The Speaker of the House of Commons has just given Kemi Badenoch a furious dressing down over the government’s u-turn on repealing retained EU laws. Lindsay Hoyle criticised the minister for using a written ministerial statement to sneak out the admission that the government will only be reviewing or repealing 600 laws by the end of the year, rather than 2,400 as promised by Rishi Sunak in his leadership campaign.
When Badenoch came to answer the question, she apologised rather dismissively ‘that the method we chose was not to your satisfaction’. Hoyle exploded, insisting ‘that is totally not acceptable: who do you think you’re speaking to?’
He told Badenoch that he was the ‘defender of this House’ and that he would not be ‘spoken to by a Secretary of State who is not accepting my ruling’. Badenoch apologised.
Badenoch was answering an urgent question tabled by veteran Eurosceptic and chair of the European Scrutiny Committee Bill Cash.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in