Sir Keir Starmer claimed Kemi Badenoch is “not fit to be prime minister” as the pair clashed over national security and energy projects in the Commons. The Prime Minister responded to criticism of his handling of the deal to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius by suggesting his Conservative counterpart had not requested a national security briefing on the issue as “she’s more interested in chasing Reform”.

Mrs Badenoch accused Sir Keir of an “immoral surrender” over the Chagos Islands and questioned how anyone could believe the Prime Minister is defending UK interests when he “bends the knee to anyone who asks him”. The Conservative Party leader repeatedly accused Sir Keir of providing “weak” and “waffly” answers and challenged him to give the go-ahead to new oil and gas fields in the North Sea.

The UK Government wants to give the Chagos Islands, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, to Mauritius and pay to lease back the US-UK military base on Diego Garcia. It argues it must cede the islands to Mauritius after international legal rulings. Environmental campaigners were also successful last week in their legal challenge against decisions to give approval to the Rosebank oil field north west of Shetland and the Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mrs Badenoch opened by saying “when Labour negotiates, our country loses” and said of the Chagos deal: “This is an immoral surrender so north London lawyers can boast at their dinner parties.”. Mrs Badenoch then asked: “Why did the Energy Secretary (Ed Miliband) withdraw Government lawyers from defending the case against the eco nutters who want to obstruct Rosebank’s oil and gas fields?”.

On Chagos, Sir Keir said the military base is “vital to our national security” and the legal certainty of it had been “thrown into doubt” in recent years. He said: “Let me be clear, and I’ll pick my words carefully: without legal certainty, the base cannot operate in practical terms as it should. “That is bad for our national security and it’s a gift to our adversaries.”. Sir Keir said the previous Tory administration was right to conduct 11 of the 13 rounds of negotiations, adding: “I will set out the details when they’re finalised and they will of course be presented to Parliament.

“But if the Leader of the Opposition is properly briefed on the national security implications when she’s asking these questions, which she’s perfectly entitled to do, then she knows exactly what I’m talking about in terms of national security and legal certainty. “If, on the other hand, she’s not properly briefed on the national security implications, she’s not doing her job, she’s not concerned about national security and she’s not fit to be prime minister.”.

Mrs Badenoch countered: “How can anyone believe that this man is defending UK interests when he bends the knee to anyone who asks him? His answer was so weak and so waffly, it’s no wonder he needs a voice coach, but he didn’t answer the question I asked him: why the Energy Secretary was not defending our country.”. She asked if Mr Miliband refused to “defend UK interests because he’s funded by billionaire eco zealots”.

Sir Keir continued to focus on the Chagos Islands, adding: “When she became Leader of the Opposition, I said to her that I would give her a briefing on any national security issue if she asked for it – that’s very important to the way we run our democracy. She has not asked for a briefing on the Chagos Islands and that’s because she’s more interested in chasing Reform than in national security.

“In relation to oil and gas, it’ll be part of our energy supply for many years to come, we’ve been absolutely clear about that, but we are going through a transition. It’s important because that transition to renewable energy will give us lower bills, energy security, take (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s foot off our throat and is good for the national interest.”. Mrs Badenoch asked if Sir Keir has the “guts” to approve new British oil and gas licence applications when they are resubmitted.

The Prime Minister replied: “She knows the position on Rosebank, she knows the court case that has meant that the licence has got to be reviewed. There’s a process that’s got to be gone through in the proper way. She understands that, but yet again she’s proving all she can do is student politics and playing party politics.”. Mrs Badenoch pressed further on business investment and said of Sir Keir: “It’s so hard to believe anything he says. This is a man who needed emergency voice coaching on Christmas Eve. This Government is so clueless it is borrowing £8 billion for GB Energy – a vanity project that is not great, not British and does not produce any energy.”.