United Kingdom Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has accused Nigerian-British Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, of desperately being in search of relevance, describing her as a “self-appointed saviour of Western civilisation.”
Starmer also dismissed Badenoch’s assertion that he had followed her advice on cutting the aid budget.
Badenoch had stated that the British leader had followed her recommendation to reduce aid spending while questioning inconsistencies in the government’s defence budget figures.
She said, “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.
“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?”
But, responding during a plenary session on Wednesday, Prime Minister Starmer denied being influenced by Badenoch’s suggestion, stating that he never saw her proposal before putting out the figure.
“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.
“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,” Starmer stated.
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