 drill sites for oil in the last year. The UK has opened none. He says Britain should follow Norway.
Starmer says oil and gas will be part of the UK’s energy mix for years to come.
And he says Farage is highlighting the consequences of a war he supported.
David Davis (Con) says when Starmer was a laywer he argued that scrapping juries would increase the chance of miscarriages of justice. And the Institute for Government says it will not save as much money as the government claims.
Starmer says he is not abolishing jury trials. Many victims have to wait years for cases to go to trial. He says he is not prepared to do nothing about this. Under this plan, the proportion of cases that go to jury trial will just fall from 3% to 2.25%.
(The figure is just 3% if you include all cases that would not go to a jury, because they are heard by magistrates, and guilty pleas.)
Paul Davies (Lab) says, under Reform UK, decent healthcare would only be available to people who can afford it.
Starmer says waiting lists are at their lowest level for three years, and the best ambulance response times for five years, because of Labour’s investment in the NHS.
Dawn Butler (Lab) asks Starmer to back calls for phone manufacturers to be required to install a kill switch on phones that will stop them being used if they have been stolen.
Starmer says the government would like to work with the industry on this issue.
Ed Davey demands Ofcom crackdown after report showing GB News has become Reform UK propaganda channel
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, says the Trident missiles will reach the end of their lives in the 2040s. We can either lease more from the US or build or own to replace them? Does the PM agree with the Tories we should stick with the US come what may?
Starmer says Davey does not know how much his proposal would cost.
Davey says the French can afford their own deterrent.
He asks about a report suggesting GB News has become a Reform UK propaganda channel. Does the PM agree that Ofcom should stop this?
Starmer just says this is a matter for Ofcom.
Davey was referring to this New World report by the former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger.
Claire Hanna (SDLP) says we have seen the events from the Middle East before. In Irish there is as saying, ‘Have we learned no lessons?” She asks for an assurance MPs will get a vote on any action in the Middle East.
Starmer says, unlike Badenoch, his principles have been clear. He says he will not let the UK be dragged into a wider war.
Badenoch asks why people should believe Starmer on anything in the light of his answers on Mandelson.
Starmer again criticises Badenoch’s leaderhip over Iran. And he says her failure to condemnt Timothy “for the poison and division he spreads” is telling.
Starmer says Timothy comments suggest Tories have problem with Muslims
Badenoch says Starmer knew that Mandelson had kept a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Why did the PM believe him?
Starmer says the Tories only object to Muslims praying in Trafalgar Square, not people of other faiths. He says people will conclude the Tories have a problem with Muslims.
Badenoch defends Timothy over his attack on Muslims praying, saying he was 'defending British values'
Badenoch defends Timothy, saying he was “defending British values”.
She says Starmer’s refusal to answer the Mandelson question implies he did not speak to Mandelson personally.
Starmer left it up to two of Mandelson’s friends to ask him about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, one of whom was friends with a paedophile.
Starmer says even Tommy Robinson has said that in the past Nick Timothy would have been sacked for his comments.
Starmer says Nick Timothy should be sacked for his attack on Muslims praying in Trafalgar Square
Badenoch says Starmer did not answer the question. Did he pick up the phone to Mandelson.
She says Starmer said Mandelson lied to him. That implied that they spoke.
Starmer again criticises Badenoch. He says she should have sacked Nick Timothy for his attack on Muslims praying in Trafalgar Square. (See 10.28am.)
UPDATE: Starmer said:
She appointed the shadow justice secretary. He said last night that Muslims praying in public, including the mayor of London, practising his faith are not welcome.
He described it as an act of domination. Straight from the Islamist playbook. If he was in my team, he’d be gone. It’s utterly appalling. She should denounce his comments and she should sack him.
Badenoch again asks if Starmer spoke to Mandleson before appointing him.
Starmer says Mandelson was questioned before he was appointed. He admits his judgment on this was wrong. But he says Badenoch’s judgment over Iran was flawed.
Starmer ducks question about whether or not he spoke to Mandelson before making him US ambassador
Kemi Badenoch asks if Starmer spoke to Peter Mandelson before he appointed him ambassador to the US.
(It has been reported that he didn’t.)
Starmer says he has already apologised for the appointment. The process was flawed, he says.
Marie Tidball (Lab) asks for details of how disabled and other vulnerable people will be able to access the heating oil support.
Starmer says his instinct will always be to help people. But the best way to address the problem would be to end the war in the Middle East, he says. He says that shows why the leaders who backed the war were wrong.
Wendy Morton (Con) says 60% of hospices are considering cutting services. Will the government commit to long-term funding for hospices?
Starmer says the government supports the work of hospices, and will give them long-term funding to sustain them.
