Oral Answers to Questions
Kemi Badenoch Excerpts(2 weeks, 4 days ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
I, too, wish everyone a happy St George’s day. Can I also associate myself with the remarks about the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis on Easter Monday? Being married to a Catholic, I know the profound loss for millions in Britain and across the world.
Does the Prime Minister now accept that when he said that it was the law that trans women were women, he was wrong?
The Prime Minister
Let me be clear: I welcome the Supreme Court ruling on this issue. It brings clarity, and it will give confidence to women, and of course to service providers. The Equality and Human Rights Commission will now issue updated guidance. It is important that that happens, and that all service providers then act accordingly. This Government’s approach, and my approach, has been as follows: to support and implement the Supreme Court ruling, and we will; to continue to protect single-sex spaces based on biological sex, and we will; to ensure that trans people are treated with respect, and we will; and to ensure that everybody is given dignity in their everyday lives. I do think this is the time to lower the temperature, move forward and conduct this debate with the care and compassion that it deserves, and I think that should unite the whole House.
Mrs Badenoch
The Prime Minister cannot bring himself to admit that he was wrong; that was the question. He spoke about respect and dignity, compassion and lowering the temperature, so will he now apologise to the very brave hon. Member for Canterbury (Rosie Duffield) for hounding her out of the Labour party simply for telling the truth?
The Prime Minister
I have always approached this on the basis that we should treat everyone with dignity and respect, whatever their different views, and I will continue to do so. I will tell you, Mr Speaker, why: because when we lose sight of that approach and make this a political football, as happened in the past, we end up with the spectacle of a decent man—and he was a decent man, the previous Prime Minister—diminishing himself at this Dispatch Box by making trans jokes while the mother of a murdered trans teenager watched from the Public Gallery just up there. That will never be my approach. My approach will be to support the ruling, protect single-sex spaces and treat everybody with dignity and respect, and I believe there is a consensus in this House and the country on that approach.
Mrs Badenoch
There was no apology to the hon. Member for Canterbury. There is no taking of responsibility. The Prime Minister talks about political football; he practically kicked her out of his party—constructive dismissal. He talks about my predecessor. What about the abuse I faced from his MPs, who called me a transphobe for supporting what the Supreme Court has now clarified, to use his words? And where was he? He hid for six days without commenting on the Supreme Court judgment. Why did it take him so long to respond? Is it not because he was scared?
The Prime Minister
The only fiction here is the idea that the right hon. Member delivered anything in office. She held the post of Minister for Women and Equalities for two years, and she did precisely nothing. She provided no clarity on the law, and did nothing to improve women’s lives, which got materially worse under her watch. For example, the Opposition talk about hospitals and mixed-sex wards, up hill and down dale. What happened in the last decade? The use of mixed-sex wards in our NHS rose by 2,000%. There is a pattern of behaviour here: the Women and Equalities Minister who failed to do anything for women; the Trade Minister who failed to get a trade deal with the US; the Business Minister who failed to get a deal with British Steel. She is a spectator, not a leader.
Mrs Badenoch
I will tell the Prime Minister what I did. I stopped the gender—[Interruption.] I will, I will. When his Labour leader in Scotland was whipping his MSPs to get male rapists into women’s prisons, I stopped that gender recognition Bill. I helped commission the Cass review. I replaced the guidance on single-sex toilets. I made sure that the puberty blockers issue was resolved, while he was sitting there cheering on the ideology that was taking away safe spaces. And when the Prime Minister stayed silent last week, presumably waiting to hear what Morgan McSweeney thinks, on his WhatsApp groups some of his closest Ministers were plotting to overturn the Supreme Court decision. Labour MP after Labour MP stood up yesterday and challenged the ruling. How can we take his Government seriously on this?
The Prime Minister
I think the WhatsApp group the right hon. Lady should be worried about is the one with her shadow Justice Secretary, the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick). The mask has slipped, just one week before the elections. The shadow Justice Secretary is not here. A man who is doing everything he can to replace her, the man that most Conservative Members want as leader of their party, has admitted that Reform and the Tories are working together. He said:
“I want the fight to be united.”
He said he is determined
“to bring this coalition”,
as he calls it,
“together…one way or another”.
Well, I think we know what that means. Every Tory voter is appalled at the thought of paying for the NHS; every Reform voter hates what the Tories did for the last 14 years. They are not Conservatives; they are a con.
Mrs Badenoch
Who is playing political football now? The Prime Minister has no answers. Yesterday, Labour MP after Labour MP challenged the ruling. He should be more worried about his Back Benchers than my Front Benchers. His Labour Ministers called the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission “appalling”. Baroness Falkner’s role is critical to enforcing the Court’s judgment. She has had to put up with relentless abuse, not just from his Front Bench but from activists and ideologues. Reappointing her would be a clear sign that he is taking this issue seriously, so will he commit to reappointing Baroness Falkner when her term expires this year?
The Prime Minister
I have always said that the debate should be conducted properly, on the principle. I have said it many, many times. I would remind the Leader of the Opposition that when they were in government, violence against women and girls reached record highs, rape prosecutions fell to record lows, and millions of women were left stuck on NHS waiting lists, unable to get the healthcare they needed. Under this Labour Government, NHS waiting lists are down by more than 200,000, and there are domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms. We strengthened access to maternity pay, something she called excessive. She talks about political footballs, but a coalition of Reform and the Tories is being formed behind her back. We know what it means when the shadow Justice Secretary and the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) cook up a joint manifesto: NHS charging, pro-Russia foreign policy, and an end to workers’ rights. Just as the previous Government lost control of the economy, borders and health, in six short months she has lost control of her party.
Mrs Badenoch
The Prime Minister is clearly so uncomfortable talking about this subject. This is a choice between a Conservative party that stood up for common sense and a Labour party that bends the knee to every passing fad. This is a question about moral courage, and doing the right thing even when it is difficult. The truth is he doesn’t have the balls. The Prime Minister only tells people what they want to hear. He is a weathervane; he twists in the wind. He cheered an ideology that denied safe spaces to women and girls, because he thought it was cool to do so. He hounded a brave female MP out of his party for telling the truth he accepts now. And now, he is hiding behind the Supreme Court judgment. Is that not because he does not know what he actually believes?
The Prime Minister
I can only assume that that sounded better when the right hon. Lady said it in the mirror earlier. The truth is, it does not really matter what she says, because nobody—none of them behind her—believes that she is going to lead them into the next election anyway. It will be the shadow Justice Secretary, who is away plotting—that is why he is not here today—and the hon. Member for Clacton fighting over the bones of the Tory party. The Conservatives think Reform will give them its votes without changing their policy—absolutely no way. The hon. Member for Clacton will do what he always does: eat the Tory party for breakfast.
Oral Answers to Questions
Kemi Badenoch Excerpts(5 months, 1 week ago)
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Mrs Kemi Badenoch (North West Essex) (Con)
I pay tribute to Mandy Damari and her family for the strength they have shown. We on this side of the House, and I am sure the whole House, continue to seek the speedy release of Emily Damari and the other hostages.
The Prime Minister talks about immigration, so it is probably a good time to remind him that he was the one writing letters asking us not to deport foreign criminals. He and his party voted against every single measure we put in place to try to limit immigration. The question today is what has been on the lips of all Labour MPs, including, I believe, the Health Secretary yesterday. The Prime Minister knowingly appointed a convicted fraudster to be his Transport Secretary. What was he thinking?
The Prime Minister
The previous Transport Secretary was right to resign when further information came forward. What a marked contrast to the behaviour of the last 14 years. The Leader of the Opposition talks about immigration. There were record levels of immigration under the previous Government, with net migration of nearly 1 million, and she was the cheerleader. She was the one urging the removal of the caps on work visas. She thanked the previous Home Secretary for the work that was done. She championed it, she advocated it—record levels of immigration.
Mrs Badenoch
He is obfuscating, but I am going to keep him on the topic. He owes the House an explanation. He says that the former Transport Secretary was asked to resign only after further information came to light. What was that further information?
The Prime Minister
I am not going to disclose private conversations. Further information came to light, and the Transport Secretary resigned. What a marked contrast. While the right hon. Lady is obsessing with Westminster issues, we are getting on with fixing the mess and fixing the foundations, with that £22 billion black hole, our prisons bursting and, as we found out last week, net migration of nearly 1 million because of the Tory open borders policy.
Mrs Badenoch
I am not asking about migration; I am asking about the former Transport Secretary. He never answers any questions, and it looks like he did not ask his Transport Secretary any questions either. The truth is that he appointed a person convicted of fraud to the Cabinet, and the first thing she did was bung hundreds of millions of pounds in pay rises to her trade union friends. Was this not a fraud on the British people?
The Prime Minister
No. She says she is not talking about immigration, and I am not surprised. I advise her not to talk about the economy or immigration for another five years.
Mrs Badenoch
He can try to change the topic as much as he likes, but the public are watching. He owes them an explanation. The country needs conviction politicians, not politicians with convictions.
Now, on to an even bigger fraud: the Budget. Last week, the Prime Minister failed to repeat the Chancellor’s pledge of no more borrowing and no more taxes. It is obvious that they are coming back for more. In his manifesto, he committed to making Britain the fastest-growing economy in the G7. Does he stand by his own pledge?
The Prime Minister
I gently remind the right hon. Lady that two of her predecessors had convictions for breaking the covid rules. I also invite her to look at this morning’s OECD report, which has upgraded growth for next year and the year after, putting us on target to be the fastest-growing major economy in Europe in the next two years. She should welcome that.
Mrs Badenoch
I have seen the OECD report, and what it says is that they will be coming back for more taxes. The whole House will have heard him fail to repeat his own pledge. He cannot even repeat the pledges he made just a few weeks ago. We are here to stop him damaging the economy, and that is why—[Interruption.]
Mrs Badenoch
They are laughing the same way they all laughed during the Budget, when they talked about raising national insurance. They have no idea what people out there are dealing with. That is why, yesterday, we voted against his damaging jobs tax.
Even former supporters such as the chef Tom Kerridge, who endorsed Labour at the election, say that the Budget was “catastrophic.” He built a real business employing young people, unlike this Cabinet of trade union stooges, CV embellishers and an actual fraudster. None of them has ever run a business. Why will the Prime Minister not listen to businesses who are saying his Budget is catastrophic?
The Prime Minister
I thought the scripted jokes were over, but we had another one and then lectures about the economy from the Conservative party that broke the economy, sent mortgages through the roof and left a £22 billion black hole. The right hon. Lady talks about national insurance. She complains about the rise in national insurance week after week, but then two weeks ago she said that she would not reverse it. She signed trade deals that had farmers protesting in Whitehall, but now she pretends that she is their champion. She campaigned to remove the cap on migrant worker visas, but now she pretends she is furious about the open borders policy of the last Government.
Mrs Badenoch
The fact is that the Prime Minister has discarded his own Labour leadership promises: he has dropped the five missions he said would define his Government; he has ditched his pledge to make Britain the fastest-growing economy in the G7—we left office with the UK as the fastest-growing economy in the G7—and business is saying he has damaged the economy with his Budget. Tomorrow he is going to have an emergency reset, just five months into his premiership, but why should anyone believe a word he says?
The Prime Minister
The only relaunch on the Conservative Benches is the leadership bids of the right hon. Lady’s rivals. She obviously has not read the OECD report published this morning: the fastest growth in the next two years of any major economy in Europe—we are proud of that. Opposition Members should never be allowed to forget the damage they did to our country. They used Britain like some sort of mad scientist’s experiment: open borders, unfunded tax cuts, a neglected health service. And now all the madness is still coming out, but they say they should be back in office. They have not listened, they have not learned, and they certainly have not changed. There is only one party that is driving this country forward, and that is this Labour Government.