Keir Starmer did not go into Prime Minister’s Questions with the intention of resolving the row over the collapse of the Chinese spying case: he merely wanted to avoid the pressure building too much. He announced in a long statement at the start of the session that the government would be publishing its three witness statements, and then spent the rest of his sparring with Kemi Badenoch arguing that this was all the fault of the previous government anyway.

His sneer led to a claim that will ensure this row doesn’t quieten down

That deferral of blame largely worked: there was a particularly good email that Starmer quoted, to roars of approval from his backbenchers, where Badenoch herself said ‘we should certainly not be describing China as a foe’. The Tory leader hadn’t liked the opening

See Full Page