Kemi Badenoch posted a video on X comparing Sir Keir Starmer’s answer at PMQs today and four months ago when she asked him if he stands by Labour’s manifesto pledge not to hike taxes on “working people”.

Sir Keir Starmer refused to rule out extending the freeze on the tax-free personal allowance.

Tory MP Mike Wood raised fears about pensioners on modest incomes being dragged into paying income tax.

He said: “I’m proud the last government introduced the triple lock and we’re committed to keeping it.

“But from April pensioners with private pensions as low as £2 a month will be paying income tax for the first time.

“At last year’s Budget, the Chancellor was clear that extending the freeze on personal allowances would breach the manifesto commitment.

“So will the Prime Minister prove the media speculation wrong, keep his promise and guarantee that there will be no extension to the freeze on personal allowances. ”

The Prime Minister said: “The freeze was introduced by them, that’s why it was coming in next year.”

Kemi Badenoch said all that Sir Keir Starmer knows how to do is “tax, tax, tax”.

She said: “He is raising taxes because he is too weak to control spending. He’s blaming us. He’s blaming the OBR.

“Last week, they were blaming Brexit. Isn’t the truth that with this Prime Minister, it’s always someone else’s fault?”

Sir Keir Starmer said: “They were kicked out of office because they broke the economy. They won’t be trusted for years to come. She can’t tell us what her position is on the last budget, and she’s got a phantom £47 billion.”

Kemi Badenich was heckled by Labour MPs as she hit out at Sir Keir Starmer over the Employment Rights Bill.

She said: “He won’t rule out any tax rises. He can’t cut spending. He is increasing unemployment. This man knows nothing about economic growth, except how to destroy it.

“In his weakness, he has caved in to the unions with their regulations that will cripple businesses, costing them £5 billion every year.”

As she faced shouts from Labour MPs, she went on: “Yes, please do speak up, because I want every single business out there to hear Labour MPs heckling when we talk about the damage that they are doing.

“I ask the Prime Minister, how on earth can he consider adding more burdens for these firms to deal with?”

In response, Sir Keir took aim at the Tories’ new “golden economic rule”, saying: “Very golden, £47 billion of unspecified spending cuts with no detail whatsoever.”

Kemi Badenoch urged Sir Keir Starmer to work with the Tories to slash the ballooning benefits bill.

She said: “Last month I offered to work cross-party with him to bring down welfare spending, because he knows and we know that he’d rather dip into people’s pockets than upset the people behind him.

“Instead of tax rises, will he work with us to find a way to cut welfare spending and get Britain working again?”

The PM replied: “She talks about that record. Let’s go through it. They crashed the economy, inflation went up to 11%, mortgages went through the roof. Welfare spending went up to £33 billion, and they want to give us advice? They reduced the UK to a laughing stock.

“Because of our budget, waiting lists have come down. Wages are up. Mortgage rates are down, and other countries want to do deals with us.”

Kemi Badenoch called on Sir Keir Starmer to axe stamp duty as the Tories have pledged to do.

The Leader of the Opposition said the move would “get young people on the housing ladder and get the economy growing”.

The Prime Minister replied: “Why didn’t they do it then in 14 years in office?

“The productivity review figures are now coming in, and they show the true extent of the damage that they did.

“She asked us to take advice from them. We all know that austerity damaged the economy on their watch. The botched Brexit deal damaged the economy on their watch. Liz Truss’ mini-budget damaged the economy on their watch.

“So we’ll take no lectures or advice from them on the economy. They won’t be trusted on the economy for generations to come.”

Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir Starmer’s answer was “fascinating” after he declined to say whether the Government will stick to its promise not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT.

She said: “Well, well, well, what a fascinating answer. It is not the same answer that I received when I asked exactly the same question word for word on July 9?

“Then, the Prime Minister replied with just one word, ‘yes’, and then he sat down with a smug grin on his face. What’s changed in the past four months?”

The Prime Minister replied: “As she well knows, no Prime Minister or Chancellor will ever set out their plans in advance. I can say this, because the figures on the productivity review that’s being undertaken, this is a judgment on their record in office. Those figures are now coming through, and they confirm that the Tories did even more damage to the economy than we previously thought.

“Now, we will turn that around. We’ve already delivered the fastest growth in the G7 in the first half of this year, five interest rate cuts in a row, trade deals with the US, EU and India. They broke the economy, we’re fixing it.”

Kemi Badenoch used her first question to ask if Sir Keir Starmer still stands by Labour’s election manifesto pledge not to raise taxes for “working people”.

It comes amid ongoing speculation that Chancellor Rachel Reeves could increase income tax at her Budget next month.

The Prime Minister replied: “The Budget is on November 26, and we will lay out our plans, but I can tell the House now that we will build a stronger economy, we will cut NHS waiting lists and deliver a better future for our country.”

Sir Keir Starmer is on his feet at the Despatch Box as Prime Minister’s Questions gets underway in the House of Commons.

A migrant sex offender who was mistakenly released from prison was given £500 as he was deported back to Ethiopia.

Hadush Kebatu was flown back to his home country on Tuesday night and arrived on Wednesday morning with no right to return to Britain, the Home Office said.

It is understood he was given a discretionary payment of £500 by officials in the removals team as he threatened to disrupt his deportation, which could have led to a slower and more expensive process.

The Ethiopian national had been wrongly freed from HMP Chelmsford last week instead of being sent to an immigration detention centre, triggering a two-day manhunt.

Sir Keir Starmer has been pictured leaving 10 Downing Street with Foreign Secretary David Lammy ahead of PMQs.

Q1Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)

Q2James McMurdock (South Basildon and East Thurrock)

Q3Jeff Smith (Manchester Withington)

Q4Mr Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool)

Q5Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor)

Q6Clive Jones (Wokingham)

Q7Anneliese Midgley (Knowsley)

Q8Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington)

Q9Mike Wood (Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)

Q10Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough)

Q11Alison Griffiths (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)

Q12Graham Stringer (Blackley and Middleton South)

Q13Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage)

Q14Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge)

Reform UK’s Lee Anderson and Zia Yusuf set out plans for a welfare crackdown at a press conference this morning.

The insurgent party would end personal independence payment (Pip) for claimants with “non-serious” anxiety disorders and introduce more regular reassessments for those who qualify.

Head of policy Mr Yusuf warned that young people on disability benefits are being “tossed onto a scrap heap”.

Mr Anderson, the MP for Ashfield, said: “The alarm clock generation is now being replaced by an anxiety generation.”

Reform said the welfare cuts would save £9 billion per year by 2029.

Labour could break their election pledge not to put up income tax, National Insurance or VAT, as the Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces having to plug a new £50billion black hole in public finances.

Britons are already facing the economic misery of rising prices, higher energy bills and high street closures.

However, new forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is expected to downgrade UK productivity growth expectations by 0.3 percentage points, meaning Ms Reeves could be forced to come back for more money from the public to prop up the economy.

Financial expert Rob Wood, chief UK economist at consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics, told the Mail Online Ms Reeves may have to find “£50billion in tax rises and spending cuts” to meet her fiscal rules of bringing down borrowing and debt.

Greenpeace activists installed wooden prison bars around statues of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square this morning, protesting the UK government’s tightening restrictions on demonstrations by suggesting these historical figures could be criminalized under current laws.

The action, which included signs reading “Protest is not a crime” and caused no damage to the monuments, highlights Greenpeace’s analysis showing nearly half of all Terrorism Act arrests since 2001 (2,100 out of 4,322) occurred in the last four months, mostly at silent vigils against the proscription of Palestine Action.

It also notes 144 terror-related charges in early 2025—more than any full year since 2001—including amid major past attacks—and coincides with Labour’s Crime and Policing Bill, which seeks to expand police powers to ban protests near religious sites, restrict face coverings, and curb repeat actions based on “cumulative impact.”

Reform UK’s Lee Anderson has condemned Tory grandee Michael Heseltine as “deeply unpleasant” after the former Cabinet minister launched a furious rant against Nigel Farage’s party.

The failed Tory leadership candidate said he is determined to “expose Reform for what they are”.

Mr Anderson hit back: “This man announced the closure of over half of the remaining British coal mines in 1992, resulting in thousands of job losses, a decision he said was unpleasant but necessary.

“I say Heseltine is deeply unpleasant and not necessary in this day and age.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage made headlines last Wednesday by watching Prime Minister’s Questions from the public gallery of the House of Commons instead of his usual seat on the green benches.

The Clacton MP, who will later today introduce legislation for the UK to quit the ECHR, explained his decision as a protest against being routinely attacked by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Labour MPs without the opportunity to respond.

He posted on X: “Every week at PMQs I am attacked by the PM and Labour MPs, but have no right of reply. I am just a mere spectator.”

The move came after 20 documented instances of such criticisms during recent sessions, highlighting Farage’s frustration over his limited speaking time as a new MP.

While some MPs dismissed it as a publicity stunt, the gesture underscored growing tensions between Reform UK and the government amid the party’s rising poll numbers.

Kemi Badenoch is set to clash with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the dispatch box during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons, amid raging controversy over the government’s economic and immigration policies.

The Tory leader dropped a strong hint about what she was likely to lead on with a post on X on Wednesday in the wake of a fatal stabbing in Uxbridge, with an Afghan national who arrived in the UK illegally allegedly arrested.

She said: “This man, granted asylum in Britain, has been arrested on suspicion of murdering an innocent person and violently attacking a child.”

Ms Badenoch is also likely to press Sir Keir on Labour’s decision to block the release of the files after the alleged China spy case collapsed “on their watch”, as she put it. Meanwhile, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage may repeat last week’s decision to sit in the public gallery in protest at not being given a weekly question at PMQs.