Category Archives: pmqs

Lammy Effortlessly Demolishes Farage’s Claim To Be Anti-Establishment With Brutal Putdown

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David Lammy tore into Nigel Farage during deputy prime minister’s questions on Wednesday over the Reform UK leader’s decision to trigger a by-election.

The Clacton MP dramatically declared that he was resigning, only to run again in a “people versus establishment” contest in his constituency yesterday.

The announcement came as Farage faces a growing list of questions about his finances.

He is currently under investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner for failing to declare a £5 million “gift” he received from a crypto-billionaire shortly before he ran for parliament in 2024.

Farage could face further probes for not declaring his entire property portfolio to parliament or for the support he quietly took from “posh” George Cottrell.

It recently emerged the convicted criminal offered Farage funding for staff, security and the use of his London townhouse before he became an MP.

Farage has denied any wrongdoing and claims to be the victim of an “establishment stitch-up”.

But, in the Commons on Wednesday, Lammy – who was representing the government while Keir Starmer is away at the Nato summit in Turkey – questioned Farage’s claim of being a man of the people.

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper kicked off the conversation by asking Lammy if Farage’s resignation should be delayed until after the probe into his undeclared gifts.

She joked: “The honorable member for Clacton used to say leave means leave, but it seems his latest stunt is to leave this place so he can return as a fully-fledged member, after not just one referendum on his behaviour, Mr Speaker, but possibly two.”

The deputy PM replied: “Everyone can see that the Reform leader is just trying to distract from the fact that he is up to his neck in sleaze.

“He’s got serious questions to answer and he can’t run away from them.

“Labour isn’t going to be part of this circus.

“I hear it’s the people versus the establishment – the city trader, Putin-admiring, professional politician who is pals with crypto billionaires versus Count Binface.”

All other political parties have decided not to run a candidate against Farage in Clacton, leaving only comedy candidate Count Binface to compete against the Reform leader.

That triggered yet more laughter in the Commons, to which Lammy said: “There have been unqualified joke candidates in the past. Let’s see what the people of Clacton decide.”

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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‘He Should Be Ashamed’: Lammy Tears Tory MP Apart For Joking About Arson Attacks Targeting Starmer

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David Lammy told the Conservatives’ deputy chairman he should be “ashamed of himself” after he mocked the arson attacks targeting Keir Starmer.

Two Ukrainians set alight to the prime minister’s family home and his car in 2025 after being recruited online by a Russian-speaking Telegram user “El Money”.

Roman Lavrynovych, and Ukrainian-born Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc were convicted of conspiracy to carry out arson attacks on Monday.

But on Tuesday, Matt Vickers joined Talk’s Peter Kyle in laughing at the incident.

The Tory MP joked about the far-right conspiracy theory that the two Ukrainian nationals found guilty of conspiring to carry out the attacks on Starmer’s property and car were “rent boys”.

So when Vickers stood up to ask about the high rates of unemployment during deputy prime minister’s questions, Lammy hit back by pointing out the MP had been “laughing and joking” about the arson attacks against Starmer only yesterday.

Standing in for Starmer, Lammy said: “I must say to this Tory deputy chairman, yesterday he was on television laughing and joking about the arson attack on the prime minister’s home.

“Laughing about a firebomb targeting the prime minister and his family.

“Not only that, he joined with promoting conspiracies about the attack and laughed along to demeaning, homophobic remarks.

“He should be ashamed of himself.

“My advice to him is to grow up, apologise, and do considerably better.”

Vickers just shook his head from the Commons’ opposition benches.

Labour chair Anna Turley later said: “It is frankly sickening that anyone would seek to laugh and joke about an appalling attack on a fellow politician’s family home.

“To do so on the same day as we stood in unity to mark the anniversary of our dear friend and much missed colleague Jo Cox, is beyond the pale.

“Matt Vickers is not fit to be an MP and if Kemi Badenoch had an ounce of integrity or respect for the safety of those who seek to serve the public, she would do the right thing and sack him today.

“Just two days ago, Kemi Badenoch rightly called out the perpetrators of the vile attack against the Prime Minister. Some issues go beyond the rough and tumble of Party politics. If she fails to act now, her words clearly will have meant nothing.”

When asked for his take on the story on Talk on Tuesday, Vickers did begin his interview by acknowledging the serious concerns around Russian influence in the UK and the subsequent impact on security.

However, he soon added: “The idea that there some secret Russian effort to destabilise the country via the prime minister… I mean, you’d leave him in office!”

Kyle laughed loudly while Vickers continued: “Let him destroy the country! Don’t distract him, because he’s doing a pretty canny job of blowing himself up.”

Referring to the false rumour spread by Russia around the attacks, Kyle asked: “Were they rent boys?”

“I’m not familiar with them,” the MP replied, smiling.

Kyle said: “His front door was firebombed wasn’t it? Why are you laughing? It wasn’t his back door, it was his front door.”

The presenter then turned to the backlash to the PM’s attempts to introduce a social media ban for under-16s, adding: “He’s trying to bring a social media ban in through the back door quite quickly, isn’t he?”

Vickers struggled to stop his laughter.

A Tory Party spokesperson said: “If you’ve got an issue with the content of the programme, I suggest taking that up with Jeremy Kyle.”

He said party leader Kemi Badenoch had outright condemned the arson attacks on Tuesday.

The spokesperson said: “If you listen to what he actually says, the content of his words isn’t actually saying anything wrong. He laughed on that part, he was purely polite to the host of a radio programme.”

Watch the Talk interview here:

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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The Jokes Write Themselves As Clip Of Starmer Stumbling Before PMQs Emerges

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Keir Starmer’s critics are having a field day online after a clip emerged of the prime minister tripping up outside the steps of No.10 today.

The footage, shared by Sky News’ Serena Barker-Singh, shows the PM stumbling across the pavement as he walks out of the front door of 10 Downing Street, and reaching for the railings to steady himself on the way to the car.

It is only a six-second clip of Starmer heading out on his usual ride to the Commons for prime minister’s questions, but the timing of the footage is deeply unfortunate for the PM.

It comes amid the greatest crisis his premiership has faced yet.

On Tuesday, his government was forced into a last-minute U-turn over welfare reforms to avoid a humiliating defeat in the Commons.

Scores of Labour rebels were threatening to vote down the government bill even after the PM had already watered the original proposals down.

His second set of concessions meant the proposals were voted through – but Starmer has clearly lost his authority over his own party in the process.

It also means his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will have to fill a £5billion black hole in the public finances.

So many people on social media saw Starmer’s fall as a metaphor for the many crises the top of government is facing right now…

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Remember when everyone was laughing at Rishi Sunak being drenched in the rain whilst announcing the general election…

We’ve reached that.

But quicker. https://t.co/Qm2hEddqWD

— Puja Teli (@ThePujaTeli) July 2, 2025

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Remember when everyone was laughing at Rishi Sunak being drenched in the rain whilst announcing the general election…

We’ve reached that.

But quicker. https://t.co/Qm2hEddqWD

— Puja Teli (@ThePujaTeli) July 2, 2025

Starmer was not the only Labour frontbencher to go viral for all the wrong reasons today, either.

His chancellor Rachel Reeves appeared to be crying in the Commons today during PMQs after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch asked whether Starmer if her job was safe.

The PM dodged the question, although a spokeswoman for Starmer later said: “The chancellor is going nowhere. She has the prime minister’s full backing.”

When asked about Reeves’ display of emotions during PMQs, a spokesperson told HuffPost UK: “It’s a personal matter, which – as you would expect – we are not going to get into.

“The chancellor will be working out of Downing Street this afternoon.”

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