Category Archives: kemi badenoch

James Cleverly Fails To Back Kemi Badenoch Over Nazi Row

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James Cleverly has refused to back Kemi Badenoch after she compared education secretary Bridget Phillipson to a Nazi.

The Tory leader said the cabinet minister “has acted like a Gestapo officer” by ending a tax break for private schools, which has led to some being forced to close due to falling pupil numbers.

She said: “I compared her to a Gestapo officer, acting like a Gestapo officer, with the way she was closing down those schools which didn’t appeal to her own ideology.”

Responding on X, Phillipson said: “The Gestapo marched hundreds of thousands of innocent people to their deaths. I’ve ended private schools’ tax breaks to invest in state schools.

“No responsible leader makes vile comparisons like this. Kemi Badenoch is not fit to be Prime Minister.”

On BBC One’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show, shadow housing secretary Cleverly distanced himself from Badenoch’s choice of language.

Asked by presenter Victoria Derbyshire if he would have made that comparison, he said: “No I probably wouldn’t have done.”

Later in the interview, he said: “That wouldn’t have been the phraseology that I would use.”

Labour chair Anna Turley said: “Kemi’s top team won’t defend the indefensible because they know full well Kemi Badenoch’s comments were completely appalling and deeply inappropriate.

“Time and again Badenoch sinks below the standards the public rightly expect from a Leader of His Majesty’s opposition. The simple fact is she’s not up to the job.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

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Badenoch And Phillipson Clash In Extraordinary Commons Bust-Up

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Kemi Badenoch accused Bridget Phillipson of “destroying children’s lives” during an extraordinary bust-up after prime minister’s questions.

The pair clashed after several Labour MPs confronted the Tory leader in the Commons.

Badenoch had earlier been reprimanded by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle after she called Phillipson, the education secretary, a “spiteful class warrior” for adding VAT to private school fees.

A Tory source said: “Labour MPs confronted Kemi, including Bridget Phillipson. Kemi replied: ‘I will never stop fighting you. You’re destroying children’s lives’.”

An ally of Phillipson told HuffPost UK: “Badenoch has once again disgraced herself.

“She and her putrid party can’t stand working class women who do well.

“If standing up for the 94% of kids in state schools makes Bridget a spiteful class warrior then she’ll wear it with pride.”

The Conservative leader stunned many within the Labour Party with her visceral attack on Keir Starmer and his most senior ministers in the Commons today.

Speaking during Starmer’s first PMQs since he announced his resignation on Monday, Badenoch even accused Labour MPs of sticking “400 knives” in the prime minister’s back.

Speaker Lindsay Hoyle ended up cutting in, telling the Commons: “Let us think about the language that we use.

“When we leave this chamber, don’t be surprised when constituents think they can use the same language against each other. Let us show a little bit more decorum and respect to each other.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

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Reform’s Nadhim Zahawi Slammed Over ‘Disgraceful’ Defence Of Kemi Badenoch Attack Ad

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Nadhim Zahawi has been condemned over his “disgraceful” attempts to defend a Reform UK ad attacking Kemi Badenoch which has been widely criticised as misleading.

The former Tory, who defected to Nigel Farage’s party earlier this year, insisted there was nothing wrong with the controversial social media post, which was produced following the jailing of Henry Nowak’s killed.

The 18-year-old was handcuffed and arrested by police as he lay dying after being wrongly accused of racism by his killer, Vickram Digwa.

Digwa, a British-born Sikh, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years at Southampton Crown Court last Monday.

Farage has said the case is an example of “two-tier policing” and anti-white discrimination.

The Reform ad showed a quote from 2020 in which Badenoch said “black lives do matter”, alongside a partial quote she gave this week in which she said “I don’t care about white lives matter”.

However, her full quote, which she gave in an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, was: “I don’t want to hear about Black Lives Matter. I don’t want to hear about White Lives Matter. Everyone matters.”

On Sky News on Sunday morning, presenter Trevor Phillips asked Zahawi if someone at Reform “is getting sacked” for the ad.

He replied: “In 2020, she said black lives do matter. In 2026, she says I don’t care about black lives matter or white lives matter. Why? Because she finds it hard to talk about a white boy who bled out on the street.”

But Phillips told him that was “clearly a misrepresentation of what she said”.

“Are you telling me that this is ok,” he asked in reference to the advert.

Zahawi said: “It’s her words, that’s what she said. Why is it so different when it’s a white boy, that we’re all so frightened of upsetting anyone?”

The presenter hit back: “This is not you at all. You’re doing what all the others do. You are inventing your own question and answering it.

“You’re not answering the question I asked you, which is ’is this a fair representation of what Kemi Badenoch said ir not?”

Zahawi said: “I would have more respect for Kemi Badenoch if she said ’by the way, in 2020 I was wrong.”

Social media users slammed the former Tory chancellor.

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

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Defence Secretary Demands Kemi Badenoch Apologise After Criticising UK Troops

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The defence secretary has called on Kemi Badenoch to apologise after she claimed British troops were “just hanging around” the UK’s military base in Cyprus.

The Conservative leader caused a stir on Friday morning when she called for Britain to take stronger action against Iran after its strikes against RAF Akrotiri.

Badenoch claimed that at the moment British jets are just “hanging around” the Middle East, even though the US “has been mobilising” in the region for months.

“Our guys, our government, were just sitting there shrugging their shoulders,” the leader of the opposition said.

But Presenter Charlie Stayt jumped in, pointing out: “The evidence we have from the British government and the British military is they have been involved in shooting down missiles and drones.”

“You have characterised what is already happening by the British military, by the RAF, as ‘just hanging around’,” he added.

Badenoch hit back: “What I have said is they are catching arrows. They need to catch the archer.”

But cabinet minister John Healey slammed Badenoch, pointing out that he was on the ground in the UK’s base in Cyprus on Thursday.

He said: “I saw how our British forces are working round the clock, in the face of repeated air raid sirens, to protect British lives and British interests.

“And to suggest they’re ‘just hanging around’ to score political points insults the men and women of our Armed Forces.

“She should apologise and withdraw her comments.”

Iran launched a drone strike on the UK’s RAF base in Cyprus on Sunday shortly after Keir Starmer gave his permission for US forces to launch limited and defensive attacks on Iran from two British military sites.

While sending more military personnel to the region to protect the British citizens in the area, the prime minister has made it very clear that the UK is still only acting in a defensive capacity.

He has insisted Britain will not be joining the US and Israeli’s offensive strikes against Iran.

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Former Tory Prime Minister Takes Swipe At Kemi Badenoch For Ditching Net Zero

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Theresa May has taken a swipe at Kemi Badenoch over her decision to ditch the Tories’ support for Net Zero.

The former prime minister – who committed the UK to ending carbon emissions by 2050 when she was in No.10 – warned her successor that “there’s a cost to not doing something”.

That was a clear dig at Badenoch’s criticism of Net Zero, which she said “tied us in red tape, loaded us with costs, and did nothing to cut global emissions”.

Badenoch announced the Conservatives were no longer committed to Net Zero in a major policy shift in October.

“We want to leave a cleaner environment for our children, but not by bankrupting the country,” she said.

But appearing on Radio 4′s Today programme on Wednesday, May made clear her unhappiness at the move, suggesting that Badenoch was not thinking about the “longer term” impacts for the planet of her decision.

She said: “One of the challenges in government is always to remember that yes, you need to be concerned about the here and now, but you do also have to think about the longer term as well.

“Obviously when I was prime minister we put through the legislation to put Net Zero by 2050 into law, the first major country to do so, was to set that target so people would start to innovate. And we have seen huge innovations, and we still see innovations taking place.

“You always hope that whatever you put into government is going to stay there forever, and people talk about the cost of doing something. There’s a cost to not doing something as well – we always have to remember that.”

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Unexpected Boost For Starmer As Tory Peer Admits He Would Vote Labour

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A Conservative peer has offered up a surprise boost for Keir Starmer as he would still vote for Labour despite the government’s difficult time in office.

Lord Rose, the chairman of Asda, told LBC that there is widespread frustration with Labour – but suggested that’s still better than the alternatives.

“We’re in a situation now where I think many people in this country would be disappointed with the government they have elected,” Rose told LBC.

“We’ve now got a situation where I don’t believe the Conservatives can make a recovery in time for the next election.

“So let’s assume it’s the election after that.

“You are now going to find yourself in a very difficult situation in 2027, ’28, ’29, where if Labour don’t start delivering some [economic] growth, the Conservatives haven’t recovered in time, and you’ve got the other option – what are you going to vote for?

“Are you going to vote for Reform or are you going to vote for a second government?”

He said: “I would vote for another Labour government, but I would want some change in the meantime.”

Asked why he would vote for another round of Labour, he said: “It’s a question of degrees of pain, isn’t it?

“If I can’t have a resurgent Conservative Party, and they’ve got a lot of work to do to make themselves re-electable – or I’ve got the alternative, which, frankly, is supping with the devil.”

Asked what Kemi Badenoch has to do to secure the Tory peer’s vote again, he said: “She’s got to be doing more of what she’s begun now, I think, but I just think, it does, in all these things, require time, and I’m not sure time is on their side.”

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‘Why would you vote Labour?’
‘It’s a question of degrees of pain.’

Conservative peer Lord Rose explains why he would vote against his party in future elections. pic.twitter.com/yKdhbM6eIY

— LBC (@LBC) December 25, 2025

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‘Why would you vote Labour?’
‘It’s a question of degrees of pain.’

Conservative peer Lord Rose explains why he would vote against his party in future elections. pic.twitter.com/yKdhbM6eIY

— LBC (@LBC) December 25, 2025

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