9 bombshells as Keir Starmer lashes out at Nigel Farage and Tories

Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch went head-to-head in a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions – as the Prime Minister turned on Nigel Farage in a savage slapdown

All you need to know about Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch’s PMQs showdown

• Prime Minister’s Questions opened with a tribute to Lance Corporal George Hooley who died yesterday in Ukraine. Keir Starmer paid tribute to the Parachute Regiment soldier, saying: “His life was full of courage and determination. He served our country with honour and distinction around the world in the cause of freedom and democracy, including as part of the small number of British personnel in Ukraine.”

• Mr Starmer’s first test was a question from Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney on the government’s decision to double the time needed to apply for indefinite leave to remain. The Prime Minister insisted that Britain has “always been a compassionate country that welcomes refugees”.

• Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch then took to the dispatch box, rebuking Mr Starmer as a “caretaker prime minister”. A question about rising energy bills became an opportunity for the prime minister to go on the attack. He pointed out that three of her MPs have defected, including self-proclaimed ‘straight talker’ Jonathan Gullis. The former Conservative Deputy Chairman described the party as “finished” and as having “lost the trust of the British people”.

• Ms Badenoch looked sheepish as Mr Starmer, mentioning that 21 ex-Tory MPs have now abandoned the party for Reform, asked her: “Who’s next?” The prime minister then turned on Tory troublemaker Robert Jenrick, and pointed out the Shadow Justice Secretary was “twitching” next to her. Reform’s five MPs jeered and called on other members to defect and join their ranks.

READ MORE: PMQs: Keir Starmer slaps down Tories with brutal Liz Truss insult

• Setting her sights on Education Secretary Bridget Philipson, Ms Bademoch asked the PM how many extra teachers have been employed since the election. With roars erupting from the government benches, Mr Starmer bashed the Tories’ record in office, saying they left the NHS “on its knees,” schools “in a mess,” and the economy “absolutely broken”.

• Amid the launch of disgraced former prime minister Liz Truss’s podcast, Mr Starmer accused the Tory leader of wanting to audition for a role. He accused Ms Badenoch of agreeing with our shortest-serving PM’s doomed economic agenda, and urged the Conservatives to “take responsibility for their fourteen years of failure”.

• Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader pressed Mr Starmer on Donald Trump’s recent comments about “civilisational erasure” in Europe and urged the PM to stand up to the US President. Mr Starmer insisted that Europe is strong, but refused to directly criticise Mr Trump’s language.

• The spotlight then returned to the UK, as Labour MP Jim Dickson slapped down Reform UK’s so-called DOGE unit, saying it stands for “Deluded, overconfident, gormless, and embarrassing”. The PM savaged Nigel Farage’s leadership and urged MPs “[to] look at what his party is doing across the country”.

• Mr Starmer skewered Mr Farage, saying that “chaos and division” are his “life’s work”. Amid a string of scandals surrounding Reform UK, the PM blasted the party for putting a “white supremacist” in charge of a council.