Prime Minister's Questions today saw Keir Starmer deliver a particularly forceful performance, using his responses to attack the Conservative record on defence spending and other issues. Starmer appeared more fed up than usual, hitting back at critics with withering disdain.
Starmer easily dismissed Dave Doogan, the SNP leader at Westminster, and briskly addressed a question from Reform UK's Lee Anderson before launching into a criticism of Nigel Farage. However, it was Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch who seemed to provoke the strongest response from Starmer.
Defence Spending Clash
Badenoch focused all her questions on the defence investment plan (Dip). Starmer rejected her criticism, pointing to the Tories' record on defence. He accused her of 'faux outrage' and contrasted Labour's plans with Conservative cuts.
In his second response, Starmer said: 'Their record is cutting spending. My record is raising it to £300bn, and rising. Their record is cutting frigates by a quarter, cutting minehunters by a half and leaving 47 of 49 defence programmes delayed or over budget. My record is the biggest boost to defence investment since the 1980s. Their record is missing army recruitment targets every year for 14 years. We’ve given our armed forces the biggest pay rise for 20 years and increased funding by £15bn a year.'
Starmer's Punchy Rebuttals
In his third response, Starmer said: 'What did they actually do? They cut defence - 2.5% down to 2.3% in their 14 long years. And what did they do on welfare? They put the bill up by £88bn. So no lectures from them.' In his fourth, he added: 'They won’t defend their record because they can’t. They won’t apologise for it because they’d have to admit what we all know is a total failure. They just try to pretend the 14 years they were in power never really happened.'
Collectively, Starmer's responses made an impact, with punch and passion. Badenoch was less aggressive than usual, perhaps losing interest. At one point, she targeted Andy Burnham, indicating he is the opponent that matters to her now.
