Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of “blaming everyone but himself” by Kemi Badenoch as she declared the Labour Government has been “caught short-handed”.
Speaking to GB News, the Tory leader hit out at the Prime Minister’s lack of preparedness for the Middle East conflict, declaring he has “no plan” for defence.
Speaking to Chief Political Correspondent Katherine Forster, Mrs Badenoch responded to the suggestion that the “Tories are to blame” for the UK’s shrinking growth figures and rising inflation.
She said: “Labour will always try to blame everyone except themselves, but the fact is, every good Government needs to make sure it has the money for when a crisis comes around.
“Labour has done absolutely nothing to prepare for a crisis, instead splurging on benefits, and now they’ve been caught short-handed. This crisis is one that they should have anticipated.”
Criticising Labour’s inability to set out a pathway to three per cent defence spending, the Tory leader declared that Sir Keir has “no plan” for defence, and is “only good at talking about defence”.
She told GB News: “Labour has no plan for defence. We had ships that we were going to order, which Keir Starmer paused and said he was carrying out a defence review.
“The review was done, it said you need to spend money, you need a defence investment plan, and nothing’s happened.
“What Keir Starmer is good at doing is talking about defence, he’s not actually good at acting. What I want to see is action, and we have asked him repeatedly where is the money to fund three per cent.”
Kemi Badenoch has accused Keir Starmer of having ‘no plan for defence’
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GB NEWS
Outlining how the Tories would fund three per cent of defence spending, Mrs Badenoch explained: “We’ve announced a sovereign defence fund that would bring in £17 to £50billion.
“We’ve also talked about replacing reinstating the two child benefit cap, so that there’s more money into our armed forces.
“All Keir Starmer is doing spending more and more money on benefits, there’s no plan for defence.”
Pressed by Katherine on the “changing stance” of the Tories on net zero, Mrs Badenoch made clear that she has “never bought into” the idea of net zero and has now changed the party’s stance on it completely.
She argued: “Well, I have changed the party stance because I never agreed with it the day that Bill went into law.
“I have never bought in to net zero. Other leaders wanted it and even then I was constantly fighting.
Keir Starmer was left with his head in his hands on Wednesday after being accused of being ‘pushed around’ by Ed Miliband
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PARLIAMENT TV
“Now I’m the leader, the Conservative Party is a new party under new leadership, we’re not making the silly mistakes of the past.
“We’ve learned our lessons, we paid for that. But I now need to make sure that I hold the Government to account. I need to stop them from doing stupid things as well.”
Reflecting on her criticism of Sir Keir and Ed Miliband during Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Mrs Badenoch stated: “What we heard from Keir Starmer yesterday was a man who basically said, I’m not in control. It’s all up to Ed Miliband.
“How can a Prime Minister say that he’s supposed to be running this country, and instead he’s saying it’s somebody else’s job?”
Defending her stance on the Iran war, the Tory leader was questioned on her “cheerleading” for US President Donald Trump at the start of the conflict.
Mrs Badenoch told GB News that the relationship between the UK and US ‘should not break down’
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GB NEWS
Mrs Badenoch said: “I have been very clear that when there is a war between the US and Iran, we should make it clear whose side we’re on.
“Canada was able to do that, Australia was able to do that, they didn’t join the war.
“That’s what I asked Keir Starmer to do. I also asked him to make sure that the US could use our air bases to protect our own British servicemen and women.
“He said no because Ed Miliband told him to say no, and then eventually he said yes, so I don’t trust Keir Starmer’s position on this.”
She continued: “As regards to Donald Trump, what I want to see is a plan. What we are not seeing here is a clear plan on what needs to happen with Iran.
“If I was Prime Minister, I’d be making sure I was speaking to him every day to know what is the plan, what are we doing? What is the exit?
“Keir Starmer doesn’t seem to be having any kind of relationship with President Trump. The relationship should be between the UK and the US.
“Each Prime Minister we have has got to be able to maintain that because we rely on the US for a lot of security and defence intelligence.
“That relationship must not break down for the safety of people in this country.”