UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer took a swipe at Kemi Badenoch on Wednesday, saying she has appointed herself saviour of western civilisation.
The jibe came as both politicians sparred at the traditional Prime Minister’s Questions Time (PMQT) in the house of commons.
On Tuesday, Starmer announced that the UK will reallocate aid funds to boost military spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027, amounting to £13.4 billion.
Starmer spoke ahead of his flight to Washington for a meeting with US President Donald Trump.
He told the British parliament he was proposing an increase in defence outlay as the US spearheads talks with Russia over its war in Ukraine.
The prime minister said the UK’s aid budget would be reduced from 0.5 percent of gross national income to 0.3 percent in 2027, “fully funding the investment in defence”.
However, Badenoch, leader of the UK’s Conservative Party, questioned Starmer over the exact amount, which John Healey, defence secretary, said could be calculated as £6 billion when inflation is factored in.
She also asked if any of the new funding would be going to the multi-billion pound Chagos island deal.
Starmer responded by saying the increase in defence spending that was announced was for “our capability on defence and security in Europe”, adding that “the Chagos deal is extremely important for our security and for US security”.
“If you take the numbers for this financial year and then the numbers for the financial year 2027-28, that’s a £13.4bn increase,” he said.
“That’s the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War which will put us in a position to ensure the security and defence of our country and of Europe.”
When Badenoch suggested that the prime minister had listened to her advice on using international aid money for defence, 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 has appointed herself saviour of the western civilisation in a desperate search for relevance.”
