𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Kemi Badenoch condemned Sir Keir Starmer as “utterly reprehensible” in the House of Commons after the Prime Minister insisted his trip to China had made Britain “stronger”. Sir Keir’s insistence that his trip yielded dividends for Britain and the economy was torn apart by the Tory leader in a blistering performance, where she said he had “come back with next to nothing”.

Mrs Badenoch blasted the Prime Minister’s four-day trip to Beijing, where he was seen meeting with the communist country’s most senior leaders. She told Sir Keir: “Let me be clear, it is not the PM engaging with China that we take issue with, what we are criticism is his supine and short-termist approach. I’m sure the PM means well, but his negotiating tactic has always been to give everything away in the hope people will be nice to him in return.”

“Apart from the Labubu doll in his suitcase – and I hope he’s checked it for bugs – he has come back with next to nothing.”

She highlighted the Prime Minister’s championing that sanctions against four Tory MPs had been lifted by China, arguing they had been punished by Beijing for standing up to them.

Mrs Badenoch said: “The worst thing was the PM claiming a glorious triumph on the lifting of sanctions on four Conservative MPs as if he’d done us a favour. Let me tell him those MPs were sanctioned because they stood up to China.

“They stood up against human rights abuses, they stood up against a country spying on our MPs in a way he wouldn’t dare. Those people don’t want to go to China – the Chinese know that – they know they are giving him something that cost absolutely nothing.

“Why can’t the British Prime Minister see that?”

Sir Keir criticised the previous Conservative government’s approach to China, insisting that engaging with the economic power “makes us stronger”.

The Prime Minister accused the Tories of engaging in an isolationist policy. Mrs Badenoch branded those comments as “utterly reprehensible”.

Sir Keir insisted: “Protecting our national security is non-negotiable. We’re clear-eyed about the threats coming from China in that regard. We will never waver in our efforts to keep the British people safe.

“That is why we’ve given our security services the update powers and tools they need to tackle foreign espionage activity wherever they find it.”

He said that visiting with the Chinese leadership had enabled him to raise “frank concerns”, including the incarceration of political prisoner Jimmy Lai, human rights concerns in Xinjiang and Tibet, Taiwan, and China’s support for Russia’s war efforts.

However, the Tory chief hit back: “What did his trip achieve for Jimmy Lai? Nothing. Did China promise to stop fuelling Britain’s war machine in Ukraine? Doesn’t sound like it.

“What did this trip achieve for the Uighers who are being enslaved? Absolutely nothing. Have China agreed to stop their relentless cyber attacks? Have they? We all know the answer to that.

“The reality is China showed its strength and Britain was pushed around, literally.”

Sir Keir concluded: “Ignoring China for eight years achieved nothing”.

“Back at the top table at last. Facing outward, replacing incoherence and isolationism with pragmatic engagement. Replacing naive posturing with the national interest.”