Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch clashed sharply at Prime Minister’s Questions over the rising welfare bill, in a combative exchange that quickly descended into personal barbs and competing claims over economic competence.
Ms Badenoch opened by challenging the Prime Minister on how much the welfare bill has increased since he entered office, before joking she was “glad to see [Keir] having a sense of humour, given we all know he’s losing his job soon”.
She added that he had “no authority”, arguing that his own party would not allow him to act decisively, and claimed Labour had failed to grip Britain’s welfare spending.
Reviving a proposal previously floated by former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, Ms Badenoch said Conservatives were willing to work with Labour on welfare reform, asking: “Is he ready yet?”
The Prime Minister dismissed the approach outright, using the Conservatives’ record in government to reject the offer.
“They introduced a system that’s broken, and they put the bill through the roof,” he said. “Now they want to give us advice on welfare? No thanks.”
Ms Badenoch responded by insisting the Conservatives did have a clear alternative, summarised as “benefits bill down, taxes down, growth up”, accusing Labour of lacking urgency and direction on reform.
She went on to suggest that Sir Keir was acting as a “caretaker” leader, claiming he was “keeping his seat warm for the Mayor of Manchester”, before accusing the Labour Party as a whole of failing on economic management.
The Prime Minister hit back by pointing to Labour’s welfare and employment agenda, arguing the Government was already taking steps to reduce long-term dependency and support young people into work.
He cited the introduction of a “Youth Guarantee”, alongside plans for 300,000 work-experience placements and a commission led by Alan Milburn to examine youth unemployment.
“These are the steps we are taking,” he said. “They’re the steps we were taking, as she will know, the number on welfare went up hugely on their watch, as did the cost under the Shadow Chancellor.”
Ms Badenoch rejected that defence, insisting responsibility lay with the current Chancellor rather than opposition figures, and argued Labour had effectively “given up” on controlling welfare spending.
“It’s not the Shadow Chancellor who’s the problem, it’s the actual Chancellor,” she said. “The reason why there is no welfare bill is because the Prime Minister has given up.”
Sir Keir pushed back, arguing that his government’s reforms were aimed squarely at reducing unemployment and long-term welfare dependency.
“All the measures we’re doing to reform welfare… are measures to reduce the cost and the numbers of people who are unemployed,” he said.
He added that the Youth Guarantee would ensure young people receive sustained support into work, including a period of paid placement for those still unemployed after 18 months, describing it as a central pillar of his approach to reducing welfare reliance.
The exchange underlined the increasingly bitter tone of Commons debates over welfare and economic management, with both leaders seeking to frame the issue as evidence of the other side’s long-term failure in office.
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