PENNY Mordaunt nuked Angela Rayner last night over her flip flopping on Britain’s nuclear weapons.
Labour’s deputy leader voted against renewing our vital Trident submarines in 2016 – but last night claimed she now backs the doomsday deterrent.
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The BBC’s seven-way election debate – that included all minor parties – immediately exploded into a row about defence of the realm.
And straight off the bat the senior Cabinet minister – who was representing the Conservatives at the “also rans” jamboree – slammed Rayner for putting Britain in danger.
Ms Mordaunt hit out at Ms Rayner who “voted recently, along with the guy who wants to be foreign secretary and half of the Labour frontbench” to get rid of Trident.
In an early battering she asked: “Imagine what Putin is thinking? Without credibility, we become a target. If we become a target you are less safe.”
She warned: “It’s too late for this generation of Labour politicians, that credibility is shot. Do not vote these people in.”
A visibly riled Rayner hit back: “You’ve just said we need a strong economy but you backed Liz Truss, who crashed our economy.”
Mordaunt hit back: “Even Liz Truss, on her worst day, still recognised we needed a nuclear deterrent in this country”
Rayner meekly insisted “so do I”, but it was clear first blood had gone to the Tories despite the difficult day for the Government.
In a heated and at times messy debate;
- PENNY Mordaunt has blasted Angela Rayner for having “no plan, no target and no clue” on how to bring down migration.
- RAYNER attempted to pin all the country’s woes on former PM Liz Truss for “crashing the economy”
- NIGEL Farage mocked Starmer as “Tony Blair without the flair” and said slammed the both major parties for an “open doors” immigration policy, calling for a “revolt against the system”.
- THE Tories and Labour again clashed over claims Starmer is planning a £2,000 hike on households, with Rayner accusing Mordaunt of lying.
The BBC attempted to make the first 15 minutes of the debate about the row over the PM flying home early from D-Day, despite Mordaunt’s best efforts to turn fire on Labour.
However the Tory leadership contender did not swerve a dig at the PM, saying: “What happened was completely wrong.”
The proud honorary captain of the Royal Navy reserves said veterans need to be “treasured”.
She added: “What happened was completely wrong and the Prime Minister has rightly apologised for that, apologised to veterans but also to all of us, because he was representing all of us.
“I’m from Portsmouth, I have also been defence secretary and my wish is, at the end of this week, is that all of our veterans feel completely treasured.”
Asked if she would have left D-Day commemorations early, Ms Mordaunt said: “I didn’t go to D-Day. I think what happened was very wrong, I think the Prime Minister has apologised for that.
“But what I also think is important is we honour their legacy, they fought for our freedom, and unless we are spending the right amount on defence we can’t honour that legacy.”
Nigel Farage accused the PM of “deserting” veterans on Thursday as well as attacking the government for slashing troop numbers a “catastrophic recruitment” record.
The Reform boss said “the veterans himself are saying the PM has let the country down.”
The Lib Dem’s Daisy Cooper said Mr Sunak’s decision was “unforgivable”.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn added: “We need to be standing with our veterans. He added: “A prime minister who puts his own political career before public service is no prime minister at all.
“So it’s incumbent upon all of us to do our national service and vote the Tories out of office.”
But Penny accused her opponents of turning the D-Day row into a “political football”
Farage replied: “It already is, because the veterans themselves are speaking out saying he’s let the country down.”
However Ms Mordaunt wrangled the debate back to Angela Rayner for voting against Trident.
The Labour Deputy Leader and Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy used the 2016 vote to abolish the UK’s Trident programme alongside former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The debate later moved on to the NHS, with Rayner again attempting to deploy attacks on former PM Liz Truss.
On reducing waiting lists, Penny Mordaunt said: “There are many things we need to do, but there are two really important things.
“We have to keep the budget strong. We need a strong economy.”
She continued: “Labour’s plans to tax your future pension, senior nurses and doctors, is going to get healthcare professionals to leave the service. That is going to lead to more waiting lists.”
Ms Rayner responded: “Penny, that’s rubbish and you’ve just said we need a strong economy – you backed Liz Truss and crashed our economy.”
She went on: “We will never go fast and loose with public finances because it’s working people that pay the price for that.
“The Tories should never be allowed to forget that it’s because they crashed the economy.”
Penny insists the UK economy is “doing much better” and outgrowing the US.
Labour’s plans to tax your future pension, senior nurses and doctors, is going to get healthcare professionals to leave the service. That is going to lead to more waiting lists
Penny Mourdant
She added: “This election must be about us cutting your taxes.
“Angela Rayner and the Labour party, and Keir Starmer confirmed this earlier this week, are going to put up your taxes by £2,000.”
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn received the first applause of the night from the audience after he said medical students in an SNP-controlled Scotland would not have to pay tuition fees.
A medical student asked the candidates how they can ensure that she will graduate into a functioning NHS.
Mr Flynn said the NHS in Scotland has “record funding” and no strikes.
He then received a round of applause when he added: “Given that you’re going to university to study medicine I think it’s also important to remind everyone in this audience the difference between the SNP and the Westminster parties.
“In an SNP-controlled Scotland you would not pay a single penny in tuition fees for your studies, what a difference that would make.”
After a clash on the NHS, Nigel Farage had his moment to shine as the debate moved on to immigration.
The Reform boss accused Tony Blair “opening the doors”, with the Tories following the broken open borders policy.
He said “we are living through a Population crisis” pointing to “an increase of 10 million people since Mr Blair came to power, and frankly, it’s making us poorer.”
He warned: “It is diminishing our quality of life, and it’s nothing to do, nothing to do with race or any of those issues. It’s to do with actually putting the interests of our communities first.
He hit out: “We need to get net migration, and that means, by the way, people come and people go. We need to get net net migration down to an even figure for the next maybe then we can hope to catch up with housing, with health and many of those things.”
This election must be about us cutting your taxes
Penny Mourdant
He added: “Most of those coming to the UK today are on work visas, or are about 50% of those that come in dependence, whether they’re coming out changing.”
For the government, Penny Mordaunt agreed: “Immigration is too high.”
And she said Sunak had vowed to get tough, saying: “choose an immigration cap” as “the numbers are too high over the next few years you can see the numbers come down.”
She insisted the choice at the election was “Controlled numbers and a cap under us or uncontrolled numbers under Labour.”
She added: “Keir Starmer spent most of his life campaigning for free movement. These people do not want to control migration.”
But Farage barged back into the conversation to brand Rishi Sunak “slippery” and says “very dull” Starmer is “Blair without the flair”.
He went on: “The real leader of the Labour Party is on stage… at least she has some personality.
“There are fictitious numbers like £2000, £3,000, and that is why Reform are doing so well in the polls.”
“We need to revolt against the system.”
Fireworks between Rayner and Mordaunt as the pair continue to scrap over the contested £2,000 figure.
The figure has been criticised, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accusing Rishi Sunak of lying about how the sum was calculated.
Ms Mordaunt told the audience: “Angela Rayner’s party – Keir Starmer confirmed this earlier this week – they are going to put up your taxes by £2000 per working household.”
Ms Rayner replied “that is a lie”, adding that the Government has raised taxes to a “record level”.
The pair then began to shout over each other before BBC presenter Mishal Hussain cut them off.
“That was terribly dignified wasn’t it”, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer then said.
Eventually Carla Denyer gets a word in. She asks: “That was terribly dignified, wasn’t it?”
Farage also scored his first round of applause as he joins the attacks on the Conservatives.
He fumes: “Even during Tony Blair’s time, the top rate of tax was 40p and about one and a half million people paid that.
“By the end of 2027, eight million people will be paying 40p tax, dragging more and more people doing middle-income jobs into higher and higher taxation.
“To hear Penny Mordaunt, whose government have put the tax burden up to the highest level since 1948, pretending they’re a tax-cutting party, is dishonesty on a breathtaking scale.”
Came out fighting
WITH the Tories on the ropes after the D Day disaster, it fell to Penny Mordaunt to go into battle for No10 in last night’s TV debate.
Could the woman who wooed the nation with her sword wielding skills at the Coronation cut her rivals Nigel Farage and Angela Rayner down to size?
In a word – yes.
Wearing her own trademark armour of a blue power suit and bouncy blowdry, she began by rightly condemning the PM’s decision to leave the Normandy commemorations early.
“It was completely wrong”, she said.
“The Prime Minister has rightly apologised for that, apologised to veterans but also to all of us, because he was representing all of us.”
But in politics – as in war – attack is often the best form of defence.
And she quickly turned her fire on Labour deputy Angela Rayner for voting against the Trident nuclear deterrent.
Pointing her finger at the Red Queen standing to her right (Angela was helpfully wearing a scarlet dress), Penny launched a volley of blistering attacks on Labour.
She tore into Angela and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy for voting against Trident.
Starmer’s so-called changed Labour can do all the photo shoots by nuclear submarines they like, Penny thundered.
When push comes to shove, Vladimir Putin simply will not believe they are capable of pressing the nuclear button.
“The cornerstone of our defence is our nuclear deterrent, and you need more than submarine sailors and warheads to deliver that. You need credibility!” Penny thundered.
Delivering her killer blow, she added: “Without credibility we become a target.
“If we become a target you are less safe.
“It is too late for this generation of Labour politicians. That credibility is shot. Do not vote these people in.”
Well that grabbed their attention.
Clearly rattled, Rayner shook her head and clutched her podium.
Hitting back, she accused the Tories of cutting the Armed Forces, wrecking the economy and leaving Britain a “laughing stock” on the world stage.
She added: “My brother served in Iraq. I won’t be lectured on whether or not I am absolutely committed to the security of our country.”
But she had no answer to why she voted against Trident a few years ago.
Politicos have spent the week talking about men.
Will Rishi Sunak or Keir Starmer become PM? Could Nigel Farage get elected and wipe out the Tories?
But in the end it was a woman who grabbed centre stage and – in her own words – “stand up and fight”.
A future leader perhaps?
