Kemi Badenoch says Starmer ministry ‘like bad episode of Game Of Thrones’

Kemi Badenoch has cast doubt over Rachel Reeves’s future as Chancellor, as she told the Commons “it sounds like she’s toast”.

The Conservative Party leader asked Sir Keir Starmer whether he will “reshuffle the Chancellor”, as she described his premiership as being “like a bad episode of Game Of Thrones”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir said Ms Reeves was “very proud to say inflation was down to 3% and falling” at her spring forecast statement in early March.

He pointed to conflict in the Middle East as the driver of borrowing costs going up, and said Mrs Badenoch would have entered into a war with Iran, if she had the keys to No 10.

He also defended his record at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), as Labour’s first parliamentary session in power after more than a decade comes to a close with prorogation later on Wednesday.

“I’m very proud of what this Labour Government has delivered in the first session of this Parliament,” Sir Keir said.

He added: “We have the youth guarantee that we put in place for young people, we raised the national minimum wage thanks to our Chancellor, we’ve helped young people into work by cutting NHS waiting lists, thanks to the Health Secretary (Wes Streeting).”

Mrs Badenoch told the Commons: “Let me tell him why we’re spending more on welfare than we’re earning in tax.

“It’s because of him and his terrible policies.

“We are spending so much on welfare that we cannot afford to defend the country.”

The Prime Minister replied that his party would “take no lecture” from the Conservatives on defence and added: “When they came into power, defence spending was 2.5% and when they left power, it was 2.3%.”

Mrs Badenoch turned to welfare, saying Sir Keir and the Government have set out their stall for welfare “until 2031, but he’s not produced a defence investment plan”.

She continued: “Instead of getting a grip on the economy, the Chancellor is briefing out rent controls to curry favour with left-wing backbenchers.

“It is time the Prime Minister gives her an easier job, so will he listen to businesses, listen to the country, and reshuffle the Chancellor?”

The Guardian reported the Chancellor is considering a one-year freeze to help ease the cost-of-living burden caused by the Iran war.

When Ms Reeves faced a question about the rent freeze on Tuesday, she did not reject a fixed-term rent freeze and vowed “to bear down on the cost of living, including for people in the private rented sector”.

Responding, Sir Keir said: “In the spring statement, the Chancellor was very proud to say inflation was down to 3% and falling.

“We’ve seen the growth figures for the early part of this year.

“She says, ‘well, the cost of borrowing has gone up’.

“Yes, because there’s a conflict in Iran, and what did she want to do when I said we wouldn’t be dragged into that war? She said we should jump in with both feet, regardless of the consequences.”

Mrs Badenoch said: “I didn’t hear him say he’s not reshuffling the Chancellor, it sounds like she’s toast.”

The leader of the Opposition said former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner was “on manoeuvres”, referring to media reports the Ashton-under-Lyne MP had been offered a route back into the Cabinet following her exit in September last year.

“This Government is like a bad episode of Game Of Thrones,” she continued, and in a possible reference to Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham’s moniker said: “His own people have turned against him and all the while, the Prime Minister is holed up in his castle, wetting himself about a visit from the King in the North.”