Sunak makes ill-judged gender jibe at PMQs

Rishi Sunak’s £1,000 bet with Piers Morgan continues to cost him more than the wager itself. It dominated today’s PMQs, with both Keir Starmer and Stephen Flynn attacking him on it. The Labour leader also gave a striking retort to one of Sunak’s regular lines mocking him on not knowing what a woman is. When the PM trotted out that claim again, Starmer reacted with outrage, reminding the chamber that he had opened with a tribute to the murdered transgender teenager Brianna Ghey’s mother Esther, who was in parliament. He said:

‘Of all the weeks to say that, with Brianna’s mother in the gallery. Shame. Parading as a man of integrity.’

He added that everyone should be able to feel safe and respected. Later in the session, Labour MP Liz Twist demanded that Sunak apologise for his comments, which he ignored, despite shouts of ‘apologise!’ from the Opposition benches. Finally, at the very end of the session, he addressed Ghey’s mother directly, praising her ‘compassion and empathy’, saying ‘she deserves all our admiration and praise’.

Rishi Sunak attempts to attack Sir Keir Starmer over how Labour 'defines a woman' as the mum of Brianna Ghey, a trans teenager who was murdered, was sat in the Commons listening to prime minister's questions

A shocked Sir Keir replies: 'Of all the weeks to say that… Shame' pic.twitter.com/CxW79NJ3Jb

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