Things got fiery in the Commons as Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch went head-to-head with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, demanding he apologise to Labour’s Rosie Duffield during a tense PMQS clash.
Badenoch didn’t hold back, hitting out over Starmer’s treatment of Duffield, who quit the Labour Party after facing backlash for her gender critical views. Referring to the recent Supreme Court ruling on biological sex, Badenoch asked: “He can’t bring himself to admit he was wrong. But he spoke about respect and dignity, and compassion – so will he now apologise to the member for Canterbury?”, reported GB News.
She praised Duffield as “very brave” and accused Labour of effectively “hounding her out” simply for “telling the truth.” All the while, Duffield sat watching quietly from the backbenches, while the rest of the chamber bristled with tension.
Starmer kept his cool, sticking to familiar ground, replying, “I’ve always approached this on the basis that we should treat everyone with dignity and respect, whatever their different views, and I’ll continue to do so.” He added that the issue shouldn’t be used as a “political football.”
That didn’t sit well with Badenoch. She came back even harder: “There was no apology for the member for Canterbury. There is no taking of responsibility.” She then accused Starmer of forcing Duffield out in what she described as “constructive dismissal.”
She didn’t stop there, bringing up her own experience: “He talks about my predecessor, what about the abuse I faced from his MPs – calling me a transphobe for supporting what the Supreme Court has now clarified?” She also slammed him for taking six days to respond to the court ruling, claiming he stayed silent because “he was scared.”
Starmer responded with a sharp rebuke, turning the focus back on Badenoch’s own record: “The only fiction here is the idea she delivered anything in office. She held the post of Minister for Women and Equalities for two years, and she did precisely nothing.”
He didn’t let up, calling her a “spectator, not a leader,” and blaming the Tories for a 2000 per cent rise in the use of mixed-sex wards under their watch.
While Starmer dodged the direct apology, the clash laid bare deep rifts not just between parties, but within them too, especially when it comes to one of the most divisive debates in politics today.
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