Former Labour MP Rosie Duffield has given a scathing assessment of Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions.

See her post below:

Sir Keir Starmer believes Donald Trump’s criticism of Sir Sadiq Khan is “wrong,” Downing Street has said.

No 10’s defence of the Labour London Mayor came a day after it declined to criticise the US president’s attack on him.

Mr Trump’s latest salvo in his long-running spat with Sir Sadiq came in an interview in which he branded the UK politician a “disaster” and “disgusting”.

The Prime Minister’s press secretary said today: “Those comments are wrong.

“The Mayor of London is doing an excellent job in London, delivering free school meals in primary schools, cleaning up London’s air with the world’s largest clean air zone and starting record numbers of council houses.

“The Prime Minister is hugely proud of the Mayor of London’s record and proud to call him a colleague and a friend.”

The Government remains committed to its manifesto pledge to recruit 6,500 more teachers, Downing Street said.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch had pointed to 2024 statistics showing there were 400 fewer teachers than a year earlier during PMQs.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said afterwards: “There are 2,300 more secondary teachers in classrooms this year, 1,300 fewer leaving – it’s the lowest leaving rate since 2020. And last week, teacher training data showed 32,000 new trainees on course. That’s 11% up on last year.

“And we remain committed to recruiting 6,500 additional teachers.”

Sir Keir’s press secretary added: “All Kemi’s dodgy data goes to show is the absolute mess the Conservatives left the country in. They drove the NHS into the ground, they lost control of our borders, they saw inflation skyrocket to 11%. This Labour Government is turning that around.”

When it was put to her that the data cited by the Opposition leader was from the Department of Education, the press secretary said: “Across the board the picture that she painted of this Government’s record is what I meant, rather than individual data sets.”

She added: “You can’t turn around a retention crisis that we inherited overnight when morale is down in public services, teachers were leaving the profession at the rate that they were under the previous government, that takes time to turn around.”

Conservative MP Sarah Bool said: “This Government is always talking about the fair choices that it has made.

“But is it a fair choice to balloon the benefits bill? Is it a fair choice to introduce an unfunded and unwanted digital ID that will cost the public billions?

“Is it a fair choice to increase taxes on working people when the promise was not to? The answer is no.

“Can I ask the Prime Minister to consider one final fair choice, thinking of food security, and to avoid devastation for families across the country, and reverse the family farm tax?”

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey called for Britain to rejoin the customs union.

He said: “If we stand up to President Trump, we do need to strengthen our ties with Europe, not just on defence, but on the economy too.

“And the truth is this government will not succeed unless it gets our economy growing strongly again, and the best way to do that is a customs union with Europe.

“The Prime Minister’s chief economic adviser knows it. The Deputy Prime Minister knows it.

“And yesterday, the Labour chair of the trade select committee showed she knows it too, when she backed our bill.

“Does the Prime Minister fear that if he keeps opposing a customs union in 12 months time, he will not be standing there?”

Sir Keir Starmer replied: “We have got a closer relationship with the EU throughout reset earlier this year.

“Yes, I do want a closer relationship than what we’ve got at the moment. We are moving towards that.

“We do have manifesto commitments on issues such as single market, customs union and freedom of movement, but I would gently point this out that having now done significant trade deals with other countries, including the US and India.”

Kemi Badenoch said Labour “wouldn’t know the truth if it punched them in the face” as she asked Sir Keir Starmer about NHS appointments lost to strike action.

She also referred to reports that Angela Rayner said she would “rather stick pins in her eyes” than back Health Secretary for the Labour leadership amid ongoing questions over the PM’s future.

Mrs Badenoch said: “How many appointments have been lost to strike action? He doesn’t know, let me tell him.

“We have lost 93,000 appointments to strikes since the Health Secretary gave doctors a massive pay rise.

“It’s the truth. I know they wouldn’t know the truth if it punched them in the face, but I’m telling them the truth.

“It is no wonder that we read this morning that the former deputy prime minister has said about the Health Secretary, she’d rather stick pins in her eyes than be on his golden ticket.”

Kemi Badenoch went on to ask Sir Keir Starmer about Labour’s pledge to recruit 13,000 more police officers.

She said: “Last year, the Prime Minister promised to recruit 13,000 more police officers. How’s that going?”

He said: “Three thousand more by the end of March, we’re rising on police numbers.

“She’s obviously spent the morning rehearsing for The Liz Truss Show, she’s probably going to be the guest star next week, both of them talking about how Liz Truss was 100% right.

“But what Liz Truss said was the Conservatives need to take responsibility for their 14 years of failure. That was Liz Truss, their former leader, so perhaps she’ll heed that, get up and say sorry.”

Kemi Badenoch swiped that Sir Keir Starmer could “power the national grid on all of that hot air”.

She claimed that energy bills have risen by £187 before turning her attention to Education Secretary Bridget Phillison.

The Tory leader said: “Labour pledged to recruit 6,500 more teachers. So can the Prime Minister tell the House how many extra teachers are there since she (Ms Phillipson) became Education Secretary?”

Sir Keir responded: “More than when they left office. And I’m very proud to say so, with an upward trajectory. They left our health service on its knees, they left our schools in a mess, they left our economy absolutely broken, they should be utterly ashamed of their record in service.”

Mrs Badenoch responded: “Wrong. There are now 400 fewer teachers since she came into office. She’s shaking her head – it’s on the Department for Education website. Does she not check it once in a while?

“I can understand that (Ms Phillipson) is angry. We’re all angry at the mess she’s making.”

Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir Starmer of having lost control of his party before asking about energy bills.

The Leader of the Opposition said: “He’s being called a caretaker, because everyone can see that he’s lost control of his party.

“We all know that this lot are so busy trying to replace him that they’ve taken their eyes off the ball.

“Let’s start with the Energy Secretary, who wants to recycle himself as leader.

“He said he cut families’ energy bills by £300. Can the Prime Minister tell the house how much have energy bills fallen by since the election?”

The Prime Minister insisted the Government had taken £150 from energy bills with the latest Budget.

He added: “Last week I pointed out that three of her ex-MPs went to Reform. The real question is, who’s next?”

Kemi Badenoch asked Sir Keir Starmer about reports that Labour MPs are referring to him as a “caretaker Prime Minister”.

The Tory leader said: “Can he tell the House why his own MPs are describing him as a ‘caretaker Prime Minister?”‘

Sir Keir replied: “My own MPs are very proud.

“We’ve just passed a Budget which protected our public services and our NHS. No austerity, which brought our NHS to the ground.

“We created the conditions for economic stability with the headroom we need.

“We’re concentrated on the single most important issue for families up and down the country, which is the cost of living.”

Sir Keir Starmer is at the despatch box as Prime Minister’s Questions gets underway.

Sir Keir Starmer has been pictured leaving 10 Downing Street as he heads to the House of Commons for PMQs.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves insisted “no, no, no” in a furious House of Commons row with another MP over her tax-raising Budget.

The Chancellor had been summoned to answer questions from the House of Commons Treasury Committee about leaks in the run-up to her Budget on November 26. But she became angry when Conservative Dame Harriet Baldwin criticised Ms Reeves’s claim that tax rises were the fault of the Tories.

The full details are here

The Chancellor says she and Sir Keir Starmer decided “together as a team” to freeze tax thresholds – and she inssists this was not a flagrant breach of Labour’s manifesto promise not to hike taxes on working people.

She tolds the MPs:

James Bowler, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, tells Treasury Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier that a leak inquiry is investigating Government officials, advisers (eg so-called spin doctors working with Ministers) and Government Ministers themselves.

And it’s looking both at the Treasury and at other departments. The leak inquiry is being lead by the Cabinet Office.

Rachel Reeves says: “Of course it is right that it looks at all those people. That is not suggesting that we think any of those people are responsible. But anyone who had access to information should rightly be part of that inquiry.”

Meg Hillier says that the Financial Times report before the Budget said: “According to officials briefed on the move”.

Rachel Reeves says the FT story was a “leak” – not a deliberate attempt to get information to the media.

“I am absolutely categorical that that was not an authorised briefing. It was incredibly damaging and frustrating. That is why we have a leak inquiry.”

Rachel Reeves says: “There was a leak to the Financial Times about one element”.

But she says the leak presented “partial and inaccurate” information.

Committee chair Meg Hillier highlights reports before the Budget that officials had spoken to the Financial Times. The newspaper said the PM and Chancellor had “ripped up” plans to increase rates of income tax.

She tells Ms Reeves “I don’t understand why you don’t know yet who those officials are.”

Ms Reeves admits there was a leak, but says the leak was inaccurate.

James Bowler, Permanent secretary to the Treasury, HM Treasury, is also answering questions alongside Ms Reeves

In response to a question from Treasury Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier, Rachel Reeves insists she is in control of media briefing from her department.

“There were leaks that were clearly not authorised and that is very serious which is why there is this review going on.”

Asked how many people knew about possible changes to income tax rates, Ms Reeves says she does not want to answer without checking.

Rachel Reeves said: “The Budget had too much speculation. There were too many leaks. And much of that leaks and speculation was inaccurate. Very damaging.”

“I want to state how frustrated I am and have been by these incidents and the volume of speculation and leaks.”

The Chancellor says the National Centre for Cyber Security to look into whether economic outlook documents were accessed.

Critics have accused Rachel Reeves of deliberately leaking information in order to pave the way for tax rises. This doesn’t mean she did it personally, but that people working for her in the Treasury did it with her approval.

The Chancellor’s message to the Commons Treasury Committee today is that she did not authorise any leaks and that in fact she is very angry about what happened in the run up to the Budget.

Rachel Reeves tells MPs that ‘leaks are unacceptable’, that there were ‘too many leaks’ before the Budget and she is ‘frustrated’ by ‘the volume of speculation and leaks’.

She says she has ordered a leak inquiry to ensure this cannot happen again.

Sir Mel Stride has said that the Conservatives have tabled a censure motion against Rachel Reeves in the Commons because she “misled” voters over Budget tax rises.

The Shadow Chancellor told GB News: “Well, on the basis that she’s misled the British people. She said back in the Labour Party manifesto they wouldn’t be raising taxes on working people. That’s precisely what she did in the recent Budget.

“In her first Budget, of course, when she did the same thing, she said she wouldn’t be coming back for yet more tax, and she has and what are the choices the government’s taken? Well, the Chancellor has raised taxes on hard working people in order to put up the benefits bill, and most people feel that that is the wrong choice.

“There’s also the issue of having misled the public at a press conference on the fourth of November as to the state of the finances, making out they were far worse than they actually were, in order to create a smoke screen for the kind of tax increases that the Chancellor was floating at that time.

“I think all in all, people have lost confidence. We are there in Parliament to hold the government to account, and I will be leading that debate in Parliament later on this afternoon.”

Nigel Farage raised fears over the grooming gangs inquiry after Labour announced the probe’s new chair.

Former children’s commissioner Baroness Anne Longfield will resign the Labour whip to lead the investigation into rape gangs in Britain.

But Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who has been piling pressure on the Government over the issue, expressed concerns that “we won’t perhaps get what we want out of this”.

Lisa Nandy rejected suggestions the Government was stepping in with its national youth strategy because of poor parenting.

Asked on Times Radio whether the state was taking responsibility because of poor parenting, the Culture Secretary said: “No, I really reject that.

“What we found through the work we’ve done over the last year is that many parents, and I would include myself in this, would welcome far more support.”

Sir Keir Starmer said improving prospects for young people is “our generation’s greatest responsibility” as the Government launches its 10-year youth plan.

The Prime Minister warned of a “lost decade of young kids left as collateral damage” ahead of the publication of Labour’s national youth strategy, which will seek to tackle what ministers describe as a crisis of isolation.

The Government will aim to ensure 500,000 more young people across England have access to a trusted adult outside their home as well as resources on how to stay safe online as part of the plans.

Some £500 million worth of investment will go towards reviving youth services, with a commitment to build or refurbish 250 youth facilities over the next four years, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said.

Rachel Reeves should apologise for “misleading the country” about the public finances in the run-up to the Budget, the House of Commons is to hear.

The Conservatives will also call on MPs to join them in criticising the Chancellor for announcing £26 billion worth of tax rises in last month’s statement which they say breaks a promise in Labour’s manifesto.

A Tory-led debate in the Commons this afternoon will see the party use a parliamentary process known as a censure motion to call on Ms Reeves to apologise for how the Budget unfolded.

It will come after the Chancellor is expected to face a grilling by a cross-party group of MPs on the Commons Treasury Committee the same morning.