British prime minister Keir Starmer’s team has tried to shut down speculation that he could move foreign secretary David Lammy from his role over old comments in which he called Donald Trump a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath”.
The comments in a 2017 tweet by Lammy, who is now Britain’s chief diplomat, were the subject of the first fiery exchange between Starmer and new Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch at prime minister’s questions (PMQs) on Wednesday.
Badenoch followed in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher to become the second woman to step up to the dais in the House of Commons as permanent leader of the opposition; the Tories have had four women leaders, including former prime ministers Liz Truss and Theresa May, while Labour’s Margaret Beckett was briefly acting leader of the opposition when John Smith died in 1994.
[ Kemi Badenoch brings sass and confidence as leader of Conservative PartyOpens in new window ]
Channelling her party’s colours in a blue dress, the new Tory leader opened Wednesday’s noon showdown with Starmer by congratulating Trump on his “impressive victory” in the US presidential election. She noted he had dinner with Starmer and Lammy two months ago in Florida, and asked if the foreign secretary apologised for his “derogatory and scatological comments”.
The prime minister brushed off the remarks but their pointed nature set the tone for the rest of their exchanges at PMQs.
Badenoch was elected by Tory members to replace Rishi Sunak partly on her promise to vigorously hold the prime minister to account, and her first outing was keenly anticipated in Westminster. She seemed uncharacteristically nervous at the outset, however, even as she tried to lambaste Starmer for engaging in “student politics”.
“The leader of the opposition is giving a masterclass in student politics,” replied Starmer, to huge cheers from the heaving government benches.
[ Kemi Badenoch elected new leader of UK ToriesOpens in new window ]
Badenoch aggressively went after Starmer over whether he would seek to reopen negotiations with Trump for a free trade deal, but he batted her away. She also broached, in the context of the election of the Nato-sceptic Trump, the subject of when Britain would raise defence spending to a promised 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (a measure of the size of the economy).
Speculation that the government would be forced to hike defence spending was rife in Labour circles on Wednesday morning as Trump’s victory become clear, although the party has so far shied away from putting a timeline on the 2.5 per cent commitment. Badenoch, however, sloppily erred by insisting that defence was “not even mentioned” in last week’s budget. It was – four times. After PMQs, Labour accused Badenoch of misleading the House of Commons.
[ 10 takeaways from the night Donald Trump marched back to the White HouseOpens in new window ]
Against expectations, Starmer appeared to have Badenoch’s measure in their first Commons face-off. She accused him of giving “scripted answers”, only for her to then refer to her own notes as she did so. Each time she consulted the page in front of her she was heckled from the Labour benches by choreographed cries of “reading!”, a traditional sledging tactic in the Commons.
Rumours swirled among Labour figures on Wednesday that Lammy could be moved in a reshuffle, to avoid conflict with Trump. After PMQs, Starmer’s press spokeswoman was asked if the foreign secretary would stay in his position for the remainder of the five-year parliament that began in July.
“Yes, he’s the foreign secretary,” she said, seemingly tying the government to keeping him in situ, an unusual commitment for a UK government to make.
Starmer remained disciplined in his messaging about Trump, congratulating him on his win and promising to work closely with him. Labour MPs, meanwhile, were said to have been warned by the whips office not to tweet negatively about the new US president.
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