UK PM Starmer belittles Kemi Badenoch, calls her ‘self-appointed saviour of Western civilisation’
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a recent parliamentary session, delivered a sharp critique of Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative Party.
The exchange occurred during a discussion where Badenoch claimed that Starmer had taken her advice regarding cuts to the aid budget and raised questions about the defense budget.
Specifically, she mentioned that she suggested cutting the aid budget over the weekend and was pleased to see Starmer accept her advice. She also pointed out discrepancies in his announcement regarding defense spending, questioning whether it was £13.4 billion or only £6 billion.
Starmer’s response was both dismissive and mocking. He stated that he had not considered Badenoch’s proposal at all while making decisions over the weekend, indicating that her influence on his policy decisions was nonexistent.
He referred to her as a “self-appointed saviour of Western civilisation,” suggesting that her attempts to position herself as a significant political figure were desperate and lacking substance.
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“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,” Mr Starmer said.
He added, “She’s appointed herself, I think, the saviour of Western civilisation. It’s a desperate search for relevance. If you take the numbers for this financial year, and then the numbers for financial year 27/28, that’s a £13.4bn increase—the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War.”
This remark not only highlighted his disagreement with her claims but also served to undermine her credibility in front of their peers in Parliament.
The exchange elicited laughter from those present in the House of Commons, including Badenoch herself, which indicates that while Starmer’s comments were critical, they were also received with some levity. He further emphasized that the increase in defense spending he announced represented the largest sustained increase since the Cold War, thereby framing his budgetary decisions within a broader context of national security rather than personal political maneuvering.
