Keir Starmer has distanced himself from the actor David Tennant after he said Kemi Badenoch should “shut up”.
Tennant told an awards ceremony last week he would like to live in a world where Badenoch, the equalities minister and likely Conservative leadership contender, “doesn’t exist any more”.
Badenoch has come under fire from transgender rights activists over her views on sex and gender.
Asked about Tennant’s comments, Starmer said he “wouldn’t have engaged” in the discussion in the same way.
“In politics, as in life, it’s important that we are able to robustly disagree with others – obviously that happens a lot in the general election campaign,” the Labour leader told reporters on a visit to a GP surgery near Nottingham. “But we should do it with respect for everybody involved in that robust discussion.
“I wouldn’t have engaged in the way that he did. I think it’s right that we have these robust discussions, but we must do it respectfully.”
Badenoch hit back at Tennant on X saying: “I will not shut up. I will not be silenced by men who prioritise applause from Stonewall over the safety of women and girls.
“A rich, lefty, white male celebrity so blinded by ideology he can’t see the optics of attacking the only black woman in government by calling publicly for my existence to end.”
Rishi Sunak has also waded into the row, posting on X: “If you’re calling for women to shut up and wishing they didn’t exist, you are the problem.”
Tennant was speaking at the British LGBT Awards, where he won a prize for being a “celebrity ally”. In his acceptance speech he said: “If I’m honest I’m a little depressed by the fact that acknowledging that everyone has the right to be who they want to be and live their life how they want to live it as long as they’re not hurting anyone else should merit any kind of special award or special mention, because it’s common sense, isn’t it?”
He continued: “However, until we wake up and Kemi Badenoch doesn’t exist any more – I don’t wish ill of her, I just wish her to shut up – whilst we do live in this world, I am honoured to receive this.”
Starmer was also pressed on the Westminster gambling scandal, and said that the Labour candidate who had been implicated in it was a “materially different” case.
Kevin Craig, the Labour candidate for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, was suspended by the party on Tuesday after he was put under investigation by the Gambling Commission. Craig is understood to have bet against himself winning in the constituency.
“It’s materially different to the Tories being investigated,” Starmer said. “It’s one thing using insider information about the election, it’s different to bet against yourself.”
Craig said in a statement he had made a “huge mistake” and a “stupid error of judgment”.
The gambling watchdog launched an investigation two weeks ago when the Guardian revealed that Craig Williams, a Tory candidate who was Rishi Sunak’s closest parliamentary aide, bet on a July election three days before it was announced.
This week Conservative party disowned two of its candidates, one of whom was Williams, in an attempt to draw a line under the row. Two senior Conservative officials who are also being investigated have taken a leave of absence from the party’s HQ.
“I don’t think that we should be lured into thinking this is a problem with the rules, it’s a problem with politicians,” Starmer said. “The reason I’m resistant to go down the road of changing the rules is a number of Conservatives got caught with their fingers in the till. Instead of saying you shouldn’t put your fingers in the till, they want to have an argument about the rules.”
The Labour leader added he had never personally bet on politics and “only bet on the horses”.
