Starmer Mocks Badenoch, Calls Her a Self-Appointed Saviour of Western Civilization.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has taken a swipe at Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, accusing her of portraying herself as the saviour of Western civilisation in a bid for relevance.
During a parliamentary session on Wednesday, Badenoch claimed that Starmer had acted on her advice regarding the aid budget while also questioning inconsistencies in defence spending figures.
“Over the weekend, I suggested to the prime minister that he cut the aid budget, and I’m pleased he accepted my advice. It’s the fastest response I’ve ever had from him,” she said.
She then challenged Starmer on defence spending, asking, “However, he announced £13.4 billion of additional defence spending yesterday. This morning, his defence secretary said the uplift is only £6 billion. Which is the correct figure?”
In a swift rebuttal, Starmer dismissed her claims, stating that her input had no influence on his decisions.
“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,” he said.
He went further, criticizing her for seeking attention.
“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 2027/28, that’s a £13.4 billion increase—the largest sustained rise in defence spending since the Cold War.”
