Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch brought up the case of Dan Norris, the MP for North East Somerset and Hanham who was suspended last April from the Labour Party during a heated PMQs
Labour has been branded the “paedo defenders party” during a feisty PMQs. Despite talking about student loans, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch launched a tirade at Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Responding to earlier claims that she had “made her party smaller” – after several members had jumped ship to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK earlier this month – she hit back in a big way.
Referencing Dan Norris, the MP for North East Somerset and Hanham who was suspended last April after his arrest on suspicion of rape, child sex offences and child abduction, she said: “The Prime Minister has the cheek to talk about my party being smaller.
“His party is small, too, including one MP who was arrested for child sex offences. So perhaps, before he gets on his high horse, he should ask why his back benchers are saying that they are being called the ‘paedo defenders party’.”
This caused outrage from the Labour benches, with Briget Phillipson and Rachel Reeves – who was later the target of a joke about her working for a major bank branch’s customer services department – to eyeball the Speaker of the House in an attempt to stop her.
He did . . . but only to shout down Labour MPs expressing disgust, while letting Badenoch continue with her questioning.
She did eventually pull it about to student loans, which Starmer responded to, while the not-so-classy comment was seemingly ignored.
Norris remains suspended by Labour, but is still a sitting MP after refusing to stand down last month.
He said he wanted “to represent” his constituents and was “handling casework and policy queries and asking parliamentary questions”.
Avon and Somerset Police confirmed its investigation is ongoing, with the MP remaining on conditional bail at the time.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.