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New Statesman
2 days ago
- Politics
- New Statesman
Kemi Badenoch is in a hole – and she keeps digging
Photo byLabour MPs have a lot to be depressed about. The euphoria as more than 400 of them swept into parliament in July dissipated at a speed as historic as their election win. Not only has the party dropped into the polls to levels of public support not seen since before the 2019 election, but MPs who entered parliament full of ideals and optimism have had to stomach an endless string of policy announcements – from scrapping the winter fuel allowance to disability benefit cuts to the tightening of migration rules – that feel fundamentally at odds with what they went into politics to achieve. (These two things, one Labour MP wryly suggested, might in fact be connected.) But there is one thing that keeping Labour spirits from collapsing entirely. And that is the Leader of the Opposition. 'She cheers us up every week,' one Labour MP said of Kemi Badenoch's sparring matches against Keir Starmer at PMQs. Another pointed out how visibly more relaxed the Prime Minister seems in his weekly Commons performances, loosening up enough to tell jokes that actually land and at times looking like he even enjoys the experience. The list of frustrations Conservative MPs have with their leader is growing – but right at the top are her efforts at PMQs. Badenoch frequently chooses to ignore the headline issue of the day to focus either on pet projects inspired by the right-wing Twittersphere (the details of which sometimes come back to haunt her), or on areas where justifiable criticism of Labour opens her up to counter-attacks about the Tories' own record. She seems incapable of taking advantage of moments where Starmer is obviously under pressure from his own MPs, and – as last week's reaction (or lack thereof) to the announcement of a U-turn on winter fuel cuts showed – has an uncanny ability to miss open goals. Tories – even those critical to Badenoch – are quick to point out the impossibility of her situation, attempting to rebuild a party from the ashes when there is an insurgent challenger on the right consuming all the airtime. There is general consensus that no one in that position would be doing well at this stage in a parliament, and that the party needs time to recover. But at the same time, Badenoch is making a bad situation worse – from interviews where the main takeaway is that she hates sandwiches to the recent row over use of a private car and driver as when she was trade secretary. (The fact Badenoch is reported to once again be unhappy about the car arrangements provided to her as opposition leader is, one Tory source despaired, an unforced error of 'galactic proportions'.) Overall, the mood is one of dismay that, the 'box office' firebrand who was meant to terrify Starmer has proved such a disappointment. Labour figures, however, had a very different perception of Badenoch before she became leader. Contrary to what was breathlessly written in Telegraph columns, the candidate they really feared was James Cleverly, who was considered 'the most dangerous opponent' for a variety of reasons: his likeability within the party and ability to unite the Tories and boost morale after a defeat; his skill at media; and his pitch to bring the Conservatives towards the centre ground, rather than chasing Reform. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe One Labour MP recalls a 'palpable sense of elation' in the Commons tearoom when the shock announcement came that Cleverly had been knocked out of the contest (thanks to a vote-swapping debacle), leaving Badenoch to face Robert Jenrick in a head-to-head of Conservative members. The relief was felt among both Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs that the biggest threat to them had been eliminated. Jenrick is viewed as the de facto successor if Badenoch is ousted – a point Starmer made at PMQs recently by congratulating those who had run the London marathon and joking that the shadow justice secretary was 'still running'. Labour MPs have mixed views of Jenrick's chances of reviving the official opposition. One suggested he might be a bit 'slicker' on TV, and Jenrick's work ethic was mentioned (he's been all over the country since the election, doing hundreds of events with Conservative groups while Badenoch's reputation for being 'lazy' is only growing). But no one thought this would be enough to solve the Tories' problems. That's in part because the biggest problem for the Conservatives is Reform – and another leader attempting to be 'Farage-lite' will do nothing to neutralise that threat. And it's a threat, of course, that applies to Labour too. Labour MPs began noticing the shift in Starmer's attitude even before the Prime Minister said he considered Reform to be the government's main opposition. Planted questions at PMQs have enabled Starmer to take aim at Farage, on issues ranging from workers' rights to green jobs, and he rarely misses an opportunity to connect Reform to the economic calamity of Liz Truss. The Prime Minister gave an entire speech on that subject on Thursday, accusing Farage of 'the same fantasy' as Truss after the Reform leader announced a slate of policies earlier in the week that would add tens of billions to government spending. Farage, Starmer argued, was 'Truss 2.0'. The Lib Dems have gone for the even catchier line 'Trussonomics on steroids'. Where does all this leave Badenoch? As effectively irrelevant, I was told by a Labour source – which could be both a blessing and a curse. 'We're torn between wanting her to stay because of how bad she is, and hoping the Conservatives improve because that might put some pressure on Reform.' It's unclear what form such improvement could take. It's hard to see who on the opposition benches could be a leader who takes the Tories back into government (the names being floated – by both Labour and Tory figures – have only been in parliament a matter of months). There was doubt among Labour MPs that Cleverly would ever make it in a vote among the Tory membership (speculation that might not be accurate, I was told by a Reform source, who wondered whether the exodus of Conservative members to Nigel Farage's party might have changed the membership so radically Cleverly would have a much better chance now than in October). The suggestion of a Boris Johnson comeback was greeted with laughter ('Good luck to him'). But even with the lack of options, Labour figures said they expected the Tories to get frustrated and find a way to oust Badenoch, if not by the end of the year then around the time of next May's local elections. However bad the polls are for Labour, they are worse for the Conservatives, one MP pointed out, flagging the 'extinction-level' poll that put the Tories in fourth place. 'Kemi is getting nowhere.' [See also: Inside the Conservative Party's existential spiral] Related
Daily Mirror
7 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Winter fuel payment 'could be restored to all but richest pensioners'
Keir Starmer promised to ensure 'more pensioners are eligible for the winter fuel payment after bowing to intense pressure to abandon the decision to strip it from millions of OAPs The winter fuel payment could be restored to all but the wealthiest pensioners under plans said to be being considered by Downing Street. Keir Starmer promised this week to ensure 'more pensioners are eligible" for the payment after bowing to intense pressure to change course. The Government's decision last year to means-test the £300 payment - stripping it from more than 10 million OAPs - has proved hugely unpopular with voters. The Prime Minister said further details would be announced at the Budget in the autumn but did not spell out how many people would be impacted or when it could come into force. The Mirror understands that the decision to change course was only made on Tuesday - a day before Mr Starmer announced it at PMQs. No10 has indicated that a full U-turn on the cut is unlikely. But officials are reportedly examining the option of restoring the allowance to all but the wealthiest pensioners. One plan on the table is restoring it completely and then clawing it back from the richest OAPs through the tax system, according to the Sunday Times. Tory Chancellor George Osborne used a similar method when he slashed eligibility for child benefit for the wealthiest families under the Coalition Government. However a decision is not likely to be made until autumn on how to widen eligibility for the payment. The PM's decision to change course on the winter fuel cut has triggered speculation about the future of other unpopular policies. The Government has delayed its long-awaited child poverty strategy until the autumn amid pressure from Labour MPs to axe the Tory two-child benefit limit. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who is leading the taskforce alongside DWP Secretary Liz Kendall, has previously said the strategy would look at the two-child benefit limit. Insiders said the decision to push back the blueprint was to align it with the Budget in October. Tonight, reports suggested the PM has ordered the Treasury to look at how it could pay for scrapping the cap, which could cost around £3.5billion a year. The PM has made it clear privately that he wants to act as part of his commitment to drive down child poverty, according to the Observer. But a decision won't be made until the child poverty taskforce reports later this year. The policy restricts parents from claiming Universal Credit or Child Tax Credits for any children beyond their first two. Experts say that scrapping the two-child limit would be the most effective way to lift hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty.
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Yeah but no but yeah but no but surrender. Life's just one big betrayal for Kemi and co
I fear for Kemi Badenoch's sanity. She may need a little respite care. From herself. Little more than 24 hours after one of her by now customary car-crash outings at prime minister's questions in which she didn't appear to have noticed that Keir Starmer had U-turned on the winter fuel allowance, KemiKaze was emailing Tory party members to tell them the exciting news. She had had the prime minister on the rack and it was only down to her that Labour had done their reverse ferret. Where do you even begin to start with this level of denial? Is it the assumption at Conservative party HQ that anyone left supporting the Tories must be technically braindead so won't have a clue what is going on? To be fair, that may not be a bad shout. But what does it say about party bosses that they are still trying to rewrite history a day later? Trying to make out this was Kemi's finest hour. 'Congrats, Kemi. I've got to hand it to you. You really nailed PMQs today. Keir Starmer didn't know where to look.' It's kind of embarrassing. Not least because Labour's U-turn owed nothing to Kemi and the Tories. They are an irrelevance. It was the discontent among Labour MPs and voters what swung it. As for Robert Jenrick, Kemi's main rival for the leadership, he was making a rare appearance in the Commons – he never comes to PMQs to offer Kemi amoral support – to reply to the lord chancellor's statement on the independent sentencing review (ISR) conducted by former Tory justice secretary David Gauke. Someone you would have thought might attract crossparty support. Back in the day, Gauke was something of a Tory legend. Uncork the Gauke! As a Treasury minister during the early days of the Brexit negotiations, he would often be sent out by the chancellor to field awkward urgent questions as the government got increasingly muddled. And Dave would do it with good grace. Never afraid to make an idiot of himself in pursuit of a higher goal. But somewhere along the way, during the time he was justice secretary, Gauke got fed up with being the fall guy. Decided that he couldn't keep silent while some of the self-radicalised leavers in his own government cheerfully advocated a no-deal Brexit. So he spoke out and was kicked out of the party by Boris Johnson. That alone should have booked Dave a place among the pantheon of good guys. Only not for Honest Bob. For Jenrick, Gauke's centrism marked him out as a wrong 'un. A cheese-eating surrender monkey. And Honest Bob had had enough of surrender this week after Labour's EU deal that had undone a few nano particles of Boris's Brexit agreement. So Jenrick was spitting blood. The government's ISR was yet another betrayal in a long history of betrayal. Labour had gone soft on criminals. Why couldn't Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, and Gauke have adopted the Texas model? There was a US state that knew how to execute crims. Even if they were innocent. Wait. What was that? Labour had used the Texas model? In which case, why not something more like Russia or Saudi Arabia. They took no prisoners. Or rather they did. Everything was wrong, said Honest Bob. Violent criminals were going to be running around on the street, raping women and slaughtering children. We needed to get offenders to build their own jails. Preferably underwater. All foreigners should be drowned at birth. He had always known Labour was soft on crime. Take Lord Timpson. A bleeding heart liberal who believed in rehabilitation. It was time to lock people up for life on suspicion of not being English. Mostly, Honest Bob wanted politicians who had waved through a planning application from a party donor that had been turned down by the local authority to face the firing squad. Whoever could he have in mind? Tory Desmond Swayne rather agreed. He was worried that people weren't serving enough of their sentences. It was time that criminals learned that a 20-year sentence actually meant 25. Otherwise, it was hard to guess which of his MPs he was trying to appeal to. Those like John Glen and Mark Pritchard have wised up that a kneejerk lurch to the right on every issue is not a good look. They were more or less behind the government's review. As for Mahmood, she just told it as it was. The Tories had left the prison system on the verge of collapse. Had only built 500 new spaces in 14 years. Labour would do better. Was doing better. Had deported more foreigners than the Tories. But still something needed to give. Hence early release and better tagging. Especially for women. Chemical castration for some sex offenders. This went down very well with Mike Tapp. He is the Alan B'Stard of Labour's 2024 intake. Draped in a flag, standing on the White Cliff and having it in for foreigners. What's not to love? That just left Kemi and the rest of the Tories to grumble about one further act of surrender. Not another one! For, after a 12-hour delay in the high court, the government's Chagos deal was finally concluded. And even though most Conservative MPs had never been able to locate the Chagos Islands on a map before they became newsworthy, they were adamant this was a capitulation of the highest order. Never mind that the Tory government had started the negotiations a while back. Never mind that the international and UK courts had approved the deal. Never mind that all our allies had given the deal their blessing. Somehow the Tories – and presumably Nigel Farage, if he hadn't been busy lying on a 'sunbed' in France – knew best. As Starmer and John Healey were quick to point out in their hastily arranged press conference, it was Russia, China and Iran who were opposed to the deal. Whose side would you rather be on. Yeah but no but yeah but no but surrender, mumbled Kemi. Always surrender. A life lived in a permanent state of betrayal. Mainly a betrayal of her own intelligence. Recess can't come soon enough.
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
QUENTIN LETTS: What a day for the Chancellor to be away... she's in a scrap with Rayner, then PM does the dirty!
Sir Keir Starmer made (or, to be strictly accurate, read off his notes) a joke about Nigel Farage being away on holiday; there was, however, a more glaring absence from the chamber during PMQs. Where was the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves? Her customary position next to Sir Keir was occupied by Yvette Cooper, radiating all her customary gaiety. Home Secretary Yvette was looking so glum, I initially mistook her for Dame Nia Griffith, the infamously cheerless equalities minister. It was an unfortunate day for Ms Reeves to be away at a G7 finance ministers' meeting in Canada. The morning had already brought her a triple dose of setbacks. An unexpected jump in inflation coincided with news that she and the deputy PM, Angela Rayner, were having a fight over more taxes. Then came a wonky TV news clip of Ms Reeves in which her voice was played at the wrong speed. This made her sound like Pinky or Perky. Chancellors do not like being laughed at. On top of all this, Sir Keir did the dirty on her. In his first answer of the session he signalled a rethink about the winter fuel payment cuts. A stronger Chancellor would have insisted on making that announcement herself. Instead, with Sir Keir performing the U-turn, it looked as if No 10 Downing Street was forcing its will on an errant No 11. Ms Reeves had been at the despatch box just 23 hours earlier for Treasury questions. Why did she not make this announcement then? The opposition benches emitted a long 'ah-ha!' when Sir Keir unveiled his U-turn. Cabinet ministers adopted impenetrable expressions. At such a moment it is dangerous to nod, for that might be interpreted as 'thank goodness the idiot has finally seen sense'. Jonathan Reynolds, Trade Secretary, went particularly still. If No 10 has indeed put the black spot on Ms Reeves, might missing-Romanov-lookalike Mr Reynolds be a beneficiary? Kemi Badenoch, markedly sparkier, reacted to the U-turn news by weaving questions about it into her prepared sally on the economy. Mrs Badenoch again had to endure prolonged abuse from the Labour benches – at one point I saw Blackpool South's not entirely intellectual Chris Webb flicking a rude gesture at her. She took on her taunters, observing that plenty of Labour backbenchers were looking unhappy. They responded with theatrical, Brian Blessed-style laughter. Mrs B did not flinch. 'They're laughing just as they laughed at the Budget,' she said. That quietened their frenzy. Then she asked, 'hands up here who wanted winter fuel cuts'. No one raised a paw. As for Ms Rayner, she blushed and jiggled her legs when Mrs Badenoch jested about her feud with Ms Reeves. It must be true, then. Sir Keir, all turkey-voiced and panicky when trying to defend his economic record, had a better moment when Reform's Lee Anderson (Ashfield) entered the fray. Big Lee mentioned immigration but Sir Keir was keener to discuss the temporary emigration of Mr Anderson's boss Nigel Farage, who was playing truant in France on holiday. 'He was first through the e-gates,' said Sir Keir. 'Nice work if you can get it.' He pronounced Nice as in the French riviera town. Few laughed louder at Mr Farage's expense than Reform's Richard Tice. Then a low moment. Paul Holmes (Con, Hamble Valley) said a six-year-old constituent called Teddy was in the Strangers' Gallery. Teddy was 'a self-professed eco warrior on a mission to change the world', not least by recycling sweetie wrappers. Any sketchwriter, on hearing such pap, thinks 'what an insufferable little squirt – spare us another Greta Thunberg'. Politicians are wired differently. They go all gooey. Sir Keir said Teddy was 'really incredible' and he would ensure that the child had a meeting with the relevant minister. Dear God, let it not be Scary Bridget Phillipson, or Teddy will be scarred for life. Scores of MPs turned their heads like sunflowers and waved – helloooo! – to Teddy in the gallery. Even Yvette did this. Aieee, that smile was grisly.
Times
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
Strap yourselves in, there's another Labour U-turn coming
Woah, woah, woah, hang on. Wasn't that news? What was news doing here at prime minister's questions? This, as Monty Python never quite said, isn't news, this is argument and, more often than not, abuse. PMQs is not for the announcing of policies, it's for the shouting of banalities. No prime minister comes to PMQs to actually say what they're going to do, they come to blame the previous government for the things they haven't done. And yet, as soon as we were under way, there came a planted question from Sarah Owen, Labour MP for Luton North. What, she wanted to know, was the government going to do to make life easier for struggling pensioners? Was this an act of rebellion? Surely she knew
