Badenoch still has a Herculean task ahead of her |
Kemi Badenoch’s good form at Prime Minister’s Questions continues. The Tory leader visibly enjoyed herself again today as she feasted on Labour’s misfortune, and she did a good job in covering the breadth of problems in the government. She used her six questions to ask about different departments and how they were faring: an approach that can often risk diluting the overall attack. But today, Badenoch had an overarching theme to those questions, which was that the Prime Minister and his colleagues are failing to meet their own promises. The way she illustrated that argument was very effective.
Badenoch opened by quoting Labour MPs criticising Starmer, something that is becoming easier to do by the week. She asked: ‘Why are his own MPs describing him as a caretaker Prime Minister?’ Starmer replied that he and his MPs were proud to have passed the Budget, and while Labour is concentrating on the cost of living and energy bills, ‘she is just trying to save her job’. It felt like an outdated defence, when it is currently his job that is insecure and Badenoch is enjoying something of a resurgence.
The Tory leader then joked that the Cabinet are ‘all so busy trying to replace him’ that they weren’t focusing on their jobs. Starting with energy, she claimed that ‘the Energy Secretary wants to recycle himself as leader.’ Pointing out that Labour had promised to cut energy bills by £300, she asked the Prime........