Kemi Badenoch is squaring off with Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions for the first time as Tory leader.It is the former minister’s debut clash with Sir Keir at the despatch box in a closely watched exchange that will mark the beginning of a new style of opposition.
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00:00I come to the Leader of the Opposition, can he come to the floor?
00:07Mr Speaker, can I thank the Prime Minister for his almost warm welcome and can I also
00:15echo the comments that he has made. It is an immense privilege and the honour of my
00:20life to lead the Conservative party and I look forward to joining him at the Senate
00:25half this Remembrance Sunday. As Leader of His Majesty's Opposition, I will be taking
00:30a different approach to the last Opposition by being a constructive Opposition. And so
00:35I would like to start by congratulating President-elect Trump on his impressive victory this morning.
00:41The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary met him in September. Did the Foreign Secretary
00:45take that opportunity to apologise for making derogatory and scatological references, including
00:51and I quote, Trump is not only a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath, he is also
00:57a profound threat to the international order. And if he did not apologise, will the Prime
01:01Minister do so now on his behalf?
01:04Mr Speaker, there will be many issues on which the Leader of the Opposition and I disagree,
01:13but there will be issues that do unite this House on national security and Ukraine and
01:19I do look forward to working closely with her on that and I will provide her with the
01:23information that she needs to discharge her duties. That's the right thing for the country
01:28and it's far more important than party politics. The Foreign Secretary and I did meet President-elect
01:34Trump just a few weeks ago for dinner for about a couple of hours and we discussed a
01:38number of issues of global significance. It was a very constructive exercise.
01:47Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister did not distance himself from the remarks made by the Foreign
01:50Secretary and I'm very sure that President Trump will soon be calling to thank him for
01:56sending all of those North London Labour activists to campaign for his opponent. Given that most
02:04of his Cabinet signed a motion to ban President Trump from addressing Parliament, will the
02:09Prime Minister show that he and his Government can be more than student politicians by asking
02:15the Speaker to extend—can they show that they can be more than student politicians—
02:24Order, order. Mr Perkins, I don't need you anymore. Your voice carries, it's like mine,
02:30too loud.
02:31Thank you, Mr Speaker. Will the Prime Minister show that he and his Government can be more
02:37than student politicians by asking you, Mr Speaker, to extend an invitation to President
02:43Trump to address Parliament on his next visit?
02:47Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition is giving a masterclass on student politics.
02:53But seriously, Mr Speaker, we live in probably a more volatile world than we've lived in
03:00for many decades. It is absolutely crucial that we have a strong relationship, that strong
03:07special relationship forged in difficult circumstances between the US and the UK. We will continue
03:13to work, as we have done in the four months in government, on issues of security, our
03:18economy and global conflict.