Starmer repeatedly fails to say he will cut benefits in PMQs mauling by Kemi Badenoch – after ally’s warning that Labour MPs just want to hike taxes for more handouts

Keir Starmer repeatedly refused to commit to cutting benefits today as he was mauled by Kemi Badenoch at the PMQs.

The Prime Minister refrained from doing so because the Conservative Party leader challenged him on whether he wanted to cut welfare spending.

Ms Badenoch highlighted comments by Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, which emerged in the Mandelson files earlier this week.

It emerged Mr McFadden had complained to the disgraced former minister that Labor MPs were only interested in ‘who they could tax to benefit others’.

Ms Badenoch accused Sir Keir of giving up on cutting welfare costs because his party had ‘given up on him’.

Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions, he said: ‘I remember last year they were planning to cut benefits and they made a U-turn in this House. What did he do when he got the chance? He complied.

‘He has bowed to all the MPs behind him who do not want social benefits to be reduced, that’s why they sit behind him silently.

‘So does the Prime Minister agree with the welfare minister that he has lost the authority of the moment?’

Keir Starmer avoided this, with the Conservative Party leader challenging him on whether he wanted to cut welfare spending.

The Prime Minister said he was proud of what his Government had achieved.

‘The fastest growing economy in the G7; They said this couldn’t be done.

‘The OECD predicts that growth in the UK will be upward and inflation will be downward; Under them, net migration, which reached nearly one million, fell by a staggering 82 percent.’

Mr McFadden today defended his efforts to reform the welfare system after his messages were published. that he reflected the typical ‘back and forth’ between politicians and wrote them without waiting for them to be published.

“We need to change the question the benefits system asks,” the Work and Pensions Secretary told GB News.

‘What I mean by this is that we need to move from a question that asks what benefits you are entitled to to a question that asks how we can help you change your life.

‘I think this is a progressive welfare reform question because it puts work and opportunity at the heart of what you’re trying to do, I’ve been saying that publicly and privately for a long time.’

He added: ‘I don’t think you can or should do welfare reform by just saying ‘here’s some money we need to save’ and then inject policy.’

The Conservative leader also stepped up claims of a ‘cover-up’ after Sir Keir admitted using WhatsApp to eliminate him. He argued that this was a case of ‘lost messages from a disappeared Prime Minister’.

1,500 pages of messages about Mandelson, A sharp look at the tensions at the heart of government.

Mr McFadden candidly admitted Sir Keir’s authority had been ‘destroyed’ by a rebellion that blocked welfare reforms last summer.

No 10 said the Prime Minister still had full confidence in Mr McFadden.

It emerged that Mandelson and ministers discussed in messages how things were not looking good for Sir Keir.

Gordon Brown is said to be “accepted” for the chancellorship and prefers Angela Rayner, while No10 staff have been labeled “sub-optimal”.

Wes Streeting (until recently health minister and now a leadership hopeful) is described by Mandelson as someone who sent a ‘crazy, long, hysterical message’ criticizing Israel.

Amid a row over the government’s recognition of Palestine as a state, the ambassador suggested Mr Streeting was experiencing an “early mid-life crisis” and lacked “maturity”.

The Labor massacre was foreshadowed by a handwritten note from Mandelson to the then Foreign Secretary, Mr Lammy, at the end of 2024, saying Sir Keir would ‘never regret’ appointing him as US ambassador.

It’s clear the Prime Minister isn’t the only one who wants Mandelson for the job, as a group of fawning ministers rush to congratulate him personally.

Pat McFadden has been revealed to have complained to the disgraced former minister that Labor MPs only care about “who they can tax to benefit others”.

Messages revealed Mandelson (pictured) and ministers discussed how things were not looking good for Sir Keir

Despite the size of the dump, some key documents are still being withheld at the request of Scotland Yard, which is investigating his former colleague over allegations of misconduct in public office.

Sir Keir barely featured in the 1,500-page document finally released by the Government on Monday, months after it was requested by Parliament.

This apparent hole was partially explained yesterday when the Prime Minister’s spokesman confirmed that the disappearing messages function had been activated.

A number of other Cabinet ministers, including Rachel Reeves and David Lammy, also appear to have escaped embarrassment for using the WhatsApp option.

Downing Street insisted on this It is permitted as long as it does not affect the keeping of official records. conservatives He pointed out that screenshots of important posts should be kept.

The process of uncovering the material and correcting ‘sensitive’ details cost £1 million.

The Mandelson documents said: It’s a sharp look at the tensions at the heart of the Government, with Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden complaining at one point that his own MPs only want him to find people to pay taxes so he can hand out more benefits.