Starmer and Badenoch clash over Mandelson at prime minister’s questions – UK politics live | Politics
Starmer ducks question about whether or not he spoke to Mandelson before making him US ambassador
Kemi Badenoch asks if Starmer spoke to Peter Mandelson before he appointed him ambassador to the US.
(It has been reported that he didn’t.)
Starmer says he has already apologised for the appointment. The process was flawed, he says.
Key events
Claire Hanna (SDLP) says we have seen the events from the Middle East before. In Irish there is as saying, ‘Have we learned no lessons?” She asks for an assurance MPs will get a vote on any action in the Middle East.
Starmer says, unlike Badenoch, his principles have been clear. He says he will not let the UK be dragged into a wider war.
Badenoch asks why people should believe Starmer on anything in the light of his answers on Mandelson.
Starmer again criticises Badenoch’s leaderhip over Iran. And he says her failure to condemnt Timothy “for the poison and division he spreads” is telling.
Starmer says Timothy comments suggest Tories have problem with Muslims
Badenoch says Starmer knew that Mandelson had kept a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Why did the PM believe him?
Starmer says the Tories only object to Muslims praying in Trafalgar Square, not people of other faiths. He says people will conclude the Tories have a problem with Muslims.
Badenoch defends Timothy over his attack on Muslims praying, saying he was ‘defending British values’
Badenoch defends Timothy, saying he was “defending British values”.
She says Starmer’s refusal to answer the Mandelson question implies he did not speak to Mandelson personally.
Starmer left it up to two of Mandelson’s friends to ask him about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, one of whom was friends with a paedophile.
Starmer says even Tommy Robinson has said that in the past Nick Timothy would have been sacked for his comments.
Starmer says Nick Timothy should be sacked for his attack on Muslims praying in Trafalgar Square
Badenoch says Starmer did not answer the question. Did he pick up the phone to Mandelson.
She says Starmer said Mandelson lied to him. That implied that they spoke.
Starmer again criticises Badenoch. He says she should have sacked Nick Timothy for his attack on Muslims praying in Trafalgar Square. (See 10.28am.)
Badenoch again asks if Starmer spoke to Mandleson before appointing him.
Starmer says Mandelson was questioned before he was appointed. He admits his judgment on this was wrong. But he says Badenoch’s judgment over Iran was flawed.
Starmer ducks question about whether or not he spoke to Mandelson before making him US ambassador
Kemi Badenoch asks if Starmer spoke to Peter Mandelson before he appointed him ambassador to the US.
(It has been reported that he didn’t.)
Starmer says he has already apologised for the appointment. The process was flawed, he says.
Marie Tidball (Lab) asks for details of how disabled and other vulnerable people will be able to access the heating oil support.
Starmer says his instinct will always be to help people. But the best way to address the problem would be to end the war in the Middle East, he says. He says that shows why the leaders who backed the war were wrong.
Wendy Morton (Con) says 60% of hospices are considering cutting services. Will the government commit to long-term funding for hospices?
Starmer says the government supports the work of hospices, and will give them long-term funding to sustain them.
Starmer faces Badenoch at PMQs
Keir Starmer starts by offering condolences to the family and friends of the two young people who have died in the meningitis outbreak in Kent.
He says anyone who attended Club Chemistry on Canterbury on 5, 6 or 7 March should come forward to get antibiotics.
He says he has met President Zelenskyy, Mark Carney and Mark Rutte in Downing Street this week.
Starmer faces Badenoch at PMQs
PMQs is about to start.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
Polanski’s economy speech – snap verdict
A few months ago Zack Polanski was interviewed by Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart on their Rest is Politics: Leading podcast. Mostly the conversation was quite good humoured, but at one point Stewart, a former Tory cabinet minister, started pressing Polanski quite aggressively on some basic economics (how much the UK spends a year on debt interest, for example), and Polanski was stumped for answers. It clearly rankled with him because afterwards he complained frequently, saying he had been ambushed on a topic (economics) he had been told in advance would not come up.
But, as well as annoying Polanski, the interview also seems to have prompted him to try to firm up his authority and credibility on economic policy. And today’s speech was the result.
It was meaty and substantial. Green party members will like it because it firms up and spotlights some of their retail policy offers. And, although Labour MPs may object to many of his proposals (even on the left, there is a mainstream view that rent controls “don’t work”), they will agree with much of his analysis. Polanski’s argument about the damage done by Thatcherite privatisation and Obsornite austerity is something that could have come straight out of an Andy Burnham speech.
Ministers will probably attack Polanski for his suggestion that the government pays too much attention to the bond market (see 11.17am), just as Burnham was criticised for a similar comment. Quite what Polanski meant by “exit the bond market doom loop” wasn’t quite clear. It will be for others to say quite how credible, or not, this is. But this was a serious speech, that at least opens up an economic argument, with analysis that stands up and policy that is memorable. Polanski will probably view that as a decent response to Rory Stewart.
The Q&A is still going on, but the live feed I have been using has cut out. Never mind; a Guardian reporter is there, and so I will post any updates when I get them.
This is what the Labour party issued last night in response to the trail of the Polanski speech issued by the Greens.
double quotation mark This Labour government has the right economic plan for Britain – delivering stability in our public finances, investment in infrastructure and higher living standards after years of Conservative failure. We’re ending austerity, supporting families, fixing our NHS, cutting child poverty, improving workers’ rights, tackling the housing crisis and taking action on climate change and clean energy.The Greens have the wrong answers and no plan. Only a Labour government can deliver for Britain.
This does not address the specifics in the speech – but the Green party speech preview did not include those either, so it is understandable why the rebuttal is vague.
Polanski says Keir Starmer’s comments attacking the Greens over their drugs policy were “disgusting”. People are dying from drug use, he says. He says this shows it is a serious problem. It should be taken seriously. Starmer’s comments debased the debate, he says.
Polanski is now taking questions.
The first one includes a question about Polanski’s time as a hypnotherapist, when he told a Sun reporter that he could use hypnotism to increase the size of her breasts.
Polanski says he has apologised for this several times before. He quotes Tony Benn as saying, in politics, what matters is not where you have come from, but where you are going.
Polanski says the other parties do not have policies to address “rip-off Britain”.
And he ends by saying this speech is “just the beginning”.
double quotation mark We will be setting out our plans in more detail as we approach the general election. And at the centre of everything, there will always be three very simple questions. How do we make life more affordable? How do we back the caring majority over the wealthy elite? And how do we protect our planet for generations to come?
Polanski calls for new approach to fiscal rules, saying UK must ‘exit bond market doom loop’
Polanski says the government should adopt a new approach to fiscal rules.
First, it should not treat the national budget like a household budget, he says.
double quotation mark We must stop equating the government’s finances with a household’s. This false equivalence has been a poison in British politics for too long. Hospitals, schools, transport starved of investment. And that costs us every day. In money, in stress, in time.
Second, he says, the government must “exit the bond market doom loop”.
double quotation mark Our fiscal framework is hypersensitive to market movements. And this creates policy uncertainty that then fuels the very market jitters it is there to supposedly prevent. And you don’t have to just take my word for it. Even the IFS, the supposed custodians of fiscal responsibility, are saying the framework is “dysfunctional.”
And, third, he said government spending plans should make more long-term assumptions.
double quotation mark UK fiscal forecasting currently relies on rigid fiscal multiplier assumptions that constrain effective government policy. By assuming that spending multipliers expire after 5 years, the current model is prioritising short-term fiscal targets over the longer-term economic and social gains that targeted government spending could achieve. Right now we can’t plan major infrastructure projects. We can’t invest properly in a healthy, educated population. Right now, we can’t build our future.
Polanski says wealth tax would be ‘day one priority’ for Greens
Polanski turns to tax, and says that a wealth tax would be a priority for the Greens.
double quotation mark We know that a wealth tax won’t fix everything, and no one’s ever pretended it would, but it’s a good place to start. Implementing a 1% tax on wealth over £10 million and 2% over £1 billion would raise around £15 billion per year – and send a very clear message that those who have accumulated the most money, will pay a little bit more – and get that money flowing through the economy, and benefiting everyone.For a truly progressive government a wealth tax should be a day one priority.
And the Greens would cut energy bills, Polanski says.
double quotation mark We need to cut energy bills. We need to massively scale up our investment in clean energy infrastructure to secure our energy independence and increase our resilience as a country. And in the shorter term we should stop the price of gas inflating the price of electricity, ending the possibility for gas plants to charge high prices when gas-fired electricity is needed to make up an energy shortfall.
