Cabinet in ‘open warfare’ over tax and MPs can’t trust Starmer, says Badenoch

Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet is in “open warfare” over taxes, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has claimed as she asked the Prime Minister to rule out tax hikes in this Parliament.

Mrs Badenoch said deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is “on manoeuvres”, “demanding” tax rises, and insinuated Sir Keir had also lost control of his MPs, asking how they could “ever trust him again” after a “U-turn” on winter fuel cuts.

There have been reports that Ms Rayner sent a memo to Chancellor Rachel Reeves in March ahead of the spring statement, suggesting the Government reinstate the pensions lifetime allowance and change dividend taxes to raise £3 billion to £4 billion a year, in a push back against spending cuts.

Mrs Badenoch opened the weekly exchange at Prime Minister’s questions by saying the Government’s budget is “driving up inflation” which hit its highest level since the start of last year.

Sir Keir said inflation “was over 11% on their watch” and he’s “confident those numbers will come down”, adding that the Conservative leader “doesn’t have a credible economic plan”.

Mrs Badenoch said Sir Keir’s response was “laughable” and defended her own party’s economic record, saying “inflation was brought down by us to 2%, bang on target”.

She went on to prompt Sir Keir to “stop whining about what the last government did and look at what he is doing”.

She said: “Look at the numbers this morning – as if inflation figures weren’t bad enough, we’ve also learned that the Deputy Prime Minister is on manoeuvres.

“He’s lost control of the economy, he’s lost control of his Cabinet.

“She’s sitting there staring at me. She knew exactly what she was doing when she briefed that into the papers. She is demanding eight new tax rises, as if we haven’t suffered enough.

“People out there are struggling, businesses are struggling, people are losing their jobs. We cannot have more tax rises. Will the Prime Minister rule out new tax rises this year?”

Prime Minister Sir Keir replied: “(The Conservatives) lost the election because of their appalling record on the NHS, on health, on prisons, you name it, and now she accuses everyone of ‘whining’ about the impact.”

He added: “She wants to talk about the Deputy Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister’s – working with the Chancellor (Rachel Reeves) – building 1.5 million new homes, reforming our planning system, putting £7 billion into our economy and bringing forward an Employment Rights Bill.”

Mrs Badenoch described his response as “desperate stuff” when she returned to the despatch box.

She said: “The whole House will have heard the Prime Minister refuse to rule out new tax rises – the whole House heard it, he didn’t rule it out.

“His Cabinet is open warfare, the Deputy Prime Minister (Angela Rayner) clearly calling the shots. What is it that we’ve learned?

“We’re heading for new tax rises, we know inflation is up, it’s just more and more bad news from a Prime Minister who has lost control.”

Mrs Badenoch said she would ask “a simple question” and added: “It only requires one word – yes or no – is he planning to U-turn on winter fuel cuts?”

Sir Keir replied: “We will look at the threshold, but that will have to be part of a fiscal event.”

Mrs Badenoch asked how Labour backbenchers could “ever trust” Sir Keir after the “inevitable U-turn on winter fuel” payments.

She said: “Look at all of them (Labour MPs) behind him, all of them cheering when this inevitable U-turn on winter fuel comes, and it will from a desperate Prime Minister, what will he say to the 348 MPs who went over the top and voted for the winter fuel cut last September?

“Just like the British public, how can any of them ever trust him again?”

After laughter from Labour MPs when she said they looked “sick”, the leader of the Opposition urged them to put their hands up if they “wanted winter fuel cuts”.

She said: “His winter fuel cut has driven thousands into hardship.

“His MPs hate this. He can’t see them, but they all look sick just hearing what it is he’s going to do. They’re laughing.”

Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle then called for order from Labour MPs who continued to jeer and laugh.

Mrs Badenoch challenged Sir Keir’s backbenchers: “Hands up, who here wanted winter fuel cuts? Hands up.

“Not a single one of them. Not a single one of them. The fact of the matter is this Prime Minister is destroying them.”

Turning to look at the backbenches, Sir Keir replied: “They look in pretty good form to me, and there’s lots of them.”