Kemi Badenoch Accuses Keir Starmer Of A "Student Politics" Approach To Donald Trump
Kemi Badenoch spoke at her first PMQs as Tory leader on Wednesday (Alamy)
3 min read
The new Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch has accused Keir Starmer's Labour government of playing "student politics" and urged him to invite President-elect Donald Trump to address Parliament on his next visit to the UK.
Badenoch was elected the new leader of the Conservative Party on Saturday, and on Wednesday faced Starmer in her first Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons.
She started by saying she would take a "different approach to the last opposition" by being a "constructive opposition", and congratulated Trump for his victory in the US presidential election.
"Will the prime minister show that he and his government can be more than student politicians by asking you, Mr. Speaker, to extend an invitation to President Trump to address Parliament on his next visit?" Badenoch asked.
She also accused the government of having "no plans whatsoever for building on the special relationship".
"He [Starmer] needs to realise that we in this country rely on our single biggest trade partner," Badenoch continued.
"President Trump is also right to argue that Europe needs to increase its defence spending. The last Conservative government committed to raising defence spending to 2.5 percent by 2030. Will the Prime Minister finally, match this commitment?"
She also asked Starmer to commit to continue the negotiations on the UK's free trade agreement with the US, with Starmer responding that the government would "discuss issues of our economy with the president-elect". He added that the economy, security and global conflict being "issues of real significance that ought to unite this House".
Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with Trump in September, and Badenoch asked the prime minister whether they had used the meeting as an opportunity apologise for comments preivously made by Lammy.
In 2018, Lammy called Trump a "woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath" and said he presented a "profound threat to the international order".
Badenoch called on Starmer to apologise on Lammy's behalf, but Starmer refused to do so.
"There will be many issues on which the Leader of the Opposition I disagree, but there will be issues that do unite this House on national security in Ukraine, and I do look forward to working closely with her on that, and I will provide her with the information that she needs to discharge her duties," Starmer responded.
"That's the right thing for the country, and it's far more important than party politics. The Foreign Secretary and I did meet President-elect Trump just a few weeks ago for dinner. For about a couple of hours, we discussed a number of issues of global significance. It was a very constructive exercise."
Badenoch also challenged Starmer on changes to inheritance tax for farmers which were announced in last week's Budget, which will mean farmers will have to pay 20 per cent of tax on inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m from April 2026.
The Conservative leader said she was "very clear that we would reverse Labour's cruel, family farms tax".
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