British PM Starmer Bashes Badenoch, Says She is Desperately Searching for Relevance, Parades Self As ‘Saviour of Western Civilisation’
Olufemi Orunsola
British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer has bashed opposition leader, Kemi Badenoch, delivering a verbal punch on her while dismissing an assertion by her that he had followed her advice on cutting the aid budget.
OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News gathered from monitored international news sources that Starmer took a swipe at Badenoch's political stance, labelling her as a “self-appointed saviour of Western civilisation” in what appeared to be a pointed jab at her rhetoric.
OTN News repirts that during the plenary session, Badenoch had suggested that Starmer had acted on her recommendation to reduce aid spending while questioning inconsistencies in the government’s defence budget figures.
In her words, "Over the weekend I suggested to the prime minister that he cut the aid budget, and I am pleased that he accepted my advice. It’s the fastest response I’ve ever had from the prime minister,” adding that, “However, he announced £13.4 billion of additional defence spending yesterday. This morning, his defence secretary said the uplift is only £6bn. Which is the correct figure?”
In his own swift response to the claim by Badenoch, Starmer flatly denied being influenced by Badenoch’s suggestion and dismissed her claim with sarcasm.
According to him, "I’m going to have to let the leader of the opposition down gently. She didn’t feature in my thinking at all. I was so busy over the weekend I didn’t even see her proposal."
Starmer further quipped, saying, “She’s appointed herself, I think, the saviour of Western civilisation. It’s a desperate search for relevance. If you take the numbers for this financial year, and then the numbers for financial year 27/28, that’s a £13.4bn increase—the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War.”
The remarks by Starmer was greeted with laughter from MPs on the House floor, while Kemi Badenoch herself was reportedly seen smiling at the exchanges.
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