PMQs live: Keir Starmer grilled by Kemi Badenoch over Gazan family who won right to live in UK after entering Britain through Ukraine scheme

Kemi Badenoch’s performance at PMQs – while heavily criticised – is not being branded a symptom of a lost cause by everyone.

Replying to a comment from commentator Dan Hodges who made reference to the ’embarassing show’, someone said: ‘It seems that a leaders reputation hangs on whether they are good at PMQs.

‘This is a very narrow view of a person’s leadership qualities. Starmer is better at PMQs than Badenoch, but he is pathetic as a leader. I think Kemi needs time to develop. I will judge her in 6 months.’

In case you missed Prime Minister’s Questions earlier, here’s five key moments from the session as Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch clashed over immigration:

• Kemi Badenoch challenged Sir Keir Starmer to toughen up immigration rules after a Gazan family were granted the right to live in the UK when they entered the country through the Ukrainian refugee scheme
• The Prime Minister insisted the legal loophole would be closed but hit back that Ms Badenoch had not done her homework as the court’s decision was made under the previous Conservative government
• Ms Badenoch challenged Mr Starmer to put the UK national interest above the European Convention on Human Rights but the Labour leader countered it was the Conservatives that lost control of the borders
• The Prime Minister renewed his PMQs attacks on Nigel Farage and Reform claiming the party along with the Conservatives ‘voted for open borders’ by going against the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
• Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey urged the Prime Minister to retaliate against Trump’s tariffs by introducing a levy on US electric vehicles in response to higher taxes on steel imports

The Prime Minister has said the Government will ‘continue to support’ the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi).

Conservative former minister Andrew Mitchell said: ‘The Prime Minister will be well aware of the global vaccination fund, Gavi, one of the United Kingdom’s great success stories. It’s vaccinated from deadly diseases over a billion children under five. It presents real value for money to British taxpayers and over 80% of our constituents support it.

‘Will he give the House today an undertaking that Britain will continue this leadership and make a decisive pledge at next month’s replenishment?’

Sir Keir Starmer replied: ‘I’ve long supported it, will continue to support and share details with him just as soon as I can but it is important, have supported it and will continue to do so.’

Kemi Badenoch is continuing to come under fire and the criticism is not confined to Labour circles.

Commentator Christopher Hope said: ‘Kemi Badenoch didn’t apparently have a Plan B for her six questions when the PM said he would close a loophole to allow Gazans to settle in the UK under Ukrainian resettlement scheme.

‘The coup de gras was when the PM revealed a border tzar who had worked from Finland for five years under the Tory government – and will now be working in the UK under Labour.’

The Mail on Sunday’s Anna Mikhailova said: ‘It’s one thing to mishear an answer to your first question, it’s another to then double down and keep digging…. Horrorshow #PMQs for Kemi Badenoch.’

Sir Keir Starmer said Tory criticism of Attorney General Lord Hermer (pictured) questions the ‘principle that everybody’s entitled legal representation’.

Conservative MP for Meriden and Solihull East, Saqib Bhatti asked the Prime Minister whether he has faith in Lord Hermer’s motives given he has previously advised Gerry Adams.

Mr Bhatti also said Lord Hermer has advised Caribbean nations on seeking trillions of pounds in reparations from slavery.

The Prime Minister replied Britain has a longstanding principle that everyone in Britain is entitled to legal representation, adding lawyers don’t necessarily agree with their clients.

Now, the Conservative Party used to believe in that principle. If they now disagree with that principle they should go and see the victims of very serious crime, including sexual crime, and tell them that, under their provisions, the lawyer who disagreed with the perpetrator would not be able to represent them, meaning that victims will be cross-examined by perpetrators because lawyers disagree with the perpetrator. That has never been the Conservative Party position. If it is now they should say so.

David Reed, the Conservative MP for Exmouth and Exeter East, told the Commons: ‘Last week, the Prime Minister gave yet another threadbare excuse for why he and his north London lawyer friends are giving away the Chagos Islands.

‘This is his decision, and he must own it. More importantly, he can’t tell us, the British taxpayer, how much this is going to cost. Is it £9 billion? Is it £18 billion? Is it £52 billion?

‘The Times have called this botched deal ‘insane’. Members of his own Cabinet reportedly think it’s impossible to understand, and one of his own MPs thinks it’s the worst thing the Labour Party have ever done.

‘So can the Prime Minister tell us which word he thinks best describes this deal?’

Sir Keir replied: ‘I set out the position in relation to the Chagos Islands last week. I also offered the leader of the Opposition a briefing on this – a high-level briefing.

‘She still hasn’t taken me up on that briefing. They’re asking questions without wanting to know the facts – it’s extraordinary, someone who wants to be prime minister does not want to know the facts, even when she’s offered a high-level briefing.’

Kemi Badenoch has come under fire over her performance in PMQs with many being quick to point to a ‘blunder’ she made in a debate over borders.

Ms Badenoch claimed the government is recruiting a new chief inspector of borders, who lives in Finland prompting Starmer to respond he had been appointed in 2019 by the last government.

Starmer said: ‘She’s right it’s the wrong decison… she hasn’t quite done her homework because the decision was taken under the last [Tory] Government’

PMQs has now come to an end. Stay with us and we’ll bring you some more detail from what we’ve just heard, along with live reaction.

Conservative and Reform UK MPs voted ‘for open borders’, the Prime Minister has claimed.

Referring to Monday’s vote on the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which received a second reading 354 votes to 115, majority 239, Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston Preet Kaur Gill told the Commons: ‘I was baffled on Monday that given the chance to support legislation backed by the National Crime Agency to crack down on criminal smuggler gangs and secure our borders, the parties opposite – the Conservatives and Reform – linked arms in the voting lobby to vote against it.

‘The Conservatives spent three years and £700 million on their ludicrous Rwanda scheme and saw four volunteers returned. Does the Prime Minister agree with me there is only one party that is serious about repairing our broken immigration system?’

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer replied: ‘Yes, and let me remind them what they voted against on our Borders Bill. They voted against – that’s Reform and the Tories – they voted against making it an offence to organise the buying, selling and transport of small boats.’

Starmer was met with raucous laughter as he insisted farming is ‘top of the agenda’ when probed over Labour’s tax on farmers.

He said money had been invested in farming as part of the budget. The insistence comes amid a bout of protests from farmers over the unpopular policy.

Amid the government’s sky high housing targets, Oxfordshire MP Olly Glover has asked the PM whether he also plans on building infrastructure to go with it.

It comes as there have been complaints the government’s drive for housing has come at the expense of infrastructure like schools and hospitals.

Starmer said hospital admissions for allergies had risen sharply in the last two decades.

He added a response would be issued to this in due course.

Spectators have taken to social media to slam Kemi Badenoch over her performance at PMQs.

It comes as she has so far been accused of ‘not doing her homework’.

A commentator has said it is ‘one of the worst performances ever from a leader of the opposition’.

Sir Keir has been qustioned over funding for hospices. He once again brought up the ‘blackhole’ in public finances he says was left by the previous administration and assured that this would be a focus of the government.

Mrs Badenoch said: ‘Given this crazy decision and so many others, new legislation is needed to clarify the right to a family life in Article 8 – I’m not talking about what he just said, I know Labour MPs don’t understand much of what they’re saying, but the Prime Minister literally wrote a book on the European Convention on Human Rights.

‘This is a situation where we need to put our national interest before the ECHR. Does he agree that we should legislate, even if lawyers warn that this might be incompatible with human rights law?’

The Prime Minister replied: ‘She complains about scripted answers and questions, her script doesn’t allow her to listen to the answer.

‘She asked me if we’re going to change the law and close the loophole in question one, I said yes. She asked me again in question two, and I said yes. She asked me again in question three, it’s still yes.’

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the Government cannot ‘allow enormous numbers of people to exploit our laws’ as she called on Sir Keir Starmer to close a legal loophole that allowed a family-of-six Palestinians the right to live in the UK.

Mrs Badenoch told the Commons: ‘If he plans to appeal, then the appeal may be unsuccessful and the law will need to be changed. And if he does not appeal, the law definitely will need to be changed.

‘He talks about a decision made under the last government, it was not made by the last government, it was made by the courts. The issue we are discussing today is about judicial decisions.

‘We cannot be in a situation where we allow enormous numbers of people to exploit our laws in this way. There are millions of people all around the world in terrible situations. We cannot help them all, and we certainly cannot bring them all here. Will he commit to bringing forward that new legislation or amending his Borders Bill?’

The Prime Minister replied: ‘I’ve already said the Home Secretary has already got her team working on closing this loophole. We don’t need to wait for that. We’re getting on with that because we’re taking control.

‘They lost control of immigration. We had nearly a million people come into this country, had an open borders experiment, and on Monday of this week, they voted against increased powers to deal with those that are running a vile trade of people smuggling. Same old Tories, open borders, empty promises.’

Sir Ed Davey has questioned the Prime Minister over Trump’s implementation of steel tariffs.

The Lib Dem leader proposed ‘strong’ counter measures which include tariffs in return on American electrical cars.

He references British, Canadian and American soldiers previously fighting ‘shoulder to shoulder’ and asked whether this had been forgotten.

Britain should introduce tariffs on US electric vehicles in retaliation for President Trump’s higher taxes on steel imports, the leader of the Liberal Democrats has suggested.

Sir Ed Davey recalled British soldiers fighting alongside Canadians and Americans 80 years ago in the latter stages of the Second World War, and said the US was hitting its closest allies hardest.

He said: ‘President Trump seems to have forgotten all this. His tariffs against steel and aluminium will hit Canada the hardest and will also hit jobs and the cost of living in our country.

‘So in reminding President Trump who America’s true and longstanding friends and allies really are, will the Prime Minister also prepare a plan for tariffs in return, starting with tariffs on American electric cars.’

Starmer replied: ‘He is right to reference our history, the 80-year anniversary, and of course we were fighting alongside the Americans and that is amongst the reasons we have a special relationship.’

Ms Badenoch has criticised the Prime Minister over six Gazan refugees successfully applying to live in Britain through a scheme intended for Ukraine.

She branded the decision ‘completely wrong’. Starmer also said he ‘does not agree with the decision’ He later accused Badenoch of ‘not doing her homework’ when she questioned him over the appointment of a new chief inspector of borders who lives in London. Starmer said the inspector had been appointed under the previous government.

The Tory opposition leader then accused Starmer of making getting a British passport a ‘right’ rather than a ‘privilege’.

Sir Keir has started off by announcing he plans to smash ‘vile criminal smuggling gangs’.

It comes as the Labour Borders Bill has set out the government plan to treat people smugglers like terrorists.

As is traditional, PMQs has just kicked off with Sir Keir Starmer answering a question on his diary engagements for the day.

Stay tuned for all the latest updates.

Keir Starmer is likely to receive more scrutiny as he scrambles to head off Donald Trump’s ‘sledgehammer’ tariffs on steel imports.

As the proposals stand, steel from the UK will be subject to the tariff from March 12.

Ministers are waiting to see details of the policy, but the UK steel industry has warned of a ‘devastating’ impact on an already struggling sector.

It comes after Starmer appointed Lord Peter Mandelson (pictured) as the UK’s new ambassador to Washington in the hope he might maintain and repair the ‘Special relationship’.

The relationship is one that some would argue is certainly in need of repair given cabinet members like Foreign Secretary David Lammy have previously called Mr Trump a ‘neo-nazi’ and ‘dangerous clown’.

It’s no fun being a political leader when things aren’t going your way.

Both Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch go into PMQs this lunchtime with pressure mounting.

Labour has had another dismal week, forced to jettison a minister and an MP over comments in a ‘vile’ WhatsApp group.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been adding to gloom about the economy with his trade war – amid warnings the government’s Budget spending plans look increasingly implausible.

But although in theory she has plenty of ammunition, things are hardly more rosy in Ms Badenoch’s world. Critics say she has failed to shift the dial in her first 100 days, with polls showing the Tories lagging Reform and her personal ratings poor. In particular her performances at PMQs have been branded scattergun and stuttering.

Needing a win to calm her benches, Ms Badenoch might well choose to focus on human rights this time. The ruling that Gazans should be allowed to come to the UK under the Ukraine refugee scheme is one ‘judges gone mad’ example she is likely to pick up.

But that attack line begs the question of what she would do to change the situation, with the party still in a corridor of uncertainty on whether it wants to quit the ECHR or not.

The latest development in the Labour WhatsApp group fiasco has seen 11 councillors suspended.

It started with a Mail on Sunday investigation that exposed the actions of then-health minister Andrew Gwynne.

Burnley MP Oliver Ryan (pictured) was next to follow – but a senior Labour figure notably dodged on whether those involved in the WhatsApp group should be kicked out of the party for good.

In the private chat, called Trigger Me Timbers, Mr Ryan took part with others in apparently homophobic banter as they joked about a fellow Labour MP being gay.

The Tories demanded Sir Keir Starmer expel both Mr Ryan and Mr Gywnne from Labour and ‘show some leadership’.

If you hear llamas in PMQs later…this may be why.

Labour’s new health minister Ashley Dalton claimed in 2016 that anyone who decides they’re a South American cousin of the camel should be treated with ‘dignity and respect’ and allowed to maintain that identity.

Mocking the remarks, which featured widely in newspapers this week following her appointment on Monday, Reform UK MP Lee Anderson asked Ms Dalton’s boss Wes Streeting during a debate: ‘The new health minister has stated that it’s OK for a human being to present as a llama.

‘So what I want to know is, if I have a family member who presents as a llama and suddenly becomes ill in the middle of the night, do they send for a doctor, a vet or a straightjacket?’

Mr Streeting backed Ms Dalton following the resurfaced comments.

Sir Keir Starmer has just left Downing Street for PMQs.

As usual he was seen with several folders full of notes and documents as he departed No.10 and headed to the House of Commons.

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s politics live blog as we follow the latest round of Prime Minister’s Questions.

We’ll be taking you through all the build up ahead of PMQs and bringing you live updates from the Commons later today.

A hot topic at today’s Prime Minister’s Questions is likely to be Labour’s Whatsapp group fiasco which has already seen a health minister and MP suspended.

Oliver Ryan, MP for Burnley, became the latest to be called out over his part in the distribution of the ‘vile’ messages, losing the whip in Parliament.

A probe on the full extent of ministers’ involvement seems likely.

Meanwhile Sir Keir will no doubt face scrutiny over Donald Trump’s incoming 25 per cent tariff on the British steel industry – and his insistence the ‘Special relationship’ is flourishing in spite of this.

But it is not just Starmer who is positioned to come under fire. Critics say Tory opposition leader Kemi Badenoch has failed to shift the dial in her first 100 days, with polls showing the party lag behind reform.