Starmer fails to guarantee chancellor’s future
Starmer failed to repeat his promise on whether Rachel Reeves will stay as chancellor until the next election, as Badenoch said she was a “human shield” for the prime minister’s “incompetence”.
Badenoch said:
This man has forgotten that his welfare bill was there to plug a black hole created by the chancellor. Instead they’re creating new ones. They’re creating new ones.
[Rachel Reeves] is pointing at me, she looks absolutely miserable. Labour MPs are going on the record saying that the chancellor is toast, and the reality is that she is a human shield for his incompetence. In January, he said that she would be in post until the next election. Will she really?
Starmer replied:
[Kemi Badenoch] certainly won’t. I have to say, I’m always cheered up when she asks me questions or responds to a statement because she always makes a complete mess of it and shows just how unserious and irrelevant they are.
She talks about the black hole, they left a £22bn black hole in our economy and we’re clearing it up, and I’m really proud that in the first year of a Labour government, we got free school meals, breakfast clubs, childcare, got £15bn invested in transport in the north and the Midlands.
We’re cutting regulation, planning and infrastructure is pounding forward, building 1.5m homes, the biggest investment in social and affordable housing, and of course the three trade deals.
Badenoch replied:
How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.
Key events
Keir Starmer failed to say whether he has “changed his mind” on the government’s plans for reform of personal independence payments (Pip) after a question from Liberal Democrat Ed Davey.
During PMQs Davey said:
Yesterday, the government was asking this house to vote for a law that would mean someone with a condition like Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis would qualify for a personal independence payment (Pip) today, but someone diagnosed with the same condition with very same symptoms in a few months time would not.
We all know that the cost of welfare needs to come down, but that was not a fair way to do it. Until he lost control yesterday, the prime minister was arguing for that approach. Has he changed his mind on this or not?
Responding, Starmer said:
The Stephen Timms review will take place, a very important review to look into this issue.
But what we did do last night was end mandatory reassessments for those with severe disabilities. I thought that he and his party cared about things like that. It’s the right thing to do, and they voted against it.
We rebalanced Universal Credit, long overdue. I think he believes that, but what did he do last night? He voted against it. We set out a pathway to reform, something he argues for every week, but what did he do when he had the chance? He voted against it.
Davey replied:
The house and his backbenches will note that he didn’t answer my question.
PMQs has now ended. The PA news agency reports that Labour minister Ellie Reeves appeared to be holding her sister’s hand as she left the chamber on Wednesday, after chancellor Rachel Reeves appeared to be crying during PMQs.
During PMQs (which has now ended), Adrian Ramsay asked whether the government would scrap the two-child benefit cap after the welfare bill climbdown.
Starmer replied:
I don’t think I’ll be listening to him or his party.
Labour’s first year in government has been labelled “mistake after mistake” by Badenoch.
She said:
The fact is his own MPs are saying this government is, and I quote, incoherent and shambolic, that’s Liverpool Wavertree [Paula Barker] that said that. I could go on, and on, but the fact is it’s been mistake, after mistake after mistake. There is no plan to get people into work, there is no plan to cut the welfare budget, there is no strategy, there is just a series of humiliating U-turns like winter fuel, like grooming gangs.
What’s really shocking is that every other party in this House voted for even more welfare spending yesterday. Yes, those MPs behind him, and the Lib Dems, and Reform. The Conservative party believes that this country needs to live within its means.
We know what we believe, but this is a prime minister who has U-turned on everything he has done in office, including his own speeches. Because he doesn’t know what he believes. With left-wing Labour MPs now running the government, isn’t it working people who will now pay the price?
Starmer replied, recalling a list of “promises made, and promises delivered”, including extra NHS appointments, improving workers’ rights, increases to the minimum wage, extending free breakfast clubs, creating GB energy and stopping bonuses for water bosses.
He said:
We’re only getting started, the chancellor has led on all these issues and we’re grateful to her for it.
Starmer fails to guarantee chancellor’s future
Starmer failed to repeat his promise on whether Rachel Reeves will stay as chancellor until the next election, as Badenoch said she was a “human shield” for the prime minister’s “incompetence”.
Badenoch said:
This man has forgotten that his welfare bill was there to plug a black hole created by the chancellor. Instead they’re creating new ones. They’re creating new ones.
[Rachel Reeves] is pointing at me, she looks absolutely miserable. Labour MPs are going on the record saying that the chancellor is toast, and the reality is that she is a human shield for his incompetence. In January, he said that she would be in post until the next election. Will she really?
Starmer replied:
[Kemi Badenoch] certainly won’t. I have to say, I’m always cheered up when she asks me questions or responds to a statement because she always makes a complete mess of it and shows just how unserious and irrelevant they are.
She talks about the black hole, they left a £22bn black hole in our economy and we’re clearing it up, and I’m really proud that in the first year of a Labour government, we got free school meals, breakfast clubs, childcare, got £15bn invested in transport in the north and the Midlands.
We’re cutting regulation, planning and infrastructure is pounding forward, building 1.5m homes, the biggest investment in social and affordable housing, and of course the three trade deals.
Badenoch replied:
How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.
Harriet Cross asks when it will be farmer’s turn for a U-turn on the famer’s inheritance tax?
Starmer replies by saying the Labour government had the most significant funding for farmers in the latest budget.
Starmer refuses to rule out tax rises to fund U-turn on welfare bill
Starmer declined to rule out autumn tax rises from the despatch box.
Badenoch told the Commons:
He’s got some brass neck. Has he read the papers this morning?
That bill will achieve nothing. It is a pointless waste of time and is absolute proof that he doesn’t have a plan.
Let me tell the house what’s going to happen: in November, the chancellor [Rachel Reeves] is going to put up our taxes to pay for his incompetence. We on this side of the house know that you can’t tax your way to growth, but people out there are frightened.
Badenoch later asked:
Can he reassure them by ruling out tax rises in the autumn budget?
Starmer replied:
She knows that no prime minister or chancellor ever stands at the despatch box and writes budgets in the future. That isn’t what they did, and it isn’t what we do, and she knows it.
He accused the Tories of having presided over “stagnation, and that is what caused the problems”.
Responding, Keir Starmer told the Commons:
I’ll tell them what they did to the welfare system – they broke it. And it’s the same as the NHS. What did they do? They broke it. Same as the economy, what did they do?
Labour MPs chimed in as the prime minister continued:
They broke it.
Starmer continued:
They broke everything that they touched, and now she describes the broken system that we are trying to fix. And what did she do?
She voted against fixing the system that they broke. And I’ll tell you and spell that out, they voted last night for the system that is keeping one million young people not learning or earning, that is a disgrace of their system.
They voted for a system where we have three million people out of work on ill health, and they voted for that system.
Kemi Badenoch has asked whether prime minister Keir Starmer is “too weak to get anything done”.
The Conservative leader told the Commons:
I’ll tell him what we did on welfare.
When Labour MPs laughed, she added:
Why are they laughing? They don’t know. My party delivered the biggest reform of welfare in government. We got record numbers of people into work including millions of disabled people, and we cut the deficit every year until Covid.
Badenoch continued:
What he forgets is that since the election, since he became prime minister, an additional 1,000 people a day are signing on to incapacity benefits. That is 50% more than under us.
And astonishingly, because of the mess they made yesterday, because there’re no more savings, sickness benefits alone – alone – are set to rise to £100bn on his watch. He cannot reduce that now.
Badenoch described the universal credit and personal independence payment bill as being “completely gutted” and asked:
He said that he would take the difficult decisions, but isn’t the reality that he is too weak to get anything done?
Keir Starmer is the first prime minister to “propose a bill to save money, who ended up with a bill which costs money”, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said.
Badenoch said:
I don’t think the prime minister actually watched what happened in the house yesterday. His bill was completely gutted, a U-turn in the middle of the debate removing clause five. Where on earth was he?
The reason why he can’t answer the question is because he knows it doesn’t save any money. It’s going to cost millions. This is the first prime minister in history to propose a bill to save money, who ended up with a bill which costs money. So if the bill does not cut welfare spending, can the prime minister tell the house how many people it will get into work?
Starmer replied:
We have already started changing the job centres and investing in support back into work.
He added:
The bill last night will help people back into work, and of course, the Timms review is ongoing. But I tell you what won’t help people back into work, what … won’t help control the costs, and that is voting to keep the broken system. And that is what they did last night.
Everybody in this house accepts the current system is broken. It invites the question, who broke it? They broke it, and last night, they voted for the status quo. The broken system is their policy, that won’t help individuals, taxpayers, certainly won’t help the economy.
The work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, is standing behind the speaker’s chair during PMQs instead of on the frontbenches alongside Starmer.
Badenoch refers to a series of “humilating u-turns” from the Labour government. She says the country needs to learn to live within its means.
Starmer replies by listing promises he says his government have made and delivered. Again, he brings up the “£22bn black hole” left by the Tories.
Unemployment has risen every month since Labour have taken over, says Badenoch.
Starmer says he’s really proud of Labour’s work on free school meals, affordable housing, trade deals and much more.
Badenoch says Starmer can’t confirm that the chancellor will stay in her job.
Badenoch: welfare bill ‘completely gutted’
Badenoch says Starmer can’t control his MPs. She adds that while the welfare bill passed, it was “completely gutted” by concessions before the vote.
In response, Starmer says the Tories broke “everything they touched”.
Badenoch fires back that the PM has a “brass neck” and asks if he’s read the papers this morning. People out there are frightened. Can he rule out tax rises in the budget?
Starmer replies that she knows no PM stands at the dispatch box and writes budgets.
Kemi Badenoch begins by saying its been a difficult week for the prime minister.
She asks: How much is his welfare bill going to save?
Starmer replies that the welfare bill is consistent with the principles he previously set out and will be “better for individuals, better for the taxpayer and better for the economy”.
Paul Waugh asks about child poverty and free school meals.
Giving children the best start in life is important to him, replies Starmer.
Keir Starmer starts by saying thanking the NHS staff for their services as the NHS celebrates its 77th anniversary this Saturday. He says tomorrow the government’s 10-year health plan will be announced.
The House of Commons is filling up in anticipation for today’s PMQs. Both Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch can be spotted. Northern Ireland questions is just finishing up.
A live stream of today’s PMQs has been added to the top of the blog. You may need to refresh the page to see it.