Kemi Badenoch desperately seeking relevance – UK PM alleges

Abdullateef Fowewe

During Wednesday’s parliamentary session, United Kingdom Prime Minister, Keir Starmer launched a criticisng attack on Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, accusing her of seeking attention at any cost.

Starmer branded Badenoch a “self-appointed saviour of Western civilisation” who is “desperate for relevance.”

His remarks came in response to Badenoch’s claims about Starmer following her advice to cut foreign aid while scrutinising the defence budget.

Badenoch argued that Starmer had taken a cue from her on reducing aid spending, while raising concerns over the funding allocated to defence.

In a video shared on Tiktok, she was heard saying, “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?”

Responding to Badenoch, Starmer said, “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.”